After an energetic run or meditative walk along the scenic 9-kilometer Iloilo River Esplanade and soaking in the heady scent of lush flowering trees and foliage along the way, one would crave for cool drinks, light snacks or an uplifting cup of coffee while watching the river sparkle with life. Walking around the Esplanade is especially inviting in the early morning and late afternoon when the southern sun sets the river ablaze with muted iridescence or playful pastel colors.
As the pandemic is easing down (or up!), the Esplanade is once again open to the public and cafes are sprouting up as people spend more time outdoors to reconnect with self and friends. Iloilo City has had a cafe renaissance of sorts with coffee kiosks or hole-in the wall coffee beaneries setting shop in the most strategic and loveliest of places.
At the entrance of Esplanade 2 (adjacent to Emmanuel Business Center, Benigno Aquino Highway), Café Augusto, an eclectic style cafe serving yummy brunch has recently opened to cater to joggers and runners looking for a sweet spot to unwind. Traditional Ilonggo pastries and heritage dishes are served with your favorite cup of brew. Of course, there are also takeaway goodies to bring home baked by Panaderia de Molo and Yvonne's Cakeworks that are distinctively charming and memorable to the tastebuds, just like the City of Love. For the cosmopolitan inspired, there are fresh croissants and scones to go with your brew.
Drop by the river and Café Augusto can just be the reason for you to come back again and again.
Café Augusto
Esplanade 2, Benigno Aquino Highway, Iloilo City
Shop hours: 6 am-9 pm daily
Next to the Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Art (ILOMOCA) is the Philippines' first Brandy Museum dedicated to showcasing the rich history and tradition in Spanish brandy making that dates back to 711 AD. Stepping inside the museum will give you a glimpse albeit in a nutshell of how brandy is distilled from wine or fermented fruit mash. The elegantly designed museum showcases vintage and antique wine making tools, interactive displays and samples of Spanish brandy from all over the globe.
If you're a brandy connoisseur, the museum is the place for you to partake of exclusively held brandy appreciation classes and even enjoy coffee brandy infused drinks and pastries like cupcakes and macarons from the Brandy Museum Cafe.
I took home a bottle of Emperador Coffee Brandy which retails at P149. I don't drink but I'm sure it will come handy for coffee inspired baked goods and yes cocktails. Now let me fetch the recipes!
Festive Walk Mall, Iloilo Business Park
Mandurriao, Iloilo City
Opens 10 am to 9 pm daily
Local weekend markets are great places to scour for unique handmade items and artisanal finds. Small batch production and commitment to creating innovative products with as much handmade flair are what makes weekend markets very popular with discriminating Ilonggo shoppers.
The Tahum Weekend Market held last June 4, 2022 at the right wing of Festive Mall in Iloilo Business Park provided an easy like Saturday morning vibe to shoppers in the popular shopping strip. From quirky embroidered espadrilles to statement jewelry, there was something for everyone--the Titas of Iloilo and even the millennial crowd.
These are the items that caught my eye!
Thread, fabric and beads meld together to create tapestries of stories culled from personal experiences of hope and redemption. Dubbed Super Inday: Stitches and Stories Behind Bars, the art installation and exhibition features thick swathes of tapestry collage held together by a bold thematic crimson hue and intermingled with stitched objects fashioned in bright colors and meticulous patterns.
One of the striking features of this exhibition are the soft fabric sculptures that express a gentle ambiguity of the female silhouette, some anatomically incorrect. At closer look, the oversized dolls (that how lovingly I refer to them) seem to represent a state of consciousness that transcends the cold metal bars of a penitentiary. The mind and emotions cannot be chained and hence seek expression in handmade fabric avatars that represent unboundedness. This is when stories and emotions come to play and soft sculptures or art dolls as they are called are elevated to an almost spiritual, ethereal significance. To the untrained eye, the art dolls resemble Caribbean inspired shamanic voodoo dolls but to those who seek the story behind the fabric, the dolls are little alter egos created in whimsical, folklore inspired form. To create is to seek freedom, healing, and resilience both for self and others.
The women prisoners who are behind this inspiring art installation and exhibition to some degree have achieved a defining sense of self and empowerment and fabric is the avenue they choose to express their desire for liberation. Art sets one's spirit free.
Discover the stories behind the fabric. Get inspired by your inner Super Inday at the Hulot Gallery of Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Art.
Hulot Gallery at Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Art
Casa de Emperador, Iloilo Business Park
Mandurriao, Iloilo City
Gallery hours: Tuesdays to Sundays, 10 am to 5 pm
Some of the coziest cafes can be found just in your neigborhood! For people living in Jaro and Tacas area, this modern rustic cafe located near the entrance of Alta Tierra Village can just be the perfect place if you're looking for some sweet coffee escape. Books and coffee style vignettes adorn dark wooden shelves and if you are Team Kahoy just like me, Barber's Ground Coffee is just idyllic. A lovely place that serves good, no-nonsense coffee, check out their latte range (the butterscotch!) and their wholesome Pinoy breakfast/brunch sets that are hearty and totally friendly on the pocket. For Happy Hour you might want to check out their craft beers- vanilla and caramel beer infused with fruity flavors like lychee and peach.
Barber's Ground Coffee is uncrowded on Sunday mornings, just the perfect place to have breakfast after morning mass or maybe after a haircut at your friendly neighborhood barbero. Do check out the shelves for coffee inspired mementos and souvenirs. They also offer takeaway coffee and grub via Grab Food.
Barber's Ground Coffee
Entrance of Alta Tierra Village, Jaro, Iloilo City
Shop hours: 8 am- 8 pm
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