Shots of Life

Just after having breakfast at our hotel, we immediately went out to meet Kuya Lenzer, our super nice tour guide, for the official start of our City Tour. Our first stop was the famous Baluarte – a park / zoo owned by Mr. Chavit Singson. There is no entrance fee here but donations are very much appreciated. Guests also need to register before entering the premises. The first animal that welcomed us were cute and lovely birds and one of them is this. (yung iba kasi nakapatong sa balikat ng mga guest para sa picture taking.)

Photo op is allowed and free. Again, donations / tips are very much welcome. We all had our pictures taken with the birds before proceeding to the next attraction. Just in front of the birds were the Ostriches. 

Actually for me, Baluarte looks like a super huge ranch. Haha. There were lots of greens because of the grasses and trees and animals like goats were free to walk around. Hihi. 

Anyways, next to the ostrich, we had a stop-over at the gigantic dinosaur figure for some picture taking. 

Next was the loner deer. We also passed by the reptile section but I didn’t bother entering because I don’t like seeing snakes. Arte lang. :p And of course, the animal that I wanted to see the most – Tigers! Cute and Fierce (tapang ko mag picture kasi tulog siya bwaha :p)

I really want to have a tiger cub pet pero baka pag lumaki na siya, di ko na kayanin. :p 

Anyways, it was such a short walk but we got tired immediately because of too much heat. The weather was so cooperative during our tour. 

If I’m not mistaken, there were some cute Calesas available (for rent or free?) that will roam you around the place but we preferred to walk so malamang may bayad yun. :p

Click here to know more about Baluarte.

Right after checking-in at Vigan Plaza Hotel, we immediately went out to stroll along Calle Crisilogo and at the same time, to eat dinner at Café Uno.

It was past 8 in the evening when we arrived in Vigan so most; actually, all shops along the street were already closed. Our first agenda was to look for Café Uno. We’ve read a lot of good reviews about the place so why not give it a try.

We thought that the restaurant was closed already so we went to the open food area just in front of it without knowing that it was affiliated with Café Uno. I forgot the name of the place but I think it's Uno Grill. Hihi. The place was not packed with guests when we arrive and the interior of the place was dimmed and quiet.
Note: Guests can order dishes from menu list of Cafe Uno, Uno Grill and Kafe Felicitas.

Anyways and as always, I can no longer give you exact details of how each food tastes. The only thing I remembered is that the Chicken dish I ordered was a hit for all of us. We had fun dining  here – good food for a very cheap price. The staffs were friendly and accommodating. I can say that we had a success for our first food trip in Vigan, Ilocos.
**updates: I've seen my draft of my Ilocos post!So I will be updating the food reviews. :)

I booked this flight early last year via Air Philippines. We only got the departing tickets on sale while the returning ones weren’t but we only paid around Php 2000 per head. It was already a good deal for us. We landed at Laoag International Airport before 6 in the evening and the weather was still a bit gloomy.
Our contact was Kuya Lenzer (you'll see how great this guy was!) and he took care of us during our entire trip. He was extremely super nice and sweet. I can still remember that he called me up to ask if we are OK since there was a typhoon in the province as well as here in Manila days before our trip. He even gave me details of the situation in Ilocos where the center of the typhoon was. Super textmates din kami! All deals and information were exchange through text. He sent me the itinerary, rates and inclusions promptly. While waiting for our baggage, I called to tell him that we arrived.
We went outside the airport and just after a few minutes, he arrived. Kuya Lenzer (0906-8185735) was really nice (paulit - ulit? super nice kasi talaga siya) and friendly. He is not just a driver who will bring us to places, he also knows the information about the tourist spots and shared it with us. Sometimes, we have asked too much questions (minsan corny na) but surprisingly, he has answers.

From Laoag, we traveled two more hours going to Vigan since I wanted to see Calle Crisologo at night. Glad I have an intelligent friend (jerellt) who suggested to start our adventure in Vigan then Laoag and end it in Pagudpud.
We checked-in at Vigan Plaza Hotel past 8 in the evening and the receptionist already knew our names because we were the last guests expected to arrive.  Haha.. ang late na kasi talaga namin.

Vigan Plaza Hotel is one of the best – rated and expensive hotels in Vigan. Wait ha, di ako nagyayabang.  The rate was too expensive for and overnight stay (Php 4200) but I can say it was worth it. The place was so cool. It feels like we traveled back to the ancient time. :p The wooden furniture may look simple but it makes the setting so perfect - "old-fashioned style pero sosyal".

Our air-conditioned bedroom has 

I love the bed. It really gave me a good night sleep. Ako pa unang natulog sa kanila. Hahaha.. The pillows were soft and the sheets were clean and nicely scented.

The bathroom was just okay. It wasn't as big as I'm expecting but at least it was clean. It has towels and basic toiletries available for use. It also has a pail and dipper! Oha, yan ang hanap ng lahat :p

We had our breakfast at Cafe Bigaa. There were still no guests when we arrived so almost all the servers were just staring at us and very prompt whenever we have requests.
Our reservation includes a set breakfast for 4. Since I’m in Vigan, I tried their Vigan Longganisa (Longsilog) while Boyps opted to try Tocino (Tosilog). Both meals have 2 eggs, a cup of rice, a side dish (achara ata) and a drink.
I ordered coffee while Boyps preferred a glass of juice.
We were also given a plate of fruit slices to share. Our meal was good to jump start our day.

Before we check-out, I took some pictures of the reception area.
We are one hour late from our call time but Kuya Lenzer wasn’t mad at us. :p hahahaha. We had to check out the next day since we will be travelling to Laoag and Pagudpod. It was a quick stay but I could say that I really enjoyed it. Nice staff, lovely ambiance, good food,  what else can I ask for? So if you want to experience all this and you want to be near Calle Crisologo, then you must stay at Vigan Plaza Hotel.

Vigan Plaza Hotel
Mena Crisologo St. Brgy 2
Vigan City, Ilocos Sur
http://www.viganplazahotel.com/

Here's the continuation of our Island Hopping adventure in Coron.

Coral Garden: this is where lots of beautiful corals are situated. I didn't see much fish but I was really amazed how wonderful and colorful our underwater world is.  Our tour guide is so sweet to literally guide and pull us to the best coral spots. Our boat can't go near the corals so it won't be destroyed or damaged. Kuya Chris even picked out a dead, super big lobster. Haha

What  to do: snorkeling, swimming

Banol Beach: We just dropped by to see this place, more of a relaxation place. Fine and white sand plus crystal clear water – it's what everybody wants in a beach.

What to do: swimming

Twin Lagoon: We had the longest waiting time in this area. There are a lot of boats in the area waiting for a parking space near the lagoon. So what we did instead was to swim so we can overtake the boats and enter the lagoon. Hihi. I was a bit scared since the water is really deep. Super dilim sa ilalim :| So we are warned to be careful of our stuffs since there's no chance that we can get it back once it fell onto the water. There are 2 options in entering the lagoon, either under (swim under) or over (walk over via stairs) the lagoon.

What to do: swimming