"We've only just VIGAN" (ha-ha OK corny!). Finally, I got a chance to visit this for the first time and appreciate its beauty up close. I'm so thrilled since I only used to see this place in paintings and photos. Vigan is located in the northern part of Luzon and is the capital of the province of Ilocos Sur. It is known for its old colonial houses and buildings around the city. There are also ancestral houses which are turned into hotels and inns. The place makes you feel as if you're living in the past. I was so excited to take pictures until... the screen of my camera suddenly showed "internal memory full" - whaaaat?! I checked again with frustration, silly me I forgot to bring the memory card! Argh! Thank goodness for camera phones!
We first visited Baluarte owned by Governor Chavit. It offers a mini zoo which is open to the public for free.
White peacock.
Blue Peacock
They're sleeping. :D
After the meet and greets with the wild animals, we visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity which is one of the oldest churches of Ilocos, it is built in 1590. In some way, this church reminds me of a cake. I love visiting old churches and taking pictures of it.
Near the shrine is the Bell Tower.
After the interesting tour inside the church and enjoying the fresh air on top of the bell tower, we found this person selling tinubong. It is a sticky rice sweetened with sugar then cooked and stored in a bamboo stick. I'm not a fan of kakanin, but I liked this one!
Later, we dropped by the Heritage Village. I love this place! This is the one I see in photos and paintings!!! (LOL). It's bee-yoo-ti-ful!!!
Time for merienda and my co-worker Toni brought me to this place near the Vigan Cathedral where people jam in to eat Vigan's very own empanada. I was quite surprised to see that their empanada is very different from the empanada I used to eat in Manila. The empanada I know is made of bread with stuffed meat. However, here in Vigan, their empanada is composed of mixed vegetables, a piece of longanisa and egg in the center, all wrapped in a thin locally made dough. Deep fried to cook, taken out of the frying pan and then it is served to you with a vinegar.
Here is manang cooking empanada.
Here's the empanada served with vinegar.
After our food trip, we walked around and visited the St. Paul's Cathedral. Unfortunately, it was a weekday and it is closed.
The whole Vigan trip was amazing, but I'm insatiable. I want more! Plus, I am aching to go back since I'm not satisfied with my photos. Hehe. It is still better to take pictures with a D/SLR or digicam, right?
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