The (Anti-)Solo Traveler Diaries (Visayas Edition): Palm Sunday in Iloilo

We left the Maravilla house at around 7am, and arrived at the town plaza an hour later. We stood by the bus stop that will take us back to Manila. A few minutes later, we hear the sound of a band, and some men in white are approaching from the other side of the road.

What's going on here?

It turns out to be a procession led by the priest.

Then I remembered: the day we departed from Iloilo happens to be a Palm Sunday.

The lay ministers on procession...

We stood still to observe the procession and took some pictures. However, Mr. Hermano went out of his way by climbing up the unfinished welcome arch to get a better angle for his pictures.

Sir, ingat sa pag-akyat. Uuwi pa po tayo ng Maynila...

Later on, we decided to follow the procession from behind, which eventually ended at the nearby church. There we heard the mass from outside the church. We did such so that we could see whether a bus is approaching.

The church

After the mass has ended, we took pictures. (Yeah, cam-whoring all the way. Hahahaha!)

Okay, group pic!

Isa pa!

Mrs. Sanado and mi madre...

Mom's solo pic...

Solo ko naman...

Right after picture-taking, a bus heading to Cubao Bus Station stopped by. And off we go back to Manila.

The (Anti-)Solo Traveler Diaries (Visayas Edition): Dams, Plants and Shopaholics

Day two of our Iloilo stay, and the first stop is the nearby Moroboro Dam.

The Moroboro Dam is an irrigation dam located in a river in Brgy. Moroboro. The said dam serves as a source of irrigation water for farmers around the area.

However, we did not go at the dam itself. We went swimming at Dingle's water control office or the so-called 'water district.' That place has a swimming pool which is open for visitors for a nominal fee, and to employees' kin for free.

Sarap mag-swimming!

The team were the only visitors at the pool area that time, so we were free to 'swim' our hearts out all over the place.

Group shot, everyone!

Mr. Hermano, one of the team members, found something to do with the coconut leaves lying around the pool area -- he wove hats out of them. When I asked him how he knew about hat weaving, he said it is being taught in scouting.

Hat Weaving 101 with Mr. Hermano

Me wearing the finished product

After a few hours of swimming, we went dropped by another house to rinse out the chlorine out of our bodies and to have some lunch. I was quite wary of entering a house whose owner was unknown, but later on I found out that the house was that of Mrs. Maravilla's in-laws.

The house isn't really big, but it looks like one due to camera angle.

The house was surrounded by flowers, so much that it was a perfect time to practice my photo skills. Particularly the macro setting.

Bright euphorbia

A more subdued white variety

Was this a daisy?

Over lunch, the team were arguing as to whether to visit the cave nearby or to go to Iloilo City. Majority says we should go to the city, but personally, I'd rather go spelunking at the cave.

I did not have any photos of our trip around the city. However, as far as I remember, we were only there to shop for pasalubong to take home.

First stop: the Original Biscocho Haus in Lopez Jaena Street. The name speaks for itself: they primarily specialize in biscocho, a sweet and crunchy pastry made from loaf bread dough. This is one of the food products that visitors love to take home from Iloilo, aside from piaya and barquillos. The shop also specializes in butterscotch, which tastes absolutely divine. Photos courtesy of Ivan About Town and The Poor Traveler.

Original Biscocho Haus' wares displayed on a glass case

Top products: butterscotch and biscocho

Second stop: a fish market. I think every province has their own fish market, especially those provinces who are particularly known for their fish trade, such as Pangasinan and Palawan. In the case of Iloilo, they have dried fish. I could still vividly remember the scent of guinamos, their version of bagoong alamang. There are also a variety of fish turned into dried fish, the names of which I could not remember. Photo courtesy of Domestic Urbanite.

Dried fish galore!

Can somebody tell me the fish used in this one?

Guinamos hollowed down...

Because we will be going back to Manila tomorrow morning, the Team Grade Six capped off their trip with a videoke session coupled with drinks. That also marks my first sip of an alcoholic drink, although it was a 'weaker' one compared to those who start off with either beer or other hard drinks. The drink? Maria Clara Sangria. Photo courtesy of the Destileria Limtuaco official site.

My first drink. I'm such a baby...

The (Anti-)Solo Traveler Diaries (Visayas Edition): Boracay to Iloilo

Back in Manila, Team Grade Six are required to come to school at 6am, since their classes start at 6:30pm or 7am. Because of this, they are obliged to wake up early in the morning to come to class, especially those whose first teaching class starts at the said time. Those who have their first teaching class at a later time may opt to come later, but most of them still come early to prepare their materials for class.

It was no surprise, therefore, that some of the team woke up early despite all the shindig the night before. After all, it's time to pack the bags. 'Cause we're leaving Bora and heading back to Panay Island, specifically in Iloilo.

Some of them (mom included) woke up so early that they managed to squeeze in some shopping along the shops at the beach.

Yet the shutterbug in us could not be stopped from taking more pictures, even as we are about to leave the lodge.

Vanity shot before leaving Bora. The shell necklace was a spanking-new purchase courtesy of mi madre...

A shot in front of the lodge.  

Unlike the motor boat that we rode on our way to Bora, we left the island at a more comfortable ferry boat. The way I see it, the boat was a bit like a run-down version of SuperCat.

Smile!

Upon landing in Caticlan, we searched for the first bus that will leave for Iloilo, and went up from there. Of course, I get the window seat, because that's my favorite seat in any vehicle.

Another window view pose...

Whoops... Even the pimple was captured...

Four hours and one stopover later, we got down at the town of Dingle. The area where the bus stopped did not have any prominent landmark, save for a bamboo-made waiting shed and some huts. Oh, and two pick-up trucks waiting for us.

The two pick-up trucks are owned by the family of one of the team members, Mrs. Maravilla, who was born and raised in the town. She arranged the house that she and her siblings built for her parents for us to stay in for two more nights.

Back story: every time that the team will go on a vacation or to an out-of-town wedding of one of the colleagues, they make it a point to visit the homes of one of them. Case in point: there was one time when one of their colleagues got married in my mother's hometown in Pangasinan. The day after the wedding, the team decided to visit my mom's place in Lingayen, even if it's a few towns away from the wedding location.

Back to Iloilo... it was quite a long ride, with a stopover at the town plaza. We ended up at a strip of dirt road lined with mahogany trees. The house where we will stay is at the end of that road strip.

A view from behind the windshield of the pickup truck

I found out later on in our stay in Dingle that these are actually coffee plants...

Trees all around...

Which leads us here. Taken from the 'end of the road' house, as I call it.

It's rest time for all of us for the rest of the day, because the following day would turn out to be a jam-packed one.