THE MONTH of August has given us many opportunities to enjoy eating out in restaurants because we have two consecutive visits from relatives from out of town.
First, we have our daughter in Manila who came home to celebrate her birthday with us on the 8th of this month. It coincided also with the arrival of our architect son who was on home leave from his job in Singapore.
Before going home to Silay City to his family he dropped by Iloilo because he took the Iloilo-Singapore air route. So we were a four-some with a younger son who is with us here in Iloilo.
We discovered a good restaurant specializing in Chinese cuisine at Smallville. It served authentic Chinese menus.
As soon as our daughter returned home to Manila, our niece who lives in Germany arrived. Married to a German physical therapist who runs a thriving clinic in their hometown in Germany, you will be surprised that they fell in love with Iloilo and it is here where they have decided to establish a retirement home and in fact they are now starting to construct it.
They have two children now, both grown up and live on their own even if they are still single. That is the custom they have there, similar also to the US.
Our niece from Germany stayed with us for a couple of days but later moved to a local hotel on M.H. del Pilar Street, Molo where she said she could conveniently meet old friends and classmates.
Thrice she invited us to have breakfast at the hotel and we were happy it was an opportunity to meet old friends like Fonso Tan who runs the place that offers buffet breakfast every day until noon, if you desire.
We were happy also to meet there Lando Layson who we always call Iloilo’s “river czar” for continuing to take care of our Iloilo River on his own initiative by keeping an office under the bridge in Molo.
Former Department of Trade and Industry regional director Dominic Abad was also there and we were told that they were regular breakfast habitués of the hotel.
It is a good opportunity when some relatives or friends come to visit because it is a chance for us to dress up and discover new eateries in this expanding City of Love.
Aside from Tatoy’s which is a regular eat-out destination for Ilonggo native food, we discovered last week new gastronomic destinations like that restaurant along Muelle Loney in Barangay Lapuz, La Paz district where we met Iloilo City’s Hon. Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon with two visiting Malaysian officials as dinner guests.
We met also a long-time acquaintance of ours, Miss Maravilla, who was at a table next to us. More tables outside were lined up along the river bank. A very romantic place especially under the moonlight.
On a lunch out last week we also discovered a newly-opened restaurant at the ground floor of a new building near the Gaisano Shopping Complex on Diversion Road or Benigno Aquino Avenue. It served delicious Ilonggo food.
It was newly opened and it was good that we were there a little earlier because by 12 noon all the tables were taken mostly by senior citizen diners. How did they learn of the new restaurant? What a discovery even for us because the food they served were non-fatty and fit for old folks.
All the seats were taken in by lunch time and we noted three family groups that were not able to come in because there was no more table space.
Our Sunday luncheon after hearing mass at Molo Church was, of course, at the well-known Tatoy’s Manokan at Villa Beach. At noon time all the tables were filled, mostly by families with children.
We think that Iloilo has “arrived.” Gone were the days when we were “kuriput” by going home even if caught at lunch time near a restaurant.
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IDIOMS FOR THE ENLIGHTENED MIND
“Back to square one” – having to start all over again (For comments or re-actions, please e-mail to jnoveracompany@yahoo.com/PN)
