Avida Village Iloilo - A Place For Nonnomadic Traveler

As part of my online job, I have a good chance to read a lot of travel-related blogs which inspires me to travel even just locally. I admire most those who quit their jobs, sold their properties, packed their bags, and traveled the world as nomads. I know I love to travel but I don't think I'd love to be a nomad. ^^

Since I have no plans of being a nomad traveler, me and boyfie, decided to buy a property in Iloilo. There are many subdivisions or villages to choose from but we went for Avida Village located at Brgy. Balabag, Pavia, Iloilo. We chose Avida Village among others for a number of reasons:

1. It's developed by Ayala Lands Inc.!
2. The houses they build has the highest quality among the ones we've checked.
3. Avida employees, including site workers, aren't just professionals. They dress like professionals.lol I just want to stress this out because of an experience we had in one of the subdivisions here in Iloilo. Their site engineer walks out of the house to puff a cigarette while we were having an official inspection. How cool is that? Avida employees, on the other hand, dress like true professionals, not like a typical sales agent or customer service representatives. Even their carpenters wear a uniform and proper gears such as helmet and vest while working. On the other subdivision that I am talking about, their carpenters don't have a helmet, wear slippers, don't have a vest, and don't even wear a uniform.
4. Houses under construction at Avida Village are covered so that it won't obstruct the beautiful view of the village. Visitors and homeowners will be kept safe from construction debris as well.
5. Price difference from other subdivisions are not very significant.
6. The village is not too big compared to others and houses don't look congested.

Avida Village in Iloilo has 3 Model Houses: Cresta, Phoebe, and Stella. Interested buyers may also choose to buy lots only instead of a house & lot. Boyfie and I chose to buy the Cresta model. I personally like it among the 3 models even if it's the smallest. The size is not an issue for us right now since only the two of us will reside in there for a start. It's the cheapest also (though this may depend on the lot area as well) so it fits our budget well. 

Cresta Model House

Cresta is a one-bedroom house with a loft provision which can be converted into an office, a 2nd bedroom, or in any way you want.  It has a 120 sq. m. standard lot size with 45 sq. m. floor area. The deliverable unit already includes vinyl flooring, wall paint, and toilet & bathroom tiles.

I actually have a lot of plans in mind for the house designs, layouts, etc. but we haven't moved in yet and we have to prioritize what important things or furniture to put in first. So that's it for now.

I hope this post is helpful to those who are looking for a property to invest in Iloilo City. There are many house & lot for sale in Iloilo but don't be fooled with what you see in pictures and what sellers or agents tell you. They don't disclose everything about the property. We've already had a bad experience in one of the subdivisions here in Iloilo and we've learnt a lot of things from it. So far, Ayala Land Inc. is the best company that we've dealt with.

I'm not affiliated with Avida Land Inc. and I'm not selling any Avida property as well. But if you have queries, you may contact me anytime. I will answer your questions when I can. :)

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Wordless Wednesday: Persian Kitchen

Persian Kitchen Iloilo

Delicious and Affordable Persian Cuisine

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Self-Pampering Day at SM City Iloilo

I just turned a year older last thursday, 12th of July and celebrated it with my bestfriends over the whole weekend. We went to Bacolod, partied for 2 nights, strolled, videoke, watched movie, etc.

Now before I start my work week, I thought of pampering myself first!

Posh Nails at SM City Iloilo is pricey but their service is commendable. The advantage here is that the place is quiet unlike in hair salons because they only specialize in nail/hand/feet care services. They have wi-fi too! :D

After pampering my feet, I then went to Forever Flawless for a body scrub. They give 50% discount for non-medical services if it's your birth month so I grabbed the opportunity! :D Body scrub at Forever Flawless originally costs PhP2000 but I only paid PhP1000. 

The body scrub made my skin feel lighter and smoother and I was quite satisfied with their service. But honestly, I don't think I'd do it again for PhP2000.lol Spa Riviera also has body scrub services for less than PhP1000 but it wasn't that great. They only scrub your body with "rice scrub" - that's all. I could have just bought a body scrub product and did it myself. Unlike with Forever Flawless, they use salt scrub, put a "mask" after it and finish it off by putting lotion all over your body. 

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Ocean City Iloilo

Ocean City is a well-known seafood restaurant here in Iloilo City. I haven't been to any of their restaurants until yesterday. I was only able to taste their food at SM City's food court section. But I only get to really appreciate them yesterday.lol Our virtual team makes it a point to meet once in a while so we had lunch at Ocean City yesterday located at General Luna St. It was also an advance birthday celebration for me! ^^ 

 The restaurant is divided into two parts. There's an airconditioned section and an open area. Though it would have been great to stay in the airconditioned part of the restaurant because it was hot outside, we chose to sit in the open area because we could freely talk a bit loud without being a nuisance to other customers. They have the same menu anyway. 

Ocean City offers a variety of food from chicken dishes to pork, beef, and seafoods. We ordered a set meal worth PhP2500 which was already good for a maximum of 12 persons. There were 9 of us and I could say that it was more than enough because we had leftovers which we took home. :D 

Here are some of their dishes. 

Bird's Nest Soup

Roast Chicken

Chopsuey

Chicken (Sweet & Sour?)

Fried Rice

Pork

Pancit

The Verdict:

Food is definitely delicious! The price is not cheap but not too expensive as well. I guess it's cheaper if you are in a group. Our bill was around PhP2,800 because drinks were not included in the set meal. 

The service wasn't very satisfying though. We asked for plates for the cake and they gave us only 4 when they can clearly see that there were 9 of us. I don't know if the restaurant closes in the afternoon or not because the waiters were already cleaning our table even if we were still busy chatting and video calling. They also asked us if we'd like to take home some of the leftovers but I just said "later" because I was still eating. 

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MAY is Frappuccino Month

I've recently made changes to my lifestyle. I started to jog frequently, minimize eating rice, and eat more fruits. BUT, I cannot seem to let go of frappuccinos! lol Frappuccino is admittedly one of my guilty pleasures.

Starbucks Frappuccinos are very pricey but undeniably great-tasting. I especially love its Christmas blend, Toffee Nut Frappuccino. Since the Christmas season is over, the Toffee Nut Frappuccino is no longer available so I now settle for the Caramel flavor. Because of its price, I used to content myself with Red Ribbon's Mocha Frappe. It's already phased-out though so I have no better choice than Starbucks. Coffee break's frappe is really bad. I'm not sure if it's not blended well or it has something to do with the ice they're using.

May is Frappuccino month for me because of these three reasons:

1. Starbucks 2012 Planner Coupon for May. I was able to get 3 planners which means that I have 3 "buy one take one" coupons for this month! ^^

2. Starbucks Frappuccino Happy Hour ever Monday. And I have been consistently availing of the half-priced Frappuccino since April 30.lol

3. Starbucks Rewards Promo.  I don't usually use credit card when purchasing over-the-counter items to minimize shopping expenses. But now I'm charging items of at least PhP2500 to my HSBC mastercard to avail of the frappuccino freebie. ;)

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One Guilt-Free Saturday at Freska

My BF and I usually jog during weekdays and practice healthy eating. On weekends, we allow ourselves to eat guiltless - meaning we could pig out if we want to.lol Being an online deal-seeker that I am, I bought 2 FRESKA! Authentic Ilonggo Seafood & Inasal dishes! vouchers which was Only P180 for P300 Worth of Authentic Ilonggo Seafood & Inasal Dishes from CashCashPinoy.com. And we used those vouchers for a guilt-free Saturday last month! Check out some of their delectable dishes:

complimentary "dilis"

Chicken Inasal

Fresh Buko Juice

Sinigang na Managat

Inihaw na Managat

Grilled Tilapia with Green Mango

After a guilt-free dinner at Freska, we went to SM to stroll and saw Arnel Pineda, Journey's vocalist. His performance made me miss the rock concert scene!

Freska Ilonggo Seafood & Inasal is located at Smallville Arcade, Diversion Road, Iloilo City. They can be reached at (033) 321-3885.

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Girls' (Over)Night Out!

It was during college days when F4 was a phenomenal hit in the Philippines. So me and my other 3 closest friends called ourselves F4 just for the fun of it. The last time we had a get-together was more than 4 years ago. Michelle, went to Manila to find a job after that get-together and Shella went to Abu Dhabi almost 2 years ago. So it's just me and Grace who are left here in Iloilo.

Last February, it was a coincidence that Shella and Michelle went home for a vacation. So we had a chance to catch up after 4 years. Grace and I came earlier than the agreed time because we did a "baby bump photoshoot". It don't really want to call it a photoshoot because I'm not a pro photographer.lol I just got my DSLR last December and I have a lot to learn about it. We chose the carnival which was temporarily located at the back of SM City Iloilo.

   

I'm not proud of my shots there but I just thought I'd include a sample here. Not satisfied with the shots at the carnival, we headed to Plazuela de Iloilo for more cam whoring and just waited Shella and Michelle there.

Gracey with all the props ^^

Then Shella and Michelle joined us and we started our cam-whoring session!

     

We had our dinner at Red Corner restaurant located at Plazuela de Iloilo courtesy of Shella ;)

     

     

     

Eating is something that we enjoy together back in the days. Some fun memories we shared were:

1. Go out from class to have lunch at JD Infante. After enjoying our lunch, we just go back to class. There was even a time when we were going back to the room, our classmates were already at the lobby, some carrying our bags, because our professor dismissed the class early. ^^

2. Bring a KFC Bucket Meal at Mang Inasal Mandurriao where Michelle used to work. LOL

3. Pig out on a Saturday morning after our night shift. Usually at JD Roadhouse, General Luna St. Iloilo City.

Anyway, after dinner, we went to Smallville Complex for some dessert at Nothing But Dessert:

          

     

     

As we were talking/gossiping, Shella suggested that we go on a videoke. Since it was getting late already, it will not be a safe idea for Michelle and Shella to go home so we decided to check in on a hotel and spend the night together. lol The unplanned always turns out to be more fun! We first checked the room rates at Smallville 21. Then we went to Westown Hotel and it seemed that they have lower room rates so we proceeded to check in immediately. As we got to our room, we felt tired and just decided not to go on a videoke and just talk/gossip all night. lol And our winning topic for the night was AIKO MELENDEZ! I won't go into details why Aiko was our winning topic because it will be another long story to tell.lol

It was really fun and it wasn't so obvious that we missed each other so much that we had to check in on a hotel just to continue catching up. I don't know when the 4 of us will get to meet again. Perhaps on another coincidence? ^^

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