You're here because ILOILO?
Or you're here because WHY NOT?!
Thank you for skimming my experiences! But if not, glad you're reading my blog!
Since you're here because of something, I would not going to tell you any bizarre details about my trip. Let's sum this up!
Being in Iloilo is a pretty cool experience to have, but spending ten days there? A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!
You heard me right, err, I meant, you read it right! I spent ten amazing days in Iloilo! Not for vacation but for work. Sorry bro.
So I had a workation in Iloilo for ten amazing days provided by our good client. Awesome right?
What is a workation?
Lemme educate you!
Workation is something like having a vacation (could randomly, partially, depends on your time, on your company's decision, etc.) while doing your work. Or if you're not satisfied with my very informal meaning:
Workation a paid work trip that can be combined with aspects of taking a vacation.
Have you read how awesome workation was?
Okay. Breathe in. Breathe out. I am really excited to tell you what I'd done while I was ten days away from Manila! (Yes! Away from Manila, you know what I mean right?).
We stayed at Injap Tower Hotel located at the heart of Mandurriao, Iloilo City. We stayed there for eleven nights and ten days. Our flight was delayed (but of course, it is always delayed). We arrived there at 3:07PM.
I took a picture right when we arrived at Iloilo Airport. All black. Ewww.
We called first our contact person in Iloilo so he can pick us up from airport to our hotel room. But there was a little miscommunication between our main office branch and the Iloilo branch so he cannot pick us up there. Taxi fare is quite expensive so we wait for a public van that will take us to Mandurriao.
We arrived at Mandurriao at 5:17PM and our contact person met us in front of SM Iloilo. He explained that he was not informed of us coming over in Iloilo on that very day (Like, really? You didn't know guys? SURPRISE!)
We never knew that our hotel will be just in front of SM Iloilo which is super accessible! Imagine, you'll just have to go across the bridge and there you go!
This is the Injap Tower Hotel, arguably the tallest hotel located in Mandurriao. I never knew their rates because the company paid for our stay. But if you want to check their rates, you can go directly to their website or call their hotline.
As I have told you, the hotel is just in front of SM Iloilo so this is what you can see when you view it from our hotel room:
The staff are very accommodating. They can speak Tagalog, Ilonggo and English fluently! They have some foreign and local guests but they can manage to speak according to whom they are talking to. I consider someone who knows how to speak their dialect, and speaking English and Tagalog a trilingual person. I only know two languages, which of course, you already know what they are. I cannot understand Ilonggo completely so I consider it as another form of language rather a dialect. Congrats if you know three languages! You already!
I haven't taken a picture of their lobby as I always forgot to take a shot. But if you will let me describe that, it was just so simple and relaxing. Their theme color is green, of course. When you enter the lobby, you will see the admin at the right and a sofa on the left. One long sofa and two little ones on the opposite side. A center table (glass) with a flower vase on the middle. They also have a mirror and an antique decoration beside the table.
I got a picture on Google on how the lobby looks like:
The ground floor has also a 7-eleven store so if you want to buy something, it is always convenient.
Our room was located on the 15th floor. I always have this excitement whenever I enter a hotel room because I wonder how they arrange the interior design. So when the staff opened the room, we were shocked seeing the inside.
We were like, "What! It's cute!"
We entered our hotel room and explored it. It was really small if you are going to stay with your family or a maximum of four people. Each room has two beds, one single size and one queen size, fit for three people.
If you are going to view the hotel against the window, it will look like this (don't mind my face, tho). When you first enter the hotel, you will see the closet on the right side (left side of the picture above). The bathroom is on the right side (viewing from this picture). Beside the closet is the mini kitchen.
Since I did not have taken any good pictures individually (I got an Instagram but I was not active that time, and yes I regretted it for months!), here is another point of view seeing the whole hotel room (via Google).
What is inside the room:
1. Closet (with hangers and hanging rod, four drawers)
2. Bathroom (cold/hot shower and everyday supply of toiletries)
3. Mini kitchen (with mini fridge, free use of microwave oven, free bottled water)
4. Bedroom (one queen side bed, one single size bed, thick comforters, telephone)
5. Mini table (table with chair)
What you can enjoy inside the room:
1. Hot/cold showers
2. 64-inch TV with cable channel
3. Airconditioned room
4. Wi-fi (you need to accept access to Injap Tower Admin via your browser before accessing the internet fully)
5. Mini-fridge and microwave oven free of charge when using
6. Everyday supply of toiletries
7. Everyday changing of bedsheets and towels
8. Supply of free bottled water
9. Free coffee
10. Free use of coffee cups
I enjoyed all of this additional services a lot for FREEEEEEEEEE!
These are the toiletries we received during our 10-day stay in the hotel. The pouch contains:
1. Lotion
2. Conditioner
3. Shampoo
4. Toothbrush
5. Toothpaste
6. Shaving razor
7. Shaving cream
8. Cotton buds
Unfortunately, I haven't taken a picture of the complete stuff inside the pouch but I had taken this pic because it was so effin' cute!
MINI TOOTHPASTE!
Oh,before I forgot, this picture is also such a cutesy!
The beer cans were not free, only the coffee. Also, there were beer cans sold in 7-eleven for half the price offered here.
My friend took a pic of me from the window view of the hotel where you can see SM Iloilo.
So what's our first dinner on our first night?
Here it is!
I am sorry for the not-really-good-foodie-picture-taking. I regretted for not being an Instagram fan back then. Anyways, we bought it at a restaurant in Plazuela de Iloilo. It is located beside SM Iloilo. I forgot the name of the restaurant but it has a nice ambiance. The first picture is their famous baby back ribs. It costs around Php100.00 The second one was made with pork but I forgot what dish was that (my friend's order). It also costs Php100.00.
Me taking a pic inside the restaurant. They had this huge old photographs of old artists (I am not sure if they were old, dead, or not).
Next day, Sunday. A good look outside the window!
DAY 1!!!!
We attended church mass at 6:00PM in Jaro Cathedral.
This was where Senator Grace Poe found by her parents. The thing was, the mass was spoken in Ilonggo so we didn't catch exactly the whole sermon. But, the traditional mass was also the same here in Manila, so we kind of go with the mass flow.
Before going back to hotel, we went to Jaro Plaza. The place was crowded and there were a lt of different dish sold.
These are chicken barbecues sold in the plaza. These barbecues were stuck in a bamboo pole and serves as a tool to hold the barbecues. This is quite an impressive idea as it becomes an attraction to people to try them out. Like, "Oh look! Barbecues stuck on the pole!"
Exploring more the Plazuela de Iloilo, it was more like a common plaza here in Manila. With random displays every month or season, bazaars, fountain and restaurants, it's a place to relax too! The difference? Less people, less pollution.
Traffic? This is what I'm talking about!
You want to know what was my job back then? Okay. So, I worked in Iloilo for ten days as a Promotions Assistant. The job description was I need to promote the newly opened mall by giving out gift certificates to Iloilo residents. I was assigned to work in a certain gas station where I need to give out gift checks once they gas in. Since I didn't know how to speak Ilonggo, it was very hard to explain the use of those gift checks. So, some of the employees in the gas station helped me in explaining the use of gift checks to customers. There were foreign people who lived 'permanently' in Iloilo (I have hinted that because they have their own cars, some of them have also with their families.) The funniest part of when I am explaining the use of gift checks was when a Korean native wanted to gas in his car. He looked like a Filipino (to me, don't blame me) so I explained to him the use of gift checks. He told me he doesn't speak the language so I explained to him in English (it's auto, we English when Tagalog fails). You know the hardest part? You explained everything in English and Filipino and he just said, "No, sorry." He didn't even mind getting the gift checks! The gift checks were actually FREE! Why would you deny access to such a beautiful offer?! Why?
The job was to just give out gift checks for ten days near the mall for promotion purposes. That's it. And the rest, we enjoyed the whole workation!
Our client provided us the following (just to inform other readers who might want to know):
1. Two-way ticket from Manila to Iloilo
2. 11 nights and ten days stay at Injap Tower Hotel
3. Pocket money (which I shall not disclose the amount)
4. Salary (Manila rate, salary for ten days working in Iloilo)
It was like I didn't work at all because the place and the people are too generous!
DAY 2!!!
Went back to Plazuela de Iloilo to buy some clothes. I ran out of clothes! The funny thing was, what I bought was this:
I got this for Php150.00 only! I am not in Tokyo but hey, it was a nice top!
I also bought an Iloilo shirt which I will show you later!
Iloilo view beside Injap Tower Hotel.
Before going home from work, we took a sip of coffee blends and watched them how they make those.
Our lampshade, worth Instagramming, right?
DAY 3!!!
Watching news in Iloilo is like watching a foreign news because, Ilonggo! Also, they have these own shows that are exclusively for Ilonggos like Unang Hirit and Umagang Kayganda.
A view of Iloilo River at 7:09PM. We lost our track on our way and we ended up seeing UP Iloilo. We got there at around 2PM but it was so hot so we decided to go back at 7PM instead.
We realized it was too dark to take a picture. But, the stroll was so good I thought of getting a jog together with other people. There were some doing Zumba dance, jogging, playing around. The air was nice that night.
We also went to another church called Miagao Church. I was fascinated by this city because there are many churches in this place. go for a ten-minute walk then you'll bump into another church. I am not even lying!
I also noticed that these churches had a vast area for benches and garden to stroll in.
DAY 4!!!
This was were we worked! I mean, the mall, not the stall tho.
DAY 5!!!
You know what, I would like to go outside on Day 5 but it was so hot. We stayed on our hotel room while browsing internet/watching movies/sleeping then that, it rained. Suxxx!
DAY 6!!!
We ate at Jollibee and I saw this group of cutie kids getting their meals, in violent uniform!
The thing I hate about provinces was that all the prices in the mall and fastfood are just the same in Manila. The minimum wage (2015) in Manila was Php481.00 while provincial rate was P298.00. Imagine, if you are going to eat an unli-rice meal in Mang Inasal (Php99.00), your Php298.00 salary will be Php199.00. A DAY. FOR EIGHT HOURS. WORKING ALL-DAY! Rentals and cost of living in Iloilo is not as expensive compared in Manila. So companies in Iloilo earns more but provides salary expense less.
We went back to our hotel and we decided to go swimming on the fourth floor (swmming pool and spa is located on the fourth floor of the building). When we went there, we were surprised because we were the only ones who were going to swim!
Swimming pool with the view of SM Iloilo in front
See? No other people!
Before swimming! Let's take a pic!
Don't you think this is instagrammable?
It's like we rent the whole pool exclusively for us!
DAY 7!!!
I admit I am a milk tea addict (especially, Wintermelon Milk Tea) When I saw a Milk Tea Shop, I bought one. They gave me this card that if I am going to buy my ninth Wintermelon Milk Tea, my tenth will be free! But how can I have my tenth Milk Tea for free if I only 3 days remaining here in Iloilo?
DAY 8!!!
Lazy day! Let's skip this because we were sleeping that day! (ore maybe watching TV, or maybe social media stuff, or maybe thinking about random stuff). Most importantly, I had no one to go to because my friend met her boyfriend whose hometown is, ILOILO. Where else?
DAY 9!!!
Our tenth day will be tomorrow so we never think of being a lazy-ass again, just like on the eighth day. So, we decided to go to Iloilo Museum!
Museo Iloilo has an entrance of Php50.00 for adults and Php20.00 for students. Since I still had my College ID, I got a discount! Mehehe.
Meet my family, Bak and Las. Baklas!
Remember when Japanese people 'befriended' us? Yes, they did! They even influenced us Japanese money!
Hi Mum! Need a hand?
I am not as lazy as you think, right?
This Iloilo Museum has shown us some Japanese 'stuff': Model prefectures in Japan and survival Camp Kits. I am quite confused why they have shown a lot of writings and things related to Japan.
My friends!
The entrance!
And the main entrance!
After we went to Museo Iloilo, we decided to go to Guimaras Island, 30 minutes away from Mandurriao. We road a motorboat together with Ilonggos who are actually living there.
To tell you honestly, we don't know where should we go because Guimaras Island is a very big island with a lot of beaches here and there. So we ended up going to an abandoned beach. Abandoned, which means, we were the only one who were there! Half-okay, half-not-okay! We jumped from one beach to another, from one fishpond to another. Every beach has an entrance fee of Php10.00. But there were no people there. Where are they going to charge the fee then?
We finally ended up to this beach. We took some pictures because if not, our journey will be wasted. We rode a jeepney, a motorboat, we walked, then we rode a tricycle, to find the beach we looked up in Google! How sad. Expectation versus reality? Well, we managed to keep it okay. Since we were the only one on the beach and there were many cottages but looked like some ghosts already occupied those, IT'S FINE. PROMISE.
We decided to return to our hotel because we were already exhausted. We actually came up with the idea of going to Boracay (4-hour drive from Jaro, Iloilo) and get back at 8AM. It was 6PM back then so if we were going to go at 7PM, we will reach Boracay at 11PM then we will leave at 6AM to catch the sunset. But, we thought it was a stupid idea and why on the last day we had thought of that stupid idea. Actually, it will never be a stupid one if we actually thought it on Day 5 or Day 8. What do you think?
Oh, I forgot about this sunset! I caught it before leaving the motorboat!
I asked my friend to take a picture of me since I was the only one here. Looked like I rented a motorboat! I was quite sad about leaving Guimaras because I wasn't satisfied exploring it. STILL.
Before going back to Manila, I bought some shirts for my family. The Team Iloilo shirt cost Php200.00 and I bought that on Plazuela de Iloilo which I mentioned earlier. I bought the four remaining shirts in SM Iloilo. Those cost from Php249.00 to Php350.00.
This is the Biscocho Haus, famous for different breads and pasalubong. I asked the employees of the gas station where I can buy pasalubong when I go back to Manila. They said Biscocho Haus was among popular. There was a Biscocho Haus located in the mall where I worked and in SM Iloilo. But I was told to buy in the store itself which was located in Jaro, too. The prices are quite cheap compared to stalls in malls (I think because they own the store themselves). The store was also nice in appearance, very ancient-type, brown-themed and the displays appeal to customers so much.
I bought a box of different pastries and breads and I only spent about Php1,000.00
DAY 10!!!
The saddest part of the day was the last day. I bid goodbye to the employees who had been good to me for the days I spent with them. They were really hospitable and welcoming. To be honest, they were the kindest people I ever met!
The staff of the hotel were the kindest and the most accommodating hotel employees I ever encountered. We cannot operate the hot/cold shower, they teach us. We cannot see the aircon remote, they find for us. We never ask them to fix the closet, to fold our clothes, to wash our dirty sink, to replace our toiletries. We don't ask those, they do those.
The jeepney drivers were the most fun to talk with. Whenever we lost our track, what is the name of the place, where we should go next, everything about direction, they answer with happiness.
The mall guards were the happiest guards you'll see every morning. That was the first time a guard seek a permission of him from me inspecting my bag, "Pasensya na po Ma'am, trabaho lang po." It was really a sweet gesture. Those guards already knew us because we go there before the mall opens.
Random people will give you the craziest looks when they hear you talking. It felt like I went to a different world speaking a different language. Name it--saying "bayad po", "para po", "sa tabi lang po" inside jeepneys, ordering food at a resto, chatting with a friend, talking to a customer. Those things actually made my heart smile.
I will surely miss the people in Iloilo especially the ones I met. Their hospitality was the best! If I may choose to live a province in Visayas, it will definitely be Iloilo!
THANK YOU!
I will surely miss the people in Iloilo especially the ones I met. Their hospitality was the best! If I may choose to live a province in Visayas, it will definitely be Iloilo!
THANK YOU!
