I managed to squeeze in, before the rush of the holidays, a trip to Iloilo and the island province of Guimaras last weekend. My wife, together with two of our friends, flew in from Davao while I took the first flight from Manila. I was excited to plant my feet again on my father's home province after more than 2 decades.

The weather was not just good, it was perfect. But just like most trips, not everything is.  Several of the heritage sites we visited are undergoing maintenance and repairs. Its just fine if you are a casual tourist, its a disaster if you are there to photograph the place.


But for every down, there are corresponding ups. There was that nice manong who turned on the altar lights inside Miagao church for a few seconds even if the monsignor would go ballistic if he found out; a layperson who kept the St. Clement's church door open after the last evening mass; the guard who accommodated us in Jaro cathedral at 4AM.; our hosts whom we inconvenienced for a few days. The list goes on.

And then there is that good friend of mine who let me use his camera body (he even left it in Iloilo for me to use) when seawater "killed" mine.


It was several days of sumptuous seafood, heritage churches, beaches and rocky coves, sweetest mangoes, and great company. Thankfully all my photos survived the seawater disaster and I shall be sharing them in my succeeding posts.