Vigan City, Vigan Church and Baluarte

Enter my second entry to my post about Vigan -- this time it is about the sites we saw at Vigan City.

Most of the new architectures tried to capture the old Spanish Vigan Heritage site... I do not know if this is a requirement from the city but these fastfoods look cute:

a. Chowking

b.  McDonalds

Hubby and I also visited the Vigan Cathedral in order to give thanks for our safe trip and blessings which paved the way for us to travel. It is a very  beautiful Church:

Frontage:

Belfry:

Inside:

At first, I was shy to take out our camera but once we saw a few tourists taking pictures, I asked my hubby to capture some pics to show it as well to my mother-in-law who is a devout Catholic.

The Vigan Church actually faces the City Hall of Vigan and the Vigan Plaza which has a fountain:

I bet this has a dancing fountain show at night... it's just unfortunate we weren't there to witness it.

After visiting the Church, hubby and I went to Baluarte Zoo which is owned by the incumbent governor, Chavit Singson. The entrance fee is free and there are signages reminding visitors that everything is for free and they are not asking for donations.

First stop: Tigers

 Among the animals here, these are the ones who are not freely roaming around. and then there are the miniature horses and ostriches. The ostriches are so used to people they do not chase them.

 Then there are these colorful birds... they do look like the protagonist at Rio ... they do not fly away and thank God there weren't any mischievous guests goading on the animals when we went to visit.

Very tame deers... they are not afraid to interact and be fed by visitors:

 And of course, the grown up Little Foot (those who have watched the The Land Before Time know him)

 Hub is giving a hi-5 to this dinosaur.

Noticeable in this area is this gold building... Hubs and I assumed that it is Chavit Singson's home which is possible. There seems to be a helipad  on top of the building.

There were so many people we did not dare enter their Butterfly Sanctuary so we just contented ourselves with these. 

I still remember a friend who frequents in Vigan advising me to go to Baluarte because the animals there are healthier looking than those at Manila Zoo which is actually true because they are well taken cared of although I pity them such that they are in a stressful environment with all the people ogling at them or trying to touch them -- maybe they are just used to it.

Vigan! Heritage Site and Bistro Amarillo

Had the blessing of time and opportunity last May to visit one of the places in my bucket list...Vigan!

First stop was the Vigan Heritage Site which is composed of old houses in the Spanish times complete with preserved cobblestone/brick road. 

It is no wonder that it is one of the few Unesco Heritage Sites in the Philippines. We met plenty  of honeymooners/couples and barkadas strolling around the site and some were gracious enough to take pictures of me and hubby. So we had a picture of the two of us in typical tourist areas of the site:

We had some pictures with the calesas but we preferred strolling since the area is a short walk so that we can browse the shops. Our enemy was the heat.

There was one interesting incident wherein we were looking for a restroom and then there was this store in a corner with a sign for use of comfort room. We went there paid Php5.00 each and  used a converted old pugon to a restroom. We were a bit embarrassed to ask permission to take pictures of the restroom so we didn't. But it was an interesting restroom.

Anyway, since we were at the Heritage site around 11 AM, we were already very hungry by 12:30.. we wanted to go to Lilong and Lilang located at the Hidden Garden which I researched in the Net but we were hungry and I was an irritated growling tiger by then because of the heat, we went to a nearby cafe called Bistro Amarillo. It was a bit small compared to other cafes but it was comfy and had the old world Spanish charm. I couldn't help but take pictures of the ceiling and flooring -- which I wanted to make as inspirations for future homes/constructions someday:

The ceiling:

and the flooring:

 What we ate was -- Binagoongang Bagnet 

and Pakbet with Bagnet (gasp! cholesterol overload):

 We had green  mango shakes for drinks and dessert 

There was so much bagnet that we had half of it for takeaway for dinner that night.

I forgot the prices but these were reasonable and the food was delicious. I would recommend visitors to Vigan to eat in this place. :)

Sage Part2

This post was supposed to be done the previous year but then well, I am a busy :p person so here it is.

This was our date with hubby... we had taco. The contents were yummy but the shell was deep fried layers of what seemed like thin dough... it would have been better if they used corn tacos.

We also had their beef sub... it was yum-o but the chips were commercial v-cut chips..we were kinda hoping they'd have their own potato chips 

 And for drinks, we got their strawberry shake..refreshing!

I really love the colors in that foodie place :) 

Stitchin' My Way Back

I have resolved to value my time more and accomplish plenty of stuff. And this is by deciding to limit Facebook and to start  finishing all my unfinished projects at home. 

I've got plenty and I have my list. I did this for me to finish stuff and be able to create new ones and feel more "accomplished".

First stop: my "Hang In There Cross Stitch". This is the typical Precious Moment type of design of a boy and a girl riding a motorbike which are like me and hubby. I started with this in 2011 and I haven't touched it since April of this year.

I work on it for 1 - 3 hours almost every night. I am almost done with the cross stitches and I am back stitching some parts. Hopefully I will be finished next week and I can have it framed. :)

One Saturday Dinner

I was going over  pictures taken in my cellphone and I saw this... Hubby and I rarely go for take out deliveries for our dates but there was one occasion we did one cold February 2014 Saturday evening:

Onion rings and Pizza (half Pizza Carbonara and hal Bacon Cheeseburger) from Don Henrico's while watching a movie. Yum and Nice but not good for the waist line.... hehehe!

Country Road

My hubby and I have been scooter riding since we have been dating and spectacular views of mountains in Benguet or just cute cats along the road capture my attention.

During hot days, I appreciate riding under the canopies of trees such as this country road in Bineng, La Trinidad, Benguet - a 30-45 minute ride from Baguio City:

But it is also nice to ride around the city at  Camp John Hay, South Drive, Mines View and La Trinidad during night time when there is small volume of traffic and when the air is fresher and cooler.. I hope to post pics of of views we saw and see on the coming posts. 

Ungrumpy at Grumpy Joe's

I first encountered Grump Joe's from a friend's post at FB. So when I got the chance to eat there with hubby, we grabbed the opportunity. It was 6:00 pm on a Sunday but we were already second in line waiting to have a table. The place is a bit small but it I guess, there are really many patrons. Most of them are young ones like us... hahahah! Usually, students and yuppies who go for affordable, reasonable yet yummy foods.

And we were not disappointed. The place can give many pasta, burger and pizza joints a run for their money. 

We opted for the best sellers so that we could get a feel of the resto's strengths.

For drinks we got malunggay calamansi juice for me, and Oliver had the same but with syrup and whipped cream... they are bottled using garapons:

Guess which had the best taste? The one with cream and syrup, of course. :p

We also had creamy pesto and seafood pasta--truly a winner:

 There were 6 shrimps and some squids and tahong... yeah, I counted them..hahahah!.. Most of the time, restaurants give 2 for marinara or seafood pesto.. you are lucky if you get 3 for a price of Php 190.00. We had 6. 

We tried also their yummy lasagna...

Truly delisyoso... and the best of all their pizza:

We had the Pepperoni Pizza (Left) and Grumpy Joe (right) pizza.. you can choose 2 flavors just like Don Henrico's. Their Pepperoni Pizza has jalapeno peppers in it and anchovies... It was spicy but I loved it better than their Grumpy Joe.

I just noted some similarities between the Grumpy Joe pizza and Don Henrico's pizza and also their lasagna's with that of the latter.. I don't know if they inteded to copy the flavors but they are similar in taste but in presentation and prices, these are different. 

Ultimately, we enjoyed our dinner and the long lines of people waiting to be seated are proofs that Grumpy Joe offers good or rather, great tasting food.