A memoir of journeys made

January 14, 2011

Whilst everyone was flying to Cebu for the Sinulog Festival, I along with 2 of my closest girl buds flew to stay overnight in the city of Bacolod for some food tripping. Mmmm!

I was able to book really cheap tickets a few months before. Our roundtrip airfare costs 550php and that’s for the 3 of us! To maximize our stay there, I booked the first flight out and the last one in. We were tempted to travel to Cebu for the Sinulog but the thought of spending 6hours to travel from Bacolod to Cebu made us decide against it. And since we were flying into Bacolod, might as well enjoy what the province has to offer. ;)

We got to the airport at quarter to 4am and our breakfast was at the 7-11 store inside the airport. When we got to our gate, the other passengers had already started boarding the plane that was why when we got inside, there was almost no space for our bags in the overhead compartment, well, almost ;)

Negros Occidental’s Silay Airport is new and looked nice. To get to our hotel by not spending much, we first rode a tricycle parked just outside the airport’s premises. If we’d opt to wait for other passengers to reach 6pax, that means we’d only have to shell out 10php each. However, we got a special trip so that’s 60php for us 3. We were dropped off at the main road  wherein we rode a minibus bound for Bacolod, bus fare costs 13php each.

New Bacolod Silay Airport

Getting out of the airport

Tricycles waiting in line

First in our agenda was to check in to our hotel. We stayed at Luxur Place. I wanted to stay at The Suites at Calle Nueva but the former’s pool swayed the majority into its favor. Wifi’s provided for; rooms were quite spacious and their housekeeping’s efficient. Turns out that Luxur Place used to be the convention center in the area but almost half of the place is being rented out to a call center. That was why there were people almost always hanging out by the pool, smoking. And there’s no direct jeepney route to get to the area. :( If you’re heading down to Bacolod,  the most convenient place to be is at Lacson Street. It’s being developed for tourists because this is where their famous restaurants are located as well as where you’ll find  landmarks like their Capitol. After settling in and getting refreshed, it was time to head out. :D

I love sweets! Since Calea is famous for their sweets, this is the perfect place for me to visit! The place is located along the corner of Lacson and 14th St. If  you can’t choose since they all look so good, just ask for their best seller. ;)

Ice cream chocolate cake!

Mmmm!

After satisfying my sweet tooth, the next in the agenda was where to eat proper lunch. hehehe We want some chicken inasal and the place to have it is at Manokan Country which is near SM. But since we’re still full, we decided to walk to get there. Not a bad choice really since we did pass by several landmarks like the city’s Capitol, Cathedral and a museum. Gave us enough time to digest our food. :)

Children running around by the Capitol

With travel buddy, Irene...

...and Abby :)

The Cathedral

It was too hot to walk all the way since we weren’t using any umbrella. We decided to ride a multicab for the last stretch to get to Manokan Country. Probably a hundred meters ride. hehe Manokan Country reminds me of Dampa though you wouldn’t be buying your chicken live. It’s just that there were many eateries selling the same kind of good food side by side and at an affordable price at that (it can cost anywhere from 20-65php). Also, they serve oysters for 30-40php per plate! Nice!

Since it was already late in the afternoon, we went back to our hotel. But passed by SM to buy some drinks and snacks (fruits) to munch on. When we got back to our room, we took a nap. But our nap turned into a sleep for several hours. I was woken up by the sound of the rain pounding our window. I figured, we wouldn’t go out at such a weather and went back to bed. We were planning on going to Mambukal for some spa. They woke up at different hours too. We did get out of room though but only because we were hungry. We bought some foods and ate it by the pool. It would have been a very good place to hang out save for the other people loitering there with cigarettes on hand. Well, we’d just wake up early to compensate for tonight. ;)