Michi Photostory: Iloilo

Showing posts with label Iloilo. Show all posts

March 07, 2012

Iloilo Airport

I rarely feature airports, in fact, Iloilo Airport is the second airport that I will post on my site. Well, I just want to share these photos with you. I don’t mind paying P200 for the terminal fee if the airport has good facilities and amenities.

Look at the toddler’s area; it is clean, spacious, and homey. I didn’t mind if our flight was one hour delayed because my son enjoyed playing here. How I wish, all our airports have toddler’s areas because it is really important, especially for kids who hate waiting.

dito ko nakaupo habang nagbabantay!

March 05, 2012

Day 4: Iloilo Churches

This is supposed to be my Day 2 itinerary but I have to move it to our last day and cancel my day 4 itinerary which is one day tour in El Dorado Waterpark. When I booked our Iloilo trip, I invited a friend if she wants to come with us but she said “anong meron sa Iloilo? Wala naman yata interesting sites dun”. Well, Iloilo is not known for tourist spots but you can have a side trip in Guimaras or visit old churches. Though I’m not a Catholic, I enjoyed visiting different churches because not all churches look the same. Each church has its own beauty and story to tell.

At 8AM, we started our Church Tour; we just took San Joaquin Jeep. First stop is San Joaquin church. It took 1 hour and 30 minutes before we reached the church. Biyaheng-langit pa nasakyan namin, I was really scared that time but thank God, we’re safe.

San Joaquin Underground Cemetery

Hubby: Hon, pati sementeryo kasama na sa itinerary natin.

Me: Yes, kung ayaw mo mauna ka na sa hotel. =)

After our visit here and every time he sees cemetery he will asks me, yun sementeryo na yun hindi natin bibisitahin? (makaasar lang)

Miagao Church

One of the four Baroque Churches of the Philippines inscribed in 1993 on the World Heritage List pursuant to the 1972 UNESCO Convention concerning the protection of the World National Heritage.

Construction of this church began in 1787 while fray Francisco M. Gonzales D.S.A. was parish priest of this town and Domingo Libo-on was Gobernadorcillo. The church was completed in 1797. It served as fortress against muslim raides. In 1898, during the revolution, the church was destroyed. Subsequently rebuitl, it was damaged by fire in 1910. It was badly damaged by earthquake in 1948. Restoration work began in 1960 and completed in 1962. During the term of office of most Rev. Jose Ma. Cuenco, D.D. Metropolitan Archbishop of Jaro, of Msgr. Gernando S. Javillo D.P. parish priest of this town and Dioscoro Mueda, municipal mayor.

Guimbal Church

Guimbal Plaza

Tigbauan Church

Molo Church

End of our church tour. As I mentioned earlier, we took San Joaquin jeep to reach San Joaquin Church then from San Joaquin church we travelled back to visit the other churches.

1. Jeep to San Joaquin Church (I paid 200 and conductor gave me P80, so am not sure if P40 each pax or P60 each for two adults)

2. We took trisikad to San Joaquin Underground Cemetery (P40)

3. Jeep to Miagao Church (P15)

4. Jeep to Guimbal Church(P15)

5. Jeep to Tigbauan Church (P10)

6. Jeep to Mohon Terminal (P19)

7. Jeep to Molo Church (P7.50)

8. Jeep to Robinsons (7.50)

We’re supposed to eat at Afriques restaurant but we can’t find it so we just went to Robinsons and we had lunch at Sbarro. =) We stayed at Robinsons till 4PM and off we went to airport, taxi fare is P500 (fixed rate).

March 01, 2012

Day 2: Hello Iloilo

As much as we want to extend our stay in Bacolod for a food trip, we have to say goodbye because we have to move to our next leg. Arrived in Iloilo at past 1PM and we took a taxi going to One Lourdes Dormitel (fare P60).

I chose One Lourdes Dormitel because of the price and location; we always travel on a shoestring so looking for affordable accommodation is a must. My husband always stays in MO2 hotel if he has business trip but it’s too expensive for me. =) I was glad that I stumbled on Noelizm blog and all his reviews are indeed right.

One Lourdes Dormitel is really affordable, very accessible if you are a commuter, and very near in Robinsons and market. Actually, I was not expecting much but I was amazed when I saw that they had elevator, security card key, free-wifi, mini café, vanity dresser, closet, and even fridge in our very cute room.

We’re supposed to be in Iloilo as early as 8AM but since we extended our Bacolod trip, I have to adjust my itinerary. So we started our tour at 4PM. First stop is Museo Iloilo; we took La Paz Jeep (P7.50). You won’t miss the place because it’s beside provincial capitol.

There’s nothing much to see inside, P25 is the entrance fee, and I find it expensive because there’s nothing special, I was expecting Iloilo history but the museum is more on EDSA pictures and story. The camera is not allowed inside the museum.

From Museo Iloilo we went to Jaro church, we just took Jaro jeep (P7.50). The belfry is on the other side of the road. It’s hard to take pictures without vehicles.

Jaro Church

I decided to have dinner in Breakthrough but I have no idea that it is very far, we thought we were lost. From Jaro Church, we took CPU jeep (7.50) and the driver dropped us in SM, then from SM, we walked 2 or 3 blocks then rode Calumpang jeep (P10).

blurred pictures

Breakthrough is a restaurant by the sea or by the beach. We got grilled squid, lechon baboy and sizzling crab meat. Price is inexpensive and foods are just ok. People frequent this place because of the view. We did not stay long because we had to wake up early the following day for our Guimaras trip.

February 23, 2012

Pasalubong from Bacolod, Iloilo and Guimaras

I’ve watched Eat, Pray, Love movie of Julia Roberts last year and this inspires me to create our own version of Eat. Pray, Love since we can’t afford to go to Italy, India and Indonesia. Last Friday we had another trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary, so we Eat in Bacolod, we Pray in Iloilo and we celebrate Love in Guimaras.

These are some pasalubong that we bought from each places though our Bacolod pasalubong did not reach Manila, it was gone in 24 hours. (except for muscuvado sugar)

BACOLOD PASALUBONG

Virgie's galletas
Muscuvado sugar,
Pendy's meringue,
Pendy's Napoleones
Pendy's half moon cake

Bacolod is known for sugar plantations so it is not surprising if they love sweet foods. We went to Pendy’s for our breakfast and to buy some pasalubong. I will not leave Bacolod without tasting their famous Napoleones. We all love their Napoleones and too bad I only bought 2 boxes, I should buy at least 3 boxes, one for each of us. We also love half-moon, a simple cake with leche flan on top. So if you will visit Bacolod, don’t forget to buy Napoleones and half-moon at Pendy’s.

Read: 31 Hours in Bacolod

GUIMARAS PASALUBONG

Guimaras mango
Trappistine chocolate cookies
Mango yema
Mango cookies
Mango biscocho
Mango otap

They say that Guimaras Island is the home of the sweetest mango in the world so I make sure that we can taste this and now I understand why it is called the sweetest mango because it is really sweet. (no doubt na pang-export) I only bought 3 kilos, P70 per kilo for the unripe mango and P75 per kilo for the ripe mango.

If you plan to visit Guimaras, try to attend their Manggahan Festival on April 15 – 22, 2012. Our driver/tour guide told us that during the festival there is “eat all you can mango” for P50.

I also bought some mango products in Trappist Monastery but I find it weird when the package says mango yema, mango cookies and mango biscocho but we can’t taste any mango flavour. My husband said, “baka mango color lang”. =) I haven’t tried the mango otap yet.

ILOILO PASALUBONG

I’ve tried Biscocho Haus butterscotch last year so this time I bought butterscotch at JD Bakeshop (P150 per box), some says that JD butterscotch is better than Biscocho Haus but to tell you honestly, I can’t tell the difference except for the size and packaging. For me, they both taste good.