I’m back home! Flight back home was delayed twice!
Our trip to Boracay was changed at the last minute to Guimaras for various reasons (as explained later). Nonetheless, I’ve enjoyed my stay in both Iloilo City and Guimaras.
“Iloilo pictures”
In the Beginning…
The trip from Manila to Iloilo was exciting for the other BP members since most of the group had open-return tickets (I forget the proper term for that) and could be bumped-off anytime. Thankfully murphy decided to not apply his notorious law on the group, and everyone was able to arrive safely and on time.
First Line of Defense
The first contingent (about 10 of us – the whole group was about 20) arrived in Iloilo friday morning: Jampao, Ayee, Paola, Lui, Jowi, Oliver, Sheerin, Reggie, Pia, and myself. The rest were arriving the next day.
We were the front-line-members for any activity scheduled that friday afternoon [since we had no choice]. This translated to a fellowship lunch, radio tour, and mall show in the evening.
We had lunch in an Inasal restaurant, where we ate Chicken Inasal of course! And so began the wonderful world of Native Iloilo cooking.
The radio tour was fun since the group was further divided into 2, so we could cover more stations faster. I was with Jowi, Jampao, and Sheerin… the rest were in the other group. Can I just say: though the other group outnumbered us by members (4:6), we actually did better! Kudos to us!
The mall show was really fun! I was able to start my photgraphy frenzy on the other choirs. The mall show started as a competition of choirs wherein we were invited as judges, but since the goal of the event was to foster camaraderie between the Iloilo liturgical choirs, they scrapped competition idea, and had everyone sing for a common goal. We were the the last performance (to close the event) and we were well received.
The show ended with the group eating in Pizza Hut and a few photo ops with the Pizza Hut staff (who apparently, were fans of the group). We then went to our respective foster homes that night. Little did I know, that the family Reggie and I were assigned to, had more food prepared. With Inihaw na Baboy, Tinola and Bangus, the wonderful world of native Iloilo dishes continued!
The Day of Reckoning
The next day (Saturday), the group of 10 were transferred to the hotel, along with the rest of the BP members who had finally arrived.
We then proceeded to the soundcheck, blocking/practice for the afternoon show. It was heald in the West Visayas State University Cultural Center, and it sure brought back memories of the first time we’ve performed there, with Miriam Quiambao.
Both Matinee and Gala performances were very well received, though there were totally different audiences for each. The audience of the afternoon show were mostly students. We had to change the spiels to cater to the “younger” generation, but retained most for the Gala performance. Either way, I dare say that it was a hit. Great marketing on the part of the producers (Lingkod ng Panginoon) as they got really bigatin sponsors, and packed the house on both performances.
Also, the sound system was one of the best we’ve experienced… Easily rivals the better venues we’ve experienced in the USA. Indeed Filipino dedication to quality was very much alive in Iloilo.
We Love Iloilo
Everybody who’s been to the last Iloilo performance would easily remember the food. And after the concert, this fact rang true – as we ate our hearts out – helping ourselves with “on the spot” calamares and fish balls (they cook it in front of you) Pancit Molo, Kinilaw, etc. etc. Returning to the hotel with satisfied tummies was a severe understatement!
Workshop