Backpacking in Bacolod City (Part 1)

It had been in the back of my mind a long time ago. But I never thought it would happen this summer—a back-to-back sojourn to the two capital cities of Negros Island, Bacolod and Dumaguete—with just a backpack and a camera in tow!  It sounded farfetched at first but, to my delight, things began to fall into place.

Fate seemed to be beckoning me towards Negros this summer. I’d been trying to book a trip to one of the tiny islands off Cebu’s coast but to no avail. When that sojourn finally went kaput, I found myself making a detour to Dumaguete instead. Then, after a brief lull, I was off to Bacolod for a long-delayed return!

San Sebastian Cathedral

Two capital cities. Two provinces in one big island. Two sojourns. Two weeks apart. Geez, it was one of the most exhilarating journeys ever cooked up by this incorrigible gadabout who draped himself like a recluse during his first sortie to the City of Gentle People and then donned the mask of a reveller in the City of Smiles!

Bacolod City Government Center

Coming close on the heels of my Holy Week escapade in Dumaguete, the Bacolod sojourn had long been in the back burner. On several occasions, I’ve been prodded by some friends there to come over. But something always got in the way, leaving me no choice but to keep on postponing the trip.

This May, however, I vowed to make it to Bacolod at all cost. Truth be told, I’d been surfing for cheap fares since late last year! Patience paid off when I finally got myself a promo rate. So, with my backpack and Nikon in tow, I went on to catch the early morning direct flight to Bacolod one long weekend. 

I’ve been looking forward to stage a comeback to the city  and some nearby places of Negros Occidental. Let’s just say I yearned for a comeback because of F4 and then some more: the FOOD I’ve savored, the FRIENDSHIPS I’ve made, the  FEASTS I’ve been treated to, the FUN I’ve had, plus a host of other reasons.

This recent sojourn is most memorable to me because I had the privilege of being hosted once again by one sweet Bacolodnon who’s the epitome of the “smiling people”  the city is associated with—mi amiga Minnie! The lady is the consummate tour organizer, travel guide, host and entertainer—all rolled into one!

Just like my previous sojourn to Bacolod, Minnie and hubby, Jim, and the rest of my Bacolod-based friends (Bobby and wife, Betty and, of course, Mia, who was vicariously   with us even though she’s in nearby Iloilo) left no stone unturned to make our recent invasion of the City of Smiles so unforgettable.

Inside the Church of the Angry Christ

After fetching me, travel buddy Letty and her daughter, Abby, at the airport, Jim and Minnie took us to Victorias City where we had the privilege of stepping into the rarified confines of the hacienda where Victorias Milling Company operates. VMC is said to be the “world’s largest fully integrated sugar refinery.”  

The highlight of the VMC tour was our first peek at the one-of-a-kind mural of The Angry Christ by Pinoy artist Alfonso Ossorio. Geez, we had a lot of selfies with the vintage steam train used to haul sugarcane from the fields, the carabao sundial and the chimneys inside the sugar refinery, among others.

Gaston Mansion

Later, the gracious couple also joined us as we embarked on a heritage walk in the ancestral homes of Silay City; discovered the unique and exotic in the quaint town of Manapla; frolicked at Campuestohan Highland Resort in nearby Talisay City and later dined with us and our other pals up in the hills of Murcia!

Hilltop Resto in Murcia

For more about my meanderings in Bacolod’s environs, visit my posts at http://scorpio-sojourn.blogspot.com/2014/05/nostalgic-about-negros-occidental-part-1.html and http://scorpio-sojourn.blogspot.com/2014/05/nostalgic-about-negros-occidental-part-2.html.

As what I’m accustomed to do, I tried figuring out the origin of the city’s name. From what I’ve read on a brochure at the hotel where I was billeted, “Bacolod” came from the Hiligaynon word, buklod, or stone hill. The old settlement that grew into the highly urbanized city, was originally located on a stone hill!

Campuestohan Highland Resort

After it was pillaged by the Moros, the settlers moved to the lowland near the shore, which eventually became the current location of the city. Facing Guimaras Strait, Bacolod serves as the gateway to Negros Occidental as well as the center of its governance, trade, finance, commerce and education. 

Bacolod, I believe, had me by the tongue twice. First, when I learned my first words of Hiligaynon, the mother tongue of Pinoys living in Western Visayas. Arguably, it’s my familiarity with the language spoken with such mellifluousness by my kins in Iloilo and Antique that have helped me blend well in the City of Smiles. 

Felicia's Cakes: A taste of Bacolod's sweet temptations

Having been born and raised in Mindanao, I, however, have trouble speaking the lingua franca with fluency. But I can understand it—well, enough not be taken for a ride by loonies. Modesty aside, I’ve got this confidence that I could get away with anything in the city by just flashing a sweet smile! LOL!

Bacolod had me by the tongue once again when I tasted my first piyaya many years ago, even if I grew up gobbling durian candies, tarts, jam and all. It was such a sweet, mouth-watering experience that left in me a craving to have more of the delicacy, which leaves a lasting sugary aftertaste in the mouth. 

Arguably, the sweetness of the City of Smiles seems to have been blended into the irresistible delights awaiting the sweet tooth at these three wonderful discoveries: Calea, Felicia’s and Virgie’s. Their delectable offerings are simply mind-blowing! I should know—I’ve made it to all three! 

 

An escapade in Bacolod isn’t complete unless one has gone to Calea and Felicia’s. Both establishments offer a wide array of choices of cakes and pastries of all sorts—a haven for the foodies visiting Sugarland! Calea’s sans rival is truly without equal while Felicia’s mint cake is absolutely food for the gods!

Virgie’s, on the other hand, offers pasalubong treats like napoleones, butterscotch, caramel tart, meringue, and much, much more.

(to be continued)

Roaming around “The Ruins” of Talisay City

There lies in one of Negros Occidental’s newly formed cities the remains of a rundown mansion owned by the heirs of one of its sugar barons, which is fast turning into a spectacular tourist magnet known as “The Ruins”. 

Built by Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson sometime in the early 1900s in memory of Maria Braga, his Portuguese wife, the century-old house—or what’s left of it—is considered by some to be the Philippines’ little version of India’s Taj Majal, which is a testament of one man’s undying love for his departed wife. 


Word has it that the mansion used to be the largest residential structure ever built at that time. It was also embellished with the finest furniture, chinaware, paintings and other works of art. Also, one of Lacson’s daughters maintained a lovely garden with a four-tiered fountain fronting the house.

All its grandeur, however, was reduced to ruins when guerilla fighters during World War II burned the mansion so that the Japanese forces could not use it as their headquarters. For three days, the fire ravaged the whole house, gutting its roof, floors and woodwork.

Even so, the structure has withstood the test of time primarily because of the huge steel bars and the A-grade mixture of concrete used when the house was built. One of Lacson’s sons was said to have supervised the construction, seeing to it that everything was done in accordance to the family’s specifications, including the A-grade concrete mixture and its pouring.

In recent years, the present owners of the estate must have realized the tourism potentials of this ancestral house in Talisay. Thus, they restored and opened it to the public, eventually transforming yesterday’s fabulous abode into today’s favorite venue for weddings, pictorials, debuts, picnics, reunions and other gatherings.

Having heard so much about this tourist attraction, my friends and I explored the renowned rubble during our recent visit to Bacolod. From Silay City, we traveled southward to the neighboring city of Talisay where the ruins are located.

A sucarcane plantation in Talisay

There are two routes that tourists can take to reach the place. One is thru a potholed macadam road passing through a sugarcane plantation in Talisay and another via a middle-class subdivision somewhere in Bacolod.

Our hosts were not very familiar with the streets in Talisay so we ended up taking the rough road (that’s less traveled, I supposed) all the way to the mansion. It was a bumpy drive but we enjoyed that helluva joyride just the same. 

On the way to our destination, we chanced upon a group of sugarcane plantation workers known as sakadas who were busy harvesting in the field. We stopped to ask one of them for directions to the ruined mansion. After giving us the route, the fellow and his colleagues willingly obliged when we requested them to pose for us. Wasting no time, we took advantage of that rare countryside scenery and kept on clicking our shutter buttons.

When the plantation photo op was over, we drove some more before we finally saw what we came for. From a distance, the ruins of Lacson’s mansion looked like the scaffolding of an unfinished house. At close range, however, it seemed like the refurbished ground zero of some demolished structure.


After paying the entrance fees, we began exploring the place. On the remaining walls, I noticed several photographs and other memorabilia, explaining the Lacson family as well as the house’s rich history. Inside, a number of tourists were busy milling around the old mansion that reeked of nostalgia, mystery and intrigue.  

Outside, we noticed the sprawling garden with a large fountain to boot and headed towards it. I wondered if this was an original structure or just a replica. Many people were around that time, taking snaps of themselves with the garden and fountain as background so we patiently waited for all of them to leave before we started taking our shots.

It is said that the magnificence of the ruins come into full view during late afternoons when the rays of the sun hit the hollow frames of the structure, turning its pale hues into golden yellow. Taking our refreshments, we patiently played the waiting game just to capture the seared spectacle at its best. And when the shooting began, we really had a blast.

Whether one is a tyro or a pro, the ruins of the Lacson mansion are undoubtedly a photographer’s delight. I just wished we had more time to snap at the structure at different times of the day, perhaps from sunup to sundown. Oh, well, I guess a second coming’s in the offing.  :D