We were just supposed to have a trip to Baguio from May 8-10. The Vigan trip (May 6-8) has not been finalized yet because we were still not sure if my dad will be permitted to leave from work for a long period. But I guess Mark was lucky enough, the Vigan trip came to happen, we arrived hours earlier for the competition proper, and Mark was able to join the competition.

After our merienda at Plaza Burgos, we went back to Vigan gym for Mark's competition, which is the very reason why we went to Vigan haha!

My family was in full support for Mark. :) And as always, I was Mark's personal assistant, I was the one who made gave him his tan.

After the motorcade and a few hours of waiting, the competition finally began.

It's Sunday again and the family's all complete! We had a mouth-watering lunch courtesy of the best chef in town, my dad. :D

He cooked these for lunch: Pork Adobo, chinese style :P

Pink Salmon Sinigang,

and Jaoey's all-time favorite, Bagnet or what we all know as Lechon Kawali.

We also had ice cream for dessert. *drools*

We were supposed to have lunch at the backyard, but the sun was scorching so we decided to move it to dinner.

After dinner, we then plunged into the waters!

And had some fun fun fun!!!

What a great way to beat the heat!

We went back to the hotel to freshen up and have some siesta after our scrumptious lunch.

At around 4pm, we were all ready for another adventure. :) Gia, Jeff, and I accompanied Mark to the Vigan gym for a bodybuilding competition.

After some picture taking and a quick rest at El Juliana Hotel, we went next to Tessie's Restaurant.

Whenever we come home to Vigan, we usually arrive just in time for lunch and Tessie's Restaurant is where we would always dine. It seems to be my dad's favorite dining place in Vigan. :)

Here are some photos of us while waiting for our food.

We arrived at Vigan past 11am. We dropped by my dad's friend who accompanied us to El Juliana Hotel.

El Juliana is a spacious old building which has retained much of its features back from the Spanish times.

The building is almost hidden from outside by high brick walls. With its enormous wooden gate, with a smaller door cut out of it, you will really feel like you're in a European medieval palace or in a Spanish parador.

It has flagged stones on the ground floor...

a wide imposing staircase going to the second floor...

and huge polished hardwood floorboards all over the second floor up to the bedrooms.

El Juliana's bedrooms are spacious. Our room already has 3 beds so we just requested for 3 extra mattresses for the boys.

Each room also has an added feature of an array of the modern-day equipment you have in your own home like cable TV, private safe, air conditioning, and hot and cold shower.

There are some rooms overlooking to the pool while others have a veranda.

They also have another distinct attraction in the hotel--the spacious lobby with a lot of paintings and wooden furniture...

a restaurant/cafe...

and the free wifi! :D Wifi signal in rooms are weak though. :(

Situated at the heart of the city and just a few walks away from the Heritage Village and Plaza Burgos, El Juliana Hotel sure is a great place to stay in Vigan.

EL JULIANA HOTEL

5 Liberation Blvd. cor. Quirino Blvd.
Contact Numbers: +63(77) 722.29.94

Vigan City, Philippines

We were all up and about as early as 2am last Thursday, May 6, 2010 for our Northern trip.

Well except of course for Jaoey, who had a very sound sleep all throughout the trip.

After around 9 long hours of drive, with some picture taking while on our way...

and a few stop overs in between...

we finally arrived at Vigan!!!