When tour guides become tourists

Written by Lucille Anne Octavio 

     I have lived for seventeen years in Iloilo. I have been staying in Iloilo City for almost eight months. I have traveled in Manila, Baguio, Boracay, Butuan and many local places around my area. Basically, I have stepped across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao—I have toured the Philippines. However, despite all the places I have visited, I found myself a tourist in my own land. 

    Supposedly, I am a student guide. The study trip of Monash University here in Iloilo City put me in charge of Malaysian students who knew very little about the place. For ten days, I have been a tourist myself in my own home. And yes, I really did enjoy hosting the open house. I have learned a lot about the Philippines , especially in Iloilo City. I have come to know a lot about Malaysia. I have made lots of self-realizations. I know I have grown because of this tour. 

    The unique and amazing Gamot Cogon School has existed for almost seven years already, but I just found out about it last week. Heritage houses here in Iloilo City have stood for almost a century, but I only visited them last week. I have seen the Ati people, but never visited their community- I just did it last week. I have passed by several urban poor sites, but never stepped in there- until last week. Dinagyang has been so popular internationally through the years, but I watched it live for the first time on Sunday. 

It's More Fun With The Malaysians!

Written by Noraisa Simpal
Photographs by Melissa Chia

    I remember the first time I saw them. They were all stressed out because of the 12-hour journey they had to endure to reach Iloilo City. Because of the blog, I immediately recognized them the minute they got out of the vans when they parked outside the dorm. A lot of thoughts swarmed into my mind at that exact moment. “Will they be friendly?” “Will they be disappointed?” “Will this trip be a memorable one?” “What if something goes terribly wrong?” I was really nervous. Nonetheless, we, the student guides, rushed to meet and welcome them. “Hi, I’m Helen! And you are..?” After answering this question, all my worries immediately vanished. 

Daily Diary Day 12

Written by Esther Ho and Emily Choong
Photographs by Cultural Center of the Philippines Website, Openbuildings.com, Melissa Chia and Emily Choong

Sun, Sea, Sand and Scenes 

   Today, after enjoying a good night’s rest, we travelers woke up to a splendid surprise - complimentary breakfast at Rosa’s Garden Hotel’s restaurant! On offer were the classic big American breakfast (Toast, bacon, eggs, coffee and juice); Filipino Favorite (Longanisa, corned beef, egg, rice) and Mercedes breakfast (pancakes, butter, maple syrup, fresh fruit). Feeling indulgent, most of us opted for the big American breakfast and some of us learnt that while the restaurant prided themselves in being able to do eggs any style, poached eggs was just out of their reach. 

     Alas, breakfasts on study trips are never a fine dining experience. We were hurried out of the hotel in straggling groups on foot towards the Cultural Center of the Philippines via Manila Bay. Those who were too late would take a taxi.

Session 8: Filipino Films

Written by Lestari Hairul

Photographed by Melissa Chia and Sarah Chong

    For our final scheduled session, we visited the Cultural Centre of the Philippines (CCP) for a tour, talk and short screening of Filipino independent cinema. Our host for the day was Mr Edward Cabagnot, a writer and 27 year veteran of the arts scene who will be retiring from his position as the head of the CCP film department soon.

Mr Edward Cabagnot

     We were given a tour of the building that was built during the Marcos’ reign by decree of Imelda Marcos as the premier arts and cultural institution for the elites of Manila. The CCP is a sprawling building of modernist architecture, decorated by several paintings and sculptures produced by Filipino maestros; art installations; art exhibitions and small cultural museums.

Our Last Night in Manila, Moby Style

Written by Anis Nadia Jilid

Photographs by Melissa Chia

     Ever had that feeling when you’ve finally realized how everything is about to end in less than 24 hours? How your usual routine of waking up and looking forward to new adventures with friends can abruptly end? In this case, our 12 days of the Philippines had an impermanent turn and all that was left is absorbing in what you can. 

      A spontaneous, fast-track tour had ensued after our film session at the Cultural Center. A few of us were very delighted to have been able to follow Tracey and her relatives on a spur-of-the-moment sightseeing trip around Makati, Manila.

Living In A Gendered Environment

Written by Andrea Tee

Photograph by Andrea Tee

     This year’s "In Search Of" study trip was graciously hosted by the University of the Philippines Visayas campus. 14 girls and 4 guys (including our intrepid lecturer pathfinder) and our student guides were housed in the on-campus accommodation. 

    While the male travelers and guides were put up in Balay Illongo, the university’s unisex dorm, the ladies of the trip were housed in UPV’s Gender and Development Programme (GDP) building--a gloriously pink two-storey building at the far end of the campus.

    Constructed through the Countrywide Development Fund of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago--a 1965 alumni of UPV, the GDP building was formally opened on March 7th, 2008, marking the celebration of International Women’s Month. Built as the epicentre of gender-related events on the campus, the building houses the Gender and Development Program Office, the Balay-Balay (a child-minding centre), the Usgad Regional Resource Centre, the National Women Fisheries Network of the Philippines, the Anti-Sexual Harassment Office, a Gender-based library, a Teen centre, a Women’s Gallery and Museum, a Nook for Retired Personnel, and a mini-dormitory.

The suitably pink GDP Building.

A Conversation with a Hairdresser

Written by Helen Sneha 

*Names have been changed to protect the individuals' privacy.

     Not too long into our stay in Iloilo, we discovered a salon at SM City Mall, our favorite haunt only minutes away from the UPV campus, that would shampoo and blow dry your hair for only PHP100, half the price than the same would cost in Malaysia. Naturally, after the first two visitors from our cohort had been there and passed the word around, they were visited by a couple of our travellers from Malaysia almost every other day, as we went in twos and threes to get our hair done. One hairdresser in particular would invariably strike up a conversation with the person waiting around for their friend to finish getting their hair dried. He was inordinately friendly and remembered most of our names, even though many of us had only been there once. Following a particularly long discussion with him one day, I decided to interview him and document some of his experiences and thoughts on current issues.

Daily Diary: Day Eleven

Written by Emily Choong

Photographs by Emily Choong and Dr Yeoh Seng Guan

     4 a.m. on the 29th January 2013 was a fairly emotional morning. We had no more than two hours of sleep the previous night and some of us were pretty much drained from an epic karaoke session to wrap up our stay in Iloilo. Our amazing student guides woke up at such an odd hour just to bid us farewell, which we were all very touched by. After many hugs, teary eyes and goodbyes, we immediately left for the airport as we were running late. During the ride to the airport, I was personally constantly having flashbacks of the many events which happened during those ten days which flew by so quickly.

"5J452 is now ready for boarding."

   We were still in the midst of paying our airport taxes when that announcement came in. True enough, we were nearly late due to an unexpectedly long queue entering the airport. Despite the slight delay and rush in our schedule, we took off at sunrise.

Video Diary: Day 11

Video Diary: Day 11 from ISOiloilo on Vimeo.

Manila: Editor's Note

In the place of a daily diary, our first day in Manila has been ably chronicled by three travellers in their posts describing the morning, when we arrived in Manila to the point we wandered around Quiapo, the afternoon, which we spent on a food tour of Binondo (Manila's Chinatown), and a reflection written at the end of the day.