Articles today. Reat at 🍜 tribune.net.ph/2026/04/12/ilo… 🍜 tribune.net.ph/2026/04/12/gat…

Love trying new drinks from lesser known fruits. This is batuan juice from new restaurant Punot. The sour batuan is usually used in cooking, for dishes such as kansi and KBL. As juice, why not?

What we ate at Punot, a restaurant said to offer the "Flavors of Modern Iloilo." It is located at the Boardwalk just along the Iloilo River. We had the first of our many kadyos, baboy kag langka diahes for this trip, aside from batuan juice, pansit Molo, crispy pata, and adobo.

Articles today. Note: The title was orginally "...at Mestizo" which is a play on hybrid and Mestizo. Anyway, read at: 🍩 tribune.net.ph/2026/04/13/sab… 🍩 tribune.net.ph/2026/04/13/hyb…

Inasal nga manok (char-grilled chicked basted with lemongrass and annatto infused oil) from Azalan at the newly SM-refurbished Iloilo Central Public Market.

Kadyos (pigeon peas) just popped out of the pods.

A plate of Ilonggo kalkag, sun-dried shrimp, lightly salted or unsalted. Kalkag is lightly pan-roasted or fried and sprinkled over rice, salads, soups and different kinds of dishes. We had a pomelo salad sprinkled with kalkag at Punot.

Iloilo City-based ice cream brand Happy Endings Creamery and Food Lab is delighting foodies and dessert lovers with its inventive lineup inspired by Ilonggo cuisine—batwan cheesecake, baye-baye, and KBL— kadyos, buko, and langka.

I came for the story.

My fourth KBL for this trip. This one in ice cream form. No, it is not kadyos, baboy, kag langka, but crisp kadyos (pigeon peas), buko (young coconut, coconut cream actually), and ripe langka (jackfruit).

Dried fishes at the newly-refurbished Iloilo City Central public Market.

Ginamos galore at an Iloilo public market. The fermented shrimp paste is a kind drier than made in several parts of Luzon.

The Reflecting Pool and Dancing Fountain at the Pangasinan Capitol Complex in Lingayen is nearing completion, set to transform the Baywalk Area into a vibrant public space for both locals and visitors. This is part of a broader redevelopment plan.

Revisiting the Philippine Museum of Philippine Economic History (managed by the NHCP) housed in the Ynchausti y Compania building. It is one of around 10 museums in Iloilo City, which perhaps has the most museums outside Manila.

4 of 6 KBL (kadyos, baboy kag langka/pigeon peas, pork and jackfruit) for this trip. This version had flavors enriched by tanglad (lemongrass), leaves of the native libas (hog plum) and katumbal laba ("long chili"), aside from the batuan. It also had young leaves of kamote.

Revisiting the batchoyan row at the newly refurbished La Paz Public Market, which includes the three most known batchoyans -- Deco's, Netong's and Ted's -- all considered pioneers in making batchoy.

Third-generation owner of Netong's Original Special La Paz Batchoy restaurant, John Patrick Guillergan, personally assemble a batchoy for us. Ingredients of the broth is trade secret.

Feasting on batchoy with puto Manapla at Netong's in La Paz Market. Still the best Filipino noodle soup for me.

MADGE CAFE  AT LA PAZ MARKET The beloved Madge Cafe once again opens its doors at its original home in the La Paz Public Market, Iloilo City. The dining icon is famous for its traditional way of brewing coffee—through a cloth-filter drip, or the “sock” method.

I hope to see the day when a library is an attraction, as well as a destination for both locals and visitors, in a Philippine town or city.