In every place we travel, buying souvenirs is one of our habits aside from food delicacies. It could be a house décor, accessories, clothes, ref magnets, or even keychains. I am not sure about keychains if it is only here in our country, but it was the top souvenirs bought. Maybe because it was easier to carry, less hustle, and cheaper.
Speaking of, sister and I found this shop in Iloilo when we are looking for something to buy for her friends when she goes back in Singapore.
It was located in Robinson's Mall Iloilo. It sells a lot of souvenir items and even shirts. What attracted us were the t-shirts. What they are selling is focused on the town and nearby provinces like Cebu and Bacolod. A couple shirts were even available, but when I checked my phone seemed I hadn't took pictures.
You can choose different designs, and the price range from $2.57 up to $9. The size of the shirts also matters. Bigger the sizes, was expensive compare to extra small . Haha, that was my size back in my college days.
In the last photo, I am holding the T-shirts so my sister can take better pictures to be sent to her friend, who is asking her to buy one. She was trying to choose from several designs sent to her.
As for us, we both but the shirt printed "Cebu" but the color black as it was cheaper. It only cost $4.
As for my sister's friend, she finds it hard to figure out what size to buy. In the end, I told them it would be much better if the size was bigger for her rather than smaller. She can do some alterations for an excellent fitting, though.
And just like what I had mentioned a while a go, keychains are always present alonng with some cute ref magnets this time for only $2. It was uniquely designed that represent the town.
You may zoom in to see designs better; the one headdress represents Dinagyang. That is the festival being celebrated in Iloilo every third week of January. On the fourth Sunday, to be exact. This is to honor Senior Sto. Nino ( the child image of Jesus).
The celebration lasted a day, and different tribes joined the street dancing contest. If you are curious, click the link here from Youtube.
After my sister settled her purchases at the cashier, we left the store as we were planning to eat one of the famous Ilonggo dishes here; Batchoy.
What is Batchoy?
It is usually pronounced as Batsoy in our dialect. A kind of noodle soup Bihon or mickey pancit added some pork liver or organs, beef loins, chicharrones, etc. It originated in one district, Lapaz.
This is where you can taste authentic, but we settled in one of the famous food houses Decos inside the mall since it was far from it.
Apology for the photobombers; I tried my best, but many people were passing by since it was inside the mall.
As we stepped inside, they were only a few customers dining, perhaps because it was past lunchtime already.
I can already smell the delicious aroma, so I excitedly go to the counter to place my order.
As I looked at the menu couldn't help but notice how inflation and this pandemic affect the prices.
If my memory is correct, per serving only costs more than $1 but doesn't reach $2. Yet now it ranges from $2 up. Was I getting forgetful? Or they had a marked up due to the sudden high cost of all ingredients?
I ordered two serves of special batchoy paired with rice cake (puto). I also missed eating the latter mentioned as commonly sold in the city is made of flour. Unlike here, it was ground glutinous rice.
Speaking of it, it now cost P10 or $0.17 each. Quite pricey as it seems good only for one bite, lol.
See how small these puto? Well it was was delicious though and these three pieces was not enough for me.
Hello Hivers! Thanks God it's Friday and long weekend here in Philippines. I don't have work starting tomorrow, October 29 which is my birthday (glad as I was saved from my officemates that asking for a treat, lol) until on November 1.
That means I will be having more time to engage here in community.
Thus, I don't want this day to end without writing here in #MarketFriday and thank you 