Guimaras Island Resorts March 2018 Preview 1 of 3

          When you come to Iloilo, the beautiful, yet underrated Guimaras Island should be included in your itinerary. White sand beaches, rock formations, mango plantations, innumerable islands, and the list goes on for this charming island just 10-15 minutes away from Iloilo City by boat.
           Click the links under each resort to learn more!

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It's almost summer! These are my 3 picks for March 2018:
(These are in no particular order. They are randomly chosen from the many resorts in Guimaras island for this particular post. The photos are taken from the web.)

1. Andana Resort

Address: Nueva Valencia, Guimaras
Google Maps Location: Andana Resort 

Website: http://www.andanaresort.com/
Other Links: Facebook Page
                      TripAdvisor

Description:
          "Nestled within a secret cove southwest of Guimaras sits Andana. A 70-room luxury resort with white sand beaches, serene waters and mesmerizing scenery."
          This resort is near the more mainstream Raymen's Beach Resort or Alubihod.

Shots from the Web:

2. Kenyama Beach Resort

Address: Nueva Valencia, Guimaras
Google Map Location: Kenyama Beach Resort 

Website: see other links below

Other Links: Facebook

                      TripAdvisor

                      Agoda

Description:

          A white sand beach resort at the westernmost part of Guimaras Island in close proximity to the historic Guisi Lighthouse.

Shots from the Web:

3. Vilches Beach Resort

Address: San Lorenzo, Guimaras

Google Map Location: Vilches Beach Resort 

Website: http://vilchesresorts.com/

Other Links: Facebook

                      TripAdvisor

                      Ocean Island Travel

Description:

          "Vilches Beach Resort was established in 1993 and originally called Sunrise Beach Resort. A major renovation took place in July 2007 which resulted in a modern yet authentic resort. Our accommodations include a air conditioned beach house, 2 bedroom air conditioned cottages and native cottages where you are literally steps away from the ocean. Enjoy waking up every morning to see the beautiful Guimaras sunrise...."

          This resort is just about 2.5 kilometers from the Guimaras Windmills.

Shots from the Web:

Baguio City

Baguio City, although politically and administratively independent being a highly urbanized city, is geographically part of the province of Benguet in the Cordillera Administrative Region of the northern Philippines.
This city of the Kankanaeys, Ilocanos, Ibalois, and other ethnic groups is fondly called the Philippines' Summer Capital owing to its cool highland subtropical climate at an altitude of 1,540 meters asl. The temperature in this mountain resort city ranges from around 12C to 22C in January to about 16C to 25C in May. If you're planning to come here, expect considerably heavy rainfall during the East Asian monsoon months from late May up until October.
I went there on March 2016 to check the place out and came back again last December 2016 to attend a relative's wedding and we stayed there for three days and two chilly nights. We visited some popular spots and I'm going to post some of my shots here both from my March and December 2016 visits.

After a 6-hour bus ride from Manila, we arrived in Baguio City at around 4:30 in the morning. The air is chilly and the city is blanketed in fog.

You can easily see these houses on the surrounding mountains especially if you're en route to La Trinidad town. This pic is shows the Quirino Hill houses.

Baguio Cathedral, the seat of the Diocese of Baguio.

The road in front of Mines View Park, one of Baguio's most popular tourist spots.

Mines View Park's famous mountainside gazebo.

View from the gazebo.

And another one.

This lagoon is just above Wright's Park and leads to "The Mansion", the official residence of the Philippine President when visiting Baguio City and is also known as the "Malacanang of the North".

This is the front gate of The Mansion. Personally, I think the gate is more of a tourist spot than the mansion itself. =)

The ever popular Burnham Park Lagoon right at the center of the city just behind SM City Baguio and a short walk from Session Road, Baguio's commercial district.

We also went to the Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine grotto. That's around 200+ steps.

The view of the city center from the top of the grotto.

After roaming around the city of Baguio, we then headed next to the neighboring municipality of La Trinidad, Benguet, the province's seat of government. This is a largely agricultural town. This municipality can be reached by hiring a cab/taxi or by riding a jeepney. There are two jeepney stations going there, one is right across Baguio Public Market and the other one is just in front of the Baguio City Hall.

Upon reaching the municipality of La Trinidad, remind the taxi or the jeepney driver that you are going to alight at the La Trinidad Strawberry Farm. The taxi will usually drop you right at the strawberry plantation but if you are riding a jeepney, you should alight at the main road, cross the street and walk about 100 meters to the site.

The plantation plants all sorts of veggies and fruits from cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, strawberry, peas and many more. They have a mini market there so you can buy if you want.

We paid 500 pesos for every kilo of personally handpicked strawberries, OR if you don't want to pay that  much, you can just buy the already packed ones instead. For the handpicking, they will only charge you based on the total weight of strawberries you picked.

That's it. Other places that you can visit (and I will visit when I return) are:

• BenCab Museum
• Baguio Golf and Country Club
• Philippine Military Academy
• Session Road's Night Market (B-A-R-G-A-I-N)
• Baguio's Panagbenga Flower Festival (every early February)
• and many more!

Notes:

1. Bus Fair (Victory Liner - Regular Airconditioned): 450 pesos regular fare one way from Manila to Baguio
2. As of late 2016 and early 2017, taxi flag down rate is at 35 pesos, but Baguio is small enough that you will never get surprised by your taxi fare unless you want to go to spots outside or far from the city like BenCab Museum and La Trinidad Strawberry Farm.

Update: October 1st, 2015

Hi y'all! I'm now in medical school (yeah, stressful! :)) and I don't think i may be able to post some of my casual travels as frequently as before. Nevertheless, if I have time, I'll try to update this site with my so called tours (haha) especially my Davao City, Cebu City, Bacolod City, and Bohol travels.

Thanks!

Beautiful ILOILO

All rights reserved. Credits to the owner(s) of this video.

Iloilo River Esplanade 1

          The Iloilo River Esplanade is a 1.2 km. stretch of linear park along the northern bank of the Iloilo River (it's technically an estuary). The project is the brainchild of Senate President Franklin Drilon who is an Ilonggo by blood and by heart. The esplanade was inspired by the famous Singapore Quay which was also designed by the same architect who designed the Iloilo River Esplanade.

The City's iconic signature "I Am Iloilo" is located on the western end (near Carpenter's Bridge) of the Esplanade.

The Medical City Iloilo, a hospital operated by the The Medical City Group in Manila operates in Molo District beside Carpenter's Bridge. The second phase of Esplanade 1 runs in front of the hospital up to Diversion Road near Hotel del Rio.

Phase 2 of the Esplanade. The two towers of the gothic Molo Church is on the left side while the crane on the right side is the one building the expansion of The Medical City - Iloilo in the on the top.

Medicus Medical/Diagnostic Center (the blue building with the tower), Ayala Technohub 1 (the white and black building to the left) and Injap's condominium (the cream colored building) along Gen. Luna Street to the right is visible in this picture.

The winding path of the park hugs the mangrove-laiden banks of the Iloilo River.

Dalaag Beach Resort, Antique

          Antique is one of the four provinces of Panay Island which includes Aklan, Capiz and Iloilo. The province of Antique boasts a unique geography characterized by mountains in the east hugging the narrow coastal plains which is bounded by the turquoise Sulu Sea in the west. This interplay of mountains and sea gives Antique its spectacular sunset that other Panay Island provinces can only dream of [having only pockets of coasts that can view the setting sun unhindered be tall mountains in the western horizon].
          The northern coast of Antique is dotted by a few outlying islands and numerous coastal reefs which makes this area the new mecca for beach tourism in Panay Island after Boracay in Malay, Aklan and Concepcion (Pan de Azucar/Mt. Manaphag) and Carles (Isla Gigantes, Sicogon Island) in Iloilo. The southern coast, however, doesn't have that much islands with Nogas Island being the only island in the south. However having such a scenic coastal topography, the southern coast of Antique is gaining momentum.
          The most notable coastal landmark in southern Antique is the Punta Hagdan Rock Formation which can be seen as far as San Jose de Buenavista (the provincial capital) abouth 30 km. away. The municipalities of Tobias Fornier (formerly called Dao) and Anini-y has a wide array of black/gray sand beach resorts ranging from simple beachside resorts to resorts complete with amenities such as pools and slides and a hot spring resort in Anini-y (Sira-an Hot Spring). Nogas Island also offers white sand beach and coral reefs around the island accessible through several drop-off points in Anini-y town and Sira-an Hot Spring Resort.
          This post focuses on a newly established beach resort a little further north of Anini-y. It's name is Dalaag Beach Resort in Tobias Fornier. The resort is less than a kilometer north of the town proper. This newly built resort offers amenities from pools for kids and adults, a slide which will lead you straight to the pool after spiraling downwards, rooms for rent with climate control functionality, beach side cottages and a small stage for presentations (i.e. reunions or team-building activities).
         Done with the writing part here, the pictures will speak for themselves. :)

Facing south, Punta Hagdan Rock Formation as seen from the beach. Punta Hagdan Resort is found near the geologic formation.

The beach and the cottages inside.

Facing north, San Jose de Buenavista, Antique is barely visible at the tip of the faint piece of land jutting out into the sea. The mountains belong to the municipality of Hamtic, just north of Tobias Fornier.

The bamboo bridge connecting the beach-side cottages in the background to the pool area in the foreground.

"The Overview". The pool area as seen from the top of the 'water slide tower'.

The water slide tower.

The beach-side cottages as viewed from the top of the tower.

The more secluded part of the pool.

          Dalaag Beach Resort is more than 100 km. from Iloilo City or just about 30 km. from San Jose, Antique. Buses and passenger vans are available at the San Pedro, Molo Bus Terminal in Iloilo City or at the Antique Bus Terminal in Funda Dalipe, San Jose de Buenavista (it is more commonly called as San Jose).

Kadyos-Isda-Kapayas (KIK) ~ an authentic Ilonggo cuisine!

          Iloilo is famous for its kadyos(black beans/pigeon peas)-based dishes. Kadyos is the local name for the seeds (as beans) and the particular plant under the family Fabaceae or legume family. Its scientific name is Cajanus cajan. This small, rounded, black, yellow, or white beans are known throughout Southern and Southeastern Asia. In Iloilo, 99% of the time, the black variety is used as it is more favored over the other varieties for its rich earthy taste.

     Here in the Philippines, the kadyos beans are most utilized in the province of Iloilo and the surrounding provinces of Western Visayas. Three main dishes are derived from this vegetable. These are Kadyos-Baboy-Langka or KBL (Kadyos Beans-Pork-Unripe Jackfruit), Kadyos-Manok-Ubad or KMU (Kadyos Beans-Chicken-Chopped Young Banana Husk[the 'whitish'  innermost layers of the trunk of the banana]), and the topic in this discussion, Kadyos-Isda-Kapayas or KIK (Kadyos Beans-Fish[Fried]-Unripe Papaya). All these dishes are cooked in boiling water (literally, they're soupy dishes, not saucy or dry). This post will show you how to cook this proudly Ilonggo dish and how yummy it looks (and tastes), well, at least for me. :)

Ingredients:
     about a cup of fresh kadyos beans (dry beans will require longer cooking time)
     2-3 slices of fried fish (it can be tuna, trevally, jack (my favorite), or any other fish)
          *PS: the head is the tastiest part so if possible, include it in the menu
     2 small unripe papayas, sliced into 1 inch thick slants
     about a bowl of kamote (sweet potatao; Ipomea batatas) leaves and tops
     3 pieces of spring onions, chopped 1 inch long
     salt
     pepper
     dash of MSG or 1 tsp. of sugar (optional)
     chopped shallots, garlic, and tomatoes
     lemongrass leaves in a tight bundle

Procedure:
1. Prepare all the ingredients
    Wash thoroughly the beans or if you're using dried beans, soak it overnight before using.
    Peel the papaya and remove the immature seeds using a spoon. Use the tip of the spoon to remove the seeds. Slice it in slants of about 1 inch thick.
    Prepare two to three slices of fried fish of your choice.
    Prepare and wash about a bowl of kamote leaves and tops. For the leaves, do not include moast of the petiole or leaf stalk as it is to fibrous to chew, just the part nearest the leaves.
    Chop three spring onions into 1 inch-thick 'tubes'.
    Chop shallots, garlic, and tomatoes separately.
    Tie about 5 leaves of lemongrass into a tight bundle that won't easily get untied while cooking.

Bottom-left: tomatoes, left: garlic cloves, center-left: spring onions, top: unripe papaya, top-right: fried fish, center: kadyos beans.

Unripe papayas, scrape off the seeds using the tip of a spoon.

Slice these further in slants.

"The" Fish.

Kadyos close-up view.

Kamote leaves.

2. Sauté the garlic and shallots in oil and add the tomatoes after the shallots turn pale.

3. Add the kadios, sauté a little more, and add hot water to boil. Boil until the beans can be easily crushed by a spoon against the surface of the pot.

4. Add the fried fish into the boiling pot. Let boil for about 5-10 minutes.

5. Add the papaya and allow to boil until tender (but not "mashable"). Add the flavorings (salt, pepper, and MSG/sugar[optional]) by now and adjust the flavor by adding a little more of any of the three to suit your taste.

6. Add the lemongrass and let boil for about 5 minutes.

7. Add the kamote leaves and boil for 5-10 minutes. PS: the kamote leaves are easily overcooked.

8. Sprinkle the chopped spring onions and remove from heat. Serve while piping hot. Makes an enjoyable pair with rice.

Serve and enjoy!