Rah, rah for RORO!

(Part I)

1. Riding a 4x4 pickup, my brother Abong and I left our mom’s house in Angeles City around 12 noon one fine Tuesday. With the newly rehabili-tated NLEX, now under the new management of the MNTC, we reached Market! Market! at The Fort at just a little over an hour and a half (That would have normally taken an hour more with the old NLEX), taking the C-5 from Ortigas Ave., where we rendezvoused with our three other companions on this trip. Meeting us at the Trellis Restaurant was our cousin Dan Tayag, the joint’s owner joint, architect/interior designer Reimon Gutierrez and his driver Eugene Elduayan. About to leave our comfort zones for the unknown, we had a meal of Pampango comfort foods (Huling hirit of fried tilapia with balo-balo, fermented rice with shrimp), sizzling sisig, and a crackling liempo mixed with chopped tomatoes, onion and doused with fish bagoong. It was a fitting send-off meal for this motley group.

Just outside Trellis is an open hall where there are a number of food outlets and fresh produce stalls. I needed to buy some pasalubong for our cousins in Iloilo City. I did a quick runabout of the stalls, finding these luscious fresh strawberries. Along the way, I bumped into longtime family friend, Yaying Dragon. I told her of the journey we were about to embark on, and I thought this chance meeting was auspicious. I now had a growing list of names we can call on (or text) when we get to Iloilo. Two of Yaying’s married daughters live in the south, one in Ormoc and the other in Davao City.

2. Leaving The Fort a little past 3 p.m., (there four of us in the pickup, while Dan rode his BMW R80 ST motorbike) we got to Batangas City in no time at all. We took the C-5 connecting with the SLEX, then past Sto. Tomas, entering the Star Expressway to Batangas. With the wonderful road network, we were in Batangas City by 5 pm. With plenty of time to kill before a dinner-date with my friend museum curator Marian Pastor Roces, a true-blue Batangueña, we went to the pier to check on the boat schedule to Calapan, the first of our RORO rides. Keeping in mind info given by Lorna Ambas of LJC Restaurants about the Batangas-Calapan ferry, we were originally set to take the 1 a.m. boat ride via Montenegro lines, which she took with her brood some months back. We learned that another liner, Starlite Ferry Inc., was set to leave at midnight. We decided to take that one. This was the general rule we were to discover in every port: There are several inter-island vessels serving the same routes but at different times of the day. The only setback was the absence of a hotline number to call about the trip schedules.

3. With some time in our hands before dinner, we headed for the Hotel Pontefino for a drink. Perched atop a hill at Gulod Labac in Batangas City, this 60-room and 12-suite hotel has been in operation for a little over a year. It boasts the first Filipino-owned five-star boutique hotel, with a soon-to-open world class spa offering a wellness package, badminton courts, a gym, swimming pool, game room, conference and banquet facilities, broadband Internet access in all rooms, and a fine dining restaurant, in itself a destination, serving new Batangas cuisine under the creative hands of chef Dennis Edillon. It is the brainchild of Ricky Gutierrez, the same man that has given us much dining pleasure with Sentro 1771 (Greenbelt 3, Makati City), Portico 1771 in Malate and Chateau 1771 in El Pueblo, Ortigas Center.

4. Relying mainly from SMS from our friends, we received vital information on every destination we were going to. (A matter of life and death info included the following: If we were to have only one meal in your town, where and what to eat?) Having forewarned my friend Marian that we’ll be passing by her hometown of Batangas City, she promised us, by text, a dinner of adobong tulingan (mackerel), adobong baboy sa atsuete, pajo (those miniature green mangoes) and sabaw na kibal at the 1883 Pastor ancestral house. The kibal, by its sheer name alone, has intrigued me no end, and I would have driven all the way to Batangas, RORO or no RORO, just to find out what it was. Gross as it may sound, for Pampangos it means some unmentionable something. Kibal happens to be another Tagalog name for sitaw or string beans. However, the Batangas variety has none of its stringy consistency, and was more like the French haricot vert. The Batangas version of pork adobo is quite distinct, with deep red orange color due to the use of atsuete (anatto), and perhaps patis for flavoring. Though the pork cuts are lean, it is nonetheless swimming in lard.

5. Some enchanted evening. Right after dinner, Marian’s uncle, Atty. Antonio Pastor, regaled us with some Chopin and Mozart piano pieces, sang together with his brother Rafael some classic songs, like Some Enchanted Evening, O Sole Mio and Ikaw Lang ang Aking Iibigin. They actually staged this impromptu recital to serenade some lady friends of Marian’s mom, Aurora, who were then having a dinner party in the house. Aside from being a concert pianist, Atty. Pastor happens to be a tenor as well. He has starred opposite Fides Asuncion Cuyugan in the zarzuela Mapulang Bituin and others.

6. The midnight ferry to Calapan took about two hours, and traveling time by land south to Roxas, Oriental Mindoro was roughly 2-1/2 hours. Arriving at Roxas town at around 5 a.m., we had some time to wait for the 8:30 a.m. boat ride to Caticlan, Aklan. We had breakfast at Tita Annie’s karinderia, feasting on fried fish, eggs and fried rice. Roxas town (not to be confused with Roxas City in Capiz, though both were named after the late President Manuel A. Roxas) is touted to be the gateway to paradise. Its port facilities (currently undergoing a major uplifting) serve as a major link of Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao.

7. There they go! The vehicles went up the ramp at Caticlan Port (on the north-western tip of Aklan Province, Panay Island), its brand new terminal greeting visitors. On the way out of the pier, we saw an air-con bus queuing to get in the same boat we had just disembarked from. It plies a regular run from Iloilo City to Cubao, Quezon City and back. The trip costs P1,050 (including two boat transfers) and lasts about 18 hours.

8. From Caticlan, we were again on terra firma, driving on to Kalibo along the coast, passing through scenic sea and mountain vistas. Halfway through the journey, we passed the small town of Ibajay where the original Ati-Atihan festival was supposed to have originated. Arriving in Kalibo at around 4 p.m., we stopped by Mingoy’s at the airport for our first decent meal of the day, enjoying its signature paella, sopa de ajos, gambas and kalderetang kambing. After we had our fill, it was still another three hours to Iloilo City, our first major destination. We were to stay with our cousins, the Saldañas.

9. Iloilo City probably has the most number of existing pre-war buildings anywhere in the country. Above is the Post Office Bldg. on Muelle Loney St. just opposite Iloilo River. It was built in 1911, and was originally used as the aduana or customs clearing house.

10. The stately former Lizares Mansion in Jaro, Iloilo City, sitting in a vast estate, is now the administration building of Angelicum College. It was built in the mid-1930s by renowned architect Andres Luna de San Pedro (the only child of painter Juan Luna). Having trained abroad, Luna’s style follows the Spanish revival movement in California of the period. The Roaring Thirties was to be Iloilo’s golden years, the height of the wealthy sugar barons. Extravagant parties were thrown freely, with guests from other islands traveling to attend them, and assigned proper butler service and regaled with live musical entertainment.

11. On J.M. Basa St. in downtown Iloilo, rows of shop houses built in the 1920s and 1930s in the neo-classical and Art Deco style still stand today, though somewhat rundown and neglected, as pictured above. The city government under Mayor Jerry Treñas has initiated efforts to revitalize Calle Real to its former glory, with the guidance of conservation architect Toti Villalon. These architectural jewels can be a major tourist attraction if properly restored. It’s a race against time. Some buildings have given way to new developments of contemporary concrete and glass edifices. While we’re at it, please regulate those ugly signages, streamers, and billboards.

12. The Molo Church is home to 16 larger-than-life images of female saints. Hence, it became known as the Women’s Church. Built of stone in 1866 in the Gothic Renaissance style, it has Saint Anne as patron saint. National hero Dr. Jose Rizal was supposed to have visited this church to observe its religious paintings. In the early 1900s, a local snack was sold by Chinese hawkers just outside the church premises, consisting of a light chicken-based soup with pork-filled wonton thrown in. It is now popularly known as pancit molo, named after Molo district which used to be the parian or Chinese enclave during colonial times.

13. Just a couple hundred meters away from Molo church stands the Panaderia de Molo, the oldest bakery in the south. It continues to bake its traditional delicacies for over a hundred years now. Its biscocho, hojaldres, galletas, broas, and rosquetas have become favorite pasalubong, packed in their signature round cans. Another popular Ilonggo delicacy is the pinasugbo, which are thin slices of green saba bananas fried till chewy in sugar. It will surely sate any sweet tooth.

14. Of course, one doesn’t leave Iloilo without trying its other signature dish, batchoy. It first appeared in the wet market of La Paz district in the 1930s. It may look like mami to the rest of us, but that’s where the similarity ends. Its rich broth has been boiled for hours with soup bones, pork and beef meat, innards and guinamos (shrimp paste) for flavoring. A serving consists of a large bowl of thin noodles, topped with slivers of meat and innards cut with scissors (one could hear its constant clacking), then ladled with the piping hot caldo (broth), and finally smothered generously with crushed chicharon and fried ahos (garlic).

15. Market day. They’re not daing, they’re dead, so goes the joke at the dried-fish section of the central market. I do some shopping, with a native basket bought there for just P50, at the Ninfel Dried Fish Store.

16. A mound of the sensationally sweet mangoes from Guimaras Island, just a hop away from Fort San Pedro, at a barbecue plaza at nightfall.

17. All sorts of native handicrafts at the central market along Iznart St. fronting the Grand Hotel.

18. After being under the sun on a mobile tableau in a local parade, this little princess gets a royal treatment at the Breakthrough Restaurant along Villa Beach.

19. Breakthrough Seafood Restaurant offers Iloilo’s freshest catch from the sea and other grilled meats (from left): Lató, or fresh seaweed salad, adobong pato, or native duck, imbao, or clam soup, pangat, or rolled gabi leaves cooked in coconut milk, kinilaw na tangingue (the Visayan version of kilinaw has coconut milk) and grilled managat or sea bass, freshly caught from a fish tank, simply grilled and basted with kalamansi and atsuete. Kanamit gid!

20. These fresh large clams, called imbao, are served in soup, grilled, baked or served raw as seen here. When you squeeze kalamansi on it, the clam twitches. It’s that fresh. It has a firmer texture than fresh oysters and it tastes of the sea. Sobra kanamit gid!

21. Some 30 kilometers away from the city via the coastal road is the town of Dumangas, known for its salt beds and oyster farms. Iloilo City residents drive all the way here to eat or take home buckets full of oysters in the several eateries called kalan-an that dot the highway.

22. "Bahay kubo, kahit munti, ang halaman doon ay organic." Tessa Jalandoni (far right) gives our group a tour of her little vegetable patch in her residence-farm in Zaraga, some 45 minutes outside the city. Together with her American husband Jim Sharman and their nine year old son Michael, she has long abandoned city life. The couple is about to open a Steiner school for kids in their community. Reimon was to remain in the farm for a few days, while his driver Eugene left us the day before to visit his hometown of Igbaras. Our motley group of five has dwindled to just three.

23. On our third day in Iloilo City, we were supposed to take the 5 p.m. Superferry to Iligan City, our gateway to Mindanao. We headed early to the pier to have ample time for the processing of our vehicle, only to find out the Superferry would be delayed. It was not expected to be back until 9 p.m. With plenty time to spare, we went back to the city and headed for the Museo Iloilo. Right across it is the Atrium Shopping Mall, where right beside the entrance of the Iloilo Supermarket is the Tinapayan Bakeshop. Its pili marzipan tartlets are worth the stop.

Calling on our cousins Rollie and Vic Tiongson again, they treated us to a send-off dinner at the Messe Restaurant, just five minutes away from their home in Mandurriao. There was a pre-valentine dinner buffet of taco salad and some Italian chicken and pork dishes.

24. OK ka, ferry ko! The Superferry took us from Iloilo City to Iligan City, Lanao del Norte, the gateway to Mindanao. It was to be the longest of the three ferry rides we have taken so far, and the most expensive, too, with a trip of a little over 13 hours costing P11,800 for our vehicle, with another P1,000 charge per person for a four-bunk cabin with private toilet. Another route we could have taken from Iloilo (definitely a lot less expensive but perhaps requiring us spend another night on the road) was ferrying to Bacolod, then motoring to Dumaguete City, passing by the town of Bais for some whale watching, then a three-hour ferry to Dipolog, Zamboaga del Norte.

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Watch out for Part 2: Bukidnon, the promised land.

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Call Montenegro Lines at (043)723-7598, its operations manager Evangelito Suelto at 0927-5532467, or e-mail operations@montenegrolines.com.ph.

Call the Starlite Ferry Inc. Manila office at 724-3034 and 721-0263, Batangas (043)723-9965, Calapan (043)722-0162 and 0919-6937183, and Caticlan 0918-3587678.

Call the Manila Superferry Hotline at 528-7000.

Call Trellis Restaurant at Market! Market! Fort Bonifacio Global City at 728-2930. It is open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Hotel Pontefino is at Pastor Village, Gulod Labac, Batangas City. For inquiries, call 043(723-3466) or its Manila office at 437-2103.

Breakthrough sa Baybay is at Villa Beach, Arevalo, Iloilo City. Call (033)337-3027 for inquiries.

Nes & Tats Manokan and Seafoods is along Benigno Aquino Diversion Road, Mandurriao, Iloilo City. Call (033)321-2571 for inquiries.

Ted’s Oldtimer La Paz Batchoy is along the Diversion Road, Molo, Iloilo City. It has branches all over Iloilo.

Messe Restaurant is in Mandurriao, Iloilo City. Call (033)321-3718 for inquiries.

Joy-joy Kalan-an Oyster Farm is along the Coastal Road, Dumangas, Iloilo.

Mingoy’s Spanish Restaurant is at Kalibo Airport, Aklan. Call (036)262-4877 for inquiries.

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Send e-mail to claudetayag@digitelone.com.