There are loads of articles
related to the beautiful and almost perfectly picturesque city of Vigan. The place is so popular that it even has two
(2) websites claiming it as the ‘official’ site. So I would have to deviate from my usual blog writing style and present to
you this one as a compendium of various information that might be of interest
to you my readers. To those who have
visited the place in the past, read on to get a deeper appreciation of your
experience. And to those to have not yet
ventured into this treasure in the far north, do try it soon.
My adventure in Vigan started
when I was still in my early post-college days. It is with mixed emotions that
I am writing and reminiscing these memories as in a way, this shall be my
tribute for one of the greatest persons I met in my life. I pray that you are now smiling back at me
proud of where I am and the things that I achieved so far. You missed a lot from my adventures. You said you’ll be back, I know you wanted to
come back. But I know you are in a far
better place now. This one is for you!
I had a ‘lolo’ (grandfather) through affinity
who lived in Vigan. I have been seeing
him then from pictures and on rare instances when my lola (grandmother) visits
our country from Canada (they were ‘ex-married-couple’). My father and most of my relatives secretly
refer to him as Lolo Tisoy (light skinned) which is the opposite of his rich
brown skin tone. He is Ilokano, my
grandmother was Kapampangan (weird combination to begin with ehe…). But his real name was George Avila. He was a retired US Navy. He then lived in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. I always wanted to visit the place but the
adventurer in me was then still very young and lacking experience. My grandmother continuously egged me to try
and visit my lolo. The only problem was
that Lolo does NOT and will NOT recognize me from the child that he might (if
even possible) remember of me. Warning. the photos here were from WAY WAY BACK so my skin is still fresh, my hair is uber rich, and i'm super GWAPO pa... maybe now I had lost about 20% of that looks but invested instead on APPEAL, ehe. Indulge me would you?
THE FIRST DIP TO VIGAN'S CULTURE
So armed with his address, an
assurance from all-the-way from Canada that my lola already phoned her
ex-husband of my visit and the guts that I can’t recall I had back then, I
ventured to my first ever SOLO trip using public transport going to Vigan. It was my first experience of a solo EIGHT
hours bus ride and it was such an adventure.
The provinces we passed by and the number of stop overs (which up until
now and my succeeding trips, I was not able to count) was priceless. There were only a few of us in the bus and I
was lucky to have the whole two seats just for me from Pampanga until I reached
Vigan.
At the bus station, I just went
around to look for their local tricycle terminals and asked for the address
that I had with me. In less than 10
minutes I saw my lolo and introduced myself.
The funny thing was that I was welcomed as if we know each other from
way back. I was shown my room (which was
his room, on a regular day) and the first thing that I noticed was how smooth
the bed linens were. He said that they
are one of Vigan’s pride. Up until
today, I use that one linen I bought from that trip. This trip also gave me my first experience of
locals looking (read: starring) at me even when I was buying mint candy at a
nearby store. It did not took long when
my lolo told me that people are starring because of my looks (ehe modesty
aside, I was still young then) and the fact that he told neighbors that I was
his son from Manila. And they had quite
a ‘wow’ impression of those coming from Manila as cool and sophisticated (I
wonder if I was able to give them a good impression with my stay).
The warm welcome did not fade
from day 1 up until my departure after three days. Each day was filled with visits to museums,
tours done by my lolo himself, food trip, a fridge filled with beer (and I was
the only guest then --- I remembered only drinking one or two bottles each night). The evenings were cool and it made sleeping
feel close to home. Oh, by the way, I
did not yet have internet nor a good camera back then. I only had ‘stories’ of what to expect and my
mobile phone as my trusted camera so please bear with me on the photos, I
promise though that my face will be splattered on most of them, but hey it was
the time when I was still blemish free eheeheheh. Below were some of the photos I managed to
salvage from my Friendster account (had I know that I will be blogging in the
future, or that Friendster would suddenly change it mind, I would have archived
these photos better).
VIGAN REVISITED
I returned to Vigan after less
than 2 years, it was December if I am not mistaken. Only this time, I visited Lolo with three
other good friends from work. I went
back to this majestic place with ‘travel-mates’ Dion, Mike and Ramon (Gov,
ehe). This time I acted as the tour
guide. The hospitality of my Lolo,
however did not waver one bit. Every
meal served and shared on those dinners were forever etched in my heart as well
as Lolo’s stories from the past. See
below photos salvaged of that wonderful trip.
 |
| hey, yo, PIMP this ride will'ya? |
 |
| You will fall in love on the history of each pieces |
 |
| The smell, the sound and the visual feast won't disappoint you |
 |
| You'll appreciate how it was done then and realize, it wasn't as bad at all |
 |
| Our horse's name??? Would KC care for a ride? |
 |
| Our NINUNOs (old men) ehe... this was how our ancestors might have looked back then |
 |
| We had to had this shot... an authentic belfry... |
 |
| Every corner is worth the photo |
 |
| Enjoying Vigan empanada at the Piazza Burgos |
 |
| hey we were kids... boys and red blooded at that....give us some slack |
 |
| view from the top of the belfry |
 |
| cobble-stone streets at day time |
 |
| and at night... |
 |
| cathedral history |
 |
| View of the altar |
 |
| wonder how many treasures and history these chests held in their days |
One tip though I have of Vigan is
‘talk to the locals’ they are almost always willing to show you were to find
great food that isn’t expensive as well as a better way to experience the place
the way it should be done. DO NOT FORGET
TO VISIT THE LOCAL MARKET too as it is a shopping haven of sorts. I am contemplating on visiting Vigan again
soon. Impossible it may seem, I still
wish I will see Lolo there waiting for me.
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So armed with his address, an
assurance from all-the-way from Canada that my lola already phoned her
ex-husband of my visit and the guts that I can’t recall I had back then, I
ventured to my first ever SOLO trip using public transport going to Vigan. It was my first experience of a solo EIGHT
hours bus ride and it was such an adventure.
The provinces we passed by and the number of stop overs (which up until
now and my succeeding trips, I was not able to count) was priceless. There were only a few of us in the bus and I
was lucky to have the whole two seats just for me from Pampanga until I reached
Vigan.
At the bus station, I just went
around to look for their local tricycle terminals and asked for the address
that I had with me. In less than 10
minutes I saw my lolo and introduced myself.
The funny thing was that I was welcomed as if we know each other from
way back. I was shown my room (which was
his room, on a regular day) and the first thing that I noticed was how smooth
the bed linens were. He said that they
are one of Vigan’s pride. Up until
today, I use that one linen I bought from that trip. This trip also gave me my first experience of
locals looking (read: starring) at me even when I was buying mint candy at a
nearby store. It did not took long when
my lolo told me that people are starring because of my looks (ehe modesty
aside, I was still young then) and the fact that he told neighbors that I was
his son from Manila. And they had quite
a ‘wow’ impression of those coming from Manila as cool and sophisticated (I
wonder if I was able to give them a good impression with my stay).
The warm welcome did not fade
from day 1 up until my departure after three days. Each day was filled with visits to museums,
tours done by my lolo himself, food trip, a fridge filled with beer (and I was
the only guest then --- I remembered only drinking one or two bottles each night). The evenings were cool and it made sleeping
feel close to home. Oh, by the way, I
did not yet have internet nor a good camera back then. I only had ‘stories’ of what to expect and my
mobile phone as my trusted camera so please bear with me on the photos, I
promise though that my face will be splattered on most of them, but hey it was
the time when I was still blemish free eheeheheh. Below were some of the photos I managed to
salvage from my Friendster account (had I know that I will be blogging in the
future, or that Friendster would suddenly change it mind, I would have archived
these photos better).
Vrrrroooommmm! And the rubber starts to burn...ehe. Yes the official race season is still (quite) far from today, but hey, I chanced upon this nice album from DHL's Facebook account (Yup, I am subscribed to almost all the teams ---- but I am a Ferrari loyalist) of the new cars for 2012.
