Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Church, Miag-ao, Iloilo

I am back in Iloilo. While this trip is mainly work-related, we were planning to have a side trip during our free time. Unfortunately though, a storm is arriving soon in this area. Tropical storm Basyang is currently inundating provinces in Mindanao and Visayas, and is expected to bring heavy rains to Iloilo today. We might just be content on doing indoor activities then.

Meanwhile, I am content in posting (late post) some photos of Miag-ao Church that I took during my travel here last November. 

Church facade 

UNESCO market recognizing the church as a World Heritage Site

The church as seen from the grounds

 

The main altar features a retablo with key figures such as the crucified Christ and the Sto. Nino.

The church features a long main aisle, which is preferred by many for church weddings (i.e., the bridal march is longer and somewhat more dramatic).

Another view of the church interior

More on Iloilo later! 

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Ovalteenies at the convenience store

I found another item that took me back decades ago. I had always preferred Ovaltine over Milo as a morning drink (though for a time I also drank Enervon to start my day). The makers of Ovaltine made a candy shaped like tablets, and me and my siblings enjoyed eating them as snacks. Mama used to buy these at the supermarket and I had one as baon. I remember I didn't consume one pack in one sitting. I made it a point to eat them gradually so I could enjoy them the whole day.

Spotted in a convenience store, it wasn't a hard decision to get a pack.

The candies were the same tablet form

I think the taste was basically the same. And that is why it brought me back to my younger days. There are tastes that have a lot of memory in them. This is an example of that.

 

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Serg's chocolate - Revival of a childhood favorite?

I've been seeing posts on my social media feed about a childhood favorite. Serg's chocolates was very much part of my childhood as they produced what I thought was the best chocolates at the time. Of course, when I was a child, I didn't have easy access to other chocolates including imported ones. M&M's, Hersheys, Snickers, etc. were luxuries that you can only get via balikbayan relatives or friends, or the PX stores that sell imported goods mainly from the US. I heard then that there were stores near the US bases (Clark and Subic) where you can get imported goods including chocolates. We got ours in the 1980s when my father returned from a couple of overseas trips.

So the choices in terms of branded chocolates were few. These include Goya and Ricoa chocolates. The best to me was Serg's with their chocolate bars that in my memory were the best of what was generally available. My thoughts now is that their chocolates are comparable to the Meiji chocolates we enjoy - only cheaper.

This is the design for the chocolate's 

The Serg's chocolate factory was actually located in Cainta, along Ortigas Avenue Extension where there are now warehouses beside the BF Construction lot. I still remember the pleasant smell of chocolate every-time we passed the factory.

The news is that Serg's is looking to reviving its business and coming back later this year. I'm sure looking forwards to this. And I hope the taste is the same if not better than what I remembered the last time I had some. 

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