Last January 2012, as part of our itinerary for our Travel the Panay Island trip, me and my friends decided to have a day tour in Bacolod city and visit some of the neighboring towns like Silay and Talisay City. Visiting the province on a day trip proved to be very short and very bitin. We haven't even tried all famous restaurants and cafes within the province (which I promise we will be visiting Bacolod again). I think we still need one more day to savor and squeeze in all activities. This won't be my last visit in Bacolod. ;)
Our quickie itinerary to Bacolod:
1. We left Iloilo city around 6:00am and catch the 7:30am schedule for Supercat Fastcraft. The traveling time from Iloilo City to Bacolod city is one hour and fifteen minutes. Also, there is a promo for fastcraft ferries. You can avail the return fares and can be used within the year. It can save you almost thirty to forty percent of your fare when you avail the promo return tickets
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| SuperCat! |
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| Pre-Departure Area while boarding for Bacolod |
2. Arrived at Bacolod around 9:00am. Rode the "traysikad" from the port up to SM City Bacolod and then catch a jeep going to Silay City.
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| SM City Bacolod |
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| Sugar cane trucks are common sites in Negros highways |
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| Old houses in Silay |
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| Old vs. Modern infrastructure in Silay |
3. First stop: Silay City. Known for its famous Spanish architectures and arts across the town. There are different old museum houses across the town. Some of the places we visited:
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| The Town Plaza |
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| Silay City Hall |
3.1. San Diego Parish Church
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| The beautiful church |
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| Inside the church |
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| The way to the altar |
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| The Dome |
3.2. Balay Negrense - an old houses that belongs to sugar baron during the Spanish era houses old artifacts, photographs and furnitures. You need to pay a forty pesos entrance fee to visit the house.
3.3. Hofilena Heritage House - owned by Manuel Hofilena, this house is a guided tour. According to our tour guide, Gilbert during peak times, you need to book / schedule your visit to the house. Since we went there on Monday we were accomodated and guided in the house. It houses different expensive artworks from known Filipino artists such as Amorsolo, Luna, Malang and even Rizal. There are also artworks from famous Spanish artist Goya.
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| The Hofilena Heritage House |
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| The Sala |
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| Receiving Area |
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| The antique grand staircase |
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| Antique Religious Icons |
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| Antique Religious Icons of the Poor |
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| Carved saint in antique wood |
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| First comics |
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| Tektite stones |
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| The kitchen |
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| The Grand dining area |
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| Sinaunang Banga and the toy horse |
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| Antique china ware |
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| The front |
4. Visit Talisay City. From Silay City, we rode a jeep going to Talisay. Once we were at the terminal, we hired a taxi that would take us to the Ruins. It was a good decision since there are no tricycles around the Ruins and it was located at the middle of sugar plantation in Talisay. The structure resembles Italian architecture and it was built for the wife of owner as a symbol of their love. It was razed to the ground by USAFE during World War 2 fearing that the house will be used by Japanese as a storage for ammunition and other supplies.
5. Going back from Talisay to Bacolod City. Quick sight seeing of Bacolod provincial capitol and wait for our boarding time back to Iloilo City.
Additonal detours: While in Silay, we were looking for an affordable lunch before heading to Talisay City. It was recommended to us to visit Golden Food park. The food was delicious and very affordable
:)
When I return to Negros, I will try these:
1. Visit the Bacolod Capitol. Due to time constraint we weren't able to drop by at the provincial capitol since we are catching the last trip of fastcraft at around 5:00pm in the afternoon.
2. Try cheesecakes and coffee at Calea. A friend of mine from Bacolod recommend me to try their affordable and yummy cheesecakes and coffee :)
3. Go to Mambukal Spring Resort. Visit their hotspring and have and overnight stay here.
4. Try going to Bacolod via plane. I will do this after squeezing this in my schedule and the next piso fare promo
5. Go to other towns in Negros Occidental such as Victorias and Pontevedra.
