Iloilo Day 2: Time to see Sandbar!

Please see Iloilo Day 1 here.

We woke up late from last night’s walkathon and La Paz Batchoy indulgence  – di ko pa rin talaga makalimutan ang sarap ng batchoy na yan.. 🙂 We agreed that we’ll tweak our itinerary a little bit and travel to Concepcion at noon instead of the scheduled 6AM.  BTW, Sandbar is in Concepcion.  It will take us 2-3 hours to get there from Tagbak (Iloilo City).

At 8:30 in the morning we woke up and and got out to see the rest of the city proper during day time.  Sarap ng tulog eh..

My healthy morning breakfast.. yay..

Pag medyo tipid ka talaga.. okay sige, (kuripot).. eh matututo kang magbaon in times na tingin mo eh maoover budget ka.. Isa pang tip, just bring an ample amount of money based sa na-project na expenses during the planning. Magdala ng sobra pero itago sa ibang parte ng wallet or bag.. 😛 Wag mo lang kalimutan kung san mo nilagay para hindi ka mayare pag kinailangan na.. 😛

Okay.. Lezz go!

No trash along the streets

Museo Iloilo and the Provincial Capitol

Museo Iloilo is open from Monday-Saturday at 8AM-12noon *lunchbreak* then 2PM-5PM.

Photo-op ko naman syempre.. 😛

Kahit saan na lang, maka-jump shot lang!.. 😛

Iloilo Jeep

It’s not the conventional jeepney we have in Manila.  Wala kayong makikita sa city proper nun, puro ganito lang. Cool!

St. Paul's Hospital

The hospital has a church at the back but surprisingly, it’s not open to the public and closed during Sundays.  Hmmmm.. A church that’s not open during Sunday? – I (leally-leally) wonder why?

All these places are just a few meters away from each other.  We maximized our time to see the city before we head to Concepcion.  The weather was not great but it was good though.  It’s cloudy and humid as the time nears noon.   We got back to our hotel after an hour and  a half to pack our things. The hotel receptionists are kind enough to accommodate our request to stay an hour longer and check out at 1PM instead of 12NN.

JanAc met us at our hotel.  We rode a jeep going to Tagbak where vans and buses travel to Concepcion.  We chose to ride a van instead of bus to save more time.  We thought vans are faster than buses.  Magpupuno pa kasi ang bus at posibleng never ending ang stop overs.. kahit walang Bus Stop sign eh titigil para makapagsakay ng pasahero.. Ultimo waiting shed na walang tao eh titigilan pa.. We held that thought until we saw the van.  IMBA!

Sa unang tingin, mukhang mismatch yung van kasi parang anytime bibigay yung mga pinto at babagsak ung makina. Parang pache-pache pa lang ung kaha tas parang kinabukasan nasa junk shop na sya.. Ganun ka IMBA!

Magdadalawang isip pa sana ako pero aalis na rin kasi.  Hanggang Sara lang ang biyahe at walang direcho ng Concepcion. Fare is 100Php going to Sara then we’ll just ride a jeep going to Concepcion which is 15-20minutes away.

Nagstart na si Manong driver.  Hindi pa masara yung bintana, asus! pero okay lang para sagap ko lahat ng hangin.  Pagkaabante, ratrat na si Manong! heavy duty naman pala ang van nya, hindi uso ang preno, overtake kung overtake!. Maganda ang shack at suspension, hanep lang.. Dyan ko napatunayan.. “Don’t judge a book by its cover.. ” lol at isa pa.. “Looks can be deceiving.. ” mas lol… 😛

Travel time is longer, it was about 3.5 hours. Nagsakay pa kasi ng ilang sako ng bigas yung jeep kaya natagalan. By the time we arrived at Concepcion, I texted Mang Sonny (0906.819.7516) of Sandbar and his son fetched us immediately.  They brought our bags to the boat and we bought our food at the town market that’s good for the rest of our stay in Sandbar. Buti na lang marunong akong mamalengke.. hehe Adobong manok na lang ang menu namin for the night with matching itlog na pula, kamatis.  Binili na namin lahat pati toyo, suka, asin, mantika, etc.  Bumili na rin kami sa city bago bumiyahe ng cup noodles, tasty bread, chips, cheezee, 4L of H20, special tinapay etc.  Mahirap ng magutom sa isla, ayokong magpaka-survivor. 😛

We were informed that there are no stores and food in Sandbar pero pwede magpaluto.  They also get their supplies from the town.

Culture, History, Arts and Tourism Office of Concepcion

30 minutes of smooth sail had passed — Sandbar at last!

Hello Sandbar!

The Welcoming Committee

They have a lot of pet dogs – not sure if they’re all guys though.  Pano sila magpaparami nyan? tas nasa isang island lang?.. 😛

Mang Sonny’s family and his brother’s are the only ones living in Sandbar  There are other families living on the other side of the island.

It’s 4:30pm.  We just put our bags on the wooden bench and explored the beach.  I’ll show you around.

 

The signage to remind you where you at.. 🙂

Reminder number 1

Reminder number 2

Sandbar is not yet a commercial island.  It is yet to be discovered by most beach bums.  A group of foreigners were here a week ago and for sure they knew about this island from the internet.  Soon, more and more people will be visiting.  We’re the only guests for the day that’s why it’s very liberating to explore and take and take pictures.

 

Reminder number 3

Mang Sonny is not strict.  But to maintain what Sandbar has now, he wants to make sure that everything is clean and green. 🙂  Their family is accommodating as well.  They attend to our concerns and also check us from time to time.  Tutal naman eh mga lalaki kami, wala naman kami masyadong concerns.  Masaya na kami sa simoy ng hangin at duyan sa cottage. 😛

Our dining area

Lutuan area

Our Cottage

There’s no need for a fan inside.  Nature’s cold winds will serve as your ventilation.  Bad thing though, you cannot turn it off! 😛

Low tide when we arrived

And now, the sand and the waters..

Not white but fine sand

To the edge, where I think the name "sandbar" was coined

There were pieces of stones scattered along the sand.  The high tide is the reason why those stones are spread all over.  High tides happen at night and after lunch.  The part on the right disappears already when the high tides hit.

Sunset @ Sandbar

The sun quickly set upon us so we decided to go back after dipping into the water for a few minutes.

At night, we don’t have any activities in mind kaya todo relax lang kami at sinagap ang kapreskuhan ng hangin sa dalampasigan.. 😛  This is the life! The island has its own generator which only operates from 5PM-1oPM.  The power is off beyond 10PM except for the fluorescent lights.

We waited for the moon to rise to witness how “super” it will become (today is the ‘super moon’ day). Unfortunately, the clouds covered it and I wasn’t able to capture a good shot.

It may seem like a sunset but I assure you it’s the moon 🙂 The orange-yellowish effect is due to the white balance setting of my camera..

See? moon yan eh.. 😛 But damn those clouds.. 😛 Ang liwanang ano?

BTW, we had a good dinner courtesy of Ate Remily’s cooking skills.  Right after that, kanya-kanya munang moment :P.  Nabusog ako ng sobra-sobra! Napag-tripan rin namin mag night shoot (long-exposure) sa tabing dagat at mag light-trail.

Ikaw na maganda ang sulat.. 😛

Eto si JanAc.. Ang aming tour guide..

Third day na tomorrow and I’m very excited to beach bum and see other islands nearby.  Readyng-ready na ako for the beach! wooohooo!

Goodnight Sandbar!

 

First and last night on the island