Back from Iloilo...

Alright, where to begin.

Saturday night, I was at the office until 11PM because I wanted to finish whatever I can finish, given that I would be gone for two days. I got home by midnight, but since I haevn't packed my stuff yet, I spent another hour preparing my baggage. I managed to sleep for about thirty minutes.

By 3AM, I was off to the airport for the 5AM flight to Iloilo. I decided it would be best to take the earliest flight just so we can have a good head start. On board the plane, I was so sleepy and I thought it was really early for small talk so when the lady beside me and her Japanese husband asked me if I was from Iloilo, I just said no and then faced the window to get more sleep. Eeep! Poor lady. I didn't mean to be rude to her. It's just that I only had 30 minutes of sleep and I had no idea how long the day would go. I was so sleepy that I didn't even bother to give the cute flight attendant a good look. Hehehe!

We arrived at Iloilo by 6:30 and then headed to Grand Dame Hotel. It's a good hotel, and I think it's one of the newer hotels in the city. I loved my room. I loved that the entire building is an Internet hotspot. I loved the bakery/cafe next to the hotel entrance. Hahaha! Plus, the front desk officer was very nice.

Anyway,after settling in, we headed off to Barangay Sooc in the Arevalo district to do our work. In the morning, Reena, Manny and I handled the interview with the kids and their photo shoot. By lunch time, NN and I had to go back to the city to meet with some program partners, plus the mayor and his wife.

Monday, it was pretty much the same. We went back to the barangay to spend more time with the kids and watch them as they create shapes and figures out of a mound of red clay.

By Tuesday, we were done with our work. Our flight back to Manila wasn't til 5PM. We thought we'd have some time for R&R, but we had to check emails, make a million phone calls, and do a summary of what we've accomplished.

Well, we did manage to have some leisurely activities - eating out, visiting some landmarks - but I'm reserving that for another entry.

It was my first time in Iloilo, and although it was because of work, I'm still very much happy because I met a lot of people and I got to see some beautiful sites.

Check out the photo above. Even as I board the plane, I am reminded of work. Hahaha!