[May 11-12, 2013]
On our way to Mambukal Resort in Murcia, we passed by Bacolod's City Hall. This is a famous landmark in Bacolod that we surely didn't want to miss it. *click!
Thanks to manong taxi driver for this photo.
After our adventure-filled morning in Mambukal Resort, we decided to spend the afternoon at The Ruins.
According to history, this was once a grand mansion built in the early 1900's and was owned by the sugar baron, Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson. It was believed to be the largest residential structure in Negros at that time. Careful engineering and architecture was done to make sure that the mansion would stand sturdy and last for many many years.
Sadly though, during the early part of Worl Ward II this mansion was burned by Filipino guerilla fighters to keep the Japanese forces from utilizing it as their headquarters. They said it took several days of fire blaze before this mansion finally went down. Thus, what remains to this day is the ruins of the 903 square meter majestic structure that continues to attract local and foreign tourists.
Some sections of the house were rebuilt and furnished.
This is the balcony overlooking the sugar plantations of the rich family.
Some of the memorabilia of the Lacson family are adorned on the walls inside the mansion.
The sun was just about to set when we arrived so when we're done exploring the insides of the mansion, we were welcomed by this view of the ruins against the blue night sky.
It is still beautiful!
Across the mansion is a cafe where food is served and a string quartet is playing the sweetest love songs.
We were hungry already so we decided to have our dinner at the Ruins Cafe.
Surprisingly, food was great! They serve Italian dishes and wine as well.
Our first stop was at the Bacolod Cathedral (formerly known as San Sebastian Cathedral). After all, it was a Sunday. This church became famous when the its priests decided to hang a tarpaulin that lists senatorial candidates under team patay (pro RH bill) and team buhay (anti-RH bill). News have come around this past few months leading to the election that some religious organizations are against this display. Some of them even wanted to take this down. But, it's a day before the national elections and it is still here.
Anyway, based on my readings, this was built in 1876 through the efforts of Fr. Mauricio Ferrero, a recollect friar. It is among the century-old churches in Negros Occidental.
The entire structure, walls and ceiling, are made of coral stones from Guimaras.
There was an ongoing mass when we arrived but it was in Ilonggo. We just prayed in silence.
We also lit some candles at the left side of the church.
Thereafter, we decided to grab some lunch just a few steps from the church.
It's the famous Manokan Country. Quite honestly, we all expected a bit too much that's why were shocked when we reached this place. But the food served did not fail us. It was delicious. One of my friends even ordered their famous talaba. I tried one and that was it. I prefer one that is prepared at home. We enjoyed lunch so much we were so full that we wanted to walk around to kill time. And where better place to do that than in SM Bacolod conveniently located just across Manokan Country. So we strolled for a few minutes but there were just so many people inside the mall because it was Sunday. We decided to get out and go somewhere else. Since we were heading home in a few hours anyway, we thought of buying pasalubong.
We traced our steps back to the city plaza near the cathedral and found this huge pasalubong center. They bannered Bacolod's delicacy: Piyaya! They also have butterscotch, mango tarts and so much more.
In front of their store is where you can see how the piyaya's are cooked. It looked fairly simple. Each freshly cooked piyaya is sold at P4 a piece. Wow! and it's yummy too! With our hands full of pasalubong, we found out we still have plenty of time to spare. So we rode a jeepney to go back to our hotel, but one of my friends found this:
Thereafter, we decided to grab some lunch just a few steps from the church.
To the museum it is! And they only charge a few pesos that comes with a guide.
Here are some of things we found inside:
Beautiful paintings that tell stories of Negros and its people.
Iron ladle.
Kitchen utensils made up of Bohemian crystals.
Portraits of the governors.
An old dress that belonged to a famous haciendera.
Religious figures missing their ivory arms because they were stolen.
A miniature model of a classic house in Negros where they used to have a watch tower to guard their vast sugar plantation.
Speaking of sugar plantation, our museum guide showed us the different forms of sugar. From the most expensive one to the refined white sugar that we have now.
That's her..our guide, explaining the process to us.
Some more old pictures of famous people and RICH people in Negros.
This is the rear portion of the museum where you can find.....
the choo-choo train! We enjoyed every bit of our tour inside the Negros Museum, especially when we were led to the 2,000++ toy collection with 24-hour air conditioning. Cameras were not allowed inside so it made our trip special because the only way you could see those toys is for you to actually visit the museum. The toys were all so unique coming from different countries. They were owned by a daughter of a haciendero in Negros who travels frequently. They said she is now based in the US and that the toys she shared with the museum are nearly only half of her toy collection. Woah! What kind of childhood she must've had with all those expensive toys. Our guide led us to a small cafeteria to have snacks but we decided to go already so we won't miss our flight. Like what they say--save the best for last. This is the best part of our Bacolod trip:
Cakes from Calea!!!!!!! This pastry shop is just a block away from our hotel. We made our way here on our first night and now we're here again on our last day to bring home some of their goodies. Their cakes look very tasteful right???? And yes they taste as great as they look! Believe me! How I wish they can have a branch in Cebu. The Cebuanos would love their cakes--that's for sure!
In the meantime, I'll just have to settle for take-out. 'Til then Bacolod!
photo credits[soleil & junna]
