A TOTALLY different Vigan was what I experienced recently. Tourists were all over the city especially in the historic Kamestisuhan district of vintage houses and cobbled streets. Shops selling souvenir products were opened on the ground floor of many of those houses.

A little more than 10 years ago, on a food research trip, I was the only soul walking through that same district. Save for a few, the houses were all closed so that the place looked like a ghost town. I was staying at Cordillera Inn, and even if some vehicles went through the main street (today only the kalesas are allowed to traverse there), it was blissfully quiet.

My morning research schedule brought me to the Quema house, the home of Isabelo de los Reyes, founder of the Labor Movement and one of those who established the Philippine Independent Church. The cook and caretaker, Gloria, was my guide through the market and Ilocos food.

On my recent trip, it took me a while to find the Quema house. Each one we asked gave a different address. When we finally found it, the Quema house looked different, and so did the neighboring houses, some converted into hotels.

The door knocker was what I spotted right away, an antique hand that I thought gave the place character. Gloria was also there, supervising the cleaning after the house went through remodeling. She didn’t look older than when I last worked with her, when I’d spend hours observing how she cooked Ilocano food like dinendeng and pakbet.

My afternoon schedule then included going to empanada-makers gathered around the church plaza.

Now, the empanada-makers have their regular stands, like Irene’s Empanada on Salcedo Street. The plaza that day was a busy hive not because of the empanada-makers but because a motorcycle show was ongoing. There were makeshift eateries on one side.

Vigan on a weekend

Progress can be good or bad depending on what you look for. Maybe it was because we were in Vigan on a weekend, at the start of summer, that the place looked entirely different from what I experienced before. There was also a daylong brownout so that the clip-clop of horse’s hooves on the old district street was drowned out by the sound of generators. Then some of the old houses were sporting bright Mediterranean colors, out of sync with the white exteriors of the traditional houses.

Yet progress also includes projects that not only give tourists a cursory look, but also let them experience the place. One of those is at Arce Mansion where Lito Perez can organize dinner or lunch for tourists who can dress up in period costumes. It’s made possible because Perez also owns Camp Suki, a costume shop. Guests will be photographed and the souvenir photo will have that antique sepia-tinted look. Singers will entertain guests as they partake of a five-course meal.

We experienced lunch at Arce Mansion on that last visit. We had pipian, Vigan’s chicken soup thickened with rice flour, colored with achuete and flavored with pasotes or Mexican epazote. The rest of the courses were family-style roast chicken from the Pamora farms in Abra: bagnet, hamonado, guinataang sigarilyas (winged bean cooked in coconut milk), and bibingka for dessert. Perez said that not all the courses were traditional Ilocano. Some were his family’s dishes.

For those who want to dine and stay at the Arce Mansion, call 725-0819/725-4652.