It rained hard as soon as we got on the van from Maradiona Elementary School.
The roads from Iloilo all the way to Antique were well paved and lined.
We saw many beautiful homes that were bigger and more beautiful than the homes in Manila.
In contrast to the grand Spanish manors in Iloilo, one could see many modern homes along the main highway that looked like the homes in Architectural Digests and other U.S. magazines.
Our house could probably fit in this mansion’s dirty kitchen.
I do not know how accurate the story is, but according to Roda, this mansion belongs to ..(I forgot her name) who worked in Hongkong as a domestic helper. When her employer was migrating to Australia or Canada, he referred her to two families in HK. She chose the man and a handicapped son. She endeared herself to them and ended up marrying the father. Apparently the son’s condition was caused by some medical issues and they got paid a huge amount of money as settlement. Aside from this trophy estate, they also bought several tracts of land in the area including a beach resort.
Another beautiful mansion along the highway
The ride back to Iloilo was like a fieldtrip. I enjoyed looking at the old buildings, town plaza’s that are well landscaped, well lit and devoid of vendors or food chain’s tarpaulines and politician’s faces.
Weewee break along the hway
Maarte ka? Then wear a diaper or pee in the grass.
We were not charged for use of the toilet because we bought a lot of goodies from them.
P50 per pack of banana chips made by their cooperative. I made sure because I didn’t want to buy anything from Antique that’s made in Tagaytay. Dapat orig from here.
We dropped by the Molo Cathedral for a short while which was two hours away from Antique and less than an hour to Iloilo. This is the 4th church we visited while on a two-day vacation in Iloilo. Para kaming nag Visita Iglesia.
Simbahan ng Molo marker
This guy was taken aback when I handed him over a crisp twenty peso bill. He looked like he couldn’t believe that someone would do that. Giving alms is tricky. The government and a some priests always remind us not to give to beggars kasi we encourage them daw most especially the street children. Lately I have stopped giving money to street kids and beggars in Manila.
Sometimes I feel it’s not giving alms, it’s sharing one’s blessing in a small way.
We were in a hurry because it was getting dark (6 pm)
The facade of the Molo Church looks like our church in Binangonan, Rizal.
Molo’s global icon is their PANCIT MOLO so after the church, our next intention was to eat the world famous pancit molo.
We went to Panaderia de Iloilo where one could find so many good tinapay and pasalubong, but their dining place is so carinderia style and no aircon although their molo is only P30 a bowl. It’s been a long day and we’re tired from the traveling and wanted a more comfortable setting. Also, I was looking for Panadereia de Molo and not Panaderia de Iloilo because I was thinking maybe the Panaderia de Molo is more original.
We found the Panaderia de Molo but I was disappointed that their store looked so backward. It was like they did not grow over the years despite their brand’s success.
And they also did not have tables so we could eat the molo there. They only have frozen pancit molo but I couldn’t buy kasi where would I store them for a day, baka mapanis. The hotel has a tiny ref but no freezer.
We bought some galletas and biscocho, we are here na lang din. Sayang naman pagod namin.
