Coming To Manila, Day 8: Amazing Race Iloilo

Just like when we left Manila, it was raining cats and dogs the day we left Bacolod to go to Iloilo. Tito Tony and Tito Bamboo drove us in the pouring rain to the docks about 5 minutes from our house, so we can catch a ferry to Iloilo, which would take about an hour.

I was in shorts and a crew neck shirt, and I was soaking wet when we boarded the ferry. Unfortunately for me, the ferry was VERY air-conditioned, and with no sweatshirt or anything, I was freezing most of the ride over (which no doubt contributed to my not-feeling-so-well for the next several days).

We arrived in Iloilo and my Uncle Ed (or as we all call him - Uncs or just plain Uncle) was waiting for us. Uncs is my mom's older brother, and is the middle child amongst my mom's siblings. He is quite the artist - just click on the url linked to his name on this paragraph to see for yourself.

Anyway, the moment we arrived, it was basically Amazing Race Iloilo. We were only in Iloilo for a day because we were headed to Boracay early the following morning, so it was basically Uncle's mission to make sure we get to see as much of Iloilo as we can. Waiting with Uncle was another one of Tatay's cars and driver; we dumped our luggage in the back and off we went.

First thing we did was eat some batchoy, one of the culinary specialties of Iloilo. After having done that, off we went to Mina, where my mom's ancestral home where she grew up was still located.

Before that though, I of course had to pay my respects at my Lolo Agoy's and Lola Des' graves (my mom's parents). Sadly, I never got to meet my Lolo Agoy, and for all intents and purposes, never did my mom, as she was all of 4 years old when he was murdered.



My Lola Des (short for Lourdes) though, I had the unbridled pleasure of knowing most of my early life. Like I have mentioned in previous posts, every summer we would always spend about 2 weeks in Iloilo to visit my Lola Des, as well as Tatay's family, and then head off to Bacolod for 2 weeks to visit my Lola Tiba and my dad's family.



Lola Des is one of the people I admire the most. She was all of 33 when she was widowed, and she basically had to raise 3 kids by herself, all while taking care of the rice lands my Lolo had left behind, as well as being a teacher at the local school as well. I will be 32 years old in 2 months and it amazes me to think of the sheer responsibility she took on when she was not that much older than I am right now.

The Defensors have a long history of strong-willed women, and my Lola Des I daresay was the Queen of them all, and I certainly hope that the iron-will and determination that was in her can be found in me as well when needed.

Lola Des' blood runs strong though, as with the exception of Uncle Ed, all her children inherited not only her sweet tooth but her infamous temper as well. Her grandchildren, all five of us, inherited that sweet tooth and that temper as well. That Lola Des sure knows how to leave a legacy. But if you ever want to know what my Lola Des looked like, take a look at my mom and my sister - they're basically splitting images of her, espeically Manang Gina.

We then stopped by the old house to say hello to the people living and taking care of the place, and admittedly, I do not have many memories of the place, as we barely spent time there growing up.

We drove back to Iloilo City, this time via the other direction, and we passed by the new Airport at Santa Barbara, which was Tatay's brainchild and pet project while he was Governor of the province. We then stopped for lunch at Tatoy's, one of the iconic restaurants of Iloilo. Located by the beach, the place has grown from a tiny shack to one of the biggest and most popular culinary destinations in the city. As usual, we ate tons of food, including some yummy oysters.


After lunch, we finally made our way to the Defensor compound, and was able to relax for a bit. The compound was the scene of many, many, many, many good memories for me. Every time I think of the place, I get reminded of endless summer days running around with Nonoy, and eating ice cream and batchoy with Lola Des, and the entire family sitting at the dining room table, eating meals and talking non-stop. In my mind's eye, I can still see being 8 years old, and looking around at the table and seeing Tatay and Nanay. My mom and my dad would be next to them, and Lola Des and Uncle would be close by also. Manong Toto and Manang Tata would be across from me, and Manang Gina would always be next to Manang Tata, as those two were joined at the hip. Speaking of joined at the hip, Nonoy and I would of course be sitting next to each other. Since he never ate as much as I did, the last 20 minutes of the meal would always be him rushing me to finish eating already so we can resume whatever game we were playing before we got called in to lunch. Every meal in Iloilo would always be finished off with some mangoes, sometimes from one of the mango trees in the compound itself. I've said it a million times - Filipino Mangoes are the best in the world. But man, I really have great memories of the place.

TJC and I stayed at Manong Toto's and Nonoy's room; the house was mostly empty as just about everyone was in Manila. I had hoped to see Manong Toto, as he was in Iloilo while we were in Manila. But by the time we got to Iloilo, it was his turn to be in Manila. But I could not help but smile, staying at that room again. During our visits there, I either slept in my Lola's room, or with Nonoy and Manong Toto in that very room I was in at that moment, and for the first time since my arrival, I felt like I was a child again again. Don't get me wrong, it's not a knock against Manila or Bacolod. But in Manila I stayed at a hotel, and Bacolod, the entire house was 100% different from the one from my childhood, and as a result, this was the first time I felt like I was in familiar surroundings again from that period in my life, just as I remember it.

I had to laugh as well because when I last visited in 1994, Nonoy was working on a mural on the walls of the room. And 13 years later, the mural was still unfinished and quite frankly looked exactly the way it did back then. I think Gaudi's Sagrada Familia has had more progress done than Nonoy's mural, ha.


Uncle has a house within the compound, so TJC and I made our way over there, and I showed TJC a lot of Uncle's art work. Uncle has a sculpture garden within the grounds of the compound, and honestly, with the rain and everything, I could not take any pictures of it that would do it justice so just click on the link. Here are some pics though of some of the artwork that can be found in Uncle's house, as well as one of the sculptures from the garden:





After a couple more hours of rest, TJC, Uncle and I went across to the other side of the compound to have dinner at the Mango Tree, Jason Gonzales' restaurant.



Jason is Nonoy's first cousin, and the twin brother of Jonas, whom I had talked about in earlier posts. While there, we ran into the family of Tita Eleanor, Nanay's sister-in-law. With Tita Eleanor were her daughters Iseal, Joanne and Kay; Joanne was actually getting married the following week. It was great to see them, as they were playmates of mine as well growing up.

The meal at The Mango Tree, by the way, was delicious. If you are ever in Iloilo, I strongly recommend you go there for dinner. And I say that not because Jason is basically family to me, I say it because it's the truth.

Unfortunately, it was getting late and we had an early morning ahead of us. We made the short walk across the compound back to the house and conked out. In a few hours, we were off to Boracay!