Summer STAYCATION Suggestions 2014

Our tourism logo says."It's More Fun In The Philippines!"  And it is indeed true!  We have so many islands to explore that Filipinos need not venture out of the country for some summer fun.  In this post I am compiling some of the travel destinations we have visited in the past few years.

DUMAGUETE
Dumaguete is not really a top-of-mind destination for Filipino travelers, but this sleepy town attracts a considerable number of foreign tourists, perhaps because of its proximity to some of the country's best diving sites, the whale sharks swimming around Oslob, and the dolphin sightings in the nearby city of Bais. We were lucky enough to be able to swim with the whale sharks, and you can read about our whale shark experience here.  

We stayed at Hotel Essencia, a hotel that is conveniently located in the middle of downtown Dumaguete, walking distance away from everything else.  Click here to know more about our accomodations and how we got around the city.

Read ALL my post about Dumaguete here.

ILOILO

Iloilo is another place we visited because J participated in another swimming event, the Batang Pinoy National Championship.  I initially thought that our 5-day stay would provide sufficient time to squeeze in a city tour; but quickly realized after having spent half-day cheering my daughter on by the poolside, under the humid Iloilo sun, I was too pooped to actually go around the city. Nevertheless,you will still be getting the dish on Iloilo's must-visit restaurants and what pasalubongs to buy here in this post.  And if you want to make the most out of your money in terms of accomodation, then you won't go wrong with Days Hotel Iloilo.  You can read my review on the hotel right here.  

At Tatoy's, one of the best seafood restos I've tried.

Read ALL my post about Iloilo here

ANVAYA COVE in Morong, Bataan
Anvaya Cove will indulge the water lover in you as you take your pick of four pools that lay side-by-side. A lap pool on the right most, followed by an infinity pool that appear to blend seamlessly with the waters of Subic Bay, then a Jacuzzi and, tucked in a corner, a kiddie pool with a slide.

 

I wrote about the accomodation and the facilities in our first visit here.  And on our second visit, I mentioned about the Nature Trail activities like a rope obstacle course that the kids enjoyed because they got to release their inner Indiana Jones.  There's also a trial that took us into the middle of a very thick bamboo forest; we step gingerly on boulders as we make our way through stream beds that are almost dried up. The last stop in this adventure was taking the zipline. 

 

Read ALL my post about Anvaya Cove in Bataan here


ACUATICO in Laiya, Batangas.

Acuatico in Laiya, Batangas doesn’t have the wide and spacious frontage that other resorts have, but it lays claim to having the best pool among the Laiya resorts, or even the whole of Batangas, for that matter.  The pièce de résistance - the infinity edge pool that looks out to the open sea.

Read ALL my post about Acuatico Resort in Laiya, Batangas here

Have you finally decided where to bring your family this summer?  You can also read my other post about Summer Vacation Plans 2014 if you are thinking of going out of the country.

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Iloilo: Where To Eat & What Pasalubong To Buy

lloilo sits on the southern shores of Panay Island; and the city itself is just across the Guimaras Island,  so naturally, fresh seafood is in abundance.  I've been to Iloilo before, a very long time ago; but I still remember those seaside restaurants serving fresh seafoods with fondness. Coming to Iloilo this time around, I was expectedly looking forward to reliving those memories.  And this trip had a lot of those deja vu moments of food glory.

Just a few hours after our plane landed, a swimming co-parent who hails from Iloilo whisked us off for an early lunch at Tatoy's Manokan.  It is an unassuming and rustic-looking restaurant, but is one of Iloilo's best seafood restaurant.

 

Ordering is easy, just point to whatever is on the display stand.

We had our lunch in one of the nipa huts across the street, which offered us a wonderful view of the sea and Guimaras Island further across.

At Tatoy's, I simply can't get enough of the fresh oysters dipped in spiced vinegar, the baked scallops, lechon baboy, lechon manok (house specialty... it's Tatoy's Manokan, after all), and the best grilled Managat.  The Grilled Managat is one of the best tasting dish I have ever come across during my visit to Iloilo.  The fish is very meaty and sweet.  Their Baked Scallops is among the best I've ever tasted.  A lot of restaurants have these on the menu, but the seasoning of Tatoy's is different; the mixture of calamansi, butter, garlic and cheese is just so yummy my plate was full of scallop shells when the meal was over.

The kids were amazed that fresh buko juice is served with the husk, and so a flurry to take instagram photos ensued.

Still, another seaside restaurant that is one every visitor's must-visit list is Breakthrough.  This restuarant is similar to Tatoy's, but the seashore is more conducive to walking around and the view  more scenic.

 I had another taste of my favorite, Grilled Managat.

 
Another dinner was hosted for us at Bauhinia, located within the complex of Smallville.  The family of one of our swim co-parents own the strip of restaurants located at The Avenue, within the lively Smallville complex.  We were able to sample an array of specialty dishes in the buffet dinner prepared for us that night.  We got to taste the ribs that Mojave Grill & Steak House is known for.   Dessert that night was from Tinapayan Bakeshop.  The Banana Cream Pie and Mango Pavlova was a worthy excuse to pile on extra calories. 

The Smallville complex also has a hotel within the vicinity, the Smallville 21 Hotel.  Some of the swimmers who stayed in this hotel liked the accomodation.  While I haven't seen the interiors, the hotel is relatively new so I am sure the rooms are very comfortable.  It is located in an area that is known for being the premier entertainment and dining center in the city.   I can safely assume that because of its proximity to the dance clubs and KTV family bars, hotel guest can expect some noise especially on weekends. 

 

Of course, no visit to Iloilo will be complete without having the Lapaz Batchoy.  We ate at Deco's Lapaz Batchoy because it was also conveniently beside the pasalubong store.  Just to be honest, I did not find anything spectacular to rave about, but maybe it's just me.

I did all of my pasalubong shopping at Deco's Pasalubong Shop.  After the group had lunch at Deco's Lapaz Batchoy, we went next door to buy our pasalubongs.  It made shopping for pasalubongs so convenient since all of Iloilo's most famous delicacies are now housed in one store.  

The products include the famous butterscotch, barquillos, biscocho, crispy squid rings, preserved foods and pinasugbo from Biscocho Haus, Panaderia de Molo, and Trappist Monastery Food Products, Wewins, JD Bakeshop, Rosy's Delicacies, PJ Delicacies, Deocampo Barquillos Mama's Kitchen and Mrs. Fudge. 

They can even put it all in a box for you to make sure that all the yummy treats stay in its original condition and can withstand the airplane transport.

Tatoy's Manokan and Seafood Restaurant

Villa Beach, Sto. Niño Sur, Arevalo, Iloilo City
BREAKTHROUGH Iloilo
Villa Beach, Barangay Sto. Niño Sur, Arevalo, Iloilo, Philippines

Bauhinia Filipino Cuisine and Mojave Grill and Steak House
Smallville Complex, Diversion Road, Mandurriao District, Iloilo City

DECO'S Lapaz Batchoy
La Sallette Bldg. Valeria St. Iloilo City

Iloilo: Where To Stay

I initially planned to do a travelogue on the province, thinking that our 5 day stay there for the Batang Pinoy National Championship would provide sufficient time to squeeze in a city tour; but quickly realized after having spent half-day cheering my daughter on by the poolside, under the humid Iloilo sun, I was too pooped to actually go around the city.  Nevertheless, I was lucky to be in the company of some great people who managed to make our stay there fun and super-comfortable.  So even if I can't share city sights with you, you will still be getting the dish on Iloilo's must-visit restaurants in my next post.  

We took PAL's first flight out, and got to the province at the first crack of day.  Typhoon Sendong was making its arrival the same day, and expected to make landfall early evening.  While, it did spare Iloilo from its wrath, the other provinces were not as lucky.  News reports days later tagged Typhoon Sendong as among the deadliest cyclones to hit the Philippines.  So lucky for us that the typhoon's path spared Iloilo!  Look at the flooded streets of the nearby province of Cagayan de Oro.

Anyway, to move along...  For now, I will post about where we stayed.

We stayed at the Days Hotel, and booked the classic deluxe room, which we found roomy for its class.  Our room had two double beds, which could easily have accommodated a family of four. 

This is how the classic deluxe room looks like

image source

This is how the modern deluxe room looks like.

image source

The classic deluxe room wasn't as pretty as the refurbished room, which they called modern deluxe room, but I figured if I took out the tacky green duvet, the room won't look as bad.  And I am right!  Save for the headboard, lamps, duvet cover and the outdated upholstery, the rooms are seemingly identical.

look at the difference it made to the room with the tacky duvet half-drawn down

While the rooms are clean and well-maintained, the lighting could be improved on.  If you've read my blog post about Swissotel @ The Stamford when we celebrated the holidays last 2011 in Singapore right here, you'd know my preference for a bright room. Nothing that a request to housekeeping can't fix.  The true gem of Days Hotel is clearly the wonderful and accommodating hotel staff, all armed with that distinct Ilonggo hospitality.  The housekeeping staff quickly provided my room with bulbs of higher wattage and even added a floor lamp.  It also has a sitting corner and an office desk, which we found very useful as J needed to review/ do advance study after the day's competition to make up for the long absence from school.

Our room came without window views; I opened up the curtain to a blank wall.  But the lack of view did not really matter to me.  The bathroom is adequately sized, with the toiletries being refilled everyday.  We brought our own body gels and shampoos, and just used up the hotel's hand soap, but the staff kept refilling the hand soap each day with a new one. The open closet was provisioned with several hangers. And there was even a safe where to put one's valuables in the comfort of the room, though I did no bother to use this amenity.  They claim to offer free wi-fi, but the signal was choppy, at best.  

Our hotel stay came with daily complimentary breakfast.  There are a lot of food choices, but I am a creature of habit;  if available, I usually start my breakfast buffet with congee.   One of my best Iloilo memories is having authentic Filipino/Ilonggo breakfast while watching the early morning traffic from the window across my table.

Days Hotel is right at the heart of a very busy commercial area.  This three-star hotel's layout can be confusing initially as it sits on top of the Atrium Mall, with the hotel lobby at the fourth level of the mall, and the guest rooms on the fifth level.  The first to third level house a mini mall which includes a grocery, and food court.  

The hotel lobby.  image source

If I would go back to Iloilo next time, I would definitely stay here again.  The room rates are very affordable, and the hotel's location makes for convenient travel for everyone:  the grocery store on the first floor, the steady stream of cabs on the street fronting the hotel, the free breakfast buffet, the food court on the lower level.  And not to mention that SM Delgado is just a few walks away. 

Days Hotel Iloilo
Address: :  4F The Atrium Mall, Gen Luna St., Iloilo City
Phone:  63-33-3373297

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Iloilo: Batang Pinoy National Champs 2012

Just came back a week ago from accompanying a daughter to Iloilo for the Batang Pinoy National Championship. It's J's first time to travel for a swim meet, and she was naturally excited for it. The 5-day sojourn practically seemed like a mini-vacation for her. Imagine, not having to go to school, and being in the company of her good friends. What more can a girl ask for?

In a way, it was also a vacation for me... 4 days of not having to drive/tutor/cook. Could pass for a bakasyon grande... hahaha!

grabbed from my daughter's instagram photos 

On the scheduled day of the opening of the Batang Pinoy games, Typhoon Sendong was also expected to make landfall in the Visayas, causing not a few athletes to be stranded in their hometown. Hence, the games had to be moved a day later, leaving us all with a free day!

Inspite of the typhoon warning and the storm signal that was raised all over the Visayas, the sun dominated the sky in our part of the province.

Instagram photos from the daughter's phone.

Photo-op with Akiko Thompson after the awarding.

And before you now it, we are on our way home. Just as well, since I was starting to miss the husband and two younger ones already.:)

Next post: Where to stay and eat in Iloilo