I’ve always wanted to travel around the Philippines. It’s been on my to-do list to know more about the place where I grew up, especially since my first trip out-of-town trip happened when I was only about 4 months old. Being a mixture of cultures of sorts, I feel like traveling is in my blood.
Last month, I got to go on a series of business trips that took me around various places in the Philippines. It was a dream come true, finding myself going to all these places that I always told myself I’d make time for, but never really got around to doing. Though my work trip kept me pretty busy, and I wasn’t able to see all the sights and do all the things that travelers ought to do on trips, I was able to pass by so many beautiful places and meet a lot of great people. I was also able to take a few snapshots here and there.
Next time at least, I won’t feel so nervous about going to these places. And, I’m more familiar with the food and the sights that I’ll want to try out..
My first work trip had me going to Western Visayas, which is part of my roots. From Manila, our plane ride took us about 1 hour. We landed at the Iloilo International Airport and we took a 3-4hour ride from the airport to our first stop, Aklan – which is on the upper west side of Panay Island. Kalibo, the capital of Aklan, reminded me a lot of Dumaguete. Lots of areas with fields and trees, busy roads with tricycles and motorcycles, most people living on the outskirts of the downtown area.
Aklan Provincial Capitol
We were able to stop by the Aklan Provincial Capitol. And it was such a beautiful sight against the clear blue sky. Having been newly renovated in the last few months, you can clearly see all the details to its exterior, with its Italian columns and blue tinted windows. 
The architecture-enthusiast in me is loving this building!
Names of all the towns in Aklan
The inside was not as stunning as the outside, but it was clean and orderly. Looking to the ceiling, I spotted this round ceiling dome. It clearly states the towns and municipalities belonging to the province of Aklan.
On our second day, we took the trip back from Aklan to Iloilo City, which is about a 4-5hour journey.
Seeing as we hadn’t had our breakfast yet, our guide took us to to the La Paz market to have a taste of something authentically Ilonggo – batchoy.
Composed of noodles, beef loin, chicken stock, pork innards, and a good helping of small chicharon bits (those light brown things on the top). This is apparently the thing to try when you’re in town, and you can’t have been in Iloilo without having a bowl of one of these. It’s served warm, and is delightfully filling. Of course, I was a little iffy about initially eating the innards (I’m a finicky eater), but I really wanted to try this Ilonggo meal for myself. Warning though, don’t put too much of the chicharon bits in as it makes you thirsty really quickly. As we discovered, a bottle of Mountain Dew apparently goes well with batchoy.
Right after our breakfast, we made our way to another known place within the La Paz Market. A small place called Madge Cafe. Madge Cafe serves coffee, pretty darn good coffee to boot!
Expert si kuya sa paggamit ng culador! (This guy is expertly using this flannel sieve!)
Though nothing like my favorite coffee places – Starbucks and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Madge Coffee is a distinct part of Iloilo City. According to an article on Iloilo.Net, Madge Cafe was originally a place that sold halo-halo, but they turned to coffee later on. They use coffee beans sourced from parts of Iloilo, as well as Guimaras. You are free to have your coffee customized, with milk or plain black, but you can also have it iced – which is how I had mine.
After we had our breakfast and coffee, we made our way to Iloilo City proper. Our next stop was Guimaras, so we got on a boat at the Ortiz Port in Iloilo, taking a boat that would ferry us from Iloilo to Guimaras Island, which is about 15 minutes away.
At the Ortiz Port in Iloilo. The port is close to the Chinatown area of Iloilo City.
Landing at Jordan Port on Guimaras Island.
One of many ports on the island of Guimaras. Guimaras is known for having some of the sweetest mangoes in the world! Visitors are not allowed to bring in any mangoes, or mango seeds, which is meant to maintain the pureness of the Guimaras mango variety.
Catching fish on the wharf
After our work was finished on Guimaras, we made our way to Buenavista Port, having made our way through around half of the island. It was a beautiful sight going back to Iloilo City as our boat was facing the direction in which the sun was setting.
On our third and final day in Iloilo, we found ourselves headed towards the towns south of Iloilo City. We passed by the town of Miag-ao, which houses the Miago-ao Church, a recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, Miag-ao Church is one of four Baroque Spanish-era churches in the country. It was constructed in 1787 and completed 10 years later. Details on the Church are compiled on Wikipedia.
Look at that stone statue that’s been carved from rock. It still looks so detailed. Also check out the carved logo/insignia found above the statue.
Front close-up facade of the church. Look at all those pretty details carved on the stone!
You can see the wear and tear of the last few centuries. But it’s still so beautiful!
Inside of the Church
The inside of the church is beautiful, though it’s not as big as some of the other old churches I’ve been to. There was a baptism of sorts being held near the front, so I didn’t want to go too close and interrupt the family. As you can see from the photo above, the details on the inside are just as pretty. Sadly, I forgot to take photos of the stained glass windows and the Stations of the Cross.
Baptistry
My work trip to Iloilo only took three days, and in those three days I was able to see so much of the island. I am sure, there is so much more to see and do should I decide to come back (I definitely will!). Next time I’m in town, which will hopefully not be for work, I’ll get to go to more places and even visit my two hometowns here, and of course spend time with relatives and see our ancestral homes.
Getting to see the beauty of the different places in the Philippines, is really a wonderful experience. Sometimes, it takes just that little push for us to realize how great our country is. I’m not saying that visiting and traveling to other places is not a great experience, because it is…but the Philippines just has so much beauty and diversity that we sometimes take for granted. If only we knew that those places were only a few hours away by plane and by car.
There is so much more to the country than Palawan, Boracay, and Cebu.
Taking a selfie on a hammock somewhere between the airport and Aklan.
