Funny it may seem that it took me a year to prepare for this and yet I'm still unprepared to what I'll be doing here. One thing I'm sure of, I'm excited to experience one of the most colorful and celebrated festivals in the Philippines - Dinagyang Festival.
Happening every fourth weekend of January here in Iloilo City, Dinagyang is celebrated with tons of fun and excitement together with some faith as the Señor Sto. Niño of Cebu brought into a procession on the streets of Iloilo along with a great number of street dancers all dressed in shinning and shimmering costumes and swaying to unique drumbeats made by different band groups.
This year, there are about 16 contingents from different parts of Iloilo and of the Visayas are vying to be the Dinagyang 2014 champion. And on the first day of my Dinagyang vacation here in Iloilo, January 23, I am welcomed by not just some drumbeats and colorful masks and costumes but also genuine sweet smiles from Ilonggos, who made the festivity more memorable and worth-experiencing.
One of the many places that a bargain hunter should see when visiting Iloilo City is the heritage street of Real. More popularly known for its Spanish name Calle Real, I and two of my friends got a chance to see the place before heading out to our next destination for our Eat, Pray, Love vacation.
Since, it was our first time to see this humble province, we were open to all suggestions as to what to see in here. A friend of mine suggested to me to spent some time here and check out how Iloilo manage to cope up with the fast-changing trade life like what we have here in Manila. We all agreed since the name Calle Real sounded like a nice place.
IILOILO - Visiting this province has been a dream of mine since last year. I've read a lot of great stories about this spot and seen a lot of wonderful photographs depicting how this province keeps on managing its rich culture and wonderful current developments hand-in-hand.
Iloilo may have a lot in common with Manila when it comes to structures, developments and many more, but for me, being a true-blooded Manileño visiting this province and experiencing Iloilo's lif - even for just a day - it made me feel its sweet appeal that will made me decide to visit it again.
I, and two of my superfriends, arrived at Iloilo around lunch time then. With a sun that's on top of us and with streets as busy as a flowing stream, we got in to Iloilo through its Muelle Loney Port. Muelle Loney Port, considering it's limited space was enough proof to me to see how this province will share its wonders to me. The place was clean and organize, how I really wish we always have this kind of ports.
