The Loop

End of the Luzon-Visayas-Luzon loop

My gear during the entire trip while aboard the roro from Calapan.

mindoro route This is the 16th and last installment of the Luzon – Visayas – Luzon Loop series. Click the image on the right to check out the rest of the posts.

It’s the end of the road for my first Luzon – Visayas – Luzon roadtrip or what I fondly call, theLOOP. Its been really an arduous but enjoyable adventure across many provinces, thousands of kilometers and new discoveries. The total cost might be more than taking a plane Manila-Cebu-Manila but the experiences I gained, PRICELESS!

Will I do this again? SURE! And I will not only repeat it if time and budget allows but I’m looking at longer routes ahead!

Boracay is no paradise

It’s too crowded. It’s overhyped. It’s too commercialized. It’s just one huge tourist trap.

An accidental foray in Boracay

Its a lovely confluence of sun, sand and sea.

Boracay This is the 14th installment of the Luzon – Visayas – Luzon Loop series. Click the image on the right to check out the rest of the posts.

“I was speechless… I was struck with awe! What fine white sands. What emerald waters…”With the 1000H roro that I was to take from Caticlan to Roxas in Mindoro having engine trouble and the schedule postponed, I found myself paying the EXORBITANT environmental and terminal fees imposed on travelers in order to have a glimpse of the supposed charms of paradise that is Boracay. With just less than a few hours for the 1400H roro, I made a lightning sidetrip to this fabled island.

The first time I gazed upon the western shoreline of Boracay and I was just speechless! What fine white sands. What emerald waters. I was struck with awe. No wonder that sunworshipers of all stripes and colors whether foreign or domestic have been raving, singing high praises and coming back again and again to this island.

Its a confluence of sun, sand and sea coupled with the many conveniences found here that has become the siren song for many visitors.

Impressive: Cabatuan and Sta. Barbara churches

The impressive Cabatuan Church

north negros route This is the 13th installment of the Luzon – Visayas – Luzon Loop series. Click the image on the right to check out the rest of the posts.

In the Visayas, Iloilo is one of the provinces with many colonial era churches. What better way to spend a few hours before my trip to Kalibo that afternoon than with visiting two of these?

The first time I saw a photo of the church of Cabatuan and I was immediately drawn to it. Its impressive and imposing. An architectural achievement. Its squat but massive twin belfries flanks a simple facade built along neo-classic lines. Finished in 1866, it is one of the biggest churches in Panay.

Deco’s Special Batchoy with prewar *pandesal**

A delectable batchoy noodle dish.

north negros route This is the 12th installment of the Luzon – Visayas – Luzon Loop series. Click the image on the right to check out the rest of the posts.

“Its sahog… are plentiful and its broth very delectable.” This is the best batchoy I have ever tasted! I silently exclaimed mindful of the other customers in the airconditioned branch of Deco’s in La Paz, Iloilo. It must be the hunger and weariness of lugging my things while walking a good distance in downtown Iloilo City. Bernie, who met me at the pier took me here when I said that I want to have a good batchoy in La Paz. Its sahog of entrails, chicharon and scallions are plentiful and its broth very delectable.

There is a small debate, I was told, about the first batchoy in La Paz, Iloilo. There are two contenders: Ted’s and Deco. Both started out as a small eatery in the 30’s. However, Bernie said that the latter is the original. Ted’s has been transformed into a franchise that can now be found in major malls in the country. As for Deco’s, the rights and recipe were bought and developed by Edgar Sia II, the successful young businessman who also owns the Mang Inasal franchise.

SM City Bacolod

Believe it or not, with only few hours in Bacolod, I opted to visit Henry Sy’s new pilgrimage center, SM City Bacolod, instead. Yeah, I passed by San Sebastian Cathedral, that beautiful old colonial era edifice but didn’t bring with me my camera. Not that I’m a big fan of malls, where I just find the offerings generic and nothing special, I was more intrigued by its architecture. From the shoe box style of which these brand of malls started with, it has been liberated and updated with light, airy and spacious designs.

Along the north Negros highway

Trucks loaded with sugarcane is a common sight across the north Negros highway.

north negros route This is the 10th installment of the Luzon – Visayas – Luzon Loop series. Click the image on the right to check out the rest of the posts.

“The.. highway is indeed one of the scenic arteries that one can travel through in the country”Four hours across the north Negros highway and I was reliving memories of more than a decade ago passing this very artery going back and forth Cebu and Bacolod during vacations at my best friends place. I can vividly remember the ancestral houses of Silay with its imposing 1930s church along the road. Or how I am always captivated with the massive Mt. Mandalagan, a pemament fixture in the Negros landscape, lording it over the land. The same feeling of awe that you experience with the Malindang Range in Misamis Occidental or Mt. Mayon in Legazpi or even the Daguma Range in West Mindanao. One is humbled.

Or how can I forget a midnight trip from Bacolod on a VHire (van for hire) sandwiched between the driver and a passenger, ill seated for the duration of the trip to San Carlos without being able to sleep? It was the first time that I have experienced such inconveniences as a traveler that I swore never to do again.