Bacolod the City of Smiles

BACOLOD CITY - 

the "City of Smiles" as they say. Bacolod city is the capital city of Negros Occidental, located in Western Visayas region in the Philippines. Me and my gang went here in time for the "Maskara Festival", the famous festival known for the capital city. 

It was last October 26, 2013 where we experienced the place. It was tiring in coming here since we didn't took a plane. Since we were adventure seekers, from hometown Cebu City, we took a bus, then a slow boat, then bus again for total of 8 hours until we reached Bacolod City. 

It was around 4:30am that the Ceres Bus departed from the North bus terminal, Cebu, and it took about 2 hours to reach Toledo Port where we took a slow boat. 

We rode Lite Shipping and it also took another 2 hours tops to get to Don Salvador Port in Negros Island. Playing cards were a way for us to not get bored during this long trip.

We were very lucky that we got a place to stay. During the festival, all hotels, pension houses, inns/lodging houses were all fully booked so, if you don't have any reservations at these times then it will be very hard to look for a nice play to stay that will be closer to the city proper. Where we stayed was a bit small for our group. It was sort of a boarding house and very cheap actually. There were no great amenities in the room, it was just one room for all of us. Nevertheless, it was clean and the owners were really good to us and very accommodating.

MANOKAN COUNTRY

Aida's manokan was definitely the best! Manokan country was like a compound of sellers where chicken BBQ's were sold. We took our lunch here before we started our journey. The best thing here was that they served chicken parts in bigger portions and the sauce covering the BBQ was truly mouth watering. Their pork BBQ was my favorite not just how it looks but the taste, its very juice would really stay in your mouth.

THE RUINS - 

The Ruins was one of the popular tourist spot in Bacolod city. This was a residential house and sadly it met its fate by being burnt down. It was easy to commute around the city since the jeepney fare was only 7.00php and the entrance fee here was very minimal.

I was totally blown away upon the mere sight of it. The structure was very huge. I can only imagine the lives that ones lived in this mansion, truly elegant.

A-Grade Concrete was used in the construction of this mansion. I was really fascinated as to how passionate the owners were in building their house.

The structure, design, and their attention to detail was very remarkable.

What a picturesque view! The Ruins looked like a great painting from afar. The ground that we were sitting on was so huge. We even played around here while waiting for the sun to set.

These beautiful lady and gentleman greeted us as we made our way inside the Ruin. They don't spoke to us nor move. They were live statues put their to add a mysterious vibe to the place.

MAMBUKAL RESORT

I was fascinated by this resort 'cause I never thought it would look beautiful. It was just an hour bus ride from the city proper in going here. The entrance fee was minimal and so as the other family-adventure-like rides inside. The resort offers the very famous hot spring and the cold spring. This was indeed a nature-like trip.

The Mambukal Resort ongoing rates as of October 2013. The rates may change though from time to time.

This was a very nice view. As I passed by this scenery, I felt like the place was just mine, so serene.

The resort also offers extreme sports for those adventure seeker guests such as wall climbing and zipline. Well, we tried zipline. It was not so steep and not too scary because it was just short and the scenery was all trees. Me and my good friend, Rizza, did a little bit different to spice up our zipline adventure. 

Yes, that's right, we did it upside down! Whoaah! This was super thrilling and my first time to try this pose. It was super cool the moment we swayed through the cables. The experience was just amazing!

Before we head home, a lady outside the gate of the resort was selling this delicacy. It was not tempting to look it but it only cost so cheap like 5.00 php so I tried it and my oh my it was very tasty. I believe the yellow part was margarine and I just don't know what the white and violet thing was made of. But it was very flavorful.

CALEA -

Who couldn't resist this mouthwatering desserts? Us of course! Calea is a dessert and sweet restaurant fit for those people with a sweet tooth. They have many flavorful cakes to choose from.

Blueberry Cheesecake, my all time favorite cake! We bought one box to be shared by all of us. The taste was so heavenly that I had to take a bite after bite.

PALAPALA SEAFOOD GRILL & RESTAURANT

The food here was great and cooked fresh. Since it was also a Maskara Festival, there were a lot of people in the restaurant and presentations were going on. They even had fire dancers all over the place entertaining people having good eats.

The service here was good and place had a good vibe. one of my favorite dish was this spicy shrimp. Very spicy indeed.

Bacolod City is more than just the city of smiles. I say this is also a gastronomic city, a place where good food resides!

**Useful info of my expenses: (All rates are in Php)

Bus (Northbus Terminal) Cebu to Bacolod via Don Salvador – 350.00

Bus Bacolod to Cebu via San Carlos – 130.00

Boat (standard) – 200.00

Terminal fee at Toledo City port – 15.00

Terminal fee at San Carlos – 20.00

V-hire Toledo City to Citilink Terminal Cebu City – 100.00

Jeepney fare in BCD – 7.00 (mostly)

Tricycle fare in BCD– 10.00 (mostly)

Mambucal bus rountrip – 35.00 per way

Mambucal entrance – 50.00

Activities inside mambucal– 50.00 (mostly)

The Ruins entrance fee – 80.00

Bed spacer – 250.00 for 3d/2n stay

Ciao!