Soft Luxe Travels Vigan: The Journey Home Part 1: Breakfast, Bagnet, and Roadside Snapshots

Leaving Vigan comes with a bittersweet feeling—half of me wanted to linger in its cobblestone streets a little longer, but the other half was ready to head back home, carrying new memories and pasalubong along the way.

Breakfast from 1995 Studio Café

I woke up extra early that day for some last-minute packing. Mom and our driver went to 1995 Studio Café to buy breakfast that we will eat in our rooms. I visited the cafe the night before, hoping for a takeaway, but they said that the food will take a really long time. We were not allowed to park for a long time outside, so I skipped this resto and ordered room service instead.

The cafe is a cozy spot that feels both modern and nostalgic. It was packed when we went in, partly because of the downpour happening outside.

For breakfast, all three of us ordered the corned beef meal. My son and I have this thing where we order corned beef for breakfast whenever we're in a new place. I'll tell you what we thought about this meal in my food blog soon.

A Beauty Mishap

I realized that I'm very comfortable traveling in skirts than in jeans or jeggings! So, I wore my chocolate brown mermaid skirt for our journey home. As you can see, my travel humidifier is ready and a snack pack was left at the front desk for the staff.

Traveling isn’t always picture-perfect. Somewhere between packing, exploring, and handling pasalubong bags, my red manicure finally gave up. My nail polish was chipped and uneven, a far cry from the polished look I started the trip with. It’s one of those little reminders that journeys are meant to be lived in the moment—even if it means beauty slips through the cracks.

I was debating whether I should bring one bottle of polish and nail polish remover. Next time, I definitely will!

Irma’s Famous Bagnet

You can pick which pieces you like and put them on the scale. A huge tub of bagnet comes out every hour!

Of course, no road trip home from Ilocos is complete without a stop for bagnet. We made sure to bring home several kilos from Irma’s, one of the trusted names for this crispy pork delicacy. The savory aroma already made the car smell like a feast, and I knew it would be the highlight of our table once we got home.

We were fortunate we got a freshly cooked tub!

That's our driver's hand, Kuya Fil, picking out the best pieces for me. 😊 I'm grateful that we have such a nice, professional, highly-skilled, respectful driver. Not to mention, fun! When we reached the fork going to Manila or Baguio, he asked if he should turn left to Baguio! 😁 And then when we reached Tarlac, we learned that government work was suspended the next day! Everyone groaned including Kuya Fil! He said, he should have just turned left to Baguio! 😂

Packed bagnet, ready for the journey home

Snapshots on the Road

As always, the road provided its own kind of scenery—rolling fields, glimpses of mountain silhouettes, and the occasional quirky roadside stall. I snapped quick photos along the way, knowing these in-between moments are just as precious as the big landmarks.

I had fun taking pictures of the water as we missed this on our way to Ilocos. It was night time when we got there.

Part 2 of The Journey Home will share more snapshots, a McDonald’s stop, pasalubong from roadside vendors, and the unexpected detour we had to take due to flooding. Sometimes the journey really does surprise you.

I will leave you with more photos of the water:

I was trying to take a close up photo of that white structure on the edge of the cliff, but we were driving fast.

So beautiful

Sunny blue skies and cotton candy clouds on our way down. Little did we know that Manila was being beaten down by rain while we enjoyed this magnificent scenery.

Soul Notes: For Your Journal Tonight

Come sit with me for a while. I have my journal open, and tonight I’ve been thinking about something I suspect I do more often than I realize. I turn healing into another thing I need to accomplish. I want to know when I’ll be over something. When I’ll stop thinking about it. When something that hurt will finally stop hurting. When I’ll feel like myself again. And somewhere along the way, healing quietly becomes another deadline. Another invisible date on a calendar. Another thing I can somehow be late for. But maybe healing doesn’t work particularly well under project management. Maybe there are things I will understand quickly and things I’ll have to revisit again and again. Maybe I’ll feel completely fine one day and unexpectedly tender the next. That doesn’t mean I’ve gone backwards. It means I’m still moving through it. I remember one day, many years ago, when I had fibromyalgia. I lived in constant pain. I just couldn’t get a good day. And then one day, in the office...

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The Pleasure of Leaving It Behind

I really liked this dress. Enough that I stood there looking at it for far longer than necessary, having that familiar little debate with myself. It was black. Simple. Very me. I could already imagine how I would wear it. There was only one problem. The fabric was thick. And perhaps in another climate, or another version of my life, that wouldn’t matter very much. But I live in the Philippines. We’re going through El Niño. Heat and I are already not particularly good friends, and my histamine sensitivity has made me even less willing to wear something that might leave me uncomfortable simply because it looks good. Still, I stood there. Because sometimes walking away from something we like is strangely difficult, even when we already know it isn’t right for us. We start negotiating. Maybe I’ll only wear it indoors. Maybe the fabric isn’t that thick. Maybe I’ll regret leaving it behind. Then I realized I was trying awfully hard to convince myself to buy something my body had alrea...

Glow by Lady E

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