January 12, 2013

Wandering Ilocos: Day One - PART 2 - Empanada, Vigan and that Dinuguan

Everybody here knows the stall "Yumpanada" right? Well, in Vigan there's a different way of making it, or should I say there's a "traditional" way of making one.

Well it has some veggies, pork and the one that makes it distinct from other empanadas is the egg and the thin wrapping to provide that crispiness. It's also big, one serving is almost a full meal, and you have to eat it with vinegar to get the full taste of Vigan's empanada.

Bantay Church

The Bantay Church Bell Tower was said to be built first than the Church to see incoming people to the city, 10 years ago this bell tower is not open for public, it can only be watched from a distance, about a 100 meters away and this was the only memory I have when we went to the North 10 years ago. It was nice seeing it opened now for public and tourists swarming all over it, when I went there a decade ago, we were the only ones looking at it!


Then after that we checked out a jar making shop, I tried it and it was hard, the clay they were using were soil from rice paddies, so it's really sticky and forming it while it spins around is just so tricky that I wasn't able to make one. It's a hard art to do, the man said after forming the jar, they let it dry in the open-shaded room where it stays for another 3-4 weeks before being sold.


Crisologo Street, Vigan - The World Heritage site, Vigan, whose original name came from a Chinese (Hokkien) word "Bee Gan" meaning "beautiful shore," is one of the last remaining, untouched, well-preserved old Spanish cities in the country. Its narrow streets could only accomodate two-way Kalesa traffic.


One of the really old houses. You can clearly see the preservation it has undertaken over the years.

Children in a coffee shop.
And of course, I wouldn't miss my signature traveling shot.


 Dinuguan Pizza at Saramsam Restaurant
 We went to a restaurant called Saramsam, particularly for its famous "Dinuguan Pizza" a Pork Viand cooked with Pig's Blood in a Pizza. For me, I just had to try this!!! Because "Dinuguan" is my favorite filipino dish, yes, other people wouldn't dare to eat a black gooey viand, but to me, it's heaven! So we ordered, waited for an hour, which my dad wasn't really fond of, comes out berating the staff for its long service. My mindset was just to eat that Dinuguan Pizza. Then we finally got a taste of it! It was good, and actually, it can be done by anyone, just order pizza, then put the Dinuguan all over the pizza, it's a mix of salty, sweet and sour thing going on there.

Day one ended with a happy tummy and tired legs. I didn't even take a bath first, I just laid in the bed for an hour before taking one. So this ends day one, watch out for day 2! Cheers!

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