Travel flashback: Bacolod and the rest of Negros Occidental (February 2011)

My trip to Bacolod was an unplanned thing because of the crazy PhP 10 seat sale Cebu Pacific had (10-10-10 promo last October 10, 2010) for all domestic flights. Because there were no fuel surcharges back then, I booked myself, my mom, my dad, and Pol for round-trip flights to Bacolod at only about PhP 800 all in! Along with this domestic booking, I also booked myself, my mom and Pol to Jakarta to take advantage of the PhP 1,010 sale for all international flights. Travel periods for these promo flights were from January to March 2011.





It was too late for me to realize that the dates I booked for our Bacolod trip included the date of Pol’s Mama’s 70th birthday. So Pol was automatically out of our headcount. I purposely booked my dad too because I wanted to help him overcome his fear of flying but I still failed up to the last minute. My dad’s fear of flying started when he had to ride a helicopter as part of his work assignment. Despite the differences I pointed out between a helicopter ride and a more comfortable plane ride, my dad still backed out. So the trip would only be by me and my mom. I had no regrets with the cost of booking though because it was only PhP 800 for four persons and still a good price for actually only two persons, and was already for round-trip flights.

Since I was with my mom in this trip, I had to have an itinerary that would be comfortable for her. So I opted to have a package with hotel accommodation and a tour with air-conditioned vehicle. For the second time, I availed the service of Philippine Hotel Reservations Service (PHRS), the same company I availed our Hong Kong tour package from in 2008. I settled with their Bacolod package offer at PhP 4,500 each which included airport-hotel transfers, 3-day/2-night stay at Circle Inn with buffet breakfast, and a private tour of Bacolod and other parts of Negros Occidental.

Day 1: Arrival in Bacolod

It was my first time to try Cebu Pacific’s online check-in service. To make things easier, we only brought hand-carry luggage with us so that we wouldn’t have to line up anymore for baggage check-in. Because we had already checked in online, we just had to arrive straight at the boarding area instead of the check-in counter, which would make our required airport arrival time at least 45 minutes before departure. But since we still arrived two hours earlier, we hanged out at Resorts World Manila while waiting for our boarding time.

We arrived at Bacolod-Silay Inernational Airport on a late afternoon. From there, we were transferred to Circle Inn. While we were waiting for our room to be set up, we had early dinner in the hotel’s restaurant so we could sleep early for next day’s tour. We had squid sisig and a vegetable dish. I did like the food so much and it made up for our room which I found to be just perfectly okay. The hotel’s central location is also perfect.



Ground floor of Circle Inn



Circle Inn, clockwise from top left: rooms at the ground floor,
a staircase to the second floor, outdoor park and swimming pool



Day 2: A tour of Negros Occidental

We started our morning with a nice buffet breakfast which had a relatively wide selection of Western and Filipino food. The buffet table also had an omelet section where you could choose what kind of omelet you want to be cooked for you.



Breakfast at the restaurant and dining area of Circle Inn



After our breakfast, we were fetched by our tour guide and driver named Nat-Nat. We did have a copy of the tour itinerary but Kuya Nat-Nat’s own itinerary was better because we went to a lot more places he could think of.

Our first stop was a place that was not included in the itinerary, Pana-ad Park & Stadium, the venue where the Philippine Azkals won their championship against Mongolia just a few days before we visited the place. Aside from its football field which is also a venue for various international games, the park also has an outdoor museum showing festively designed pavilions representing the different cities and towns of Negros Occidental. This is where the annual Pana-ad Festival is being held.



Pana-ad Park & Stadium



We next went to Mambukal Resort in Murcia for some falls trekking. My mom was only able to reach the second level of the falls while Kuya Nat-Nat and I gave up on the fourth. There are seven levels all in all. Had we finished all levels, we would have spent two more hours out of the ten hours alloted for our whole day tour around Negros Occidental.



Mambukal Falls



Somewhere in between our road trip we went inside Sta. Clara Subdivision for the Sta. Clara Chapel, a stop recommended by Kuya Nat-Nat because of its beautiful interior made of natural colorful materials like various shells and mother of pearl. Unfortunately, the chapel was closed and tightly locked that we were not able to at least peek through. The next mass would start in the afternoon.

The next short stops we had were the beautiful New Bacolod City Hall and the Provincial Capitol of Negros Occidental. They were closed because it was a weekend.



New Bacolod City Hall



Provincial Capitol of Negros Occidental



We also stopped by San Sebastian Cathedral to light some candles. There was an Ilonggo mass going on.



San Sebastian Cathedral



From Bacolod we went to Silay City which is also called "The Paris of Negros", for Balay Negrense, also called Victor Fernandez Gaston ancestral house. I found the delicate artifacts in the old house creepy but impressive because of the durability of the house and its wares, and I was glad to have visited this place at daylight. We spent a relatively long time exploring this museum.



Exterior of Balay Negrense



A few of the many rooms inside Balay Negrense



The ancestral chart of Victor Fernandez Gaston and some photo and dinnerware displays


Before having lunch we stopped by the very modern-looking San Diego Pro-Cathedral, still in Silay City. There was a funeral service going on. We learned from Kuya Nat-Nat that the Starex van is commonly being converted into and used as a hearse. So anytime you’d see a Starex van in Bacolod and other parts of Negros Occidental, be reminded that it is a funerary vehicle!

San Diego Pro-Cathedral


We had Batchoy and Guapple Pie for lunch at El Ideal in Silay, a recommended restaurant by our guide Kuya Nat-Nat. We enjoyed our batchoy because it had various toppings. We also enjoyed listening to Kuya Nat-Nat’s way of speaking because Bacoleños speak in a very gentle and affectionate manner. I then asked him how Ilonggos would sound like when angry, and he just answered that it would be in a fierce and angry tone of course. I imagined it would still be in the same affectionate tune, only with louder voice.

After lunch, we left Silay and went back to Bacolod for the running downtown tour where the central markets are.

Another stop we had that was not included in our itinerary was the Pope John Paul II Tower, a relatively new landmark which opened in 2010, located just across SM City Bacolod. The tower has seven floors and a roof deck area, and in each floor contains a different collection of Pope John Paul II’s photos and other memorabilia, where the first floor displays photo stories of Karol Wojtyla’s early life before priesthood. One of the higher floors is of course specifically dedicated in memory of the Pope’s visit in Bacolod last 1981, and another floor in memory of World Youth Day held in Manila last 1995. I enjoyed my visit in this museum because of the many things I learned about the first Pope I ever knew since childhood, the touching stories and photo displays, and the beautiful view of the bay outside the tower.


The welcoming statue of Pope John Paul II

 

A wax figure of Pope John Paul II and some of the many photo and clipping displays



At the rooftop of Pope John Paul II tower with scenic views



Since we had a little more time left before sunset, Kuya Nat-Nat drove us around the Golden Fields Commercial Complex before we would leave Bacolod again for the finale of our tour. The complex is a popular center of entertainment which has bars, restaurants, resorts, and a casino.


Hotel PAGCOR Bacolod at Golden Fields



Caribbean Waterpark & Resotel at Golden Fields



Finally, we left Bacolod again and went to Talisay City for The Ruins, or the Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson Mansion. We were entertained by the funny tour guide of that place. We listened to both the Tagalog version for Filipinos and the English version for foreign tourists. We liked the Tagalog version better. Aside from the history of the mansion, the guide made funny side comments on the old photos of the family members who lived in that house, and made the family stories turn out to be a sitcom. When my mom wondered about how many egg-whites may have been mixed with the cement to construct the mansion that its foundation still stood strong despite the damage caused by intentioned fire, the guide mockingly said he would ask the original owner (Don Mariano) via text message. Our fellow tourists burst out laughing.


The Ruins, clockwise from top left: Welcome banner,
the funny in-house tour guide, restaurant tables, the main hallway


After the guide’s storytelling and our detailed tour in every room inside the mansion, we enjoyed looking at The Ruins from the outside as it was beautifully colored by the light of the sunset. Kuya Nat-Nat really intended that we visit The Ruins at that time of day. Very splendid!


The beautiful exterior of The Ruins at sunset

Our whole day tour got us tired and hungry, and we were glad to take Kuya Nat-Nat’s suggestion to have dinner at Chicken House! The chicken inasal in this place made me feel like I had just tasted real chicken inasal for the first time. There’s no other chicken inasal that tasted like it in Manila.

It was already dark in the night when we were brought back to Circle Inn. We were aware that there would be extra charge of PhP 500 for every hour exceeding the ten hours of our tour but Kuya Nat-Nat said he would not tell the tour provider that we exceeded because they were not really that strict. We were happy to hear that so we just gave our supposed charge to him as a gratuity. He even hesitated to receive it that we had to force him. We really enjoyed Kuya Nat-Nat’s company and we appreciated him taking us to other places not listed in their usual itinerary.

Day 3: Commuting in Bacolod, departure to Manila

Although our tour was over, we still had extra time on our last day before our departure back to Manila. So after having breakfast, we took advantage of our hotel’s central location by taking a jeep to a mall where we could watch a movie. As what reviewers had said in blogs and online forums, it was indeed very easy to get around Bacolod just by commuting.

We just had to say “Lugar lang” for the driver to stop the jeepney and drop us off. We dropped off at Robinsons Place Bacolod to have lunch and watch a movie. Because I was with my mom who prefers watching Tagalog movies, we watched whatever Tagalog movie was being shown, and it was “My Valentine Girls” starring Richard Gutierrez, Jillian Ward, Rhian Ramos, Lovi Poe, Solenn Heusaff and Eugene Domingo.

Going back to our hotel was just as easy, where it was just one jeepney ride away from the mall.

We were glad to see Kuya Nat-Nat again as he was the one who would take us to the airport. When we were finally at the terminal, Kuya Nat-Nat was surprised when my mom handed him another gratuity. I was surprised too because my mom is one of the thriftiest persons I know. But I guess Kuya Nat-Nat really deserved it because he made my mom really like Bacolod very much.

My mom sadly said “Goodbye, Bacolod” as our plane took off.



View from the boarding gate of New Bacolod-Silay International Airport



There was nothing I didn’t like at all about Bacolod and the other cities and towns of Negros Occidental we visited like Murcia, Silay and Talisay. The people we encountered were very kind, the food was great, the roads were easy to navigate and very opposite from the congested condition of the roads in Metro Manila, and everywhere we went was an orderly and peaceful place. It was good to know from Kuya Nat-Nat that the crime rate in Bacolod was very low.



One big thing we missed in Bacolod was the Masskara Festival which I must go back for. I’ll make sure to take Pol and our future kids with me for us to experience and enjoy the City of Smiles together.