Ambot ah!

After the new year, me and my friends thought of visiting Guisi, which is an upcoming tourist destination in Guimaras. I have been there before but there’s just something about the place that haunts me to go back over and over. It’s natural beauty is just superb and to top it off is a magnificent display of Spanish-colonial heritage in the form of an 18th century lighthouse. No wonder the Provincial Gov’t of Guimaras (with the help of the Canadian Urban Institute) is putting high priority in promoting Guisi.

From Iloilo City we rode a 15-min pumpboat ride (P11) to Jordan, Guimaras via the Ortiz Port in Iloilo City. In Jordan Wharf is a small shed where a tourist assistance outpost is located. They could arrange transportation to any destination in Guimaras and the best part is that they already have fixed rates so you won’t ever experience being overcharged by opportunist drivers. We opted to commute to Guisi by riding a Nueva Valencia Jeep (P40), which took us straight to Guisi in a matter of one hour. From the road, it’s a 3 minute walk downhill to the beach resort.

There, you’ll be able to see the cottages, white-sand beach, the clear waters, the blue sky, and the rock formations on the sides, a very refreshing sight.

Here are some of the pictures I took during the trip:

The beach with the palms as its backdrop
Continue Reading »

Due to some unfortunate circumstances, it turns out I’ll have to cancel my Aklan+Boracay trip because it’ll be in the same week as my Bacolod-Silay trip. I guess I’ll just have to make the most of my trip in Negros Occidental. Continue Reading »

These past few weeks, life has been quite busy especially due to school. My viewers at exploreiloilo.com surely have noticed that I haven’t updated it for a long time already. Well, things are going to change come September. My “school schedule” will start clearing up since our clinical duty would already be finished for the semester. Thank goodness for that!

By then, I’d have more time to go around Iloilo and collect more content for my posts. I’d also have more time to visit other places besides my hometown. If fact, as a requirement for our Management Class, we (me and my groupmates) will be visiting Bacolod to make an organizational study on the Regional Hospital there (named Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital). I’ll probably be staying in Bacolod on September 2 - 4 (even longer if time permits).

I’m no stranger to Bacolod. When I was too young to go to school, I spent my childhood there with my lolo, lola, and other relatives. My last visit to Bacolod was April of this year, just in time for the Panaad Festival. I actually was more interested in visiting the newly opened SM City Bacolod since I have already been to the Panaad Festival before. My trip was quite fun but medyo bitin because I only spent one night there.

This time, we’re planning to spend 3 days in Bacolod. It’ll be a new experience for me because I’ll be staying at my friend’s house and I’ll be able to visit more of Bacolod’s hangout places than the usual tourist destinations. I’ve already fulfilled some of my “TO DOs” in Bacolod like:

• Eat at Calea (the blueberry cheese cake, as eric recommended, was just heavenly)
• Go to the top floor of Bacolod’s tallest building (PNB)
• Visit SM City Bacolod

But there’s still more unchecked in my list like:

• Nightout in Goldenfield Complex
• Eat at Cafe Bobs

I have to think of more things to do so my visit will be more worthwhile. If someone out there knows of things I can add to the list, by all means do so!

After the Bacolod trip, I might be hitching a ride on another group in our section, who are planning to go to Aklan … BORACAY, here I come! I’ll post more about that later, hehe.

In the meantime, here are some of the pictures I took during my last visit in Bacolod (April 2007) Continue Reading »