Vigan

(Warning: post contains many, many pictures. Click to enlarge any of them.)

I'M BACK! :D My posts are getting less and less frequent, I know. WELL WHAT DO YOU EXPECT. I do have a life outside the Internet, you know (just kidding. I really don't.). 

Anyway, I had one of the nastiest Chemistry tests of my life last night. One of the worst feelings in the world is not knowing the answer to a question despite having studied really hard. ("really hard" = two nights before and the morning of the test) Another one of the worst feelings ever is coming home from a weekend trip to Vigan, Ilocos Sur with your awesome blockmates and knowing that you're not just returning to Manila, you're returning to papers and tests and *uhhh* Biology, which is supposed to be mega fun but actually is sort of a drag now. 

BUT I'M GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF! Here's the past two weeks in pictures:

TWO WEEKS AGO...

...there was a long weekend, so I went home on SATURDAY! It was a really awesome Saturday too, because NSTP got cancelled. YAYYYYYY. Not wanting to waste a nice and rainy Saturday morning, we went to the Ateneo Art Gallery and checked out the trippy new exhibits. 

Look at that @_@ It's plastic bathroom scrub sponge thing glowing in ultraviolet light against a black wall. There was this other art installment that featured only a TV playing a bunch of seemingly random clips showing crucified dogs, food, and Filipino B-movies. I felt like I was being brainwashed. Oh, and did you know that an artist has created a virtual art gallery using the MMORPG Second Life? He took his real paintings and digitized them so that you can walk through a museum of his art that he built himself online. The centerpiece in the virtual museum is a trash can being attacked by flies. Fans on four sides of the garbage bin blow the flies away. Art. 

Hung out in the caf a bit with Jules, Ren, Cheryl, and Jeth, blockmates who had received news of the free cut in NSTP a little too late, and we thought we'd all go check out the art exhibit together. However, the rain caught up with us on the way there, so we sought shelter under the nearest roof available - the Doghouse (a small shed in the Zen Garden used mainly for promoting org events). The Doghouse has sort of gained a reputation for being the shed where the "cool people" hang out, but on that rainy day, when empty Ateneo was empty, we had it all to ourselves. Mwahahahahahaha. Take that, cool kidz. 

We should've planted a Block XX flag there or something. 

I had a flight home later at 4. No matter how sick I get on airplanes, I like how passengers never hesitate to help me with all the stuff I carry. People are so nice! I feel like I don't deserve these strangers' niceness, especially since I get really annoying on plane rides. Like when I'm in the middle seat, jammed between two strangers, I'll always want the two armrests for myself (also applicable to when I'm sitting in a cinema). I'm annoyed already, just thinking about how annoying I am. 

I was so happy when I saw my family again. I hadn't seen them in more than two months. Apparently in that span of time, they'd finally gotten around to replenishing our aquarium fish stock (since the previous generation of finny friends had all perished last summer in an unfortunate oxygen pump unplugging incident). Now we have around ten little fellas swimming around in our living room. So colorful and pretty. I don't think our aquarium has ever been this nice-looking. :) Just recently, Cait named one goldfish Goldiemort.

SATURDAY NIGHT had me at my old friend Anna's place, celebrating her 18th birthday! Yayyyyy! I met my friends whom I haven't seen in a long time, Janine, Dindi and Kristine, as well as some girls from the Kong Hua batch above me. It was nice finally catching up with them. 

Anna's mom is also an excellent cook.

SUNDAY - Lunch with the Co's. Then shopping.~

MONDAY - Fiesta of Cagayan de Oro! Woohoo! We went shopping. And then I went out with my cousins in the afternoon to the carnival in Limketkai Mall. Awesome day.

TUESDAY - I don't even remember anymore. Was there more shopping? All I'm certain about is that at night, my family and I were bent on eating at this fancy shmancy Italian place called La Tegola. But we eventually ended up eating at less fancy Sentro. The food was still amazing. We always have nice dinners when I'm leaving the next day.

WEDNESDAY - I took the first flight back to Manila at 6:00, and lo and behold, my friend Jason was on the same flight, with our friends Phoebe and Sherwin. Yay! At NAIA however, it took me two hours to get a taxi. LOOK AT THIS FREAKING LONG LINE.

Think, from the Ateneo high school up to the Cervini dorms. That's how long the line must've stretched. 

The two-hour wait was worth it, though. I was ushered into this cab with this really nice and friendly driver, Kuya Warren. He is an amazing person. He told me so many things about life. I think it was the most profound conversation I've ever had with a "stranger."

Apparently Kuya Warren and his taxi driver buddies speak in code when they talk via radio (which he is holding in his hand in this picture). His code name was Piolo Pascual.

THURSDAY

I was in a panic for most of the morning, because my film crew (hehe) and I had a shooting scheduled at 5:30, right after Bio Lab (which was yet again super fun - we dissected squids!). It was the first ever shoot we'd have for our film (an entry in an LFC film contest), and I was stressing because I knew from previous experience that no matter how prepared you are for a film, a bazillion problems will pop up on set anyway, like fresh pimples on an adolescent's young cheekbones.

Jollibee breakfast with Rap (officially: co-director) and Andy (officially: cinematographer). The record book at right is where we (are supposed to) keep all our film-related information, like the storyboard and the shotlists. Seen here is the shotlist for that afternoon's scene. 

Anyway, the time came and we were at Bel's condo. It was so exciting, the shooting process. I was wrong about a bazillion problems popping up like pimples; only about a hundred did show. The camera batteries failed. The lighting was weird. In the end, we didn't get to finish filming all the shots we'd set out to finish for that day. We were all exhausted.

But I loved it. It was the happy kind of tired. I loved seeing our ideas translated into film. I loved seeing how everybody's strengths and weaknesses came into play. I especially loved when our ideas synced up and we produced a great take. 

At the end of the day I found myself thankful that I'd been given such a dedicated and inspiring group of people to work with. Thank you Rap, Andy, Clarice, Diane and Leo! And thanks, Bel, Vito, Nino, and Alessi. :)

My hair was a mess, but at least I got to say, "Lights, camera, action!" I felt so director-y. (c) Alessi

FRIDAY

FIELD TRIP TO ILOCOS WOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE HAVE OUR VERY OWN TARP! (c) Bel Santos

It was an 8-hour bus ride with my Sociology and Anthropology class (comprised mostly of Block XX) going to Vigan. Sir Canilao, our S.A. teacher and organizer of the whole trip, brought with him 10 students from his Archeology class at UP Diliman. We left at 8:35 PM (the 5-minute delay was thanks to me. I thought the thing was at 9! Sorry guys) and had about three stopovers. 

SATURDAY

We arrived bright and early at 4:00 AM, three hours head of schedule. Woo! The hotel we stayed at was called Aniceto Mansion, and by the looks of the inside, it seemed ancient. There was a well. There were secret passageways that led into a creepy altar. There was a creepy altar (the kind that had statues with missing facial features). 

(c) Bel

I read online that it was a really crappy place to live in and that it was infested with mosquitos, but it was actually a very clean, well-maintained hotel. No mosquitoes. It really was a mansion; it had that homey-vibe but still had more than 20 rooms. 

It also had an ethereal garden. (c) Bel

When we got there, Micha, our two UP roommates, and I were assigned a room good for 15 people because our rooms weren't ready yet. WOOOOO THREE BATHROOMS! 

In the morning when the sun had come up, I found out that Aniceto Mansion was located on one side of Plaza Burgos, which is probably the most urban you will ever get in Vigan. Everything was located near our hotel - the commercial district, the park, the landmarks and the kalesas. 

Breakfast was at 7:30. At the Aniceto Mansion, you have a choice of either Vigan longganisa or  tocino. P100, inclusive of coffee or Milo. (c) Albert Song

After breakfast, it was time for the city tour via kalesa! WOOO! We were four people in one kalesa, plus a driver. I forgot what our horse's name was, but I sure hope it was Mystery, or Majesty, or Debbie. (c) Albert

Vigan is just so beautiful. Most of it is old buildings built during the Spanish occupation, with beautiful, capiz shell windows and tiled roofs.

(c) Bel

I think this is a picture of one of the buildings next to our hotel. (c) Bel

Even the newer buildings follow the same Spanish architecture. (c) Bel

Our first stop was just a few meters from the hotel - the ancestral home of Father Burgos (of GomBurZa fame). It was  weird thinking that I was actually occupying the same space that he once did. (c) Albert

Fr. Burgos's bedroom. The white thing at the foot of his bed is his arinola. (kidz) (c) Albert

RELIGIOUS FIGURES WITH MISSING FACIAL FEATURES AND LIMBS :-S

Diane and Kath being lovely yet again in the room Fr. Burgos used to entertain his guests. (c) Albert

Micha at the entrance to the library. The forbidden library. (c) Bel

NEXT STOP: Burnayan pottery place! LOOK AT ALL THOSE POTS. I wonder if Vigan really does have such high demand for clay pots, or if these babies are here just for show.  Supposedly these pots are used to gather salt. Salt water comes in, and only the salt stays inside. (c) Albert

This is the "head" of what is known as a dragon kiln, named so because it's got a huge body with  intense heat inside. Pots are poked into the kiln via holes in the body and then retrieved, nice and baked. Hehe (c) Bel

Back in the kalesa convoy to... (c) Albert


...Damili pottery place! It got so hot in here that my nose started to bleed. I spent most of my time here trying to compose myself and look cool whilst holding a bloody tissue up my nose, so I didn't really get to appreciate this little stop. We spent, what, 10 minutes? looking at people feeding this fire. (c) Albert 

NEXT STOP: BALUARTE ANIMAL ENCOUNTER!!!!!!!!!!! This was seriously one of my most favorite parts of the trip. There's just so many fun (and free) things you can do in this place, like take pictures with dinosaurs (seen in the background here)... (c) Albert

...touch a bearcat, a python, and a sugar glider... (c) Albert

...ride a carriage towed by a miniature horse whilst flashing the thumbs-up to your hosts of adoring fans... (c) Albert

...and feed birds (these lovely little fellas, as I soon found out, are called sun canures). I think I could've spent the whole day just popping seeds into their beaks and watching them eat. I wanted to birdnap them. (c) Albert

Lunch was at Max's, a few feet from our hotel. (c) Bel

Walking tour! :D We passed through Calle Crisologo, a street paved with cobblestone and surrounded by lovely Spanish-style old buildings. (c) Bel

Souvenir and antique shops abound, but we'd get to visit them later on in the night. (c) Bel

Our trip was wonderfully timed - it was Heritage Day, and there was a parade! :) (c) Albert

We took a bus to check out Pag-Abelan, Ilocos loom weaving. It was amazing watching these guys work, so mechanical and precise. The cloth that they produced is just so beautiful, too. Here I bought a bag for Cheryl! :) (c) Albert

Thus concluded our itinerary for the day! We took a bus back to the city proper for FREE TIEMZ!!! The block sort of dispersed, but majority went to Calle Crisologo for some nice souvenir shopping. 

MY CAMERA LIVES!!! Calle Crisologo is even more beautiful at night. (c) Rap Abacan

Dinner was at the Trellis Food Court, a nice, relaxed outdoors place. There was an open mic night thing going on, so our blockmates Dino (above), Vera, Miah and Mike gamely took the stage and sang! (c) Bel

We went to the Magsingal  National Museum the next morning. (c) Bel

"Ilocos Beauties." I like how some of them weren't skinny or fair-skinned! (c) Albert

Basi, Ilocos wine. What's interesting is that men and women have separate basi's; the men's basi is supposedly stronger, and the women's is more dilute. (c) Albert

BANTAY TOWER! It's 100x more beautiful in person. Photo opportunities abound. (c) Bel

What trip would be complete without the XX boys tickle fights? (c) Bel

We're all in this together~ (c) Albert

This next part was one of my favorite stops! We hiked to the archaeological site that our teacher frequented. What you see in the middle of this picture is an actual piece of ceramic from the Ming Dynasty! Isn't that amazing? It was just sticking out of the ground. Supposedly the place was where Chinese merchants liked to trade, and you can find here lots of Ming Dynasty ceramic and even Taiwanese pottery shards just sticking up from the ground. I found a nice big piece of  celadon to bring home! (Sir let us pick up the bits we found just lying on the surface, because surface finds on archeological sites don't have any laws keeping anyone from taking them.) I wanted to stay longer and dig around for gold. (c) Albert

Time to go home :( We passed by so many beautiful places and stopped here to take pictures heehee. (c) Albert

I couldn't resist including this picture. That's our teacher, Sir Canilao, on the far left. (c) Ren Aquino