But first I had to get breakfast. Sadly one of the Longganisa sausage on my breakfast plate was undercooked. The second one had off flavor that suggested it was not thoroughly fried. Visual inspection confirmed my suspicion. Let’s hope my stomach acid did its job and killed those germs. To make matters even more complicated for my stomach, I decided to take the ferry to Iloilo. I had heard the day before that seasickness a common occurrence on this route.
Around 9:00 I checked out of the hotel and took a Grab to the Passenger Port Terminal. The last Oceanjet ferry had just left. I had to book a slower one with Montenegro Lines. The Terminal had a fee of 40PHP, and it was hot waiting there. No aircon because of a brownout. I bought pita crackers which in taste and consistency reminded me of Panzerplatten. The ferry was scheduled for 10:30, but we didn’t leave Bacolod until around 10:45.
Ferry from Bacolod to Iloilo
The ride was indeed quite bumpy, and my fellow passengers were dozing off. I probably slept too. A little queasy at first, the crackers, and water helped a lot. After about 1.5 hours, we arrived in Iloilo.
Sleep or watch Aquaman 2?
It’s pretty cool that the Iloilo passenger pier here is up river and not on the ocean. You are right in the city when you arrive. There was a convenient line to metered taxis right at the arrival zone. It even had shade. The guards here are super helpful in the Philippines when you don’t know what you are doing. I always try to be extra nice to them because they helped me out a lot.
I finally got my luggage to the hotel and went exploring. While buying bottled water, I had a chat with the guard at the convenient store to get suggestions for places to see and how to get there.
Batchoy Lapaz is what’s for lunch. After eating and resting I went to Calle Real which reminded me a lot of Carbon Road in Cebu City. The Spanish influence is even more pronounced here in Iloilo. They have a traditional plaza and colonial buildings along this street.
Calle Real in Iloilo City
One of the things I liked here is the Iloilo River Esplanade. It’s a neat bricked walk next to the river, perfect for running. Around dusk, plenty of locals were jogging or strolling.
Sunset on the river
I had a great day in Bacolod and another great day here in Iloilo. People are friendly and curious, as foreigners seem to be a lot less common here than in Manila or Cebu. And so far my stomach has held up, which is a relief.
I got up at around 5:00 to catch my 1-hour flight to Bacolod on Negros. While waiting for the hotel staff to check my room I called my Grab. He arrived quickly, and I had to apologize because it took a while until they gave me the ‘all clear’. But then I was off to Terminal 3 of NAIA Manila Airport. It is Easter Sunday. Almost empty streets. Lots of bicyclists and joggers, but it was a peaceful morning.
I managed to check in online the night before after some confusion. I’d booked with AirAsia, but the flight was a Cebu Pacific flight. I was provided with a special mailadress. After I got the right Check-in details all went through. I like to get a printed boarding pass in addition to the digital one, “just in case”.
Most Asian airlines allow 7 kg of carry-on luggage which is way too low. I am habitually over the weight limit with my backpack and my Aldi bag full of overflow. So I usually try to print the boarding pass at one of those self-service kiosks. It worked this time. At the gate they asked for volunteers to check in some bigger backpacks and I happily put up my backpack, getting free check-in bags at that point. Now, I don’t mind paying for my overweight bags but the airlines webapps or mobile apps make it horrendously difficult to do so. Especially if you book via a 3rd party. So often times the only way is to just ‘risk it’ and try to get on board with my overweight bags.
Anyway, after getting my printed boarding pass I walk through the light domestic security and splurge on a pack of peanuts. 3 hours of waiting, but at least the view is nice.
View from inside Terminal 3, Airside
Finally, we boarded the plane and had a pretty uneventful flight which I used to watch downloaded YouTube videos and read my instapaper articles.
Bacolod’s airport was tiny and had one belt for bags. My bag was the second to last to come out, and it seemed like they were shutting down the airport for the day after me.
Outside I had trouble finding a Taxi as all had been taken. I waited a while and tried to find a Grab. Worst case, I’d have to take one of the PUJ (what they call minivans here). But as I was walking to the PUJ Terminal I heard my phone ding. A pleasant and talkative driver brought me in about 25 minutes to my hotel in downtown Bacolod.
Arriving in the province, Bacolod Airport
It was around noon that I arrived. Hotel check in here in the Philippines is around 14:00. They were kind to let me Check In early without any fees. And I could throw my bags into the room and go exploring. The sun beating down on me, I quickly explored the neighborhood of Lacson Street. The driver had recommended me a place to eat the famous local dish of Inasal which was in walking distance of my hotel. Less than two hours of landing I was enjoying skewered grilled chicken with chicken oil and rice on a banana leaf in the middle of Bacolod city.
After a quick nap at the hotel and I went to a Pharmacy. I paid roughly 300PHP for unbranded sunscreen and hope it protects. Took a stroll around the Capitol Park and then set my target to the Bacolod Baywalk. I decided to walk there. I love walking through the streets like these here in the Philippines. People are friendly and say ‘Hello’ or ‘Hey Joe’ with a big smile. My heart feels light, I enjoy being here in Bacolod.
I meet more and more young people going in the same direction as me and join them walking to the Baywalk Park. Just in time for the sunset. Since it’s close to the equator the sun sets pretty early around 06:00-06:30 each day with not a lot of changes years round.
People in Bacolod Baywalk Recreational Park
Half of the Baywalk is closed due to a hip-hop concert which I listen to from outside the entrance for a while. After exploring the open part of the Baywalk I sit down and enjoy a cold bottle of Tubig(water) while watching the sun go down. What a great day.
Only a couple of steps away from SM Aura Premier in BGC is the Barangay of Pembo. It’s right next to my current hotel and I go down here to enjoy the street food and get my clothes washed for 210PHP. I have to dodge tons of motorbikes, cars and tricycles on my way down but I enjoy the atmosphere and chaos of it.
Since the temperature in Manila peaks at about 36 Degree I have found myself more often than not enjoying the air-conditioned gym instead of running around the city.
running with a view
The temptation of fast food and deep-fried Filipino food makes it really hard to eat healthy. No amount of exercise is going to fix that. I feel myself longing for a healthy routine. First thoughts of how I want my life to be after traveling come and go.
Anyway: After my workout in the hotel gym while sitting and sweating I saw some Filipinos practicing Escrima.
My Lutheran Evangelical upbringing made me deeply skeptical about materialism. And even if I reject most of the teachings today, it still remains a part of me. Affluent cities-inside-cities bubbles like Bonifacio Global City trigger the Lutheran in me. I had a similar impression of Kuala Lumpur or Singapore.
Sadly, the execution is mindlessly copied from the worst examples of car centric American urbanism. Of course, it’s better to have sidewalks than having no sidewalk at all. But I wonder why some of these sidewalks are so wide?
Traffic lights for pedestrians! In the Philippines!
My small 25sqm Airbnb studio apartment has 2(two!) aircons. One for the bedroom section of the room and one for living room section. Both of them unable to handle the scorching heat of the Philippine summer. People will say to me: „of course, it’s summer“. As if that would explain the two underpowered air conditioner in my room. My cheap room for €16 a night with one unit was way cooler than this. Ahh, but you are paying for the location, I guess.
I’m standing on a sidewalk in front of One Uptown Residences vis-à-vis the expensive Hyatt hotel. A liquid is dropping on me from above. I look up, but I only see endless rows of windows. Some cables hang from the side of the building. From the window cleaner, I guess.
There is a Denny’s restaurant near my apartment. The slogan on the back of their uniforms is: „a diner is the world’s smallest neighborhood“. They of course allude to being a third place. Is this just a slogan, or are they actually trying to create a humane place for social interactions? This questions can be extended for the whole of BGC. Just like Denny’s: it’s more of a veil (a simulation, a self proclamation) of a humanistic neighborhood to give you warm fuzzy feels. It’s a capitalists dream of a functioning city. Ready to satisfy your material cravings(those that you saw on TV, YouTube or Netflix) given you bring enough Pesos. Oops, that’s me being a skeptic, I guess.
Bike and scooter parking spots
“It is a bubble” - but not really. It’s thinly veiled urbanism over reckless car centric culture. Not integrated into, but very much like the rest of Manila. The famously horrible traffic in Manila might be slightly better here, but it’s still here. Try crossing a street during rush hour.
An unsustainable bubble, for sure. Not built to last and without proper maintenance, you see the cracks already forming everywhere. Will this be left to the urban blight, only to be replaced by the next new and shiny city? Never mind the cost to nature. Flying into Manila over south-west Luzon, I saw a ton of green jungly areas. Will those still be here in 30 years?
Only in the Philippines: A church on top of a mall next to a Starbucks.
Enjoy the splendors while you can! Drink overpriced chain coffee in American coffee shops. Eat at expensive but average quality restaurants. Take your selfies in front of giant advertisement LED screens here now! The people here thirst for some(any, all!) kind of luxury. I don’t blame them.
Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy being here. I am a materialist when it comes to all these comforts and amenities. But it feels extremely wasteful and in no way sustainable.
The contrast of simple barangay life and the hedonistic excess of these big city bubbles in the Philippines is fascinating. But I’m just a guest here, and I won’t have to face the consequences or hardships of either.
The sun is hot, water is wet and yours truly figured out he is not a beachboy
Maybe it’s not as bad as my last post made it out to be. But it certainly isn’t as good everyone hyped it up. And my north germanic genes are not made for sitting on the beach all day. So this is good bye Boracay! Did I enjoy it? No. Will I come back? Also no.
I really tried to come here with an open mind. Boracay is being sold as this peak of tropical beach experience but in reality it’s an overcrowded, expensive and somewhat smelly destination. The white sandy beaches might look nice on pictures but during summer season (right now) the amount of stinky algae from the polluted water and the oily fried food here is pretty disgusting.
Maybe this is the part of my travel where I begin to realize that I am not a beach person.
The very crowded Station 2 in Boracay
As a super white skinned dude I need to hide from the sun and especially in the afternoon there is not enough shade. The little amount of shadow is crowded by tourists. Talking about crowds: beaches here in Asia are similar to walking streets: all the oily fried food and bars become crowded and ugly as soon as the night hits. People trying to sell you a massage, boat activity or beaded hair becomes real old real fast.
Algae in Boracay
Hmm more nice smells from the Algae
This place is being sold as paradise, but in reality it’s just a messy money grab built on the photogenic nature of white sand and palm trees. But I get the feeling that may be true for most tourist destinations here in Southeast Asia. They build the restaurants and stalls right up to the sand. Nature? Not here, for sure. You’ll need to hop on one of those overcrowded island hopping tours.
Ferry from Bacolod to Iloilo
Sleep or watch Aquaman 2?
Calle Real in Iloilo City
Sunset on the river
View from inside Terminal 3, Airside
Arriving in the province, Bacolod Airport
People in Bacolod Baywalk Recreational Park
Sunset over SM Aura
Stark contrast to the boujee streets of BGC
Let’s get some BBQ while we are here!
running with a view
Jeepney Terminal at Ayala Market Market
Wall art in Mitsukoshi Mall next to the Fully Booked bookshop
Traffic lights for pedestrians! In the Philippines!
Bike and scooter parking spots
Only in the Philippines: A church on top of a mall next to a Starbucks.
Bonifacio High Street is expensive and walkable.
The sun is hot, water is wet and yours truly figured out he is not a beachboy
Paradise. Or is it?
The very crowded Station 2 in Boracay
Algae in Boracay
Hmm more nice smells from the Algae
It gets even more crowded in the night