In line of the annual get-together of pharmacists around the Philippines, we attended the Philippine Pharmacists’ National Convention 2015 held at Bacolod City. Along with my fellow pharmacists, we ventured into the Capital of Manok Inasal and Maskara Festival.
Roadtripping the city.
Facade of the city hall. What an eye candy!The ceiling inside the City Hall
After landing, we went to visit some places in the city. Our first stop was the latest city hall.En route to Pope John Paul II Tower.Around town
The infamous Manokan Country, where you could taste the original Chicken Inasal.
Next stop is the Pope John Paul II Tower, built to commemorate the Pope’s visit in Bacolod City and held a mass at the same area where the tower stands now.
Few images of the Pope’s visit housed in the tower.The Pope’s skull cap, one of the tower’s display of the Pope’s memorabilia.
Paintings at the SM Bacolod sidewalk as seen from the tower.One of the paintings that can be viewed in the tower.The rooftop
A view of the Guimaras strait, a port, from the top.
To end the day, we went to the The Ruins, an old mansion of one of the biggest sugar cane plantation owners back in the day. The Ruins in Talisay City was also dubbed as the Taj Mahal of the province, if not of the Philippines. The mansion was made by Don Mariano for his wife, Maria Braga, just like the story of why Taj Mahal was built.
Details of The RuinsBeauty in Destruction: Razed by fire during the American Occupation as to not let the mansion be a Japanese base, the foundation still stood even in the present.
The facade is facing west, so the family watches the sunset in their staircase. This is when the mansion is at its finest, basking in the golden light, emanating the everyday pleasures of life.The most sought after tour guide, Kuya Roger, flanked by many tourists to listen to his historical rundown about the mansion flattered with his humor.There is a cafe in front of The Ruins, complete with musical accompaniment to be enjoyed while gazing at the magnificent structure.Just…stare at that beauty.Leaving the Ruins.
As we end our first day in the mesmerizing, Sugar cane-ful Bacolod City, we settled in our hotel as we ready (then snore) for the next day.
Early morning stretch at Campuestohan Highland ResortThe King of the Wild says hi. Or not.
The resort has a lot of amenities like, zipline, Rope Course and the Cable Hamster Wheel (which we tried, and, kind of frustrated us a little bit). They have different lodgings and activities to do. Check out their website for more details.
After some grind, we went museum-hopping.
First stop. Balay Negrense.
Inside Balay Negrense or “Negrense House”, derived from Hiligaynon.
Silay City boasts many ancestral houses and some of them turned into museums. Amidst the concrete pavements and modern get-ups, the feel in the neighborhood seems to turn back in Spanish time. Aside from the structures, what might not have changed must be the aroma of sugar cane in process.
The “balay” was owned by a French, Victor Gaston, who married a Filipina, Prudencia Fernandez, hailed from Batangas. It became a heritage house after all the abandonment, later revived as it was donated by the heir, Msg. Guillermo Ma. Gaston, to be repaired and be used as a museum.Front yardKitchenOne of the prototypes of motorcycles of today, with paintings of Negrenese artists in the background.One of the rooms of the twelve children of Don Gaston. The house has six rooms, three on each side of the second level of the house. The second floor is spacious, and well, very Spanish. Kind of gave us the creeps. Especially those porcelain dolls.
Next stop is the Hofileña Museum.
The house is owned by one of the sugar baron’s back in the day, Manuel Severino Hofileña, made for her wife and nine children. Currently Mr. Ramon Hofileña, one of the children, lives in the house and also is the tour guide.The guide told us the three types of religious statues: Popular, Classical and OrnateOne of the toys collected from Ramon Hofileña’s travels.The museum houses what seems to be the smallest doll from Hofileña’s travels.
The Hofileñas are a family of artists. Gilda, the wife of Manuel, was a beauty queen, their children are musicians, dancers, and painters. In fact, Carla Abellana is one of their descendants. His father, PJ Abellana, was an 80’s matinee idol.
The museum houses numerous paintings and sketches from famous artists like Ben Cab, Felix Resurrecion Hidalgo, Juan Luna, and even some of Jose Rizal’s sketches. Some paintings are gifted by fellow artists, and some are made by Negrenese. There are also collections of World War era pocketbooks, toys and other memorabilia from Mr. Ramon’s travels, photos and posters of Mr. Abellana, a printing press, a piano, books, and other antiques. The museum also sells tektites or micro meteorites. They are said to be collected near the foot of the mountain.
There might be more museums in Silay that are worth checking out. But then, we opted to have our lunch.
At Ana’s Garden Grill & SeafoodQueue before the convention starts. The rest of the day, and of the week, we attended the convention and enjoyed the food that is in Bacolod.The famous pastry shop: Calea!Of course, coffee
A dose of the Masskara festival during one of the parties for pharmacists.
It is just so sad being not able visit Danjugan Island and the seven waterfalls in Mambukal Resort. Well, there is always a next time, and I definitely should come back.
Hi, I’m Anthea, a Filipina trying to live in the moment. A registered pharmacist with an office day-job, a traveler of sorts in weekends-whether in actual outdoors or within books, through the screen, or through music. This blog is dedicated to all the wonders of this world (and the universe).
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