Iloilo: Heart of the Philippines

March 18 - 20, 2011

i read that iloilo is one of the best places in the philippines for food tripping. after an overnight stay in guimaras island, it was a perfect time to hit the city for some gastronomical adventure :)

photo credits to my friends! :) they were such cam whores. hahaha!

iloilo, here we goooo...

GETTING TO/FROM/AROUND

Ortiz Wharf to Highway 21 via taxi - ~74 php
*since i didn't know how to get to hotel from the wharf, we opted to ride a taxi


Highway 21 to Four Seasons Hotel (Deco's) via taxi - ~50 php
*for an afternoon snack, we decided to try the famous la paz batchoy and since we have no idea which one is the closest to our hotel, we just told the cab driver to bring us to nearest Deco's

Four Seasons Hotel to Highway 21 via taxi - ~50 php
*went back to hotel after our la paz batchoy experience

Highway 21 to Molo Church via taxi - ~61 php
*as we crossed the road, an avanza taxi was the first vehicle so we just hailed it and told the cab driver to bring us to Molo Church

Molo Church to Highway 21 via jeepney - 7.50 php/pax
*since Molo church was quite near to our hotel, we decided to take the jeep going back

Highway 21 to Smallville via taxi - ~50 php

Smallville to Highway 21 via taxi - ~50 php
*left Flow Superclub around 1am and a lot of taxis were available outside the club

Highway 21 to Mohon Terminal via jeepney - 10 php/pax
*to reach Miag-ao Church, we took 2 rides. this was the first ride

Mohon Terminal to Miag-ao Church via jeepney - 35 php/pax
*the ride took 45 minutes - 1 hour. good thing it was a sunny day, we got to enjoy the view during the almost 1 hour trip

Miag-ai Church to Arevalo via jeepney -40 php/pax
*to reach breakthrough, we took 2 rides. this was the first ride

Arevalo to Breakthrough via jeepney -7.50 php/pax
*after alighting from our first ride, we crossed the plaza and rode another jeepney going to breakthrough

Breakthrough to Highway 21 via jeepney - 10 php/pax

Highway 21 to Sm City Iloilo via taxi - ~70 php
*we checked out and went to sm traveler's lounge

SM Iloilo to Jaro Church via jeepney - 7.50 php/pax
*we were supposed to take a taxi but the lady at the traveler's lounge offered an avice on how to reach Jaro Town via jeep. that jeep can be found infront of SM.hehe

Jaro Town to SM Iloilo via jeepney - 7.50 php/pax

SM Iloilo to Iloilo Airport via taxi - 400 php
*an attendant in traveler's lounge offered us to take a taxi instead of the shuttle van. instead of paying 420 php (70 php/pax) for the shuttle ride, contracted taxi was only 400 php. we were able to save 20 php.

Iloilo to Manila via PAL - 1,065 php/pax
*thank goodness the flight was not delayed

ACCOMMODATION

we stayed at the Annex Building of Highway 21. sadly, all the rooms at the new building was taken and the only rooms left available was at the old building.

we booked 2 deluxe rooms wherein the four of us girls stayed at 1 room while the couple stayed at the other room.

website: Highway 21

rates as of our stay:

deluxe room (good for 2 pax) - 950 php
deluxe room (good for 3 pax) - 1,100 php
extra mattress - 250 php

double bed

single bed

bathroom's shower area and toilet

bathroom's sink and mirror

here's my overall review of the hotel...

PROs

• nice location; cabs and jeepneys are available anytime
• generally accommodating hotel staff
• hotel interiors at the old wing is not old looking
• clean and nice room; good deal for its price

CONs

• we were located at the top most level of the building; to tiring to walk up/down as there was no elevator 
• room is only good for 3 pax, too crowded to add another mattress
• no affordable restaurant nearby for breakfast

some photos of the hotel

hotel facade

hotel's staircase (new wing)

TOURS

i read that the best thing to do in iloilo is to experience Visita Iglesia. we were able to visit 3 churches.

Molo Church

Trivia: known as a "feminist church" as 16 female saints are seen inside the church

Jaro Cathedral

Miagao Church

Trivia: Listed as one of the UNESCO Heritage Sites

*this was definitely the highlight of our trip. the church was truly majestic. for almost an hour to reach this place, we spent a roughly 15 minutes to explore the church before going back to the city

NIGHT OUT

flow superclub in smallville was rated to be the best night club in Iloilo. door charge was 150 php with a choice of softdrinks, san mig light and red horse.

it was house music night and i'm a fan of house music. sadly, i didn't enjoy the playlist and was terribly disappointed.

the crowd were very young. maybe highschool - college students. i felt very old that night.hahaha!

we went inside the club around 11 am and left at around 1 am.

if given an opportunity to go back to iloilo, i'll give this club another chance or maybe not. haha.

ITINERARY

here's our condensed itinerary...

Day 1 and Day 2 (morning)

Day 2 (March 19)

1:00 pm - check in Highway 21
2:00 pm - la paz batchoy experience at Deco's
3:00 pm - Molo Church
4:00 pm - coffee and cake at coffeebreak
5:30 pm - back to hotel
9:00 pm - dinner at Afrique's in smallville
11:00 pm - flow superclub
1:00 am - back to hotel

Day 3 (March 20)

9:00 am - breakfast at Luna's Arrozcaldo
10:00 am - travel to Miagao Church
11:00 am - Miagao Church
11:15 am - travel to breakthrough
12:30 pm - lunch at breakthrough
1:00 pm - check out hotel
1:30 pm - sm traveler's lounge
2:00 pm - Jaro Church
3:00 pm - snacks at Ted's la paz batchoy
4:00 pm - back to SM iloilo
4:30 pm - travel to airport
5:00 pm - check in airport

COSTING

plane fare via Cebu Pacific Air (Manila - Iloilo): 614.56 php/pax
Plane fare via PAL (Iloilo - Manila): 1,061 php/pax

the following costs excludes plane fare and pasalubongs...

FOOD

will post my gastronomical adventure on my next entry :)

FASHION

since the weather was hot and i avoided wearing shorts when visiting churches, i opted to wear maxi skirts and maxi dresses.

maxi dress at Molo Church

maxi skirt at Miagao Church

Final Thoughts about Iloilo

i loved it here! Ilonggos are so helpful and nice. food is overflowing with yumminess. relatively clean environment and more or less polluted - free city. even the airport is sosy and nice.

i would love to visit again. will prolly include iloilo if i'll ever visit negros occidental.