Guimaras Island's Best: Mangoes and Beaches
Finally, I've experienced riding an airplane! :D This was the first time I went on an out of town trip with this set of college friends. Actually, it was Karen who tagged me along. I didn't want to go on travels with too many people but I figured these are all great people anyway and Iloilo is a place I really wanna see. So there.
Karen, Ces and I agreed to meet up with the other group, consisting of Arrjem and couples Mela & Ralph, Jaja & Amor and Mylce & Johnson, at NAIA airport before boarding because they will board on an earlier flight. We needed to see them because until that moment, we still didn't know about the final itinerary. We did ask Arrjem if he'd like to just join us single ladies, and leave all those couple alone, hehe. But then Mylce's boyfriend wasn't really coming with us.
So here goes my 5-day away from the metro!
March 26: Iloilo - Guimaras Island
I didn't know Jaja has an Ilonggo blood. Apparently, her Mom's from Iloilo and she has kins in the city, and they were really kind to guide us throughout our stay in their place. Upon arriving at the airport, we were fetched by Jaja's Tito with a pick-up truck which was what we really wished for so we could stay at the back and enjoy the early morning scenery of Iloilo. For the duration of the travel, Arrjem busied himself by waving at people along the way. Even on vacant lots where there's nobody, he waved.
On the way to Jaja's relatives, we were toying around the idea of a "grand welcome," but we didn't really expect they would prepare breakfast for us because Jaja's Tita knew we planned to eat at Ted's La Paz Batchoy once we arrive. Well, they knew exactly what to do because they served us local food. Who could resist such an offer?
After storming the breakfast (Eat and run! We ate everything up), we headed off to Guimaras. Actually, the 3 of us (Karen, Ces and I) planned to remove this from our itinerary thinking it would be costly, but Jaja found a cheap accommodation and the expenses will even be lessened if there's more people in the group. We easily gave in and to my surprise, Guimaras Island is just a 15-minute boat ride from Iloilo, and the fare was only Php13!
Arriving in Guimaras, we hired a multicab to drive us from Jordan Wharf to Raymen Beach Resort in Alubihod, Nueva Valencia (Php400). We asked to stop by the market where we bought what Guimaras is known for, mangoes. (Trivia: Guimaras mangoes are exported to California.)
We checked in at Raymen Beach Resort, and after settling in, we immediately went to take a dip in the crystal clear Guimaras beach. Jaja and Amor opted to take a rest though. When they woke from the nap, we went to get lunch at Raymen Canteen.
First stop was to see the pawikans at Lawi Marine Turtle Rescue Center. They were keeping turtles that are injured or those that can't go back to the ocean yet. At first I didn't want hold the pawikan thinking I might just harm the turtle, but I gave in and tried holding up a 33-pound pawikan the caretaker held out for us to touch/hold.
Then the boatmen took us to Natago Beach and Ave Maria Island, both lovely islands. I particularly like Ave Maria Island because it has a really fine white sand. There are other islands but it's getting late so we asked to be taken back to Raymen from Ave Maria. We had tons of fun already anyway. I just find it unbelievable when Arrjem and Mela fell asleep on the boat. May mga pating kaya sa dagat. :p
We did spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping. We only woke up when it's dinner time. We went to a carenderia outside the resort which was discovered by our pals in the afternoon while strolling around. The resort guard warned us drunk guys lurk at these carinderias but we went anyway. What made the dinner fun was the videoke time a.k.a pasiklaban ng regional songs. Arrjem sang "Manang Biday", Mylce did "Sarong Banggi", and for Karen, it was "Dandansoy".
Afterwards, we went to the beach and drank beer. This is probably my most precious moments during this entire trip. It was just so serene, and fun. We were on the beach, with beer. Life! Too bad Mela and Ralph didn't join us as they had preferred to snooze early.
The next morning, we left Raymen Resort (via "Jordan River" :p), dropped by Trappist Abbey and market for pasalubong and then went back to Iloilo.
Karen, Ces and I agreed to meet up with the other group, consisting of Arrjem and couples Mela & Ralph, Jaja & Amor and Mylce & Johnson, at NAIA airport before boarding because they will board on an earlier flight. We needed to see them because until that moment, we still didn't know about the final itinerary. We did ask Arrjem if he'd like to just join us single ladies, and leave all those couple alone, hehe. But then Mylce's boyfriend wasn't really coming with us.
So here goes my 5-day away from the metro!
March 26: Iloilo - Guimaras Island
I didn't know Jaja has an Ilonggo blood. Apparently, her Mom's from Iloilo and she has kins in the city, and they were really kind to guide us throughout our stay in their place. Upon arriving at the airport, we were fetched by Jaja's Tito with a pick-up truck which was what we really wished for so we could stay at the back and enjoy the early morning scenery of Iloilo. For the duration of the travel, Arrjem busied himself by waving at people along the way. Even on vacant lots where there's nobody, he waved.
On the way to Jaja's relatives, we were toying around the idea of a "grand welcome," but we didn't really expect they would prepare breakfast for us because Jaja's Tita knew we planned to eat at Ted's La Paz Batchoy once we arrive. Well, they knew exactly what to do because they served us local food. Who could resist such an offer?
After storming the breakfast (Eat and run! We ate everything up), we headed off to Guimaras. Actually, the 3 of us (Karen, Ces and I) planned to remove this from our itinerary thinking it would be costly, but Jaja found a cheap accommodation and the expenses will even be lessened if there's more people in the group. We easily gave in and to my surprise, Guimaras Island is just a 15-minute boat ride from Iloilo, and the fare was only Php13!
Arriving in Guimaras, we hired a multicab to drive us from Jordan Wharf to Raymen Beach Resort in Alubihod, Nueva Valencia (Php400). We asked to stop by the market where we bought what Guimaras is known for, mangoes. (Trivia: Guimaras mangoes are exported to California.)
After lunch, most of us wanted to go on siesta since we didn't have enough sleep the night before but we decided to go island hopping and just sleep later in the afternoon. It took less than a hundred pesos from each of us for the boat ride.
Then the boatmen took us to Natago Beach and Ave Maria Island, both lovely islands. I particularly like Ave Maria Island because it has a really fine white sand. There are other islands but it's getting late so we asked to be taken back to Raymen from Ave Maria. We had tons of fun already anyway. I just find it unbelievable when Arrjem and Mela fell asleep on the boat. May mga pating kaya sa dagat. :p
We did spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping. We only woke up when it's dinner time. We went to a carenderia outside the resort which was discovered by our pals in the afternoon while strolling around. The resort guard warned us drunk guys lurk at these carinderias but we went anyway. What made the dinner fun was the videoke time a.k.a pasiklaban ng regional songs. Arrjem sang "Manang Biday", Mylce did "Sarong Banggi", and for Karen, it was "Dandansoy".
Afterwards, we went to the beach and drank beer. This is probably my most precious moments during this entire trip. It was just so serene, and fun. We were on the beach, with beer. Life! Too bad Mela and Ralph didn't join us as they had preferred to snooze early.
The next morning, we left Raymen Resort (via "Jordan River" :p), dropped by Trappist Abbey and market for pasalubong and then went back to Iloilo.
Some of the photos are taken by Karen. She'd rather take photos than be in them.
