Bacolod, the City of Smiles. It is home to the Masskara Festival and unending lines of restaurants. One might even be tempted to consider it as the Food Trip Capital of the Philippines. To get a clearer overview of a trip to Bacolod City, one has to consider that the tour would not be limited to only the tourist spots in the city itself. The nearby cities of Talisay and Silay should also be included in the travel guide and itinerary and so is the much farther town of Murcia where the seven waterfalls of Mambukal National Park is located. My first trip to the province occurred in 2010 and I have since been back thrice after that.

Here's a rough sketch of our five-day stay in Bacolod.  This includes our side-trip in the cities of Silay and Talisay which is actually still part of Metro Bacolod: 

I T I N E R A R I E S   
 
  Day One
    Café Bob’s
    BREDCO Port Revisited
    Grand Regal Hotel 

  Day Two
    San Sebastian Cathedral
    Capitol Park & Lagoon
    La Corona Café
    Sweet Greens Deli Café
    Calea
    Dinner at The Ruins

  Day Three
    San Diego Cathedral
    Silay Ancestral Houses 
    El Ideal Bakery & Refreshment
    The Bernardino Jalandoni Museum
    Balay Negrense Museum
    Café 1925
    Resto Grill sa Baybay

  Day Four
    Lupit Church
    Business Inn
    Virgie’s Homemade Products
    Starbucks Global Icon City Mug

E X P E N S E S
 
Transportation: P1,807.60

    P717.60 - Roundtrip ticket Manila to Silay City Airport via Cebu Pacific Promo 
                  (2 Persons, P358.80 each)
    P400.00 - NAIA 3 Terminal Fee (2 Persons, P200.00 each)
    P400.00 - Silay Airport Terminal Fee (2 Persons, P200.00 each)
    P000.00 - Transfer from Silay Airport to Grand Regal Hotel (free)
    P300.00 - Transfer from Business Inn to Silay Airport (P150.00 each)

    * Jeepney, Tricycle, and Taxi fares not included for going about the city *

Accommodation: P2,929.00

    P999.00    - Twin-sharing room at Grand Regal Hotel | 1 night
                      Tel No. (034) 708-5888 | (034) 708-5588
    P1,920.00 - Twin-sharing room at Business Inn | 2 Nights (P960.00/night)
                      Tel No. (034) 433-8877 | http://bacolodbusinessinn.com/

Food:  P3,311.00

    Day One   - P519.00
        P405.00 - Lunch at Café Bob’s 
        P114.00 - Grocery for coffee, snacks
    Day Two   - P1,230
        P160.00 - Breakfast at La Corona Café
        P265.00 - Lunch at Sweet Greens Deli Café  
        P190.00 - Snacks from Sweet Greens Deli Café (Banadas and Patties)
        P 80.00  - Calea cake dessert
        P535.00 - Dinner at the Ruins
    Day Three - P800.00
        P180.00 - Breakfast at El Ideal Bakery
        P170.00 - Early Lunch at Café 1925
        P450.00 - Dinner at Resto Grill sa Baybay
    Day Four - P762.00
        P369.00 - Breakfast at the Business Inn
        P393.00 – Lunch at Café Bob

     * Pasalubongs and Souvenirs not included *

T O T A L   S P E N D I N G S
    More or Less P8,047.60 (for two persons or 4,028.80 per person) 
                   
     
Places that we were not able to visit or revisit:

    The nearby Guimaras Island
    Mambukal National Park
    Negros Beaches

We dropped by Café 1925 to cap off our half-day jaunt in Silay City.

We were still a bit full from our late breakfast at the El Ideal Bakery so we just ordered some drinks; Cafe Mocha (Php45.00) for me (I would have preferred it ice-blended but they don’t have those) and Iced Tea (Php45.00) for L. We paired it with Bruschetta (Php80.00), which is toasted homemade bread topped with tomatoes, garlic and parsley.

Ever since our first outing in Bacolod, the Balay Negrense Museum had been recommended again and again by the people I’ve talked to regarding the city. Though technically not really in Bacolod City, being located in Silay, it is still part of the Metro Bacolod and a staple attraction in the area.

Originally the residence of the Gaston Family, the house was built in 1897 and was left unused after Victor Gaston died in 1927. It then slowly degenerated through time until a group of concerned locals banded together to fund the house’s redevelopment into a lifestyle museum.

Since the Balay Negrense Musuem would not open until 9am, we headed to the nearby Bernardino Jalandoni Museum first which was just a minute’s walk from El Ideal Bakery. We really had no inkling as to what this museum holds, but since we’ve got time to kill, we decided to check it out anyways.
 
A guide greeted us upon entering the museum’s cool and cavernous lobby. It used to be the garage for horses and carriages back in the day. Jorge Po, as he introduced himself, was soon busy escorting us in and around the many corners of the museum.

We started at the ground floor where photographs of the historical mansions around Silay City and the family’s doll collection are displayed. Also parked inside was a caroza with a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which according to our guide is still being paraded during Holy Week around town.

Up the wooden staircase, we were introduced to the opulence of life back when sugar was still a prime commodity and Silay City the center of the trade. This was the era when the city shined like Paris every harvest season.

The floors of the Bernardino Jalandoni Museum were made of thick hardwoods shipped from Mindoro, the ceiling embossed with tin ceiling trays imported from Germany, and intricate wooden furniture dot every corner of the house.
 
This quarter is every antique collector’s wet dream; graceful rocking chairs, opulent chandeliers, intricate rugs, massive tables, elaborate dressers, old-world beds and expensive musical instruments like the wooden harp at the living area, the expensive Steinberg Piano and the rare Stradivarius Violin are all housed in it.

Huge family portraits also hang on every wall of the living area and it’s easy to see how this place might give someone the heebie-jeebies.

The tour lasted for almost an hour, with our nifty guide giving anecdotes and what-nots about the pieces around the house, the events that had unfolded in the different rooms, and the people that had once lived there.

And as tour ended and we exited out into the veranda, my mind’s eye saw how the sugar barons of Silay City’s glory days must have stood where I was standing, dressed in garbed clothing and a smoking pipe in hand, keeping watch over the never-ending fields of sugarcanes across the horizon.

Visiting the Bernardino Jalandoni Museum made me realize the rich history of Silay City and gave it a unique character that vastly distinguished it from any other cities I stayed in.

 

Bernardino-Ysabel Jalandoni Museum
Open Hours: Tuesdays to Sundays and Holidays 9:00AM – 5:00PM
Address: Rizal St., Silay City, Negros Occidental
Contact Number: (34) 495-5093

 

After our morning hunt for Silay City’s grand old mansions, we finally gave in to our tummies and headed to El Ideal, the oldest restaurant in Negros, for our much-delayed breakfast.

Entering the antiquated bakery, we were transported to bistros of bygone days. Similar to Bacolod’s La Corona Café, it exudes an air of eateries found in the sidestreets of Carriedo in Manila. The floors were bare concrete and the painted walls devoid of any decor. The expansive interior was lighted by vintage fixtures hanging across the ceiling (which I remember from my childhood days) and draped windows streaming in light from the outside.

One thing that makes Silay City unique from any other city in the country is the number of heritage houses located in its vicinity. The city has 31 National Historical Commission-verified houses as of last count, outgunning its more famous heritage town counterpart in the northern part of the country, Vigan.

We did an impromptu walking tour of the city right after checking the San Diego Cathedral in search of the Balay Negrense Museum. Every tricycle and pedicabs that passed offered us a ride but we declined with a smile. It would have wasted the morning that greeted us that day for it was such a grand one.

It was five in the morning and Bacolod City was still asleep. We exited Bacolod’s Business Inn lobby and asked the guards on duty for instructions on commuting to Silay City (which is basically one city away from Bacolod). Considered as the Paris of Negros, it had been the center of culture in the region during the Spanish era and not a few poets, artists, architects and politicians have sprung from this place.

After half an hour of being chilled by the morning air rushing through our bus window, we alighted at the town’s tree-laden plaza. The city was just waking up and a few pedestrians were already milling about its street lined with quaint buildings.