Guimaras and Miag-ao

Ida was still around for another 2 days following the festival so on Monday I skipped work and we went to Guimaras island. It's a separate Philippine state on a much smaller island only a 15 minute boat ride from here. Guimaras is famous for it's mangoes and is considered to have the best in the country, and since this country has the best mangoes, that makes these ones the best in the world. Unfortunately mango season isn't for another month or two.
I had not been to Guimaras before though most of the students make the trip out for an overnighter once while they are here. There isn't any good beach close to the city but Guimaras is supposed to have a few nice ones. We weren't really planning on swimming or anything which turned out to be a good decision because we were disappointed. It doesn't help that Ida is from Palawan and I've seen much better around the country too. It was a small beach taken up by a couple small resorts though there is still a nice view and the water would be clear if it hadn't been so windy. But our ride through Guimaras was nice on its jumbo-sized jeepneys and a much more rural and peaceful-looking countryside. But really, I'm just gonna have to wait for the mangoes to properly appreciate the place.
The following day we got up early and jumped in a van to Miag-ao. It's a small town about an hour away and has one of the 4 Unesco-listed heritage churches in the Philippines. The church is a Spanish-built Catholic church dating from 1787 and was built using limestone and egg. There are lots of impressive old stone Catholic churches around here so I honestly don't understand how a few made it onto Unesco's list and others did not. The interesting thing is that the stone facade depicts tropical trees (palm, papaya and guava) in addition to the local saint.
From the outside it looks rather squat but inside it was bright and airy. No central pillars but just an open church and light-coloured, undecorated walls and ceilings. We had a quick look around and then returned to Iloilo to work.
Last weekend I went to the dentist and had 2 of my wisdom teeth pulled out. It needed to be done and I'll have to do the remainders later. I can't believe how cheap it is. One tooth is less than $10. And yes, they use anaesthetic and know what they're doing. It's still painful though so I can't say I'm enjoying it.
That's all for now.
Ammon