We made the news!

On January 20, 2013- In Search of Iloilo made it into the front third and fourth pages of Panay News Philippines, the local newspaper. We made history, guys! 

Moslem Discount

Written by Dyah Ayu Nurina Malinda

Photographs by Dyah Ayu Nurina Malinda 

    Every time you look around d’mall at Boracay, you always find t-shirt sellers, and all kinds of souvenirs sellers that you can imagine. Don’t picture d’mall as a fancy mall in Kuala Lumpur or other major cities. D’mall is actually an area full of street vendors, food sellers and stalls.

    One thing that is quite amazing here is the courtesy of the Moslem discount. As a Moslem woman who wears the hijab, Moslem sellers immediately give me a good price- a discount price. The other good thing is I am able to make that good price even lower, with my witty smile and determined way of bargaining.

Daily Diary: Day One

Written by Helen Jambunathan 

Pictures by Emily Choong & Sarah Chong 

            Having left Monash University at 10 pm on Friday night, we travelers found ourselves arriving in Iloilo City after nearly 12 hours of being on the move. In between, some of us had managed to catch some shut-eye sleeping on three plane seats with the armrests up, but for the most part we were all bleary-eyed, having missed a night’s worth of sleep.

 The sun glinting off the plane wing.

Session 1: Philanthropy in Iloilo

Written & Photographed by Jonathan Lim

The quest of discovering Iloilo City begins with the conclusion of its first session, entitled Philanthropy in Iloilo. 

Professor Bruce Hall

      In addressing this topic, Professor Bruce Hall, lecturer of American History at the University of the Philippines Visayas, dove into the history of the Philippines and how pre-Hispanic structures were instrumental in shaping its society of today. Convenience stores that are attached to village homes, more commonly known as sari-sari in Tagalog, are a long-standing example of a structure that was a part of the community back then and one that still plays a big role now. Apart from being an important economic location that provides basic needs for the people, sari-sari stores also serve as a place of informal exchanges – benches set outside these stores allow the people to socialize and forge friendships. Sari-sari stores remain an important backbone of the grassroots economy and the Philippines culture. Professor Hall then explained the bayanihan tradition, which described any communal act of helping families within the community, such as move their homes by literally carrying houses, building barns communally and how that helped to foster solidarity within communities.

It's more fun in the Philippines!

Our student guides are back! And well, this time we'll let them do the talking...

Alumni Travellers

This year, we are proud to include Monash SASS alumni as contributors on our blog. Go check our their profiles under the 'Alumni' tab, and be sure to read their unique perspective on our study trip!

The Monash-UPV Film Festival

We are proud to present the Monash-UPV Film Festival, featuring

"Majidee"
Azharr Rudin
15 Minutes
A tale of trust between two strangers. 

"South of South"

Tan Chui Mui

10 Minutes

Chinese diasporas and how centuries of war and famine has made eating a ritual.

"Checkpoint"

Amir Muhammad

7 Minutes

The perils of cheap travelling post 9/11. 

"I AM"

Sheril A. Bustaman

30 Minutes

The search for her birth parents leads Amirah Mei Ling Muhammad Lee to finding more than she bargained for.

"Cassandra"

Lestari Hairul

10 Minutes

The dreary existence of a lonely librarian is changed forever when she meets a stranger online on ChatRoulette.

We hope to see you there!

Apa khabar?

A very warm hello, nice to meet you, good to see you and a thousand other words of excited welcome and thanks to our student guides! 'Apa khabar?' in Malay means 'How are you?'. We're all totally excited to meet and travel with you!

Don't forget to check out their profiles on the tab up there!

See you guys soon!

Mabuhay!

Here we are- we can't wait to fill up this blog with new memories and friends! 

Travellers Assemble!

Trip planning in progress. Note team members present on Skype....

In 2013, 16 students from the School of Arts & Social Sciences along with our pathfinder and chaperone will embark on a journey to discover Iloilo, a city on the island of Panay in the Philippines. We hope to reach a better understanding of the culture, history and daily issues that affect the people of Iloilo and Manila during the second leg of our journey.

Join us on our journey to discover Iloilo!