Ilocos Tour Part 5: Baluarte and Hidden Garden

I'm kind of rushing my Ilocos entries, I just realized my blog entries are piling up! This is going to be the second to the last entry for our Ilocos tour, and this so happens to be the last few places we got to see around Vigan via our cool calesa tour with Kuya Richard and Michelle.

After having a quiet moment in a Church in the town of Bantay just outside Vigan, we went to the famed BALUARTE of Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson. He used to live here, but now serves as a zoo and a conservation facility for endagered animals. But what's cool is that admission is ABSOLUTELY FREE!

Once you've entered, the first animals you see are these beautiful, colorful birds. We couldn't resist having our pictures taken! They were so sweet!


Look at these cute, orange birds. Don't they look adorable? Well...looks can be deceiving. When Milds tried to touch 'em, one of the little imps gave her a peck on the finger! NAUGHTY!!

But this one, MY GOSH! It knew I was taking photos of him or her. And he/she was just so game showing off all of his/her angles! Photogenic!



The big ostrich is also found here in Baluarte. It's funny because they kept pecking at the paint in their enclosure. Is that an ostrich's main diet?

Other animals in Baluarte are the Miniature Horses (you could take them out for a ride via a tiburin, or a small horse-drawn carriage,) and some kind of sheep or deer which we saw were grazing in the vast field. There were also geese, swimming around a tiny pond.



And lastly, this is Chavit's pride: HIS TWO TIGERS. It was so cool to see them lounging around. If they weren't wild animals I would've hugged them!

It was nice to see that Chavit Singson really makes sure his animals are healthy and have their freedom to roam around, and their sanctuary clean. The animals look happy their. Plus the kids had a grand time interacting with the animals. It's a great way to teach them about these animals and conservation. For that, I say KUDOS TO CHAVIT SINGSON! :)

Since we were kind of rushing around and also hungry, we left Baluarte for yet another clean-and-green area: HIDDEN GARDEN. Kuya Richard said there was a nice restaurant we could eat in (that will be in a separate post) so we hurried towards it. It's my first time to see these places, so I was totally psyched.

Although I'm not a big fan of plants, Hidden Garden was a breath of fresh air. There were lots of plants (most were for sale), my Mother would've loved this place!





The Hidden Garden has been visited by some local celebrities like Pops Fernandez and Gabby Concepcion, as evidenced by their wall with photos put up by owner Francis Flores, a landscape artist.. And it has also been used by the Going Bulilit (a popular gag show for kids) kids in one of their shows. I didn't really know that the place was THIS popular.

So if in Vigan, don't miss out on these places. They're really beautiful and it can help you de-stress! If only we had a lot of time in our hands, we'd really take time to go around and take in the sights.

For more information on Baluarte click on this link.
For Hidden Garden please click on this.

Other links to our Vigan tour:
Part 1: Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte
Part 2: Cordillera Inn, Night Shots and Empanada
Part 3: Crisologo and SyQuia Museums
Part 4: Bantay Bell Tower and St. Augustine Parish Church

Ilocos Tour Part 4: Bantay Bell Tower and St. Augustine Church

After looking at antique furniture and seeing how the rich people lived back then, it was again time to hop on our calesa to our next destination. Kuya Richard steered Michelle to the town of Bantay, just outside the heritage city of Vigan.

We got down in front of St. Augustine Parish Church which Kuya Richard says is one of the oldest churches in Ilocos Sur and probably even in Region 1 where the 2 Ilocos provinces belong.

Built in 1590, the church is named after the Agustinian priests' patron saint. Badly damaged during World War II, the church was reconstructed in 1950. The facade is of Neo-Gothic design mixed with Pseudo-Romanesque elements.

We took a look inside, and first thing I noticed was the long aisle and the cool arches. It was so pretty!

And up on the altar, is the image of Our Lady of Charity.

The church also serves as a Shrine for the Our Lady's image. Devotees say that the image has done numerous miraculous deeds. In 1956 Our Lady of Charity was crowned as the Patroness of Ilocandia, following the visit of the Papal Nuncio.

And right beside the church, is the Bantay Bell Tower. Kuya Richard gave us a juicy tidbit: Fernando Poe, Jr. used the bell tower in one of his PANDAY movies.

Pardon the next set of photos you are about to see. Apparently the people tasked to maintain the bell tower got some pretty good tricks up their sleeves. There was this guy who volunteered to take our photos, and we ended up having all these wacky shots.





And this was just outside. When we got in the bell tower, he asked us to do more poses. Funny!






After the photography tour of Bantay Bell Tower, I think it is customary to give the guy (or whoever volunteers to take your group's photos) some tip. I think we gave Manong P20. Oh! And there's also a donation box for touring the bell tower. Just give any amount and sign up on the log book and you'll be just fine. :)

Next up is Chavit Singson's BALUARTE. For the animal lover's, you wouldn't want to miss out on this animal haven! :)

Other blog entries from our Ilocos tour:
Ilocos Tour Part 1: Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte
Ilocos Tour Part 2: Vigan's Cordillera Inn, Night Shots and Empanada
Ilocos Tour Part 3: Crisologo and Quirino-Sy Quia Museums

Ilocos Tour Part 3: Crisologo and Quirino-Sy Quia Museums

After seeing Vigan's beauty at night and eating the really yummy and authentic empanada and going on a rainy tour of the Ilocos Norte, it was time for another tour. But this time we bade farewell to cramped tricycle interiors to make way for a classier way to go - the CALESA!

Calesas are horse-drawn carriages, and used to be the mode of transportation during the Spanish era. Today, the calesas are still used in Vigan to either tour people or as a regular public transport for the residents.


Kuya Richard, our tour guide/calesa driver for the day, has been doing this for 12 years now. He was just so game in answering my touristy questions about his work, his horse, and the calesa drivers' association (there are about 100 of them in Vigan).

Our first stop was the Crisologo Museum. Even before the Singsons came into power in Ilocos Sur, the Crisologos ruled the province. Even though they don't have a stronghold on Ilocos Sur, the family is still a household name in politics.

The museum is actually the family's ancestral home. It's an old bahay na bato (house made of stone), but the floorings and the walls are all made of wood, giving it a cozy, cool feel.

In the first floor of the house, we saw a caruaje (Kuya Richard said was used by Cesar Montano in his Jose Rizal film) and Floro Crisologo's (the patriarch and former Congressman of Ilocos Sur) old car.


We also saw the work desk of Floro Crisologo's wife, Carmeling. She was the first woman governor of the province.

Up on the second floor of the house is an entire room dedicated to Floro Crisologo. He was killed in 1970 while hearing mass at the Vigan Cathedral. In this room, they have on display the pants and shoes Floro wore the day he was killed.


The third floor is the main floor, where the huge sala (living room) is. The sala has HUGE windows that offer a nice view of the street, antique furniture, polished wooden floorboards, and different family portraits.


While looking around, we noticed that 2 of Floro's daughters were Scholasticans. Had to show this to Kim, go St. Scho!! :))


We also saw the husband and wife's room, which had a beautiful 4-poster bed, an old rotary phone, and the dresser of Carmeling with her wide collection of perfumes.



The room right beside the master's bedroom is Carmeling's walk-in closet. I swear she's like Imelda Marcos with her extensive collection of shoes and baro't sayas (a traditional Filipino dress). This is every FASHIONISTAS dream!!


The other room belonged to Bingbong Crisologo, now Quezon City's Congressman. Looking through his pictures, I realized I knew one of his sons. Edrick Crisologo happened to be a classmate of mine in DLSU, I just never really made the connection. But hey, it's fun to discover things about people later on.

We also saw the old-school kitchen with a WOODEN REFRIGERATOR. It looked weird and so much like everything came from the stone age.


Then there's the huge dining area, a place I assumed saw a lot of political meetings and discussions.

We left the Crisologo museum and hopped on board our calesa and let Kuya Richard and Michelle take us to the next museum. I'm not a fan of museums, but seeing these old houses and their wealth, you just can't help but get absorbed and fascinated with the things that they have.

A couple of lefts and rights, we got to the Sy Quia-Quirino mansion, also now a museum. But frankly speaking, this house is more well-maintained that the Crisologo's. We were welcomed by Rusty Sebastian-Ponce, a 5th generation Quirino, and the only one living in the mansion.

We went up to the 2nd floor, and saw the beautiful and spacious ante-sala. They had a replica of the Spoliarium (Juan Luna's famous painting, a mirror with an 18-karat gold border, a beautiful grandfather's clock (being a fan of watches and timepieces, I really wanted to take it home with me), and a vase that came from the Emperor of China during the Ming Dynasty.





This would be the main sala with those dainty furniture and huge windows that make the room glow.

This is the dining room. Those "drapes" actually have 2 purposes - to ward off flies and to fan the people dining.

Looking out into the window of the dining room, you see the courtyard which Rusty says is the coolest part of the mansion.

The family is also deeply religious. They have their own chapel in the middle of the house which housed antique statues of saints. I fell in love with the crucifix! I used to be open to the public, but some tourist who wanted a keepsake stole the head of one the statues. So now the chapel can only be viewed from the outside.

As we toured the house, I completely forgot that Cory Quirino, fitness and beauty expert, is related to Pres. Elpidio Quirino. She was my former editor-in-chief when I was still in the publishing world, and it was just so nice to see her roots. Mabuhay ang mga Ilocana! :))

Downstairs, Rusty asked us to pose in front of the caruaje and the portrait of the former president Elpidio Quirino.


Just a reminder for the tourists who plan on going to these museums, please donate. Your donations are used to help in the up-keep of the houses. In the Sy Quia-Quirino mansion, donations are at P20 per person. In the Crisologo house, any amount will do.

They have priceless stuff in those house so maintaining them is real job! And it's one of the best ways to understand the culture of Ilocos Sur.

For part 4 of our Ilocos tour: Chavit Singson's Baluarte! :)