Negros Occidental: Road trip from Himamaylan to Victorias

Negros Occidental is one province I haven't really explored. Except that trip to Mambucal when I was still a kid, and a more recent visit to Silay City some years back, I've only really been to Bacolod City. So I decided to explore Negros Occidental before our family reunion in Bacolod.

Since I only had a few hours after the welcome breakfast prepared by our relatives, I decided to rent a car to speed up things. We drove down south as far as Himamaylan and made our way north to look for some interesting stuff. Along the National Highway was this continuous stream of sugar cane trucks. Negros is one big sugar plantation and all you see on both sides of the road is sugar cane.

The first old church we passed by was Binalbagan Church built in 1937. Except for the retablo, most of the church has been renovated. And it was such a hassle to get to it no thanks to a presidential visit. I was shocked that they stopped traffic on the National Highway just to let her convoy pass. So we had to make a lot of detours. In fact, she arrived in town exactly when I was standing in front of the church.

Anyway, from Binalbagan, we went to the next town which is Hinigaran. The Hinigaran Church, completed in 1858, is one of the best-preserved Spanish colonial churches in Negros Occidental. I was quite impressed with its well-preserved exterior. But inside was a different story.

While most of the interior was intact, I was surprised that they were doing some renovations, trying to mimic some European church since they had a large tarpaulin of a church interior they were trying to imitate. These priests really need to realize that our churches are not European! They are Philippine Baroque to be exact, a folksy style only found in the Philippines. Let's keep our churches Filipino please!

Hinigaran is a favorite stop as well thanks to Mila's royal bibingka which you could buy from Mila's Restaurant along the National Highway. Another favorite is the creamy buko pie which is quite different from the ones in Laguna and the rest of the Southern Tagalog since they really put in a lot of cream.

While we were having lunch at Mila's Restaurant, the presidential convoy passed by again. And there she was in a coaster with windows open, waving to everyone like a queen.

From there, we proceeded to Valladolid. The Valladolid Church is also of Spanish colonial vintage. It was twin bell towers. But just like many of our heritage churches, the interior has been modernized.

Bago City still has a few of its grand old mansions. One of those homes is the Gen. Juan Anacleto Araneta Mansion which is a National Historical Landmark. The grand ancestral house is now home to the local museum.

The Bago Church has a very unusual Neo-Gothic facade, built by the Augustinian Recollects in 1891. But again, the interiors have been modernized. The city plaza was the site of the historic proclamation of the Republica de Negros on November 5, 1898. This event is commemorated annually with the Al Cinco de Noviembre.

From Bago, we crossed Bacolod to get to Talisay City. There are two houses worth visiting there. One is the Lizares Mansion or the Balay ni Tana Dicang which is now a beautiful period museum and art gallery.

The other is the ruins of the grand mansion of Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson which is simply known as The Ruins. They have a restaurant there as well so if you like to have lunch or dinner amidst its old walls, that would be a great option. It's actually hard to get to and the roads are a bit bad. But see what proper conservation and marketing can do to promote the shell of an old house?

Anyway, since it was getting dark, I skipped Silay as well. Besides, you need a full day to explore this wonderful heritage city. And I've done it before. I'll try to visit Silay again when I get back.

Our last stop for the day was the Chapel of the Angry Christ inside the compound of the Victorias Milling Corporation. Did you know that the UP Chapel was originally designed for the Ossorio family? But I guess it doesn't matter now since the current chapel is itself a work of art.

The central figure of the vibrant altar murals is an image of Christ with a burning heart, standing on skulls and a serpent. It's that image from which the chapel gets its moniker since the church is actually dedicated to St. Joseph the Worker. These murals were painted by Alfonso Ossorio. Around the church are mosaics that were made using broken soda bottles.

I rushed back to Talisay City to attend an event at Balay ni Tana Dicang. But I decided to take that photo of The Ruins before it got really dark.

Negros Occidental: MassKara Festival 2009 in Bacolod City

MassKara Festival in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental is one of the best festivals in the Philippines. My father's side is from Bacolod. But I've never been able to watch it until this year thanks to a family reunion that was purposely coincided with the MassKara Festival.

The MassKara Festival was first staged in Bacolod City in 1980. It's been held annually during the weekend closest to October 19, which is the Charter Day of Bacolod City. So this year marks the 30th time that the festival is staged.

The street parade is held along Araneta Street and makes its way to the Bacolod Public Plaza. Good thing it is walking distance from our house. There was a Schools Category held on October 17. But we weren't able to watch that since that was the day of our family reunion.

But we did get to watch the Open Category right before we flew out of Bacolod City on October 18. Although a street dance parade like many festivals in the country, the MassKara Festival is very unique because of the intricate masks that accompany the colorful costumes. I was able to see the dancers up close and indeed, the effort put into creating the festival masks is astounding and commendable.

I particularly liked the masks of Barangay Mandalagan. Their colorful masks looked very elegant and neatly-done. It's a good thing they won the Best in Mask Award.

After the parade, there was still a dance competition in the Bacolod Public Plaza. But since we had a flight to catch, so I was content with watching the competition and awarding on TV while waiting at the airport. I would have wanted to stay longer. But contrary to popular notion, traveling and blogging aren't the only things I've got on my plate.

Congratulations to Barangay Taculing, the champions of MassKara Festival 2009! Same goes to the runners-up Barangays Mandalagan and 23!

NPVB unveils its first tourism directional sign in North Philippines

Brown is the internationally-recognized color for tourism directional road signs. It's really a pity that our tourism signs in the Philippines are either blue or green. But the North Philippines Visitors Bureau (NPVB) will be correcting that error by installing several hundred brown tourism direction road signs in North Philippines.

Last November 17, 2009, the NPVB unveiled along the Jose Abad Santos Avenue (formerly Gapan-Olongapo Road) in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga, the first of several hundred tourism directional road signs. Leading the unveiling was Hon. Lorelei C. Fajardo (Deputy Presidential Spokesperson), local officials led by Pampanga Governor Eddie T. Panlilio, officials of the Department of Tourism, Department of Public Works and Highways, and the North Philippines Visitors Bureau, its network of local Conventions and Visitors Bureaus and its Corporate Partners.

The installation of these brown tourism markers along major thoroughfares in North Philippines is being undertaken as part of NPVB's effort to improve the tourists’ travel experience to its regions, where most tourist destinations are reached via land travel.

Two hundred fifty of these markers will be erected all over North Philippines, which are being made possible through the participation of SMART Communications, Robinson's, McDonald's, and Victory Liner.

NPVB is a private sector led, not-for-profit, membership-based organization with the mandate of promoting tourism in the regions of North Philippines. Currently, NPVB has a network of nine (9) local Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs) in Pampanga, Greater Clark, Greater Subic Bay, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union, Baguio, Ilocos Norte and Cagayan. The network was set-up by MNTC as part of its on-going CSR effort. In 2008, management of NPVB was transferred to ActivAsia Inc. – a 360 degree, brand activation Company.

Under ActivAsia’s management, NPVB published the first-ever regional tourism magazine called Northbound Magazine. Now, NPVB proudly rolls out its latest project – the tourism directional road signs.

Vince Araneta, ActivAsia’s Director for Tourism Marketing and concurrently Executive Director of NPVB said, “This project is not the work of one, but the work of many - MNTC, Smart, McDonald’s, Robinson’s Land, DOT, DPWH and even SBMA – these markers are a result of the partnership and cooperation of all these parties. What began with the brown markers along the NLEX and DOT Usec. Oscar Palabyab’s dream of having the markers outside the NLEX as well, is now happening. ActivAsia’s role, was simply to make the dream a reality.”

Batanes: Book now for the 2010 Ultimate Batanes Culinary and Heritage Tours!

Ultimate Philippines Tours announces its Batanes schedule for 2010. We're posting our tour dates early for the benefit of those who want to plan their trips way in advance, especially the balikbayans.

Tours leave Manila early morning Friday and arrive back mid-morning Monday. We have six dates to choose from: (1) March 6 to 9, (2) March 20 to 23, (3) April 9 to 12, (4) April 30 to May 3, (5) May 14 to 17 and (6) May 28 to 31.

The tour fee is Php34,000 all-in, which includes the round-trip SEAIR Manila-Basco flight, accommodation at Fundacion Pacita, all meals, activities and transportation in Batanes. Due to increases in rates of accommodation for next year, we had to increase our tour fees. But if you deposit the P15,000 down-payment on/or before December 15, 2009, we'll give you a Php2,000 discount on the tour fee.

To reserve for the tours, please e-mail reservations@ultimatephilippines.com or contact my tokayo, Ivan Man Dy at +63 917 3291622. Find out more about our tours here.

Imang Salud ensaimadas in Town & Country Philippine Edition (November 2009)

Our family ensaimadas are featured in the November 2009 issue of Town & Country Philippine Edition:

CLASSIC CONFECTION
We bring some good news to the ensaimada connoisseur. Imang Salud ensaimadas are soft and rich, not too sugary, with real butter and topped with nothing less than Holland queso de bola. Its traditional "heirloom" Kapampangan recipe dates back to the 1930s, developed and modified by Salud Dayrit-Santos, one of San Fernando's renowned cooks of her time, and passed on from one generation to the next. Her granddaughter Meliza Henares introduced the recipe to Manila in 2005. This homemade ensaimada is delightfully huge--six inches in diameter, to be exact. Its rich, buttery flavor literally melts in your mouth and the sharpness of the imported queso de bola is balanced beautifully with the right amount of sugar. Once you take that first heavenly bite, you'll be craving for more. These delicious ensaimadas and other delicacies like plantanilla and tibuk-tibuk are available every Sunday at Imang Salud, Henares' stall at the Legazi Sunday Market in Makati. Plantanilla are rich and delicate crepe-like eggrolls filled with sweet latik, also made following an heirloom recipe of Lola Salud. Tibuk-tibuk, dayap-flavored maja blanca, is made of carabao's milk and coconut milk. If a relative abroad is homesick and craves traditional Filipino sweets, just let Henares know; she can prepare your pasalubong and pack them especially for travel. Henares accepts orders at 0920.947-8819 and 837.0842. (Mawi de Ocampo)