ILOILO: HEART of the PHILIPPINES

The National Museum of the Philippines  announced the latest inclusions in its 2015 list of National Cultural Treasures and Important Cultural Properties . Among them are 4 (four) Iloilo landmarks and tourist attractions - Campo Santo in San Joaquin, Iloilo , Camiña Balay nga Bato (Avanceña House) in Arevalo , Lizares-Gamboa Mansion (Angelicum School of Iloilo)  in Jaro and the Sornito House (Cake House) in Santa Barbara, Iloilo .   In a press release dated Dec. 23, National Museum Director Jeremy Barns confirmed the inclusion of the Campo Santo in the National Cultural Treasure list while the 3 other ancestral/heritage houses in the list of Important Cultural Properties.  A National Cultural Treasure   (NCT) is the highest designation that pertains to "a unique cultural property found locally, possessing outstanding historical, cultural, artistic and/or scientific value which is highly significant and important to the country and nation". An Im...

The "battle" of dining strips and al fresco shops in Iloilo continues! After the soft opening of SHOPS at Atria a few days ago and the upcoming Streets of Festive Walk at Megaworld's Iloilo Business Park, SM City Iloilo "answers back" with its own - the expansion of SM Southpoint. It will be a 2-storey mall with both air-conditioned and al fresco "ambiance" plus a mini park with fountain with a small park of the parking area retained. SM City Iloilo Northwing    H&M, Uniqlo and Forever 21 at SM City Iloilo   SM City Iloilo Twin Towers As revealed in the website of its construction firm Monolith , the two storey-edifice will be put up  in the  mall's parking space between the current SM City Iloilo mall and Plazuela de Iloilo. The area is now "flattened" and actual constructions works on the edifice is set to start very soon. It will boost the mall's floor area by almost 25,000 sqm on top of the main malls' Northwing ...

The biggest mall in the region gets even bigger as SM City Iloilo finally unveiled its 4-storey PhP1.3B north wing expansion on Nov. 20,2015. A mass started the opening ceremonies at the new activity area followed by the blessing of the mall. Afterwhich, SM bigwigs together with Iloilo leaders (Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. City Congressman Jerry Trenas, Mayor Jed Mabilog and VM Joe Espinosa) led the ribbon cutting which officially opened the northwing expansion to the Ilonggos. As there was time to enjoy the mall before they let in the crowd by 10am, time was running out for us to capture the mall in its "pristine" state as Ilonggos will sure crowd when it opens. The mall has 4 levels (Lower Ground Floor, Upper Ground Floor plus the 2nd and 3rd Floors) seamlessly connected to the original mall, One can leisurely walk around the mall as if it is just as big as it is now and before. The floor and the coolness (literla and figurative) of new wing gives it away. T...

On its annual list of The Best and The Worst, web portal SleepingInAirports , released its 2015 honor and horror roll. It ranked the Best Airports in the World and in several other regions/ continents including Asia.  Photo Credits: CPPArreño For its Best Airport in Asia list, Iloilo International Airport ranked #21 among the 30 listed airports. It is one of the three Philippine airports that made it to the list, the other two Mactan-Cebu International Airport ranked at #18 and Clark International Airport at #24 . >>>  VISIT the HISTORIC TOWN of SANTA BARBARA, ILOILO  <<< (Only 10 minutes away from the Iloilo International Airport) Photo Credit: The Poor Traveler >>> THINGS TO DO and VISIT in ILOILO <<< The list is based on an annual survey of Airports in Asia and across the world and reflects its readers overall airport experience and voted in the 2015 Airport Survey . Here's the complete list . Singapore Ch...

It was a Saturday that the earth stood still, well only in Tagbak in Jaro, Iloilo City, that is. The opening of the much awaited City Mall Tagbak was well received by the thousand of Ilonggos that stood outside the mall starting the morning even though 3pm is the official opening time to the public. City Mall Tagbak is the 5th City Mall to open after the ones in Roxas City, Consolacion in Cebu, Cavite and Zamboanga. CityMall Commercial Centers Inc. (CMCCI) , is a subsidiary of DoubleDragon Properties Corp. (DD), and will serve as the umbrella company for all CityMall community mall projects in the country. CMCCI is 66% owned by DD and 34% owned by SM Investments Corp. (SMIC)  An invitation got us inside the mall in the morning and had out first City Mall experience. With around 3 more City Malls coming up for Iloilo , this was the city's baptism to the culture the "Everyday Mall" of the future. Basically, all CityMalls have the same theme, color and look, making...