Related Iloilo City Favorites Tips

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Favorite thing: Iloilo City and Province is not only famous for it's Batchoy soup but also due to it's Barquillos. The Barquillos is of spanish origin but was localized in th philippines since filipinos stuff the hollow inside of it with assorted fillings like polvoron or fruit jams and are now available in many flavors like Ube or Pandan. They are available everywhere and thy cost 45 pesos for a small pack and goes up to 100 pesos depending on the flavor and the kind of filling inside.

according to wikipedia:

Barquillos are thin rolled cookies of Spanish origin. In the Philippines, Iloilo is particularly known for its barquillos. They are made by pouring a thin batter is onto a wafer iron (barquillera). Once the wafer is cooked to a light brown it is immediately rolled while still hot. It becomes a crisp rolled cookie when it cools. Barquillos are now avilable in local flavors like ube and pandan. Sometimes they are filled with polvoron powder to make a sweet called barqueron.

Fondest memory: the assorted kinds of Barquillos you can order in Iloilo

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Favorite thing: One must never leave Iloilo City without trying the famous noodle dish of Iloilo, The Batchoy. You can find them practically everywhere here in Iloilo City, among upscale restaurants and hotels, hole in the wall eateries and at the public market and at the La Paz District (where it was born). Batchoy is made from a beef soup stock with miki noodles and filled with nuggets of ingredients like pork organs (liver, spleen, kidneys and heart) crushed pork cracklings, beef loin, shrimp and garnishings. Two of the most popular Batchoy Restaurants are Deco's and Ted's, which has several branches along the city, which both claim as the originators of the Batchoy.

according to Wikipedia:

Origin

Batchoy's true origin is inconclusive. Documented accounts include the following:

The dish was concocted in the La Paz market in 1938 by Federico Guillergan, Sr.[2] His recipe called for a mixture of broth, noodles, beef and pork. The soup later evolved into its present form which has become Iloilo City's most popular dish. Federico Guillergan, Jr., the son of the soup's inventor, states that his father at first jokingly called the dish "bats" when asked for its name. Later, he added "choy", from the vegetable dish chop suey.[3]

Teodorico Lepura opened his first batchoy shop at the La Paz public market in 1945. Run by Lepura, his wife and their children, the shop sold the original La Paz batchoy at that time priced at 20 centavos per bowl. In the 1930s, as a teenager, Lepura learned the basics of making La Paz batchoy while working for a Chinese merchant, and eventually concocted his own version of the dish.[1]

Other sources state that the dish originated from the Chinese community in La Paz.[1][4]

Fondest memory: batchoy can be ordered regular or special (special means more servings of the nuggets of pork innards, beef, shrimp, etc) and small to extra large bowls and costs from 40 pesos to 80 pesos a soup bowl, depending on the size of the order.

Favorite thing: Last November (2010), I stayed for a few days in Urban Inn, very close to La Paz market. I took a jeepney along the coast to Miagao for the church, and then several more back to town stopping off at each of the churches; they are, but only my opinion, all very well worth visiting. JM Basa street is great, again just my opinion, for the architecture. I am told that car hire is a possibility, (but I'll explore that point later as I hope to revisit Iloilo for the Dinagyang festival in January, and would use a car to venture further afield). Nice modern airport as well

Fondest memory: The photogenic churches

Favorite thing: one depressing sight here is the shanty towns. Barely held together shacks that often have no water or electricity and house entire families. Don't feel TOO bad, though as these people are very happy, hard working citizens and are always willing to help out their fellow man.

Favorite thing: locals here often aspire to leave the country for a better life. It is getting harder for Filipinos to get to the US but apparently, it is much easier to get to Canada. There are ads everywhere promising a quick and easy entry into Canada.

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Favorite thing: Iloilo is a top member of the festival islands celebrating their unique festivals during the month of January. Dinagyang is celebrated every last weekend of January.

It is fascinating to watch the parade of costumes, the energetic tribal dances, happy smiles, the colorful floats and the heart-pounding makeshift drums.

Favorite thing: Here's a QUICK&EASY GUIDE map to almost EVERYTHING in the city
Hope you'll find it useful
Juts copy and paste in in the address window

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/whyte/ILOILO/city_properLATEST.jpg