Okay, I know this blog is long overdue but you can't blame me, I was greatly disappointed.
When Evil Twin Sister booked our trip to Iloilo, I was rather ambivalent because much as I love exploring with my bosom buddy, I heard from a couple of people that there's not much to see in that province. So when she eventually told me that we were also going to Guimaras, which at that time I thought was just another tiny island (my geography is bad, and I wasn't inspired to Google), my pea brain screamed double whammy! Worse, it also meant going back to the gym to be beach-ready.
The only consolation was when I learned that Guimaras is the home of the sweetest mangoes in the world, so they claim.
Upon arriving at the dock to board a boat to Guimaras from Iloilo, I was already becoming hopeful that it was going to be another fun adventure with ETS because of the good vibe I got from Iloilo although we hadn't spent any more than an hour in the area. ETS decided that it is best to see Guimaras first then spend the rest of the vacation in Iloilo, which turned out to be the best thing to do.
We reached Guimaras after a short boat ride and hopped on a jeep to Reyman Beach Resort in Alubihod, Nueva Valencia. The mere name speaks of budget accommodation (choosy pa talaga ako, hahaha!) but ETS assured me that reviews about the resort were high. In all fairness, the resort, though very basic, have the most helpful staff.
The excitement however continued to wane as we stayed longer in the province. My first problem was that I hardly, if at all, saw any sign of modernization. We've passed the capital municipality and I don't remember seeing any structure taller than five floors. The second problem was that the tourist spots are bazillion kilometers from one another. The province have amazing sites alright...
but to get there was such a spoiler. Making it worse was that we opted for a tricycle to bring us around town. It was a long, bumpy and animal-unfriendly ride the entire time. We ran over two hens and almost one dog.
But the biggest letdown came from the source of inspiration to even go to Guimaras, its world-renowned mangoes.
Our first bite of the superstar was during our first lunch. We agreed to take the first bite at the same time. Complete silence came after. Another bite, mashing the tender meat so that every taste bud would have equal opportunity to hand out a verdict - major fall from expectations!
It wasn't sour at all. It was sweet but lacked the oomph! It was almost not mango.
We decided to give it another chance. We rationalized that exhaustion and the flavors overload from the lunch we ate must have distorted our tastes a bit.
So the next morning, mango was the first order of the day, no coffee, no brushing of teeth. Sadly, the poor thing was consistently disappointing.
Despite that, we decided to bring home 10 kilos each to Manila. We bought the unripe ones. Maybe they get sweet to impress importers but worse, it was either very sour or lamog if you have bad timing. As ETS put it, maybe Zambales is right after all to dispute Guimaras' claim. I myself have had Zambales mango a few years ago, and I don't remember being disappointed.
When Evil Twin Sister booked our trip to Iloilo, I was rather ambivalent because much as I love exploring with my bosom buddy, I heard from a couple of people that there's not much to see in that province. So when she eventually told me that we were also going to Guimaras, which at that time I thought was just another tiny island (my geography is bad, and I wasn't inspired to Google), my pea brain screamed double whammy! Worse, it also meant going back to the gym to be beach-ready.
The only consolation was when I learned that Guimaras is the home of the sweetest mangoes in the world, so they claim.
Upon arriving at the dock to board a boat to Guimaras from Iloilo, I was already becoming hopeful that it was going to be another fun adventure with ETS because of the good vibe I got from Iloilo although we hadn't spent any more than an hour in the area. ETS decided that it is best to see Guimaras first then spend the rest of the vacation in Iloilo, which turned out to be the best thing to do.
We reached Guimaras after a short boat ride and hopped on a jeep to Reyman Beach Resort in Alubihod, Nueva Valencia. The mere name speaks of budget accommodation (choosy pa talaga ako, hahaha!) but ETS assured me that reviews about the resort were high. In all fairness, the resort, though very basic, have the most helpful staff.
The excitement however continued to wane as we stayed longer in the province. My first problem was that I hardly, if at all, saw any sign of modernization. We've passed the capital municipality and I don't remember seeing any structure taller than five floors. The second problem was that the tourist spots are bazillion kilometers from one another. The province have amazing sites alright...
but to get there was such a spoiler. Making it worse was that we opted for a tricycle to bring us around town. It was a long, bumpy and animal-unfriendly ride the entire time. We ran over two hens and almost one dog.
But the biggest letdown came from the source of inspiration to even go to Guimaras, its world-renowned mangoes.
Our first bite of the superstar was during our first lunch. We agreed to take the first bite at the same time. Complete silence came after. Another bite, mashing the tender meat so that every taste bud would have equal opportunity to hand out a verdict - major fall from expectations!
It wasn't sour at all. It was sweet but lacked the oomph! It was almost not mango.
We decided to give it another chance. We rationalized that exhaustion and the flavors overload from the lunch we ate must have distorted our tastes a bit.
So the next morning, mango was the first order of the day, no coffee, no brushing of teeth. Sadly, the poor thing was consistently disappointing.
