Part 1: Iloilo Mini Vacation
As promised here's a glimpse on my family's mini vacation at Iloilo...
We spent the last week of April at my grandparents' house on my dad's side at Pili, Ajuy, Iloilo located on the western part of the Visayas region of the Philippines.
We had a great time there. It's really fun to be with the whole family (buong angkan) again. And as a "pasalubong" I grabbed some photos so you can see them.
April 20, Departure
We went to Iloilo via Roll-on Roll-off or the RoRo way which is a combination of land and water travel. We drove to Batangas Port early in the morning of April 20. Then, we boarded a Montenegro Lines vessel going to Calapan, Mindoro.
Reina Immaculada is a nice barge of Montenegro lines. It's not that big but the facilities are okay.
We had a nice view of the sea that morning. Thankfully the waves are not that big that we didn't had the drowsy feeling.
I love the blue sea...
A beautiful view of the islands...
Getting near to the Port of Calapan...
Calapan, Mindoro to Roxas, Mindoro
We had a long trip on the road while the sun is up. From Calapan, we had to go to Roxas, Mindoro which was on the other end of the island. That took us about four hours of driving.
Finally, we reached Roxas Port wherein we had to booked for the next barge going to Caticlan, Aklan. Unfortunately we lost the trip of Montenegro Lines and we had to book our tickets from Starlite Ferries.
It was a five hour trip on the sea and we boarded ourselves on a gruesome barge of Starlite ferries. Yeah, I hate to do this but the barge is really not well-maintained. We were the first to climb up the vessel and reserved seats on the air-conditioned room not knowing that with the two air-cons on the large room only one was working. The air-con couldn't accommodate almost a 100 passengers inside the large room. Plus the hot weather that night it was really hard to take a nap. In addition to that, there were lots of insects on the chairs and we even saw rats strolling under our seats.
After that, we concluded not to book again at Starlite Ferries. I am not saying that all their vessels were like that but that was enough for a first time. I hope Starlite would check their vessels and clean them so that passengers would have a happy trip.
April 21, Arrival
Then, we're back on the road at 2 am the following day. From Caticlan, Aklan it was about a 5-hour drive to Iloilo.
We saw lots of green fields on the way and breathed-in the fresh morning air. It was a wonderful blessing that day.
A few hours later, we reached our destination and rested the whole day. Glad we made it safe and sound after almost 33 hours of travelling.
The following days were spent on sight-seeing and touring around my dad's hometown.
April 23, To the City
We went to Jaro, Iloilo and saw their own version of jeepneys.
Jaro, Iloilo, Philippines
Then, we celebrated my sister's 16th birthday at Buto't Balat Restaurant with our relatives.
Buto't Balat Restaurant at Diversion road near Sm City Jaro.
The foods are great and the ambiance is perfect. It was a relaxing place to eat and bond with the family.
After looking around Jaro, Iloilo which was 2 hours away from my grandparents' place we decided to call it a day.
Luckily, my aunt gave my sister a delicious birthday gift she bought from Dolly's Delicious Buko Pie. Instead of the usual whole pie we ate from Batangas, Dolly's Buko Pies are in solo sizes. They're really superb that I could eat a box if the pies' for me.
April 24, Pili Fiesta 2013
After going to Iloilo City our next stop is the town proper...Ajuy, Iloilo. The town was quiet that morning and the rice fields welcomed us.
Ajuy, Iloilo Municipal Hall
The 24th of April is day Pili, Ajuy celebrates their feast. And as a preparation we went to Ajuy to shop for groceries. The feast was cheery and the place has lots of activities. They had programs at night and children would be playing on the "perya"or fairs the whole night. So we took family pictures so we can save that memory.
April 25, Swimming Day
Yapsonville , Malayu-an, Iloilo
After the feast, we went swimming at Yapsonville's seaside. It was high tide when we arrived and the water was clean. However, at noon there were floating leaves on the sea and waves were huge.
But that didn't stop us. We swam 'til afternoon and ate mouth-watering fresh seafoods and buko juice. Have you seen the photos of the seafoods I'm talking about? Not yet? Check it HERE.
We had so much fun that day. Me and my little cousins swam all day while my dad and my uncles got drank while having their bonding time. My mom and my aunts spent the day catching up at each others stories.
Glad we had that day to finally spent a happy memory once again after a long time.
HAPPY . LOVE . FAMILY
More to come on my next post so don't forget to check back here.
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