Pitstop: Guimaras Foodies

It’s a good thing we stayed in Raymen Beach Resort because they served good food in their cafeteria. On our first day, we tried their grilled boneless bangus, chopseuy and molo soup for lunch. You can taste the freshness of their bangus together with the chopseuy and the authenticity of their very own molo soup. The molo soup was notable because they add egg to balance the taste of molo wrapper as this has tendency to make the soup a bit salty.

lobster (pic c/o marj)

For dinner on our first night, we ordered grilled squid stuffed with tomatoes and onions, sinigang na baboy and ensaladang talong. I’m a squid lover so I liked their grilled posit but I noticed it was a bit small for its price. The sinigang na baboy was okay for me but the fat was a bit thick and the soup was oily. I’m not a fan of eggplant but their ensaladang talong was fresh as it was combined with tomatoes and onions and soaked in their native vinegar which was too strong for me. But it’s generally good.

molo soup

For breakfast, we had the usual Filipino food like tapa, tocino, egg and their local tuyo, uga tabagak which is the cheapest in their menu. Their tocino was fried with onions that made its sweet blend was very good as it combined sugar and sweetness of onions. So good! There beef tapa was not that tender though also taste good. Their local tuyo was deep fried perfectly as you can eat it as it is. Their uga tabagak is considered as our staple food as we order it even for dinner.

grilled boneless bangus


After our island hopping trip, a fisherman approached us and sold his three samaral fishes and three lobsters for on Php 500 plus. Without hesitations, we bought all his seafoods and asked the cook at the cafeteria to grill the fish and make some sinigang and cook the lobster for us. It was a feast for it was so cheap. You can’t buy a lobster in Manila for that price. Samaral fish was so good as it tasted like maya-maya fish.

ensaladang talong

For our second night dinner, we ordered pinakbet, beef steak, grilled liempo and pancit lomi. Their pinakbet was similar to native Ilocano pinakbet which has a strong taste of bagoong. The beef steak had a strong kalamansi kick that I liked so much while their lomi used other noodle instead of miki. Sarap! Their liempo taste good so the fat was so thick.

sinigang na baboy

uga tabagak (tuyo)

tocino

egg

fresh catch


When you’re in Guimaras, don’t miss out on Raymen’s mango shake and mango and other fruits. Yum!

banana

grapes

mangoes

Pitstop: Guimaras Native Delicacies and Products

On our way to Jordan Wharf to ride a ferry going back to Iloilo from Guimaras, we asked kuya Jesus to drop by Guimaras’ Pasalubong Center. I never knew Guimaras has other native delicacies aside from their well-known mangoes. They have fruit piaya made of either langka, pineapple, cashew or mango; mango jam, mango puree, and would you believe mango ketchup. I’m not sure about their mango ketchup but I bought all their piaya variety except for langka and other products made from Trappist Monastery in Guimaras. Looking at the labels of these products, it is nice to know that the Department of Science and Technology assisted the manufacturers in packaging their products to make it at par and marketable to both local and foreign buyers.

Guimaras also have native products such as soap dish made of wood, native coin purse, bamboo sofa, wooden pens, key chains, etc. We also asked manong to take us to a nearby market to buy mangoes.

Footnote: One Lourdes Dormitel, Fuentes Iloilo City

We already made reservation before going to Iloilo in another hotel but our friends who came from Bora told us there was a relatively new but cheaper hotel named One Lourdes Dormitel in Fuentes St., Iloilo City. When we arrived in Ortiz port from Guimaras, we took a cab and asked the manong to drop us in the said hotel. The driver didn’t know its exact location so we had to drive along the entire Fuentes Street. When we found the hotel, you may immediately notice that it is a hotel unless you see their signage because the ground floor is being used as a warehouse. You have to pass by the gate on the side of the building for you to find the entrance to the dormitel.



The lobby is relatively small but its interior is good as you will also be greeted by its accommodating staff. The dormitel is a three-floor accommodation that offers amenities such as: dining area, elevator, free wifi, room service, arrangement for airport transfer, among others.

What I like about this dormitel is they managed to maximize their space without compromising comfort of its guests. We booked a room that is good for four that only cost Php 900 a night. It has air-conditioner, two matrimonial beds, TV, desk, cabinet, comfort room with hot and cold shower among others.

Since we felt at home in this hotel, we scrapped some late night plans just to spend time bumming around our room. The hotel exceeded our expectations though we only stayed overnight. Now we have a second home when you go back to Iloilo.

contact information:

Address : Fuentes St., City Proper, Iloilo City Telefax : (63)(033) 3384288 / 3358572 / 3378734

Iloilo Churches

We decided to visit some churches in Iloilo after we ate at Tatoy’s. We took a jeep from Tatoy’s and went to Sto. Nino De Arevalo Parish Church in Arevalo. After that, we took another jeep that has a sign “Villa” and dropped by Molo Church in Molo, Iloilo. Then we took another jeep going to Baluarte to visit San Jose Church in Libertad.

As we went along, I can’t help but notice the usual Spanish Colonial setting where the Church is always near the public plaza and schools. It was a good feeling staying on these Plazas for a while and see people from different walks of life make their own escape and find space within a cool breeze of fresh air to relieve stress and set perspective. One can’t replace that feeling of oneness with your own world while killing some time in a public plaza.

sto. nino de arevalo church

sto. nino de arevalo church

plaza in front of molo church

molo church

molo church

molo church

molo church

san jose church, libertad
san jose church

san jose church

rizal monument in front of san jose church

plaza libertad: monument of greatness of heroes of panay. the revolutionary army headed by Hen. Martin Delgado gathered here to raise the Philippine Flag, to symbolize the end of Spanish regime in Panay on December 25, 1898. This was made as national historical marker on November 17, 2003.

Iloilo flora and fauna

After our church hopping, we decided to drop by Robinson's Place Iloilo to buy supplies when we saw flowers and plants being sold right at the central plaza. Display on recently held Dinagyang Festival can still be seen in the mall.