Island Hopping Extreme part 3: Iloilo and Guimaras

This post concludes my Visayas trip =)

February 2, 2013

Our last morning at Boracay. We didn't get to do anything aside from take a bath, watch some TV shows, eat breakfast, and pack our things. At 8AM, we went to La Carmela de Boracay to meet the oldies. From there, we rode a shuttle back to the jetty port, traveled back to Caticlan, and rode our rented van to another grill restaurant where we had another local dish named diwal. Diwal is a kind of shellfish that is longer than a mussel shell but has the color of a clam shell. The flesh inside is longer and is sweeter than other shellfish. We had such a great time eating it and sipping the soup using the shell! You should try it! It's rare here in Manila, and if you see it, it'll be expensive.

diwal

We were instructed to board a new van because our driver was being called back. I didn't get the name of the company but they were really accommodating. I think we shelled P250 per person per trip. And we had the van to ourselves! The new van was more spacious than the previous one and had a TV where you can do Magic Sing. And did the oldies use it! Imagine, we transferred to the new van in Kalibo around 11AM (yup, we had a slightly early lunch) and they only stopped singing around 2PM when we reached Iloilo.

Pinoys and their love for karaoke

Iloilo is in the western region of Visayas and is part of the Panay island along with Aklan and others. All I know about Iloilo is that they have really wonderful dishes.

It was such a long trip, and us kids were already getting frustrated. We reached our destination around 3PM. It was the ancestral house of one of the oldies. It's called Camina Balay nga Bato, and it is located in Iloilo city. For P150, you can enter an original colonial style house and bask in its wonders. The previous owners of the house and their property had been part of history (and they will tell you what during the tour). For an additional fee, visitors can taste original Ilonggo dishes (please go here, it's worth it. and do shell extra money because you will regret not tasting their food). There is also a souvenir shop where you can purchase cloth, tablea, batirol, and other useful souvenir items. It is a functional house, with the current descendants of the clan still living so visitors should not be surprised seeing people there and some modern equipment (they have a really nice TV). I really enjoyed going here because the place is beautiful and the house is still very memorable. They told us that the President's sisters will be visiting a couple of days after us (why do I always miss the President by a couple of days? and why did I miss both the Ati-atihan and Dinagyang festivals by a couple of days too?). They served us a feast (seriously... too bad I didn't get to take a picture because I was busy stuffing my face). They had La Paz Batchoy (so yummy!), lechon, roasted free range chicken, puto, various fruits, and others. I was very full after that! We were so thankful for the Camina family for accommodating us. They even accommodated us at their Guimaras island property. So at around 5PM, we headed off to the port to catch a ferry that will take us to the island.

The Camina Balay nga Bato, Iloilo

We didn't pay for anything in this leg of the trip because of the gracious heart of the Caminas (we did pay for our pasalubong). Guimaras is an island in the western region of Visayas. It was formerly a subprovince of Iloilo but was granted as an independent province in 1992. Guimaras is famous for its mangoes (but apparently, this is just hype because mangoes from Iloilo taste better).

We were staying at the Camina's Spring Bloom Farm. They have a house there. It was such a peaceful environment. They have electricity there now but cellphone reception is still hard. We were high up so we could see the beautiful sunset. Our stay here was really for relaxing so the oldies talked about farm stuff and others. Us kids just took pictures. My mom's friend's daughter was here so we met someone new. Haha! My brother tried driving a manual transmission ATV since he was hung up on our Boracay ATV ride. Dinner was fresh food feast. Actually, all our meals there were fresh food feasts. I got fat during our overnight stay here.

February 3, 2013

This was such a jam-packed day. We were told the previous night that we were leaving for mass by 5:30 AM so I woke up with the moon still up. We had such a perfect view but because our schedule was packed, I didn't get to see the sunrise. The mass was done my Stigmatin priests (I don't know if I spelled it correctly). They're like monks (that's not a bad thing, ok? that's what I was told). Their mass was mostly sung, with really long intervals and lacks energy. It was very early so all I was thinking was that I wanted to go back to sleep. It was an hour and a half long! After that, with the sun already shining, we were brought to buy mangoes. We went back to the farm at around 9AM to have our breakfast and to tour the farm. They had cashew, pineapple, papaya, and banana. They plan to plant pomelo next season. After that, we fixed our beach stuff because we were going to a small island to swim. We first went to their bank where the oldies had their picture taken, then to their other farm where they planted bell peppers, then to some sort of fishing town where we boarded a boat. It was so funny because we were so packed, we look like sardines! We were so heavy I thought we were going to capsize. Haha! But we didn't. The island was part of a group of other small islands. They family co-owns that certain island so they had a house there. It was so quiet there because there wasn't any people except for us and the caretakers. The sand was as white as that in Boracay but is rougher. The water was also clear but the ground becomes rocky after a meter or so. It was sad that there was litter on the sand and on the ground (maybe brought by the tide). Our government should really do something about water pollution. Anyway, we had so much fun there because there was a little cove where people like me can bask in the water without getting sun exposure. We also saw a lot of starfish. I was so excited when I saw the starfish's "feet".

We left the island after lunch so we got back to their farm around 2PM. We had late lunch, took a bath, packed our things and traveled back to Iloilo. I was really scared riding the ferry this time because the waves were really rough. We were all scared that the ferry might capsize (seriously this time around because we were bouncing). Upon our arrival at the Balay, we packed our things. It was already 4PM so we had to rush. We also put our things in the Camina's cars because they were the ones who will bring us to the Iloilo International Airport (located at Sta. Barbara, Iloilo). They served us snacks of pandesal, ham, keso de bola, and tsokolate batirol. Oh my! I have died and gone to heaven! Such a simple snack but was really, really delicious. 100/10! Haha! We were behind the "2 hours before any local flight" rule so good thing Mrs. Camina knew people from the airport who checked us in. Heehee! Out flight was at 6:55PM but we got to the airport shortly before 6 so we were glad for the help. Her contacts welcomed us and showed us where to go. Since we didn't have time to buy pasalubong at the recommended places, we just bought pasalubong at the airport. It was fine but I figured it was more expensive than buying them at their shops. The only time I really got to rest was when we already boarded the plane.

So, that's it! My lengthy posts on my Visayas trip. It was very short for me but I was still thankful for it. It was a nice graduation thing. I hope you visit these places (especially my most reccommeded places, Zuzuni in Station 1 Boracay and the Camina Balay nga Bato in Iloilo). The Philippines is such a wonderful place so I will treasure my first plane ride forever. Also, we should take care of our country because we have a beautiful country that we should be all proud of. =)