My day started at around 0830AM when I hitched ride with Tanduay’s supervisor as he is too headed to Vigan city proper. From there, I first bought a copy of Vigan street map from National Bookstore which I though was a useful tool for tourists but turned out to be just a waste of money.

Next, I headed to the ever famous “Calle Crisologo” or Heritage Village, which for me is way over rated. If I want to quench my curiosity on old Spanish-Filipino colonial houses, just a side-trip to Intramuros would suffice that easily. I made a quick stop-over in UEC-Vigan in “Calle Plaridel” to ask about their Sunday worship schedule. After which, I decided to take a quick snack break when I saw someone selling “Tinubong”; a local delicacy that is made from sticky rice and young coconut (buko) and is cooked over fire in bamboo tubes. To enjoy this delicacy, I took a short rest in Perfect Cup and ordered myself a Brandy Frappe.

After my break, I continued to walk along “Calle Crisologo” until I got bored and walked myself to Plaza Burgos. When I saw there’s absolutely nothing to enjoy there, I walked towards another nearby plaza; Plaza Salcedo. After taking pictures, I went inside St. Paul’s Metropolitan Cathedral. After which, I walked towards another famous church in Vigan, the “Simbahan a Bassit” or small church, that is smacked right in the middle of a cemetery.

This is where I got lost, I was supposed to walk straight to the Vigan Market in order to look for Manang Susing, the longganiza lady, but the street signs fooled me and I got no where. Gladly there is a tricycle nearby and drove me to the right place. After scouting the market twice, I finally found Manang Susing, which is good cause she was about to leave. Mind you, it was only before 1200PM and she has sold all her products. After a few chat, I walked to a “burnay” factory or pagburnayan (RG Jar Factory) where in I got the chance to make my own jar.

After getting my hands dirty, I rode a tricycle to Hidden Garden to have lunch. Hidden Garden is a relatively new place; it features a nicely landscaped garden. In their open-air café, I had warek-warek, garlic rice and grape fruit shake. Warek-warek is grilled pork and liver that is mixed with vinegar, calamansi and onion. After lunch, I went back to Vigan city proper. I roamed around Plaza Maestro for a while and bought myself two new pants from Bench. Again roamed around Vigan and went to the “Arzobispo Museo Nueva Segovia” or Archbishop’s residence.

When I realized that the museum is close, I rented a tricycle to bring me to St. Agustine Church and Belfry. My curiosity almost gave me a heart attack, but it was worth it. Many are saying that if you climb the bell tower, nice views of the city surrounding the tower you will see. This is not an over rated statement; the view from the bell tower is nice and the air up top is cooling. Although it was just such a waste to see the Bantay Bell Tower already vandalized by stupid morons who do not know how to treat historical landmarks and architectural marvels properly and with dignity.

A quick rest stop at the sales office at around 0200PM. Took a bath, had a change of clothes and by 0315PM off to UEC-Vigan for Sunday worship, which starts at 0330PM. I’m just super glad to see Rev. David Cheung around, at least one face familiar. The service ended at around 0630PM, where in they have dinner prepared but I opted to just sneak out.

Although my wallet was already aching due to huge expenditures incurred just today, I treated myself to a fancy restaurant just for fun. For dinner I ate at Vigan Plaza Hotel’s café; Bigaa Restaurant. There I ate the ever famous Vigan longganiza, sinanglao and garlic rice. Sinanglao is a soup that has beef, beef innards, beef skin and blood.

My day officially ended at around 0800PM after spending at least 1,850 bucks for a single day’s trip. To think I already tried all my best to save up by just walking around town. It was worth it though; I got the chance to exercise and also had a different kind of adventure.