Panay Island Adventure Part 2: ANTIQUE and ILOILO

This is the second part of my Panay Island trip with my friends. Part 1 HERE :)

PANAY ISLAND PART 2: ANTIQUE and ILOILO

So we left Boracay Island after eating lunch, we rode a boat back to Caticlan Jetty Port and walked to the CERES Bus Terminal bound to Antique. Actually, my friend told me that there are two options, either ride a UV Express (which costs more or less P250.00) or Bus. but unfortunately, we couldn't find where the UV Express are parked so we opted to ride the Bus also because we are in a hurry.



We rode a bus and told the Kunduktor to drop us at Baranggay Concepcion, Belison, Antique (where our ex-co-teacher lives). Fare is more or less P300.00 from Caticlan to Belison, Antique and it took around 4-5 hours.

Welcome to Belison, Antique!

We spent three days and two nights in Antique to celebrate our Godson's first Birthday. The Picture Album can be viewed by clicking THIS.

Happy Birthday Pio!

Unfortunately, that is all I can share for our Antique trip, because we spent our three days and two nights at our friend's place to celebrate her son's first birthday. It was also too late when I tried to search on things that we can do in Antique (like Trekking, River and Falls, Pottery, and Taking a bath on a giant cauldron). We already passed by the Towns that offer these activities as I searched on the internet. I believe that it's a sign that I will be coming back to try the activities! hihihihhi

So on our third day in Antique, we left our friend's house after eating breakfast. We have to leave early because we only have a day to go around Iloilo since our flight is at midnight. From the main road of Belison, Antique, we rode a Jeep with fare costing around P15.00 to San Jose which is the town proper of Antique. 

From San Jose, Antique, we rode a Van and paid P120.00 for the fare and told the driver to drop us off at San Joaquin town proper. The zigzag-ish travel from San Jose, Antique to San Joaquin took us around 2 hours. The driver di drop us off at San Joaquin town proper. from there, we walked (around 10 minutes) our way to San Joaquin church.

First Stop: San Joaquin Church

Since it's too hot to walk again because it is almost noon, and we have a luggage, we decided to ride a Pedicab from the church back to the main road. We paid P20.00 per pedicab since it is just a short distance.

Pedicabbing! HAHAHHAA

From the main road, we rode a Miag-ao Jeep (Fare: P15.00, 20 minutes ) and told the driver to drop us off at Miag-ao Church. When we arrived at Miag-ao church, there is an on-going wedding ceremony so we had to wait until it is finished before we could go around the church and take pictures.

Miag-ao Church

Hello Miag-ao, Iloilo!

After resting and appreciating the beauty of Miagao Church, we decided to have our lunch first before continuing our journey in Iloilo. so we rode a Taxi to Doming's Talabahan. (Sorry, no picutres since we are really hungry, HAHAHAHA). Food was okay. not that "Remarkable".

So after we had our lunch. we rode a Cab (we had to ride Cabs due to our luggage) to Camina Balay Nga Bato. It is just a couple of meters away from the Arevalo District Plaza along the highway. For our tour, we paid P150.00 which includes a house tour and tsokolate. you can also avail the P200.00 tour which includes tour, tsokolate, and Pancit Molo but make sure to call them ahead of time since you have to make reservations for them to prepare the Pancit Molo.

Camiña Balay Nga Bato is an old ancestral house built during the Japanese colony and wherein the current generation still resides there. they invested money to be able to preserve the beauty and history of their home. They also sell vintage and unique items for home display. As we go around the house, there is an Ate who guided us and explain every part of the house. We also got to meet the owner of the house. After the tour, we are guided to the dining area for the tsokolate. we enjoyed dipping different kinds of bread served with the tsokolate.

TSOKOLATEEEE!

After enjoying our cups of Tsokolate, we went down to continue with our Iloilo Tour. But, UNFORTUNATELY, it rained so hard! we were planning to visit Molo Plaza and Church, Plaza Libertad and Iloilo City Hall (with an overlooking view of Iloilo City at the Rooftop), and Jaro Cathedral. so we ended up calling a cab to take us to SM Iloilo.

At SM, They got it all for us!

Plazuela de Iloillo

Good thing in SM Iloilo, they have this "Travelers Lounge" wherein you can leave your luggage, Charge your phone, and even take a bath! (but, of course, its NOT for free). so we waited for the rain to stop and planned for the things we can still do and places to visit in our remaining time.

We decided to look for the "BEST place to eat Batchoy" since we are in Iloilo already.so we asked a LOT of people but they all pointed us to Ted's (which there is also a branch in SM Bicutan, HAHAHA), So we looked for another good place to eat and someone suggested Deco's (which can be found in Robinson's Place Iloilo) so we rode a Jeep (Fare: P8.00) to Rob and ate at Deco's. I ordered the biggest bowl and the most special which costs P75.00 and its YUMMMMMYYY!!

Deco's Batchoy

Since it is getting dark, we won't be able to go around other places anymore. so after eating Batchoy, we decided to go on a stroll along Riverside Boardwalk, Smallville Complex.

Smallville Complex

The Riverside Boardwalk is a good place for joggers and those who would like a good stroll. it is very clean and has lots of restaurants at the side. I wish we also have this in Manila. We even played with a bike (forgot the exact name) for a while since we're killing time.

Bike? or Exercise Machine?

After playing, we just rested a while and since SM will be closing already, we have to claim our luggage. And because we got tired of playing and walking we rode a cab to SM and picked-up our luggage, freshened up a bit, changed our clothes and went to the airport.

Among all the airports in the Philippines i've been to, Iloilo airport, so far, is the best i've seen. it's very beautiful and clean. GOOD JOB ILOILO! the terminal fee is worth it.

Airport!

Well, that basically is our trip in Panay Island! too bad we we're not able to visit Capiz :) hope you learned something from this entry! any questions and reactions are very much welcome! 

To see the rest of the Pictures. you may click THIS.

Thanks! God Bless!

-Sir Benz