Apr 11 2008
2 nights in Concepcion Iloilo | April 2008
The first time I’m been to the northerneastern part of Iloilo was less than two years ago. Ever since, just can’t stop going back to explore more of its destinations and to get a feel of what it’s like to be there. Four days after our graduation, I was back in Concepcion with my friends, one of which had a graduation dinner at their house.
During the first night, we already planned to sleep at my friends’ house and spend some time swimming in Junbee Garilva Resort, just like what we did last time. I introduced myself to the owners who happened to be the one who welcomed us to their resort, I was surprised to find out that they already knew me and my website, Explore Iloilo, because of a post I did about their resort. Neat! After a bit of inquiring about their prices, they presented us a good deal - P150/person per night in an aircon room and inclusive of swimming pool priviledges. Each of us slept in our own beds, which is very different from the limited-budget situations that we usually have when during our outings.
Rock formations in Pilar, Capiz
The next day, we visited Pilar town in nearby Capiz province since my other friends wanted to make a petition to the Shrine of Mother Mary for guidance during the Nursing Licensure Exam on June. I was shocked to find out that Pilar was just barely 30 minues by tricycle from Balasan.
During the way back, we made it a point to buy bibinka in Balasan. I was told that RCJ bibinka was the best in town. Indeed it was, the bibinka in Balasan is really more delicious than those sold in the city.
We were back in Concepcion in the afternoon and rode a pumpboat to Bulubadianan Island at around 4:00pm. The sunset was in full bloom shortly after we arrived. It was a very surreal experience, the sky was just full of pastel colors, the soft color of the sea, and the white sand beach made the most perfect of scenes.
We spent the night in the only resort in the island, the Sandbar Island Beach Resort. They had cottages for rent for P1,000 per night but we opted to sleep in the tents we brought instead because they only charged us P300 for setting up the two tents. We had to cook our own by “uling” (charcoal) and the electricity went off at around 10:00pm. During that time we had a bonfire set-up for P300.
The next day, we circumnavigated the island. It took us about an hour and when we came back, breakfast was ready.
After breakfast, there was a little rest. I talked to the resort attendant about “boating” around the nearby islands. He charged us P500 for a trip to Malangabang Island then to Agho Island and Back.
