Iloilo – Bacolod Day 2 (Going around Iloilo and to the South – Part 3)
Itinerary for the Day:
Iloilo New Port, Deco’s, Miag-ao Church, San Joaquin Church, Garin Farm, Camila Balay Nga Bato, Plazuela de Iloilo, and Imjap Tower
Taking the UV Express from San Joaquin, we asked to be dropped off at Camina Balay Nga Bato in Iloilo which is around an hour and a half of travel time.
Camina Balay Nga Bato is a heritage house that has been around since 1865. At the first floor of this Melocoton-Avancena clan abode, you’ll find the antique and souvenir shop, Lola Rufina’s Heritage Curio Shop. Some of their products include the hablon and sinamay (something they’re famous for, I believe it’s type of woven cloth), tableas (chocolate tablets which you’ll need to melt), and various tools for preparing the chocolates. They also offer a tour of the house complete with a tsokolate experience for P150.00 per person.
As part of the tour, we were asked to watch a short video clip showing the history of the house. It was said that the entire house was carefully preserved, starting from the foundation (wood) to the stairs, and even to the furniture and decors. A tour guide was also with us all throughout, giving us trivia and information regarding the place. According to him, the ladies going up the stairs had to walk side ways to show their… pagka-Filipina or something of that sort. He also showed us how they preserved the rooms which were used by the alipins or slaves, prayer rooms and pictures and figures of saints.
After the tour was done, we were seated so that we could start our tsokolate experience (which basically involves indulging in chocolate)! Straight out of being boiled, the chocolate they served was thick and creamy. It wasn’t very bitter nor was it too sweet. This was served together with some cookies and dried bread. We tried drinking the chocolate and as a dip for the pastries, both were equally good! You can also ask for one refill of the chocolate when you’ve finished. Yes, just one.
Note: The second floor of the place can be rented and serve as a buffet-style restaurant.
Once we’ve had our fill of chocolates, we rode a jeep back to Iloilo City Proper. After getting off, we hailed a taxi to get to SM City Iloilo since it’s right across where we were to have dinner – Plazuela de Iloilo.
Plazuela de Iloilo is probably what you would call the local Ayala Triangle or BGC of Iloilo. The place is well lit and is full of restaurants and shops in every corner. I wonder how the place would look on Christmas?
For dinner, we went to Ponsyon by Breakthrough. Despite having multiple branches in the plaza, the place was crowded and had to wait for around 30 minutes before getting a table. The food wasn’t anything remarkable though.
To end our second night at Iloilo, we went to Imjap Tower Hotels right across SM City Iloilo for a 360 degree view of the city. Since the other half of the deck was closed, we weren’t able to see the entire facade. Nevertheless, we were treated to the bright city lights while having a few drinks. At 10 pm, we rode a taxi back to Go Hotels, relaxed and chatted a bit then went to bed.
