Moved! Let's ditch this place!

I'd like to announce, to an field of emptiness that my blog has transferred to a better home. So head on this URL:

http://packet-switch.com/chymera/

I'm having a house party!!!

well, okay I'm kidding ...

"Patag" at Silay's Majestic Mountains

First we went the Business District of Silay where I had the chance to see the old colonial buildings. They are very nice and in good condition. Unlike the buildings in Iloilo, the ones in Silay hold true to its Spanish Influences ... We also got to go to Bahay Negrense, the oldest house in Negros, and see all the nice antillian houses lining the streets.... Truly, Silay really is the Paris of Negros!



Then we had a long trip up the mountains of Silay into this place called "Patag". After parking the car beside a chapel, we had to walk a distance to reach a small resort. It was so breathtaking when we got there, the view was great, the wind was cool, there was a small swimming pool, and best of all ... we've got the place all to ourselves!



Spent most of the day swimming in the chilly water, exploring, and eating. During the night, we had a bonfire and we slept in a small bahay kubo.... It was amazing how all 9 of us could fit in such a small space ... hehe

My friend warned us about the temperature during dawn but I didn't really pay attention. Little did I know that she was right, it was so cold .... unbearable! i wish I had brought a jacket or a coat or something.

April 30

It's already our last day in Negros, too bad :( I really enjoyed my time ... we arrived at the port at around 2:30pm and left at 3:00 .... In the RORO ferry, I began to contemplate about my trip but mostly about Negros:

Bacolod is a bustling city with clean and wide roads, nice parks and recreation areas, lots of spaces of development but it's still the second city of Western Visayas ... I don't think I'm biased in saying that Iloilo City is bigger than Bacolod in terms of economy. This aside, Iloilo also has it's weaknesses that Bacolod excels upon like cleanliness and infrastructure. I'm not trying to say that one city is better than the other, I just want to say this because a lot of people from both sides really like bashing and comparing each other and I think this should stop. Both cities are twin cities seperated only by sea, true-blooded Ilonggos by nature thus we should help each other out just like what happened a century ago when Iloilo and Negros were the most dynamic provinces in the Phils, sometimes even comparable to Manila.

Also, Negrenses are reputed to be gracious hosts. I've proven it to be true! We were very much well taken cared of during our trip ... I'm really thankful for our hosts, who shared with us their time so we can enjoy Negros, the Sugarlandia of the Philippines.

Panaad Festival

The Panaad Festival is the mother of all festival in Negross Occidental, it bring s together all the cities and towns in Negros into one "super" festival. It is staged in the Panaad Park and Stadium, where each town and city has their own booth, showcasing the different aspects of the towns and cities like their history, culture, tourist attactions, industries etc...

I was in awe of how much effort Negrenses put into this festival, especially the local gov't. Ir really gave me the impression that LGUs in Negros Occ. are very active in promoting the province's tourism, and they are doing a good job at it ... no wonder they're always featured in DOT ads.

Here are some of the nice booths that we saw:

Talisay City


Sagay City


La Carlota City


Silay City


Kabankalan City


I have only one complaint during the Panaad Festival. As we were eating in an inasalan somewhere in the park. A child went up to us and begged for money, as in we were so surprised to see the little boy. He was so malnourished, as in he/it was the thinnest kid I have ever seen in my life ... after we gave him some money, one kid went to us after the other all just as thin and sickly as the first one ... there was even a girl who asked for donation for a religious cause or whatever, lol. Ano abi nila sa amon, mangaranon! sa kilid2 na lang gani kami nag kaon para maka save dasun mangayo pa sila hhmmm... Pero, the most upsetting event was when we were finished eating and 2 kids went to our table to ask for our chicken, which we've already eaten to the bone ... We had no choice but to agree and after we said yes, the 2 kids immediately grabed the chicken (bones) by their bare hands, one ate in front of us and the other ate a few meters from us .... it was so sad

I began to think about this Panaad thing .... the each LGU spend millions into this event yet they can't even attend to these children popularized by the name "Batang Negros", who have nothing to eat to fend for themselves and scavenge for other people's food and they probably have no home to go to.

Anyways,

We returned home at 10:00pm and went straight to sleep, woohoo!

The second day, we reserved for touring Bacolod City. Unexpectedly a schoolmate txted us and invited us to a 2 day trip to Silay, all expense paid. Yes! mwahahah ... We had barely a few hours to tour Bacolod because we already woke up late. It was already 11:00am and the RORO leaves Bacolod at 4:00pm. So we agreed and after lunch we went out to enjoy our newly extended Bacolod City tour.




We did lots of touring around ... First sa Robinsons, then we went up the PNB Building (Bacolod's Tallest), went to the Provincial Capitol then the City Plaza where we visited the San Sebastian Church and the Bandstand in the Plaza ... Our next destination was Gaisano City then we visited the Bacolod Convention Plaza Hotel, Golden Fields, The Bacolod Airport, then the ghost mall called Robinsons Metro Bacolod :D





After dark, we headed to Talisay to meet with our friends and proceeded to Silay where we will be staying for the night... We had dinner at a seaside restaurant which served delicious seafoods, I was so full!

Just got back from my little trips

My trip was only planned for 2 days in Bacolod for the Panaad Festival, but in an unexpeted turnaround a schoolmate invited us to join them in an overnight in Silay ... with some P300 left in my pocket, I was a bit skeptical to join them. Fortunately, they texted that it will be "all-expense-paid" ...YES!!!

Here's the breakdown of this little 4 day adventure in Bacolod, the city of smiles, and Silay, the Paris of Negros:

My friends and I were supposed to leave Iloilo via Roro to Bacolod at 12:00nn, as usual I came to our meeting place (in school) late at about 11:00am, well ahead of the planned 9:00-10:00... During that time, I still had to go to my classmate's house to borrow his camera.

So I did, but when I got there he said that he left it in my other friend's house ... which was on the other side of the city (OMG!). It was already 11:20ish, and we had to ride the jeep ... the stupid jeep who was sooooo slow because he wanted to get the jeep full before moving. When we got to our friends house, bad luck struck us again (well just me), the camera was not THERE! it was with my other stupid friend whom I greeted at school a while earlier.

I just had to take the taxi, it was already 12:00nn in my watch. I arrived at school got the camera and told the taxi to make a run for it to the port...

When I got there, my friends were already sitting at the terminal smiling and giving me a 'look', like they're going to obliterate me for being at least 30min late ... just my luck, the RORO had already left us.

Not considering defeat, I thought of Plan B. There are 2 roro terminals in Iloilo City and 1 in far away Dumangas and since the Tourism office of the city hall is just a walk from where we are, I though that we could inquire about the schedule of other RORO terminal. So we got there and then the nice lay showed us the schedule of another RORO shipping line, it said there's a ferry leaving Iloilo at 3:00pm and the fare is just P80 ... with faith, we boarded a jeep and headed to the other side of the river to find the other RORO terminal but when we got there, we were informed that the RORO trip for Iloilo-Bacolod was cancelled a year ago pa ... ARGH!!!

With no hope of taking the RORO and pay less amount for the transport to Bacolod, we surrendered and boarded the OceanJet Fastcraft, which cost us almost twice the amount for a RORO.... My money was only a little less than P1000 and now it has been reduced by a third because of me ... because I was late :(

After 1 hour, we arrived at Bacolod and went directly to the City plaza to find the tourism office of the Bacolod City Hall (it was raining by the way). We then asked for some brochures and left for my tita's house where we will be staying.

Then after unpacking, we left for the Panaad Park and Stadium for the Panaad Festival, the mother of all festivals in Negros.