Trip Ko Lang

Months before our Iloilo trip I thoroughly searched for the best hotel to stay taking into consideration these items: (1) reasonably priced ;( 2) clean and decent bed and toilet and (3) proximity to the event and city.  Ong Bun Pension house was the only hotel that fitted all my requirements.   Usual hotels in Iloilo were priced around 3k and up.  Basically, we just wanted a decent place to put our bags and a good bed caused most of the time we would be out… and of course a must is a clean and proper toilet! 

Ong Bun Pension House Superior Suite room

Ong Bun Pension house offers super budgeted rooms for solo or group travelers; I think they even have a room for around 500php…? But I think the toilets are open for sharing… Anyways, we booked really early for their Suite room which costs 1,100php per night; according to their website Suite rooms are the new additions and are complete in all amenities. 1,100php per night really fits our whole Iloilo trip budget.

Here are some pictures of our room; by the way we got the Suite room with separate beds… maybe someone else booked earlier the other room with a queen sized bed… but I wasn’t really informed in which type of bed we booked or I failed to request of ask about it?!

Ong Bun Pension House Superior Suite room mini dining area

The room is neat and clean. There was also a small dining set for 2. With TV and cable though their local channel is in black and white?! The aircon was in good condition and the refrigerator was also working fine…

Ong Bun Pension House Suite room TV and Ref

The bathroom was great, this is the first thing that I check whenever we arrive in any hotel…   The toilet passed my standards… Haha! Everything was clean, with tissue paper and mini soap (I’m not sure if it was a used soap) good thing we brought all our toiletries… Shower was good with hot water…

Ong Bun Pension House Suite room toilet

Ong Bun Pension House Suite room toilet

Well, we had a good stay here in Ong Bun. And another good thing is that they have free wifi in the 3^rd floor… so it was great though we got better connection when everyone else was asleep…   Ong Bun is located within the city very near Robinsons, SM and Mary Mart so it is really convenient when you need a quick shopping anytime… Also, Ong Bun does not look good/appealing on the outside… it’s just an old building… better check it out yourself… Hehe!

By the way I would like to thank Gerard/Management of Ong Bun for taking care of our Media Passes; they were very helpful and easy to coordinate with.   Also, we left our bags with their reception during the Dinagyang Festival, which made our lives really easy! Whooo! Thank you guys!

For inquiries and reservations you may contact ongbun@gmaildotcom

Dinagyang Festival has always been on my top list of must see Philippine Festivals…late last year I really made sure to book a flight and visit Iloilo in time for the Dinagyang Festival…luckily, there’s Cebu Pacific with their super cheap airfare promos and so my desire to witness Dinagyang 2012 became possible…

Iloilo celebrates Dinagyang Festival for a month long with different activities for everyone but the highlight of this event usually takes place during the 4th Sunday of January with the Dinagyang Ati Competition.

Our flight to Iloilo was just on time; we landed before 7am on Sunday (22 Jan) and headed right away to our hotel (Ong Bun) to get our Media Passes before the Dinagyang Ati Program starts…

Dinagyang Festival 2012

This year according to the Dinagyang organizers they changed the parade route and judging areas to the following:

Stage 1 – Freedom Grandstand
Stage 2 – Provincial Capitol
Stage 3 – La Paz – Huervana Street
Stage 4 – Iloilo Sports Complex

With 13 Tribes in line the program was scheduled to start at 8am. But we arrived at Freedom Grandstand before 8am; there were still few people in the judging area/seats while there were already other photographers and media people in placed.

Dinagyang Festival 2012

We were seated in front/first row of the middle area, good thing we were still early and very thankful for the Media passes that we have applied for, it was all worth it…

The program started at around 9:00am with opening remarks and some speeches from different notable persons in Iloilo City. When the first tribe was introduced we felt relieved that finally after a few hours of waiting the most awaited Dinagyang Ati competition started…

Dinagyang Festival 2012

Here are some of my shots during the Tribes performances; it felt good to be in front and able to shoot them easily; really thank God for our passes!   No more people hustling; no need to move a lot; we were even seated, relaxed, just shooting and enjoying the show.

But there’s always a downside – guess what?! At around 10:30am the sun was so up and had already moved towards our area; it was really hot and all the heat was focused on us!!! The sun’s heat was really hard to manage while shooting and tested us on how long we can manage it… Arrrgghh! Unfortunately, we gave up and were able to watch and shoot just about 5 tribes… And too bad, we didn’t see the performance of Tribu Pan-ay who won in the competition.

Dinagyang Festival 2012

Things to consider next time:

1. Freedom Grandstand is a good venue for this kind of performances, big stage area not that crowded. While, you have to anticipate where the sun will show up so better find a good spot.  As well as if it rains…still need a better spot with good shade.
2. Bring cap, scarf, and any cover-ups for arms and face… it’s really a must!
3. Media Passes is a must especially if you want to shoot this festival; you can enter the stage area but with limited spots also, but still it is really a big help! If you’re just outside with the crowd, well good luck in shooting…

Dinagyang Festival 2012

After leaving Freedom Grandstand, we looked for a place to eat just on the streets… then decided to go the next stage – Iloilo Provincial Capitol; we managed to walk going there; got inside the area but were advised by the Police that our passes (Blogger Pass)were not really allowed in Stage 2 and just left the area…

Still to consider:

1. Provincial Capitol Area’s stage is really, really small; very crowded and would only be good for shooting if you have a valid pass in this area and if you have a good spot  in front.

After this we just headed back to our hotel and didn’t bother to go to the other stages; because it was already too far and we weren’t really advised by the organizers on which stages were we allowed shooting…so this was our Dinagyang experience…

Dinagyang Festival 2012

It was still a new and fun experience for us; I never thought I would be part of Dinagyang 2012; few months before I was just busy googling Dinagyang pictures and now I have my own pictures and I have witnessed their amazing performances; was really moved and amazed by the Tribes’ costumes, props, great music and dance…   Kudos to the 13 Tribes; they were all great; I also realized that Filipinos are really rich in arts and culture; I’m very happy to be part of Dinagyang 2012 and really proud Pinoy!

Dinagyang Festival 2012

Dinagyang Festival 2012

Dinagyang Festival 2012

For more Dinagyang Festival 2012 pictures you can check out FB Fan page at TripKoLang.

Also you can see more stunning and cool shots at Shotnroll FB

Hope you enjoy our pictures! Feel free to comment on anything…

Freedom Grandstand Iloilo City

By the way here’s a picture of Iloilo’s Freedom Grandstand. And below is a shot of my Media Pass, super thanks to Ms. Perla (pearl376@yahoodotcom) the contact person for the Dinagyang Festival Media Passes. You can contact her for the application form/letter and other inquiries and also the Media Pass costs 500php.

Dinagyang Festival Media pass

See you on Dinagyang Festival 2013! This is one festival that you would love to witness every year… thanks to our very dedicated and motivated Ilonggos who strive each year to make their performances better and the best…

Who said pigs can’t fly?! They do and we have one in Eastwood City…The Flying Pig is located at G/F Eastwood Mall Veranda.  As soon as we entered, we were greeted by friendly waiters and of course Mr. Flying Pig’s portraits displayed on their walls… cool! The restaurant had a casual ambience and a good place to hangout especially during off-peak dining hours.

The Flying Pig in Eastwood Mall

Here’s a shot of The Flying Pig’s menu, with a comics strip finish and having Mr. Flying Pig as the main character in different costumes…

The Flying Pig Menu

Most of their dishes were pork cooked in various ways and with interesting names… like Kung Fu Spiced Spare Ribs, Three Little Pigs Cabbage Rolls, The Pork Treasure Pot, Patatim Pata Tom, The HogFather Spaghetti, The Road Hog Burger, Flying Pig Adobo Press and a lot more… I think they are known for their delicious ribs but we decided to have their Bangin’ Bagnet and The Flying Meatloaf.

Bangin' Bagnet @265php

Since I tasted Bagnet in Ilocos, I have loved Bagnets, and look forward in having it whenever there’s a restaurant that offers this dish; I have also tried and blogged some restaurants… and I can add The Flying Pig’s Bagnet to my list of delicious Bagnets in Manila… Their Bangin’ Bagnet was great, less fat, right crunchy level, a bit salty but good thing they have it with 2 sauces – liver sauce and vinegar… and with their adobo rice this meal was superb!

the Flying Meatloaf @295php

We also tried their Flying Meatloaf… it was served flying on your plate… hahaha, just kidding!   This dish had 2 giant slices of Meatloaf…it was really BIG! The meatloaf was easy to eat and really flavorsome that made it so hard to finish…   I think you really need another dish to go with it so you won’t get tired of eating! Haha!

Both dishes had ample servings and really good for sharing. It won’t be a pricey dinner for 2 after all…

House Blend Iced Tea - Apple Lemon @80php

As for the drinks, we tried their Apple Lemon House Blend Iced Tea; it looked a sexy drink and tasted good for only 80php…

Overall, here’s a quick ratings of our “The Flying Pig” foodie experience: (1 – being lowest and 5 – being highest)

Food Taste – 4
Food Presentation –4
Price – 3
Service – 4
Ambience – 4

Fly your way now to Eastwood and meet Mr. Flying Pig and have your own sumptuous foodie experience… See yah!

5 days to go before our trip to Iloilo… Yipee! It would be our first time to see and experience Iloilo’s well-known festival – the Dinagyang Festival… Thanks to Cebu Pacific’s piso fare last year we were able to buy really cheap plane tickets, I think our total airfare for 2 was only around 2,300php and roundtrip already…

Well, I would like to share with you our itinerary for 3days and 2 nights as well as budget/expenses breakdown and foodies…. Amounts are estimated and with allowances already so we would still enjoy our Iloilo stay even if we are on a budget…

Good thing there’s Ong Bun Pension House they have new Suite rooms and reasonably priced; to make our stay even better; strategically located and with the right amenities.. Will blog after our trip on our real feedback…

Another important thing in our trip is to take very good pictures of the performances/activities part of the Dinagyang Festival program. So it is really a must to have Media passes to get better spot on taking pictures… We now learned our lesson from our Panagbenga experience…

Transportations are by taxis or jeepneys. No tour guide needed as they say Iloilo is just a small city but still wish us good luck in this adventure…

You can also see in my blog the restaurants/coffee shops that I have chosen from different websites; I highlighted in blue the ones we will visit!!! So excited….

Also, I have prepared a detailed itinerary of our activities and places to visit basically; we want to have a tour of all the Churches in Iloilo and to participate in the Dinagyang Festival.  Boring?! Haha! But I think this would really be a challenge for us because we have a very tight schedule like leaving on Sunday morning while the Dinagyang parade will start at 8am…Whooo…oh well, this blog is just to show you the things we have prepared for our Iloilo Dinagyang Trip and will just blog later what really happened and the challenges/adventures we had…

Well, I really hope we can do all these activities and also to stay on our budget… Good luck to us! Aja!

By the way here’s our contact person for the following:

Ong Bun Pension House – Gerard Ong –ongbun@gmaildotcom

Dinagyang Festival Media Pass – Perla Lena –pearl376@yahoodotcom

They were both easy to contact; helpful and responsive. Thanks po!

Before going to Nurture Spa Tagaytay last November, I did a lot of googling to check on what to see in this acclaimed one of the top spas in the Philippines and in Asia…  Nurture Spa’s website has very limited photos but good thing a lot have blogged about this and so I still found some worthwhile snapshots… Here’s my blog, its main purpose is to give you a tour on Nurture Spa and to get you more excited in visiting this very relaxing, fascinating, and enjoyable Spa outside the city….:)

Morning shot, pathway from the entrance to the big garden…

Nurture Spa - path to the garden

Nurture Spa serves really awesome hot teas…superb taste and very soothing… hot teas was served upon arrival while waiting for our room and also after our massage… and both teas were different, the latter tea had a ginger taste…

Welcome Tea upon Arrival

Here’s a shot of our room name – Runong room, I think it was the first room in the garden view.

Nurture Spa - Garden view room

The room was just fine, with big bed, good lights, clean bathroom, and tv…without cable… Guess, they really wanted us to just enjoy our time together… But not to worry they have movies in dvds that you can borrow for the night…

inside Garden view room

The path way going to the Spa Wellness area… this shot is the open area for Facial, Head, Shoulder massages… very relaxing place, you can enjoy the cool breeze, sight of the garden while having your massage here… Nice!

Nurture Spa Tagaytay - going to Spa area

While here’s a shot of our massage room, they call this the Couple Massage Room, with aircon and bathroom. We had here our 1 hour Hilot Massage; had a quick foot spa first, then started our Hilot Massage with Banana leaves on our back… it was really relaxing… how we wish we have this kind of massage/treatment every day….

Couple Massage Room - Nurture Spa Tagaytay

We woke up around 7am and headed to Dulang’s 2^nd floor, to have a different spot from our dinner. Still a great place to dine – very serene…

Hearty breakfast at Dulang's 2nd floor

with a good view from the 2^nd floor…

Window-Top view from 2nd floor restaurant

Also, you can play Sungka while waiting for your order; this is part of their table décor/set-up for some tables…:)

Sungka

Here are some shots of the garden, enjoy…

Nurture Spa Tagaytay Garden view

Nurture Spa’s Kalesa…

Nurture Spa's Kalesa

Nurture Spa Tagaytay

Well, hope you loved my quick tour of Nurture Spa Tagaytay… Thanks to Shotnroll for these super cool photos!   Thanks for dropping by my site! Hope you can also enjoy a relaxing weekend getaway in Nurture Spa and feel free to comment on your experience… See you!

Nurture Spa model...hahaha!