Tips to Make the Most out of your Business Trip

A trip to Roxas City can be fun regardless of if you don’t have a budget or if you have one.

For both choices, it might be hard for you to stay away from the company’s planned itinerary. But a trip to Roxas might become more interesting if you follow our tips below.

To help you get started on having a more fun time in Kalibo City, consider doing our tips below:

Those who prefer to splurge can have the luxuries offered by the high-end hotels like San Antonio Resort, Roxas President’s Inn, Espacio Verde Resort, Sky Garden Hotel, Urban Manor Hotel, Hotel Veronica, Kapis Mansion Hotel, Wallabies Hotel, Pete’s Inn, Mercedes Hotel and more. Hotels sometimes provide chauffeurs leading you to locations they have pre-determined.

For the budgetarians, you can stay in nice hotels for affordable prices. They usually offer free breakfast meals but sometimes there are none at all. There are nearby carenderias or local restaurants that provide a hearty meal.

For both choices, it might be hard for you to stay away from the company’s planned itinerary. But a trip to Roxas might become more interesting if you follow our tips below.

There are a lot of activities offered by Roxas. In nearby municipalities there are plenty of natural attractions, but in the city proper itself there are nice places you can go to for an hour or two with business associates or by yourself.

To avoid a hotel-meeting-hotel lifestyle for the rest of your business trip, visit some of the malls in the city. There is Robinsons Place, City Mall, SM City, City Mall Arnaldo, Gaisano Grand, Molino Center, and Novo.

If you don’t want to blend into a crowd but instead wants to relax in a cafe, you can go to
Sacred Heart of Jesus Ave. Pueblo De Panay, Lawaan

and check out The Kaffa Haus. It might be better if you go for cafes found in Downtown for easier access. Jaques Coffee and Chills, Happy Hamster, DC Cafe, El Circulo Cafe Terraza, La Prema Tucker and Brews, LOKA Events Cafe, Spanggo Foods Cafe and Pasalubong Center, Cake Story, and Eatlogan Restaurant are some local favorites.

Plenty of first-time travelers can underestimate the roads and routes of Roxas City. Some abstain from exploring even Downtown thanks to the confusion they can get from the public transportation system. The humid air and traffic at peak hours is not very inviting to those who just want to explore the city.

On times that you have an appointment far from the city, it is good to have your own rental unit that you have all to yourself. Unlike public transportation where you have to wait for the entire vehicle to get filled before traveling, a self-drive rental gives you freedom of movement.

A good rental car from Roxas Rent a Car can be easily arranged. With our diverse selection of rental vehicles at affordable rates, you can go to your business meetings in style and have more liberties when exploring Roxas.

Explore the local options and skip from the fast food chains. When you’re in a new location, the best way to get to know the place is through their food and people.

They say the best way to get to know a new place is by exploring it through food. Roxas is a city that is famous for its laid-back lifestyle. But the locals do take their food seriously. Roxas delicacies are often made of simple ingredients, but they are given a uniquely Roxas-esque gastronomic twist.

Roxas City, the capital of Capiz is known as the “seafood capital of the Philippines.” Home to one of the richest fishing grounds in the country, Roxas City offers a range of fresh and affordable seafood including shellfish, squid and different varieties of fish. From jumbo-sized tiger prawns to crabs and oysters cooked in a variety of ways – you can enjoy seafood any way you want. Grilled, steamed, stewed, fried, dried smoked or even raw – take your pick!

SAN ANTONIO RESORT
Type of cuisine: Filipino fusion
Address: Lawis Baybay Beach, Roxas City
Facebook: San Antonio Resort

A leisure and business hotel resort by the beach with a huge swimming pool that offers delicious meals with a unique twist. Bestsellers include the Ensaladang Lato with Salted Egg & Green Mango, Tiger Prawns in Aligue Sauce and Capiz Salmon with Tomato Salsa and Jalapeno Glaze.
CAFE TERRAZA
Type of cuisine: Filipino
Address: Pueblo de Panay, Lawa-an, Roxas
Facebook: Cafe Terraza

Cafe Terraza is the first and only scenic hilltop dining destination in Roxas City. Located at the back of El Circulo Convention Center in Pueblo de Panay, the emerging commercial business district in the city, this resto offers Filipino food with a great view. They serve a wide range of seafood, pork and chicken dishes, desserts, drinks and coffee. Specialties include seafood kare-kare, bangus and pork sisig and grilled tiger prawns.
MARIBERT INLAND RESORT
Type of cuisine: Western/Filipino
Address: Pontevedra, Lantangan, Capiz
Facebook: Maribert Inland Resort

Situated between rice fields & fish ponds, this huge resort complex is ideal for large gatherings & occasions. They serve delicious family-style meals in their in-house restaurant. Be sure to try the crabs and refreshing fruit shakes. We got to try crabs three-ways here: Native Crab, Steamed Crabs and in Chili-Garlic Sauce. Merienda pa lang yun!
SPANGGO CAFE AND PASALUBONG CENTER
Type of cuisine: Spanish-Ilonggo
Address: Rizal Street, Roxas City, Capiz
Facebook: Spanggo Cafe & Pasalubong Center

This homegrown establishment in Roxas City offers much more than pasalubong. The cozy cafe specializes in Spanish-Ilonggo cuisine using heirloom family recipes. They serve a wide range of tapas, pizza and all-day breakfast meals. House specialties include the Paella Mixta (a traditional Spanish dish prepared the Ilonggo way), Lola Ita’s Palabok Espesyal (topped with shrimp, crushed chicharon, smoked tinapa flakes and camias), and Cocido (a chickpea based garbanzo stew with beef and vegetables flavored with chorizo and tomato sauce). The soup was just heavenly! Spanggo is also the home of Capiz’s best Buko Pie with a delicate streusel crust.
ESPACIO VERDE RESORT
Type of cuisine: Seafood
Address: Dayao, Roxas City
Facebook: Espacio Verde Resort

Spanish for “Green Space,” Espacio Verde offers Filipino and seafood dishes with a unique twist. The restaurant, which is open for lunch, snacks and dinner and accepts in-house catering services, is located inside a sprawling recreational, adventure and eco-tourism resort which has its own theme park attractions including water slides and water park for kids.
BITOY’S BALAY BARBEYKYUHAN
Type of cuisine: Filipino / Barbecue house
Address: Baybay, Roxas City
Facebook: Bitoy’s Balay Barbekyuhan

Bitoy’s Balay Barbekyuhan is a beach-front restaurant specializing in seafood and grilled specialties. Notable dishes here include binakol (a native chicken dish cooked in a coconut shell), seafood kaldereta, rellenong pusit (stuffed squid), and fresh steamed oysters.

Since it was established in 1986, locals who want a change from seafood usually head here for their barbecue, which is as thick as liempo and has really juicy and tender meat. For just P25 a stick, this is a good option for budget travelers and carnivores.
RML MANOKAN HOUSE
Type of cuisine: Filipino / Barbecue house
Address: Baybay, Roxas City
Facebook: RML Manokan House
RML Manokan House is a grillhouse located along Baybay beach that offers live acoustic music and great seafood. Specialties here include chicken inasal, steamed crabs, grilled hito (catfish stuffed with lemongrass), garlic shrimps, baked scallops, sinigang and oysters.

PEOPLE’S PARK AND SEAFOOD PLAZA
Aside from the popular restaurants near Baybay Beach, the People’s Park and Seafood Plaza offers a good spot for tourists to dine the way locals do it – dampa-style. The park has several stalls where you can choose the seafood you want to eat and have it cooked however you like. I highly recommend the having shellfish like oysters, mussels and scallops baked with garlic, butter and cheese.

SHELLFISH
FRESH OYSTERS
Though I usually prefer oysters baked, the fresh oysters in Capiz are some of the largest and juiciest I’ve ever had. They were just steamed lightly but they tasted heavenly. Just a pinch of salt or a bit of calamansi, panalo.

You can never go wrong with baked scallops with garlic and butter!

DIWAL
Diwal or angel wing clams is one of the prized shellfish specialties in Capiz. Locals say that the meat is sweet and succulent with a taste superior to oysters and mussels and a more delicate texture. Unfortunately, diwal is a seasonal delicacy and was not available during the time of our visit, so that’s one reason to go back.

Diwal Pasta by Espacio Verde. Photo courtesy of Espacio Verde Resort
EXOTIC FOOD
PUYOY (GRILLED EEL)
At first glance, this barbecue dish looks like something out of Fear Factor. The street-food resembles tiny snakes skewered isaw-style and grilled. I’ve tasted types of eel before in soups and stews, but this was the first time that I tried it barbecue style. It really helps if you don’t look at it directly or think about it too much when you eat because the heads are intact and you can see the open mouth of the eel through the stick. It tasted like grilled fish, only slightly slimier with tiny crunchy bones (like those of sardines). I think it would have tasted better if it were dipped in vinegar.

ADOBONG TAKLONG (FOREST SNAILS)
Taklong is a species of snail found in the woods or forested areas in Capiz and nearby provinces, mostly in moist places near rivers and waterfalls. Locals prepared this dish and served it during our kamayan-style picnic lunch at Liktinon Falls in Brgy. Bayuyan, President Roxas (along with more tame offerings like liempo & steamed crab). When cooked, the cut up pieces of snail meat resembled chicken gizzard or mussels. I’m not sure if it was the sauce of the adobo, but I found this dish really, really delicious. Adobong taklong tasted like shitake mushrooms to me, only a bit more gummy.

KILAWING HIPON (SHRIMP SEVICHE)
Kilawing hipon or shrimp ceviche is raw shrimp tossed in vinegar. Good for pulutan, with beer or a shake to balance the acidity.