2D/2N ILOILO & GUIMARAS

This is our first out of town travel together as a family. Bringing with us our three kids and my younger brother. We were six then, three adults and three children. We booked our tickets in April months before October our scheduled flight with Cebupacific Air. The airline has only one direct flight from Davao City's Francisco Bangoy International Airport to Iloilo City's International Airport and vice versa.

At the Iloilo airport, they have metered taxis available that bring passengers to the city proper but during the time we arrived the kids were already exhausted because we woke them up at 4:30 A.M. to check in two hours earlier before our Davao-Iloilo flight at 7:20 A.M, so we hired a taxi at 400 Php which brought us to Riverside Inn where we checked in.

Riverside Inn stands in between Iloilo's river and one of the city's busiest roads and a skyway. All of their rooms are airconditioned and rates start at 800 Php to 1,950 Php. We got two matrimonial rooms at 980 Php each. The inn is at the right side part of Time Square building. Near its entrance they have food carts like Siomai King and the one I forgot where we ate our last breakfast consisting of meatsilog (meatloaf, fried rice & sunny side up egg), basilog (bacon strips, fried rice & sunny side up egg) and hot chocolate drinks. They also have some establishments situated on its side spaces and the one that got my husband's attention was the Kang Byeon, a Korean restaurant that offers the tastiest Bamboo Sam Gyup Sal at 250 Php, thin beef slices in squares steamed in bamboo poles then stir fried with seasonings and served with fresh chinese pechay, lettuce and super yummy bagoong. Before they served our orders, they let us taste their side dishes or appetizers for free. Sauteed kangkong leaves with sesame, stir fried vegies of three kinds, scrambled eggs and of course the kimchi! Then we have two servings of sushi at 150 Php each, kimchi soup at 220 Php, miso soup with tofu at 220 Php. Bit pricey but the servings are huge good for two persons already. And just with the free side dishes alone one can get full! Hehe. That was our last dinner then in Iloilo so we kinda splurged. Haha!

Just near the Riverside Inn you can find seafood retstaurants, snack centers (where we had halo-halo and palabok), a laundry shop, BDO, Metrobank and bakeries. We had our first lunch in Iloilo at Ted's Lapaz Batchoy near SM. We were a bit famished so we had big bowls of batchoy, longsilog and sodas for brunch to ease our jetlag. We went back to our rooms past 12 noon and napped until 3:00 P.M. Then we half filled our tummies a bit, did some bank transactions and off we went to see Museo Iloilo where replicas of Iloilo's history, cultures and remains are displayed. Iloilo's Capitol is just at the back of the museum and the time we visited they were having a trade fair. I bought a few kilos of Iloilo's famous danggit, dried fish tocino formed into circles and bagoong while my husband got a farmer's bolo. Adjacent to the Capitol building is the Original Biscocho Haus where I hoarded packs of piaya, merengue, butterscotch, pinasugbo and boxes of the famous biscocho. Believe me they are all cheap that's why in a blink of an eye I have piles of them on the counter. Haha! You can request to box all your goodies so it won't be a hassle on your part when travelling your bring home finds and to keep them intact as well.

Big servings of Lapaz Batchoy at 80 Php/bowl.

Museo Iloilo, Jaro, Iloilo City

Inside Iloilo Capitol Building

After our afternoon buys, we flagged down a taxi to Breakthrough. Actually, what I had in mind was to dine in Tatoy's Manokan but our kind and well spoken taxi driver suggested we try Breakthrough. He gestured in his delicate Ilonggo accent/dialect that if we want native chicken, Tatoy's is the best resto in town for it but when it comes to seafood like huge crabs (which my husband always looks forward to) to Breakthrough we should go. It was my task to decide on our food during our travel so I chose two large crabs. They call it Krusan. I had the first one at 398 grams cooked in butter and garlic and the 598 grams plainly steamed, ordered squid weighing 400 grams filled with spices and two servings of not so big shrimps, buko juice and sodas. Our dinner bill was at 1, 900 Php. Not bad for three full grown ups and three bustling kids.

Tip: Iloilo has two main means of transportation around the city. One is thru jeepneys or improvised L300 vans and thru taxi cabs. I chose taxi cabs because we were already six in the group and the kids were somewhat hyper and at times felt drowsy while on the road. Metered taxi cabs in Iloilo has flag down rate of 40 Php. The drivers we had during our stay are well mannered and soft spoken. I regretted not taking pictures of this famous saying most of us memorize, buildings in Iloilo even stores may it be private or in public walls and sideboards have this "Be honest even if others are not, even if others do not, even if others will not." Hehe.

The following morning, after taking our simple breakfast, at 8:00 A.M. we rode a taxi from Riverside Inn to Ortiz Wharf, purchased a 14 Php ticket per head for the motorboat ride to Guimaras Island. It was known that Guimaras was part of Iloilo province many years ago but now the island claimed its own and got independent from its neighboring city. It was a 10-15 minute ride and the boat anchored at Rizal, Jordan. We were led by a person to the Jordan Guest Assistance Center and let us log in our names in their Guest notebook, gave us short tips, hints about Guimaras and let us chose between a multicab or tricycle as our means of hitting the road around the island. Multicabs at 450 Php one way with a capacity of 7-12 persons while tricycles at 250 Php for 3-6 passengers. I opted for the tricycle and we were endorsed to Manong Joebert Gamudapan. He was called to the table, his driver's license number and tricycle's plate number was recorded along with our names on the Guest & Driver Form. Before we left I asked for a map.

On our way to Guimaras Island

Trappist Abbey, Jordan, Guimaras

The tricycle that brought us around in Guimaras.

Raymen Beach Resort



Medium sized boat for island hopping

The giant Groper fish

Getting ready to feed big milk fishes

There! Right on my palm!

Seafdec Islets

Where they house their scientists

Turtle Island

Natago Beach Resort

Camp Alfredo

Overlooking the Mango Plantation

From Rizal wharf, we went pass by San Miguel where the capitol building and center of government offices are situated and their pasalubong center too where you can buy cashew nuts and Guimaras delicacies. From Jordan to Nueva Valencia it took us almost 40 minutes with stop overs at the Mango Plantation (we were not able to get to its innermost area due to limited time but we took pictures overlooking the mango trees and at the Trappist Abbey (a monastery, we are not Catholics that's why we only spent our time inside their Trappist Gift shop (where I bought additional pasalubongs like their Mango Empanaditas, coffee & choco drink powder mixes, instant Ginger Brew and the cheapest cashew nuts I have ever seen) and posed at their tall gmelina trees outgrowing the place. Guimaras is a province I can be proud of as a Pinoy. The provincial roads are cemented from the point where we came from. According to Manong Joebert, all roads are cemented if not asphalted all over around his province to give their people like him an easy life since one of their main sources of income is to accommodate tourists and visitors thru land transportation. The island receives thousands of international and local guests everyday and boosts more during summer and sembreak vacations but yet the land is luscious with plants, greens and trees around 80% are mangoes. Manong Joebert said, before they can cut down a tree even the smallest ones, they need to ask first a permit from the DENR. 

We reached Raymen's Beach Resort in Alubijod, Nueva Valencia and paid 50 Php per head as entrance fee. The resort also offers rooms for overnight stay, cottages at 400 Php, shower rooms with corresponding rates, a canteen and clear bluish sea water to be enjoyed. My kids jumped in eagerly and in 30 minutes already burned their skin. Hehe. Another treat we indulged in is the island hopping at 500 Php for the first hour for six persons and 100 Php per succeeding hour. Motorboats smaller than the one we rode in from Iloilo to Guimaras are being used in these trips over water. Our first stop was in Seafdec where we were able to feed 9-10kgs. milk fish (bangus) right from our own hands, we witnessed fishes in all sizes being fed and the two big Groper known to be carnivores swallow large sums of their lunch. We trekked on their bamboo/wood aisles over the sea and took pictures of course. Next we went to Turtle Island. We only saw one pawikan. The caretaker said the DENR just released some of the turtles back to the ocean a few days ago before we came in. Next is the Baras Beach Resort, some private resorts and just  passed by Natago Resort owned by a private couple. Natago (hidden) because it was a bit hidden from the open sea. From afar you can only see a small concrete house built on top of a sea cliff. The resort has it's own church or chapel. We were not able to step on its shore due to big waves and high tide was on its way so we sailed back to Raymen to spend more time swimming and also to eat our very late lunch at 3:00 P.M. of grilled chicken, sinigang na Lapulapu and adobong string beans.

We were on the road quarter to 4:00 P.M. back to Rizal Wharf. The last boat trip will be at 5:30 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. so we were already in a hurry but still managed to pass by Camp Alfredo to see their manmade nature adventures. Along the way, Manong Joebert picked up his wife who's carrying their youngest child. The wife is from Zamboanga and with Manong Joebert they visit her home land once a year by water travel. I paid the round trip of the tricycle to Manong Joebert and gave him an extra 300 Php. We were back in Riverside Inn at 6:00 P.M. and had our dinner at Kang Byeon which I mentioned earlier and afterwards retired for the rest of night inside our rooms with cold and hot showers and cable televisions.

The taxi that brought us to Breakthrough also picked us up after our breakfast at Riverside Inn for 400 Php to the airport. After checking in, I bought more pasalubong from Merci found on the second floor near the escalator/stairs. The Iloilo airport is clean and neat. You need to pass by tight security sections before you can get to the departure area. Tiring though because my kids were weary and already tired. Hehe.

Overall, Iloilo has good food and good people. Cheap food but in its excellent taste. My husband Rex said he'd like to come back soon - just me and him without the kids. Haha! He's starting to like Guimaras. We had fun and it was such a wonderful experience travelling together. Supposedly my youngest brother should've been with us but their school shuffled their final exam schedules that's why only one were able to join us. Now, I'm making plans to travel again with my husband and kids next year - to Kalibo, Aklan & Caticlan Boracay - these two known tourist places are just two hours apart via bus! We will be invading Visayas for the next years! To God be the glory!