Iloilo: 19 years later

The only time I ever set foot in Iloilo prior to this trip was waaaay back in 1996. I was doing research among the Panay-Bukidnon and I spent a few days before and after my fieldwork in Calinog. The biggest structure then was SM and there was hardly any traffic. So much had changed since then.  The airport is now in Mandurriao and is very modern. There’s a Robinson’s Centre just a few blocks from where I am staying and there’s an esplanade along the Iloilo river. Aahhh to be coming from Manila only to be confronted by all these commercial structures. If it weren’t for the tasty Aklanon lechon at Ramboy’s Lechonan, I could have been somewhere in BGC rather than Smallville by the river. At least, I didn’t need to go very far for my bowl of tasty hot Deco’s bachoy as there was a branch at Robinson’s. Tomorrow afternoon, I leave the city behind and head to Calinog.