Excuse me for taking so long to post Part 2 of the Expat Guide to Living in Iloilo City. My excuse is… I have no excuse other than the fact that there are people to meet, things to see, and obligations to fulfill. After all, Iloilo City is a vibrant city with many great eye candies. What can I say, I love Iloilo.

Before I tell you about the many great distractions here in Iloilo City, allow me to introduce you to Ebon L. Thea, Sheryl (more on Sheryl and her husband Patrick in my future blog) and I met him last week. Ebon L. is a professional poker player from Kansas. He moved (yes, moved) to Iloilo City because he can earn more here than in Kansas. I wish I could reveal his poker secrets, but I took a vow of secrecy. But, trust me, they are great secrets. Let’s just say that I would hate to be the ones playing poker against Ebon.

Now, on to the many great distractions in Iloilo City. I’m going to focus on food, drinks and entertainment this time.
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I’ve been living in Iloilo City, Philippines with my wife, who was born and raised in Iloilo City (an Ilongga from Mandurriao), and son, who was born in Manila, since April of this year.

My first trip to Iloilo City was in February of 2007. We decided to move to Iloilo City to spend more time with our family members prior to us going to California later this year. Prior to moving to Iloilo City, we spent a year living in Makati, Manila. Prior to that I was living in California, New York and Virginia. Before immigrating to the United States, I was living in Cambodia — actually, I was born and raised in Cambodia. So, geographically, I’ve come full circle — Southeast Asia to North America back to Southeast Asia.

Having lived most of my life in the United States, I took convenience for granted. When I wanted cheap clothes I would head to Wal-Mart or Target or Kohl’s. For groceries, I would go to Safeway or Ralph’s (there’s also a Ralph’s here in Iloilo but it’s actually a liquor store and not a grocery store). For a quick bite to eat, I had my choices of McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, etc. And, for a whole lot of everything, I always ended up at Costco. Read more »

I don’t like to travel when it rains. But it is. Hard. With thunderstorms.

We are at NAIA’s Mabuhay Lounge, waiting for our flight to HKG. Our plane doesn’t leave until 2:20PM, which means we still have some 30 minutes to read magazines, eat carbs and surf the Internet. The Mabuhay Lounge is a convenient place for people like us who need to do last-minute emails [as if we couldn't do it abroad] to associates [read: wedding planner and writers] and family members. Actually I’m not doing any of that. Read more »

For more than fifteen minutes this morning Daniel and I shared a moment with nature’s orchestra.  We lay on our back in his bed.  Our eyes were aligned.  His twenty inch body fit comfortably on the bed while I had to plant my feet squarely on the ground just to keep myself from falling. Read more »

We recently moved to Iloilo after a year of staying in Makati and we tremendously enjoy our new home although we are in the process of adjusting to our new environment.

We had mixed feelings about our relocation. I felt sad that we left our place in Manila but at the same time excited with what’s in store for us in my hometown. It’s a good thing for me because after almost 11 years of staying in Manila for college, law school until I got married, I am back to where I grew up. Read more »