Between the adults’ work and the two kids’ schooling, my son Jem and his family could spare only four days of last month’s Chinese New Year weekend. Arriving on day one and leaving on day four, what could they do, where could they go, anything other than Boracay, Bohol, Cebu, and El Nido, where everyone has been? It didn’t take much hemming and hawing. Surigao might be a bit rough for the kids and Batanes overly peaceful, so we quickly agreed on a genuine Ilocano weekend, to Ilocos Norte, Sitio Remedios Heritage Village Resort in Currimao to be precise. 

Sitio Remedios was imagineered by Dr. Joven Cuanang, the distinguished neurologist and art lover, who has nurtured numerous artists and created the Pintô Art Museum and Arboretum in Antipolo, the Philippines’ top contemporary art gallery, bar none. 

The Philippine Airlines flight to Laoag was short and smooth and a resort van picked us up for the short ride to the Currimao beach resort. A piedra china paved promenade past lily ponds and shrines, each a Station of the Cross, ends at the resort’s heart, a plaza with a chapel on one end and the West Philippine Sea on the other.  Fronting on the plaza are half a dozen old houses disassembled from around the province and rebuilt as charming suites with bathrooms, air conditioning, and the little touches that spoiled travelers expect. These are not like the grand Vigan houses but are more down to earth, probably homes of well-to-do farmers and merchants. People then were of smaller stature and the houses are captivatingly small. The doors of Balay Piddig are low and narrow and I had to bend to reach the doorknob of my room. The ambassador sofa and chairs in the sala—no doubt original ones—are narrow and low.

Jem and family were at Balay Batac, the resort’s largest. It’s a two-story bahay na bató with a masonry ground floor and a wood second. The ground floor is sala, dining room, and bedroom and the second floor is a sala and bedroom. I was assigned the next door Balay Piddig, a one-story chalet with a large sala and dining area and one bedroom named Kuarto ni Cecile. I wondered about the name until I found out that its first occupant was the internationally famous pianist Cecile Licad, explaining why there’s an old upright piano near the front door. It has a pleasant tinny sound that’s more or less in tune.

The clubhouse is a large airy structure by the sea with long trestle tables for meals, butaca lounging chairs facing the beach, and large peacock chairs in one corner. Meals were simple and healthy Ilocano fare of fresh fruit juices and veggie dishes like pinakbet and a delicious dish with the x-rated name poki-poki (scrambled eggs with eggplant sautéed with tomatoes and onions), albeit balanced with the irresistible and deadly cholesterol-laden bagnét, the famous Ilocano pork chicharón. Dr. Cuanang tells me that Sitio bagnét is considered the best and Governor Matthew Marcos often brings guests over. 

Dinners were in the plaza, flickering candle light on tables and by the greenery, accompanied by the sight of Venus and Jupiter in the hazy sky and the sound of the whispering surf. 

There was plenty to see, do, and eat during the day. Sitio management organized a tour for us. Passing productive farms, tree-covered hills, dry riverbeds, and blue mountains in the distance, our first stop was the super modern chapel of the La Virgen Milagrosa in Badoc. The small structure, shaped like an upturned boat, is open on all sides. The Virgin is a 17th-century image believed to have floated ashore, brought by Japanese Christians fleeing persecution in their homeland. 

At Badoc población is the reconstructed brick home of the Luna family among whom are the painter Juan and the sailor and later soldier Antonio. The erudite and friendly guide pointed to replicas of Juan Luna’s works and recounted how the family left for Namacpacán (now Luna), La Union and the house was in ruins until it was restored by Imelda Romualdez Marcos in the 1980s. 

The nearby Paoay church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a must, as is the pinakbet pizza that was invented by Senator Imee Marcos. Malacañang of the North, a bahay na bato like office and residence, also built by Imelda Marcos, has a panoramic view of Paoay Lake. It is said that in its depths are a wicked town that the gods inundated and multicolored fish that were its people. The structure is enormous though sparsely furnished. The floor is remarkable and probably unique, of foot-wide molave planks.

We did not miss the rare survival of an ancient craft. A shop in Pinili sells textiles in traditional designs, woven right there in two looms, one operated by hand, the other by foot. The resulting inabél cotton bed covers, shawls, bags, and more are sold at unbelievably low prices. A thick cotton bedspread for a queen-size bed is priced at ₱2,500, that cannot, should not, compensate for the thread and dyes and the days of backbreaking labor needed, let alone the knowledge and expertise possessed by the remaining weavers. Unless a marketing expert lends a hand, this treasure will soon be lost.

Batac and Sarrat are the hometowns of former President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos.  Marcos was born in Sarrat, hometown of the Edralins, and Batac is the hometown of the Marcoses. The reconstructed Edralin home is a middle-class traditional home with a masonry ground floor and wood second floor similar to those at Sitio Remedios. Upstairs are the living area and two bedrooms, with furniture and exhibits presenting the life of the boy Ferdinand before he went off to secondary school and college. 

A museum building in Batac presents the life and days of President Marcos touching upon his university days, personal life (including packets of butong pakwan or salted watermelon seeds that the young Imelda Romualdez was cracking open when then Senator Ferdinand first spotted her) and a passage with iron bars recalling the time when Marcos was jailed for allegedly shooting a political rival. 

In sight across the way is the home of the “Original Batac Empanada,” fried in a pastry shell with a filling of egg, sausage, and unripe papaya shavings. The empanada is my weekend lunch, bought at Makati’s Salcedo Saturday Market. The original is more flavorful but rather oily.

Everyone enjoyed the Paoay sand dunes that senior citizen me skipped. The glowing reports were about a jeepney ride up one sand hillock after another and breathtaking zooms down the other side.

It was a weekend for nature, history, architecture, food, religion, handicraft, politics, heritage, astronomy, mythology. We forgot about the beach and the West Philippine Sea, but there’s always a next time.

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Photos:  Dinner under the stars; Balay Piddig and Balay Batac at Sitio Remedios; Sarrat Church interiors