Pagburnayan

Ruby Pottery Shop
Vigan City, Ilocos Sur
06 March 2010

In Vigan City, there are two well known pottery shops, the RG Pottery and the Ruby Pottery shops, which are actually related to each other. When I first set foot in Vigan City in 2006, my siblings and I visited the RG Pottery, but in 2007... seeing there was a bus pulling over Ruby Pottery Shop, we decided to go with the tourists' flow and it allowed us to see National Folk Artist - Fidel Go - in person, at work.

March 2010, I went back to Vigan City, and seeing the Ruby Pottery was just walking distance from the bus terminal where I left my luggage as I walk around Vigan, I went to give it another visit.




Fidel Antiporda Go is a National Folk Artist of Chinese descent known for his craft in pottery. He is the son of Ongkai Go, who set up the Ruby Pottery shop with cousin Igan Go. He inherited the jar factory from them, and among the two surviving Chinese-owned pottery shops, he is the only one who still does pottery himself.

In 2007, I was able to witness him work, and I was really amazed. Not only did he share his talent, he also shared history and knowledge about the art and the craft of pottery making... and also allowed guests to get their hands try pottery making. Sadly, during my revisit in 2010, he wasn't around in the shop, but since there were tourists, workers at the jar factory were the ones to impart knowledge.




Clay Mixing. With the help of a carabao (or water buffalo), clay soil is mixed (just like making a dough to make bread), which is then going to be used to mold the clay jars.


At Work. How they do the jars are basically the same as how any potters do their jars. I guess the biggest difference is that their materials are quite bigger, and as one molds the jar, another spins the wheel using his foot, and one readies the next chunk of clay to be used.


From this...


to this...


to this.

After the initial molding, one will carry it to the next station - where a worker polishes the shape of the jar before leaving it to dry for some hours.




Pugon. This is where they cook the clay jars. Cooking and cooling the jars take days to complete, so consider yourself lucky if you happen to pass by the factory while they load and/or unload the oven.


There are so designs and sizes available for tourists to buy, but the time I visited the factory, they were busy making jars the size of a small bucket. One of the workers said these jars were orders from a salt-making factory.

The Ruby Pottery shop is open everyday, but of course, if you want to see the men at work, try to visit the place around 9am - 11:30am and again at 2pm -4pm. They are open even during lunch break - as they have a shop outside, but I just put the time in as a guide. There are no guarantees, though. :)

Burnay (or the clay jar) is one of the products Vigan City is proud of. Next time you visit the city, I really suggest you try and visit the shop.

*** Jenn ***

Road to Vigan City

Road Shots from La Union - Ilocos Sur
06 March 2010

As always, I found myself traveling to my favorite place, Vigan City. I went to the bus stop quite early because I always tend to forget what time the bus arrives, so might as well get there early and wait. Since I was alone for this travel (not a first, though), I just entertained myself looking from the window and hope I could capture as much interesting pictures as possible.

Well, I do try to take a nap once in a while, so I wasn't able to take much, but here are some that I captured:


Tobacco Field. Tobacco leaves were harvested as early as January, so this field was on its end stages... farmers just wanted to maximize the crop.


Sta. Maria Church. The structure above the stairway is the Sta. Maria Church, one of the four baroque churches in the Philippines, and is a UNESCO world heritage site. I would love to re-visit the church (I last went there in 2008), but since I am alone for this trip, I decided not to do any side trips and travel straight to Vigan.




River. I took this somewhere in the town of Narvacan (Ilocos Sur) if I am not mistaken. I saw a water stream from afar, so I quickly took my camera to aim for a shot. Glad my camera didn't let me down. :)


The Bus Driver. Whenever I travel to Vigan, I always try to sit on the right side because I wanted to take a picture of the Quirino Bridge... but then I realized I have taken lots of pictures of the bridge and that I have to sit on the left side. Well, that was a mistake... so all I can do to share the water on the left side was to take this shot. This is one of my favorite sights while traveling to Vigan.. seeing the water on the left side and the mountain on the right side. It's like seeing the best of both worlds.


Suso Beach. I was able to keep my hand still while I zoomed on the bus' windshield so I was able to capture this. Sadly, there were reflections, but this was the best I could do, and I am happy about it.


Quirino Bridge. There is a new bridge connecting the two parts of Ilocos Sur, so I can now take pictures of the Quirino Bridge from the bus' window. Again, there was a reflection, but I didn't care much about that anymore, I am loving the view!

The bridge is always my cue to know that Vigan is just around the corner. After taking this picture, I placed back my camera in bag, and just enjoy the ride.

*** Jenn ***

La Union Snapshots

Province of La Union
28 February - 05 March 2010

Since daddy died, I would always travel to La Union in time for his death anniversary to light a candle for him. In 2009, I went to attend my first Panagbenga Festival Grand Street Parade, and I realized I just added something to the "routine" - traveling to Baguio City in time for the grand street parade, then traveling to our house in La Union to stay until the 5th of March.

I have shared some places I went to, and since my albums had "loose" pictures, thought I'd just share them in one post. Here are some of the pictures I took day by day:




One Town, One Product Trade Fair (28 February). As soon as I reached our house from Baguio City, my Aunt Julie told me right away that there was a trade fair in San Fernando City, the capital city of the province. The province of La Union was celebrating its Founding Anniversary, and part of the celebration was having a street lined with different stalls from each of the towns and municipalities. Each stall showcases different products, and I found myself buying some fruits that afternoon.


Quezon Avenue at Night (01 March). Also known as the national highway in San Fernando City, I took this picture just before I went to find my place for the La Union Electric Parade.


Euphorbia (02 March). My Aunt asked me to stay at home for today because I needed to take a rest, to entertain myself, I went to my Aunt's garden to take pictures of the flowers. This euphorbia became my instant favorite because it looked like candles.


Grilled Porkchops at Midway Grill (03 March). Food tripping wasn't really part of my vacation because I was more focused in going places than eating food, but there was this one food place that I was so interested to eat at, so on this day, in between church hopping, I went to try their foods. To read more about this food trip, please click HERE.


Bauang Town Marker (03 March). My last stop for this day was the Sts. Peter and Paul Church in the town of Bauang. It was my first time to go there, and when the bus stopped by the town market, I decided to get off and walk to the church. I saw this marker at the intersection, so I took a picture. Quite risky because it was in the middle of the road, but it was a great experience.


Market Day (04 Mar). Thursdays and Sundays are the market days in the town of Bacnotan, so I went with my Aunt to help her shop as well as take pictures for my files. I knew people in the provinces weren't used to seeing a person holding a camera and I didn't want them to think I was invading their privacy, so I used my cell phone to take this picture.


St. Michael the Archangel Parish (05 March). After eating breakfast, I went to the cemetery to visit my dad's grave as today was his death anniversary (3rd year). I went home in time for lunch, but I just walked from the highway to our house, and before going home, I passed by the church to take some pictures. Sadly, I wasn't able to take pictures inside as the office was closed, but because this church was just a few steps away from our house, I knew I always have time to visit it. This was my last day in La Union, so I had to wait for my next vacation for a much extensive share about it.

Even if I was alone in checking out the places during my vacation, I was a happy traveler. The fifth of February may be my last day in La Union, but it wasn't the end of my vacation. I still have a day, and it's time to travel to another province. :)

*** Jenn ***

A Sunset Moment with the Paratong Kids

Paratong Beach
Bacnotan, La Union
04 March 2010

In 2008 and 2009, the fourth of March meant me traveling back to Baguio City to buy a bouquet of flowers for my dad's death anniversary. However, I seemed to have no other reason to go there (in 2008 I was with my sister and in 2009 I went for a day trip with my cousin Mhai), so I decided to stay home.

Whenever I am on a vacation, my feet would itch so bad that I truly cannot stay in the house. When my aunt came home after a shift at the hospital (she's a nurse), I told her I would go to Paratong Beach to watch the sunset. I had a little scare when a suspicious man followed me the other day (after I took out my camera to take a picture of a flower), so my aunt asked me to just take the tricycle to the beach and back home because it will be dark soon.


Fishermen. When I got to the beach, I was quite surprised seeing the fishing village wasn't where it was and that the beach seemed to have come closer. Blame typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) for that... but it's a good sight to see the people living with so much optimism.


"Trust in the Lord." The people didn't seem to mind that I was taking pictures, so I went to take more pictures. After watching the movie "Bruce Almighty" years back, I seemed to have taken much attention in the different messages in store for me, and when I saw this, I knew I just had to take a picture of it.


Off to Fish. Two fishermen about to start their day. :)


Where My Feet Took Me. There wasn't much subjects to take pictures of, so I just sat to watch the sunset. There was a group of kids in the water, and while taking shots of the sunset, I heard a kid talking about me taking pictures of them.

I sat near a fisherman fixing his boat, and when a dog came near me, I got scared a bit, and the fisherman shooed the dog away, which opened a conversation between us. I guess he wasn't used to seeing a person holding a camera, so he started asking me about why I was taking pictures of the beach. From there our chat led to him asking about me, it was amazing that he knew my family.

{whoops, wrong editing in the picture, it should be 2010 not 2011, sorry.}


Kiddos. The girl in pink (rightmost) went near the shore and started blocking my shot of the sun. I didn't want to scold her, so I just put down my camera and smiled at her. She asked why I was taking pictures of the sun and not taking pictures of her, so I turned the flash on to take her picture. When I showed her the picture she was so ecstatic that she asked the rest of her friends to come so they can have their pictures taken, too.

The fisherman asked them to stop pestering me, but I told him it was okay. I am not a big fan of kids, but I did love their gesture of making friends. They didn't want me to stop taking pictures of them, and since I wasn't going anywhere else, I just told myself I can take pictures of them as long as my camera still has battery juice.




Jump! The kids pretty much had their own take when it comes to posing for pictures, but when I asked if they would like to do a jump shot, they were just excited to do it. Directing them was a bit difficult, though, because whenever I would take a step back to make sure they would all fit the picture, they would take a step forward because they wanted to see their faces in the picture. In the end I was able to take three jump shots, and this was my favorite.

The sun has fully set, so I told them I had to go home because my aunt might be looking for me. Some of the kids went back in the water, and while walking away from the beach, one of the kids (the boy in dark blue, leftmost) shouted "Take care," to which I answered with a loud "Thank you." He shouted back, "God bless," and I just raised my hand to show how I appreciated the message.

*** Jenn ***