After Travel Reporter: Iloilo, land of the singing voices

Disclaimer: Let me reiterate my heed to goldfishdom, this entry had to be prompted from the tablets of my memory.

In the last week of October 2009, for the first time in my two decade and one year long adventure, I finally went on a tour away from Luzon with no parental supervision. Yes, I can finally say to myself "This time, I'm flying solo".

For five months, I saved up (though save up is not really the right term, more like dropped a penny in a box daily) for this travel which served as my graduation self-ish gift.

Sent and Sealed: Happy Graduation Self! From, Self :)

Truth be told, my Iloilo travel was with another friend (graying the line between solo travel and not) who was a dweller of the land.

Fedi Lima, my two-year roommate in Kalayaan and Molave Residence Hall in UP Diliman, accompanied me with utmost zest and pride.

As a background, Iloilo is one of the five provinces making up Panay along with Anklan, Antique, Capiz and Guimaras island (read: Island of sweetest mangoes).

It is rather a misrepresented fact that Ilonggos (people of Iloilo) and Bisaya are interchangeable. So instead, we must be made aware of the distinction in the Bisaya tongue and the Hiligaynon dialect, which is the most appropriate alternate for Ilonggo.

Ilonggos are known for their affectionate intonation. Where else can you hear 'I hate you' sugarcoated with musical notes in your head? Nowhere but Iloilo (or nowhere but from Ilonggos). Next time you hear there voice don't say "Bisaya ka man gyud." (You're Bisaya)

Here's a rundown of my fare share of anecdotes:

As you scroll down, be ready for a LOT of church photos. Visayas was the first group of islands conquered by Spanish conquistadors therefore, churches grew like mushrooms. (not a relatively new fact)
Lingual disconnect, even among Filipinos, is rather a hard line to bridge. It has always been a debate among Bisayas (Natives of Visayas) and Tagalogs (Natives of Central Luzon, CALABARZON etc). And same goes with Hiligaynons, Filipinos being locaholics (in love with hometown), everybody wants to have their language, the language of the majority. It is hard to always say "Tagalog lang po" (Tagalog only) and hear "Unsa man day?" (What Miss?). Like okay.
Iloilo is streamlined with beaches, bangkas (dinghy boats) and islands. Though this ain't white beach, it is still THE BEACH! Oh yeah.

Of beach and bangka.

And so photos have arrived. :) I was aiming at taking photos of all the UP Obles around the Philippines. Unfortunately, on my Cebu tour I totally forgot prolly because of too much planned tours.

Oble in UP Iloilo,Iloilo City.

Paula lookin' (smaller but) good in UP Visayas.

Was this Plato or Confucius I get confused. It's just a big man on a chair. or was it LINCOLN? Nahh.

Oble flaunting his stuff in Miag-ao, Iloilo

Here comes the churches. Jaro Church.

Jaro Bell Tower

Parish de Santo Nicholas de Tolentino

Parish de Santo Tomas de Villanueva

And like any other decent celebrity (LOL), I would like to thank the following:

Thanks Enzoy who loves NOT to talk to me because of aforementioned lingual disconnect but hates ketchup so much he can finish a bottle in two days tops. (sentence fragment needs major overhaul)
Tito Art, one of the best cooks I've met who gave me a lot of cooking tips (which I forgot eventually)! And who fed me all the seashells by the sea shore. I love Iloilo for that.
Tita Sandra, who even gave me pasalubong (keepsakes or presents) from her sisters in Chicago ergo, I had Iloilo AND Stateside pasalubong. And who always was all smiles about my little quirks and perks. Thanks for the hospitality Tita!Hope to visit you soon.
And of course, to Fedi. You know why. <3 .="">