A beautiful heritage house in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. It serves as a restaurant, cafe,…read moreand shop. A little bit of history and museum are to be found within the house as well. The highlight of the house is spending the morning or afternoon with cacao tablea espresso. Thick, bold chocolate drink. To enjoy this delicious drink, take it slowly while immersing in the splendor of the beautiful house like you would sip tea in a manor house in the English countryside!

Lola Rufina's Camina Balay na Bato is a Heritage Curio Shop. Awarded the Certificate of Excellence…read moreby TripAdvisor for 2017. The house has a lot of history, a great story behind the owner, their family and vast property before the Japanese Occupation in the Philippines. Everyday there is a walk in tour. For php 150, they let you watch a video. After that, someone will assist you to look around the house. Upstairs, they have the restaurant that serves merienda (snacks) which is their signature cacao drink and bread. For a group of 10, they can arrange a lunch buffet. Per person is php 500. Book 1-3 days in advance. At the ground flour, it serves as a souvenir shop. Selling local pearls, scarves, cacao, sinamak (local dressing), wood carvings and leather souvenir items. Bring cash to pay for your purchase.

I've been to Boracay more times than I can count. Caticlan has always just been the jetty port to…read morego to Boracay to me. I never thought of going anywhere in that area. Well 2 years a go I was searching for things to do when I spent 1 month in the Philippines and added this to my list. I haven't had time to go to Motag Living Museum until this year. This visit to Motag Living Museum was the perfect way to end my trip in the province. My trips always seem routine so it's nice to do something different during each trip to the Philippines. The museum focuses on life in the province back in the day. Basically everything my mom and her siblings experienced growing up in the province. I was showing my mom and one of her siblings some of my photos and they were like "now you know." It's hard work and not fun for a child. Pretty cool experience to pick rice. I didn't really want to step in the muddy water to plant rice. Riding a carabao was really cool. Everything about the museum was awesome. It's the simple things in life that we forget about and should be reminded of. I prefer coming here over Boracay. Take a few hours out of your day before going to a touristy island and learn some history of the Philippines. Very close tricycle ride from the jetty port so it's easy to find.

Before submerging yourself and your family in the blue waters of Boracay or any of the nearby…read moreresorts, consider spending a quiet afternoon at Motag Living Museum, an interactive living diorama of life in the Philippines before electricity. The tour starts with an overview of the simpler life - no electricity, a farm dependent on water from the nearby river, verdant rice paddies, and no indoor plumbing. People draw water from the community well using bamboo poles, store them in earthen jars for future use, and bathe in 4x4 sq. ft. outhouses using coconut for shampoo and the leaves of the Maria-Maria plant as soap. The outhouse is a slightly larger and covered hut with a hole in the ground. After finishing one's business, one throws ash into the hole to stem the smell. Instead of toilet paper, one uses what's most commonly available - in this case, coconut husks that have been shredded into a spongy pulp. The tour continues in the house where one gets a glimpse into home life and house construction. The house itself is made completely of plant material - nice, coconut, bamboo and rattan rope for lashing. Cooking and drinking implements are made of either bamboo and coconut shells or clay. Since living quarters are small, and work is plentiful, life here is decidedly communal. A walk into the rice field brings us face to face with the water buffalo, or carabao. The more adventurous of us get to ride said carabao around the paddy while those looking for a less jaunty ride can sit in the sled behind This beast of burden. Next we learn about rice - planting it, harvesting it, threshing it, husking it, and cooking it. Since the paddies were dry when we were there, we only got a change to harvest using a small hand-held blade. Then we went to the threshing triangle, an elevated platform made of bamboo where rice stalks are threshed by foot. Once the grains have been separated, they are pounded using long wooden poles and pounding blocks, then the husk separated from the rice grain by hand. We were served some suman and lemongrass and ginger tea for our "work". We learned about the coconut - from the young coconut juice, to the coconut meat of an old coconut, the manufacture of copra and the extraction of coconut cooking oil. The tour ends again at the "gift shop"/hut where a group of what seemed like 25 men, women and children taught us how to weave various handicrafts and toys, and sang us a native goodbye song. The tour itself is about two hours long but what you get from this tour is a peek of the Philippine farm life - simpler, quieter, and certainly under threat from the very real modernization and tourism just a mile away.

Boy, talk about wrong timing! We came through only to find out it's closed for restoration and…read morerenovations! But the backstory to this place: it is the very first known museum established in Negros Occidental. This structure was built by Victor Gaston after his wife died to house him and his dozen children. It had its hey days but it became unused and actually fell in disrepair in the 70's. However, an heir decided to donate the historical structure to the Tourism Authority in provision it is restored. It now houses many artifacts that help give an idea how it was living in the 19th century. There will be future visits to Bacolod (I've got fam her!) so here's hoping it'll be fully restored and open by the time that next time comes around!

Great food and ambiance! Free wifi, no minimum amount needed to avail the internet connection…read more It was my first time to visit the cafe. Who better to ask about the house specialty, but the owner herself, Aradelle . Suggested the fried and rolled lasagna...yes! Very interesting way of serving...delicious! Finished the whole plate! Also had the cafe latte. It's ok. I like my drink to be super sweet! It's kind of pricy for the pasta lasagna but its worth every cent. Overflowing meat sauce and melted cheese. Surprised to bite bacon, rolled in the pasta They also serve all day breakfast, cakes and sandwiches. The location is inside a building complex. Got lost the first time. Interior is inspired by nature and for beach lovers. Dine in a surf board‍ Haven't tried the cakes or homemade ice cream. I'm pretty sure to come back!

Nice local café, that has almost every flavor/style of coffee you can ask for!…read more Young and old seem to enjoy this place, with its combination of traditional and eclectic decor! Their food is yummy and locally made, which made for the perfect mother/daughter coffee date!

We came here to try the very local Media Puro (strong black coffee), and added some Muscovado sugar…read more(tasted and smelled like molasses) to sweeten this incredibly bold and intense coffee. We were later told that they prepare it by boiling the grounds for a long time. Unfortunately, the high acidity and caffeine turned out stomachs and we suffered the rest of the day. We had some Suman, which had tender sticky glutinous rice and a grated coconut topping with unrefined sugar syrup. It was delicious. The Puto was spongy, slightly tangy and fragrant. It would have been perfect with Dinuguan (pork blood stew) which I eyed greedily as someone at a table beside us had ordered it and seemed to be enjoying himself. I had ordered Tapsilog as well, but our server said it was not available but highly recommended the Corn(ed beef) silog, which turned out to be exceptional. The egg was perfectly fried with toasted edges and a slightly runny yolk. Rice had perfect grain texture and slightly slick with garlic oil. And the corned beef was velvety without having any oil runoff! Yes, the vibe is uber local, and old timers adore it here. Come for an authentic experience.

Place is clean, hip and good vibes. They have vegan food…read more Ordered the Longanisa. It was on the sweet side, the Longanisa taste is there but the texture is different. The chicken à la king did not taste like the actual dish. Their coffee was not arabica, even if there was 2 shots. It was not as close as the actual food, but great vegan options. Service was fast and friendly

Great service, cozy ambiance "though a little bit tight inside. Food is good with lots of choices.read more

I have not visited this location but have ordered from them online several times. I love how smooth…read moretheir coffees are. They also leave notes on the coffee cups. A bit cheesy but it's part of the Filipino culture. My favorite is the spanish latte. Although it has condensed milk, the sweetness is never overwhelming. Definitely one of my go-to coffee shops whenever I need my caffeine fix.

Although a small somewhat untidy venue in Jaro close to the new Robinson's, the coffee and cakes…read moreare excellent: in fact, the best in the city! One-third the size of their new outlet in San Jose, Antigue, this original store has well-trained baristas who know how to make and froth up a distinct treat. With their caramel banoffee cake/pie, you've just had an excellent snack. They also offer three somewhat recently-roasted different bean selections, try them out also to see if they home brew okay? As Starbucks has driven a nail into their foot with their dumb policies using Lactel baby milk and skim milk for their coffee drinks, with their overly-tight policies on covid precautions, baristas who don't find it unusual to scald the milk in their lattes, and drink prices far too high compared to others (Brewtherhood, Seattle's Best, Bo's, etc.), why bother ever to go back! Their over-roasted beans are still good, but there are plenty of alternatives. Come to the little brewtherhood cafe instead, as it's not far from downtown or city mall. Parking is close and not the hassle of the Starbuck branches. I've returned already, and will continue to do so...

Super good coffee here, very sweet if youre into sweeter coffees. Service was good, and the place…read moreis nice and clean. Beautifully decorated as well.

This Starbucks is absolutely beautiful and within the SM area. I like how it's a little bit low-key…read more+ it has a lot of outlets in the middle of the table. This place has been my favorite to go to when I needed to study for school. I suggest going very early morning or somewhere around 6-7pm to avoid the crowded place. Definitely bring your charger as there are outlets underneath the middle table. It's comfortable and I stayed there for hours studying for my exams.

Being a true Seattlite, we actually pride ourselves in NOT drinking Starbucks! LOLLL…read more But, when I visit other countries, I always make sure to visit every Starbucks I run into, like a walking oxymoron! Haha! IKR! Anyway, over the years, I've frequented this SM City Mall location and the employees are always nice, ample seating and great selection of products, food and drinks! It is kinda frustrating that there aren't many plugs here, but whatever! Their coffee selections and food are super delicious, like their Mango Cream Cheesecake! Deeelish! I cannot wait to see their Valentine's Day collection! Cheers!

This cafe is located in the same building as Qualimed Hospital, right across Atria shopping center…read more It's the only coffee shop open early. The pandesal sandwiches are good, they have a good selection of coffee, tea, smoothies & juice along with pastries. Cute decor, free wifi and friendly staff.

Got my coffee fix today...free wifi and really friendly staff. I got my hazelnut latte and some…read morekutsinta. So good! I had some of the silvana batirol - yummy! It's location is so convenient, a short walk from school (Ateneo), so we can hang out here for a while. Atmosphere is so relaxed and comfortable.