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.

Food
If you are seafood lovers, head to one of these restaurants: Breakthrough, Tatoys, Coastal Road, Ocean City, or Freska. If you’re at Breakthrough, be sure to check out their live-seafood tanks. My all-time favorite at Breakthrough are the crabs — they are succulent, sweet, fresh and inexpensive. Be warned. These crabs are in high demand. So, if you see them, order them right away.

If you are the all-you-can-eat type, head to the Grand Dame Hotel. The restaurant is located on the second floor of the hotel. There you will be treated to an all-you-can-eat Japanese buffet. Again, at 250 peso per person (excluding drinks), it’s super affordable. Be sure to save some room for the halo halo.

If you crave authentic, Iloilo meals, be sure to visit Ted’s La Paz Batchoy Restaurant (there’s one at SM Iloilo City Mall). They serve the best noodle soup. But, you don’t want to know (nor should you ask) what’s in the bowl. Just enjoy it. The best way for me to describe Ted’s noodle soup to you is that it’s like Pho #1. You know, the vietnamese noodles that we Silicon Valley (or should I say, ex-Silicon Valley) folks love. At lease I did.

If you want super-cheap, super-delicious, all around good grub, tell the taxi driver to take you to JD Bakeshop (there are many). I personally like the one on Gen. Luna Street (also know as the Highway) because it’s right on the waterfront.

Pastries
For pastries (things like biscocho, ube piaya, butterscotch, mango chewies, and boat tart), there is a hidden gem. Look for the Sweet ‘Nes brand. They have a stall at the Atrium Mall next to the SuperMart Grocery Store. For the widest selection, take a taxi to Molo Deli in Molo (about a 10-15 minute ride from Smallville). Go past Molo Church and Molo SuperMart. I’m guessing it’s about .5km from Molo SuperMart. Look for the Molo Deli sign on the left-hand side of the main road. Not all taxi drivers know where it is. But, it’s worth the trek if you are pastries lovers. Tell them that I sent you.

Drinks
Of course, you can’t have food without drinks. Don’t be shocked by the limited selection of beer. Of course, you can pay a premium for a bottle of Heineken. For the same price of a bottle of Heineken, however, you can literally get a 6-pack of San Miguel Beer (Light or Pale Pilsen). If you want to get wasted for even less, try Red Horse Beer. Unlike beers in the States, which contain less than 2% alcohol, local beers in the Philippines contain 5% alcohol. Oh, by the way, a bottle of San Miguel will cost you (are you ready?) less than $0.50 (depending on the exchange rate). So, you can get drunk twice as fast for less than the price of Budweiser.

Entertainment
Wouldn’t it be great if you can eat, drink and be entertained? Well, there is such a place. In fact, it is the only place to be if you want to people-watch or listen to live bands or partake in a karaoke (in case you don’t know, Filipinos love to and can sing. Most filipinos are extremely shy. But, once you stick a microphone in front of them and turn on a karaoke machine, watch out world! This talent is not reserved for Charise Pempengco only.) Ok, the place you need to be is called Smallville. Again, all taxi drivers know where Smallville is. And, if plan to stay in Iloilo for a few days, I would recommend you stay in Smallville. Before I moved to Iloilo, my wife and I would stay at the Westown Hotel located in Smallville. In case you are wondering, no one pays me to tell you about all these places. This blog is simply a labor of love.

That should keep you busy for a while. Do let me know if you are going to be in Iloilo. Maybe we’ll meet in Smallville and knock down a few San Mig Lights over some steamed oysters at Freska. If nothing else, should you find this blog helpful or entertaining, please drop me a line. Until next time, baboosh.

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.

Speaking of a “whole lot” of everything, the first thing I noticed about things in the Philippines is that you get a “little bit” of everything. Take McDonald’s for example. In California, when you say super-size, you literally get a pound of fries and a 32-oz cup of soda along with your impossible-to-bite-into Big Mac. Here, when you super-size your order at McDonald’s, you get the US equivalent of a small box of fries and a small cup of soda. By the way, I have never had any problem biting into my juicy Big Mac here in Iloilo or anywhere in the Philippines for that matter, for it’s the size of a regular cheese burger in California. So, if you really miss McDonald’s, be sure to order two super-sized meals.

Fast food is very popular in Iloilo. So, if fast food is your thing, don’t fret. You’ll find McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut and even Dunkin Donut just about anywhere. But, don’t limit yourself to American’s fast food restaurants. Try the Filipino’s version:

Jollibee = McDonald’s or Burger King
Chow King = no US equivalence
Max’s = KFC
Greenwich Pizza = Pizza Hut
Mr. Donut = Dunkin Donut (there are no Krispy Kremes in Iloilo, only in Manila)
Blue Jay Cafe and Figarro= the closest thing to Starbucks or Peet’s Coffee & Tea

All these places (except Blue Jay Cafe) can be found at one of the three malls in Iloilo City. The most popular and the biggest mall in Iloilo City is SM City Iloilo. The other ones are SM Delgado (the oldest and actually my favorite mall) and Robinson’s (the newest). To get to any of these malls just tell the taxi driver the name of the the mall.

For groceries, I usually shop at SM Supermarket. There one at every SM mall. For that reason, it’s the most convenient place to shop. But, if you want hard-to-find, imported items, the place to shop is Atrium (again, tell the taxi driver to take you to Atrium). I especially like their fresh produce and fresh meat sections. They also have a wider selection of olive oil and frozen products like salmon, sausages and pizzas. I even spotted some Kirkland-brand olive oil the last time I was there. If you crave cheese or Angus beef from Australia or a delicious, made-to-order salad, the place to be is Blue Jay Cafe on General Luna Street.

Ok, that should get you started. There are so many great places to shop, eat, drink and visit in Iloilo. In Part 2, I plan to continue listing other places to shop for things. After that, I plan to write about the best places to have a drink, to access the Internet, to people watch, to snorkel, to dive, to read, to photograph, etc. Do let me know what aspect of Iloilo you would like me to write about next. I’ll do my best to comply. Otherwise, I will just pick a topic. Until next time, I hope to bump into you at the mall or wherever our paths may cross in Iloilo.

* juice from 1/2 lemon
* 1-2 slices of lime
* 2 tbs of brown sugar
* 1 jigger (what’s a jigger?) of Rum (Tanduay White Rum will do)
* some mint leaves
* generous amount of ice

Shake, pour, drink. My first concoction of Mojito was way too strong. I think the mistake was in my interpretation of “a jigger of Rum.” What’s a jigger, anyway? I just assumed that the word “jigger” meant “a lot.” So, without a care in the world, I just pour a lot of Rum into my first batch of Mojito. Though super strong, we both drank it! The second and the third and the… batches were delicious. Mojito is now at the top of our list of mixed drinks. Don’t believe us? Give it a try and let us know how you like it. Excuse me while I go make some Mojito. Chao.

These days, there is the longing for a quiet place where we could enjoy the Power of the Now.

One island comes to mind: Isla Naburot in Guimaras Island. The island-resort is on a privately-owned island in Jordan, a 20-minute boat ride from Iloilo.

Isla Naburot is not your usual commercial, run-of-the-mill beach resort. In fact, the owners prefer that it remains exclusive and only caters to the high-end market. The beach houses are a tapestry of salvaged materials from pre-war houses and old churches, which are tastefully assembled into relaxing cottages. If you are looking for peace, this place will offer you exactly that and then some. There is no electicity in the island, only kerosene lamps at night, and that makes it unique among its counterparts.

We didn’t stay overnight on this island so I couldn’t really comment on the food. However, according to people who have gone there, it’s great.

We didn’t take PAL this time, because of some hotel confirmation issues. We flew Singapore Airlines instead and signed up for KrisFlyer, SIA’s version of PAL’s Mabuhay Miles. I’ll write a separate entry about this most-revered airline later.

We traveled light—I allotted half of the space in my luggage for swags, and for clean clothes, we depended mostly on hotel laundry. Nobody cared about our getup anyway.

We arrived at the hotel at 6:30 PM. The Copthorne Orchid Hotel along Dunearn Road was comfortable but ridiculously expensive. For the same rates, it was shabby compared to Shangri-La Makati. The rooms were fully booked so we had no choice but be assigned to a smoking room. Good thing they were kind enough to spray Shout! in all corners of the room.

It was time for the bumboat cruise along the Singapore River. The now ornate bumboats used to be cargo boats that ferried goods up and down the river. The vessel was almost empty, except for some Japanese tourists who were not really paying attention to sights.

On board the bumboat, you’ll see the city lit up at night, with highlights of grand colonial buildings, beautifully restored shop houses, unique skyscrapers, and the iconic Merlion statue. The cruise is available nightly, except Sundays, until 10:30 PM.

Because we wanted to maximize our stay in Singapore, we drafted a one-week schedule and was determined to follow it. Also, we were grateful for the efficiency of guided tours and the transport system, following our schedule on the dot was a complete breeze and, at the end of the day, all the planning was worth it.

More Singapore entries to come….

A week ago, we went to the group’s first monthly EB. It was an opportunity to shoot budding models at the studio. There was a congregation of designers, models, makeup artists and gawkers, as soon as we arrived. This must be serious, I told myself. But, to be honest, I was more excited to mingle with people than to snap away photos. After all, I haven’t really spent a hundred hours taking photographs seriously. Perhaps when I already have a powerful lense.

Later on that day, we realized that these models wanted to build their portfolio and so they posed gratis in exchange of gratis photos. What’s a more ideal setup than that?

As soon as PDS members arrived one by one with a camera on one hand and food on the other, everything started to be in order. Then, a mob of photographers came in and started clicking away their cameras. They were lugging their precious Canon and Nikon DSLRs and what-have-you. Believe me, it was quite intimidating to be in their company.

One struggle that we had while taking photos was to “direct” the models to what we wanted them to do or to coach them to wear varying facial expressions that we want to see. This was particularly difficult considering they are not (yet) professional models who can readily turn themselves into chameleons at any given time. Their major stumbling block is the inability to internalize directions and the lack of realization that they are there to act their character and market what they wear, and not merely pose for a Saturday afternoon tea party shoot. I should write a separate entry on how to be a good model, although I have no plans of hitting the runway ever. I don’t meet the height requirement, and what would Daniel say?

Anyway, here are some photos that we took. Please excuse the outcome as I have yet to master the post-processing part of photography.

Photo taken by Thea

Photo taken by Thea

Photo taken by Amarind

Known as one of the best airports in the world, the Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) is an experience in itself. From the time your plane touches down the Hong Kong ground to the time you take the coach to your chosen hotel, you’ll never run out of things to see and do.

The airport is strategically designed not only to serve travelers but also to cater to international and high end consumers who are entering HK through this posh airport. So, it’s not unusual to see themed restaurants, designer boutiques like Prada, Gucci, Fendi, ad infinitum, as you find your way to thee exit gate or the boarding gate area. Be prepared to shell out some dough if you have shopaholic tendencies. Read…

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Amrin