Antique Heritage Tour Day 2

The call time was 6:00 a.m. and I was up as early as 5:00. Blame it on my weird body clock that automatically launches itself as early as 4:30 a.m. for my 6 a.m. class. I’m going off the point here again. It’s the second day of our tour and we were all excited for what’s in store for us for the first day of the Manggad Kang Antique Heritage Tour was fun. The Katahum Tours’ shuttle van picked us up from the Zipline Inn and went to our first destination for the day.

The traditional Antique breakfast by the shore was our first activity. We went back to Barangay Malabor, still in the town of Tibiao where we experienced the Lambaklad Fishing the day before, and had our breakfast there. A very Pinoy breakfast meal of rice, longganisa, fried egg and coffee was served by the beach. We just sat by the shore and relished the Antique morning breeze.

Brekkie by the shore

Next stop was the Pottery and brick-making activity in Barangay Bandoja in Tibiao. The village is blessed with 450,000 tons of clay reserve which explains the pottery and brick making livelihood in the village. They showed us the whole process on how bricks and pots were made. I specifically enjoyed the pottery making part.

I love pottery. I love the feeling of molding wet clay and the liberty of forming it into your own pot or vase. It looks easy at first but when you get to turn and control the potter’s wheel, you’ll start to feel the tension of the technical aspect of pottery making. It’s so hard! Good thing was that the potters were so patient in teaching us the basics of the potter’s wheel. Whew.

Next was Nica Farm in Barangay La Paz in Tibiao. We experienced how to harvest rambutan fruit in this vast plantation. It was weird though for I thought that the juiciest and sweetest rambutans were supposed to be in red color but I was wrong. The green ones were as juicy and sweet as the red ones. Maybe it’s in the soil or the weather in Antique but those rambutans are yummy. My favorite though was the pomelo. I love its sweet and tangy taste. The best part was that we took home some of our harvested fruits. Nice.

And then the group went back to the Tibiao Fish Spa to have their feet get nibbled again. As for me, I indulged in the prepared lunch meal at the spa.

The famous Tibiao Bakery was next. I’ve seen this store in Iloilo but never tried it. Apparently, it’s one of the most famous bakeshops in Antique and also in Iloilo. I guess it wouldn’t survive 60 years if it’s not that yummy huh. And what’s the best part? We took home loads of their products. What’s remarkable was their biscocho and siopao. So yummy. Don’t you dare miss it when you visit Antique (and Iloilo).

A Muscovado sugar mill in the town of Laua-an was next. And so I thought that sugar was capitalized by Negros. And then I learned that the town of Laua-an is one of the country’s top producer of muscovado or unrefined brown sugar from sugar cane. They showed us how they produce the sugar from the juice of sugarcane. Muscovado has this distinct taste that is best for that perfect blend of coffee. I think it enhances the bitter taste of the coffee, perfect for this very Christmas-y weather.

And what do you think they’d do with all of their muscovado but to produce local delicacies from it. Still in the Laua-an town, we were shown how to make the local favorites. And one of my favorites was the bandi. 

Move over peanut brittle and panutsa, the bandi of Antique won my heart in the peanut+sugar sweet treat. I am so not digging sweet stuff but the awesome blend of the fresh peanuts, sesame seeds and the not-too-sweet muscovado glaze gained my admiration to sweets. It felt like eating honey roasted peanuts bought from the international section of the grocery. My sweet taste buds became alive once more. Cheers.

Our sweet second day of the Antique Heritage Tour ended with a few bottles in the Zipline Inn. The occasional rain shower didn’t stop us to natter with the rest of the group. It’s been 2 days and it felt like we were together for a week. More exciting adventures awaits on our third day. Don't miss it.

Special thanks to Mr. Flord Nicson Calawag of Katahum Tours for organizing the first ever Manggad Kang Antique Heritage Tour.

Katahum Tours/Tibiao Fish Spa
Contact Numbers: (+63) 919.813.9893 | (+63) 917.631.5777

Email Address: flord@tibiaofishspa.com

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