Iloilo is a lovely place.

I first visited in August 2018, with my colleagues from Unilab Foundation. We were there for a youth conference, and we took an extra day to see a few sights, have some of the lovely local food, and relax a little before heading back home.

So when I found out I would be visiting Iloilo again this year, I was quite excited for all the great eats! Happy to say I was not disappointed!

I was quite happy to revisit the batchoy and the glorious seafood. And I was happy to discover new places, like Buto’t Balat in Festive Walk.

Of course, batchoy is required when you’re in Iloilo.

Our colleague Ji, who is an Iloilo local, brought us to Tatoy’s for seafood! OMG that garlic butter shrimp is amazing, and I have no shame in saying I ate most of it. I was also pleasantly surprised by the lechon manok, which was tender and moist and tasty!

And there were other lovely surprises, like Ribshack’s kebabs (below, left) and chicken, Book Latte’s shrimp bisque (below, center), and Bread Basket’s eggs benedict (below, right).

We had a busy week, but we managed to see a few lovely places while we were there. It was lovely to see ILOMOCA again, even if I didn’t get to see its exhibits this time.

I was happy to see Molo Mansion and Molo Church again, and Festive Walk too.

But I was also happy to reconnect with some lovely people. I forgot to take a picture of Ted, whom I first met in person back in 2018. I was so happy to see him again. There was also Jen; she and I were both in ULF back in 2018. And a lovely surprise: Brenda, who lives in Bacolod but happened to be in town with her parents that weekend!

And one of the best things was reconnecting with people I had only seen online, or met in person only briefly in the past, and meeting other MSFers for the first time. It was amazing to hear their stories and adventures, to share my own experiences, to hug people I had mostly seen through Teams. It was lovely to work side by side with colleagues instead of through webcams and screens, to figure things out together instead of remotely.

One of the nicest things about this trip was meeting young people, medical professionals and students, who had heard about us and our work, and dreamed of one day joining us. It was an exhausting trip, but I feel better knowing that there are others out there who feel this same compelling passion to serve.

I think I will always be happy to visit Iloilo. Maybe next time for an actual vacation, instead of yet another work trip?