Touchdown Iloilo: Dinagyang Festival 2011 and Couch Surfing for the First Time spending P300 or less per day.

Going to Iloilo’s Dinagyang Festival isn’t part of my plan this January but because my feet suddenly itched, I decided to book a flight before the ticket price goes up.

Before going there, I promised myself to only spend P1,000 or less in our 3-day and 2-night trip to Iloilo. The P1,000 already includes the terminal fee back and forth for P400, so I only got P600 left for the whole 3 days making it P200 per day. How did I survive?

Hostel? Motel? No no. Because if I did, how much money will be left in my pocket? Being an adaphobic.com reader, you know that I am a newbie traveler trying to explore more of what the world has to offer, until Marky introduced me to couch surfing. Marky is a good friend of mine who told me that we already have a place to stay in Iloilo, that friend of him will let us sleep at their house, they call them host. AND I couch surfed for the first time.

I arrived in Iloilo evening. I had the chance to meet with our host Joanne, and the other two travelers (a couple) Alina and Yani. We had dinner at Talabahan, a restaurant just opposite of Smallville. OH! Here in Talabahan has the best baked oysters I’ve ever tasted for only P70 per plate! We’ve ordered 3 plates which were baked, spicy, and the regular one. I consumed almost the whole plate of baked oysters LOL! Continue reading »