point-shoot-exposed!!!! (Bacolod City January 25-28, 2013)

tres marias (photo courtesy of Faith)

It started with an idea of my friend Faith. She sent us a group message stating that she wanted to spend her birthday somewhere (her birthday was mid-January)... Naturally, the kaladkarin in me agreed, without any idea where we will go and who will be going with us. Nice booked us a flight and lo' and behold there were only four of us who will be on this trip, one of whom (I met for the first time a week before the flight...not in any of the pictures coz I dont know him well enough to invade his privacy haha). Why Bacolod?!? I have no idea. I just went along... (kaladkarin nga e!hehehe)

sea of clouds

I entitled the whole trip as EAT.PRAY.LAUGH Bacolod Edition. Why? Its because all we ever did was just that---EAT lots of food, PRAY for guidance and LAUGH. 

There were a lot of food to fill all my tummy's desires. Went to their Cathedral and paid homage to my alma mater (well, sort of being from DLSU and all) the LaSalle Museum. And laugh till my stomach can no longer take the ab-workout.

We stayed at a very nice and cool hotel named...O-Hotel located near San Sebastian and Lacson Street. Its very near to where to heart of the city...only a few minutes away to SM Bacolod, plazas, church and other places. The cab ride is also cheap, most of the time our fare was just (give or take) P50, with a flat-down rate of P40.

Our flight was at 5:30pm Friday night and we landed at 6:35pm. We were greeted by the hotel driver Manong Ricardo who was very very nice and was holding this uber big sign with Nice's name on it. He was surely hard to miss!

checked in time

our room.... uber nice!

lobby 

EAT.

As I've said all we ever did was, eat, eat, sleep, explore and eat some more. The food was pocket-friendly and very delicious. A little bit on the sweet side though, but then I was reminded that I was in the sugar-cane capital of the Philippines.

So here are (some of) the food that went into my mouth and straight down to my tummy bulge! Yes I was only (technically)  in Bacolod for three nights and three days but I'm telling you, the food made enough damage to my belly to last me a few months (or more) in the gym. But I'm not complaining haha

We first had dinner at Imay's Restaurant, as suggested by the hotel staff. We were so hungry that we only took a few photos. We ordered adobong pusit, Chicken Binakol (basically Tinolang Manok cooked with native chicken and Buco juice), grilled Blue Marlin (uber yum!), and another one I forgot what its called and forgot to take a picture of! We ordered a punch which is basically a lemonade with lots of cucumber, orange and kalamansi. It is an acquired taste as the cucumber is a bit over-powering! haha  I'm not really a fan of Chicken Binakol as it was too sweet for my taste but I love, love, love the Grilled Blue Marlin and the adobong pusit.

Chicken Binakol at Imay's Restaurant

Grilled Blue Marlin (photo courtesy of Faith)

punch

Breakfast for our three-day stay was buffet type and every day they served different type of dishes. Here's my breakfast day1...

coco crunch is love haha

pancakes!!!!

Day 1, we had our tour of Bacolod. It comes with a free lunch and we had ours at Timeout Restaurant. B-u-S-o-G!

Tinolang Manok

grilled liempo

 After the tour, Nice and I were (still) craving for some sweets that we called room service and ordered an oreo split. hee hee hee

so sinful! tsk tsk

Then we head for dinner at Bar21. Simply because of their famous Bulalo Batchoy. The restaurant was kinda fancy, I thought I was a bit under-dress as I was just wearing my fitflops sandals. (What do you expect? I'm in a vacation, I wasnt planning on eating fancy dinner). But that was just the fine. 

menu 

Bar21 by day

But the place ran out of the Bulalo Batchoy. We were told that they sometimes ran out of Bulalo as early as 5pm. We were devastated but decided to try out a few things on their menu.

They were yum. My friends were playing food critic, but all is well with me haha I'm sooooo easy to please!

Fried Ravioli at Bar21

fish with cheese parmesan at Bar21

chicken something (we copied the other table's order!) at Bar 21

porkchop (I have no idea) at Bar21

 We went to do some karaoke and drank some strawberry margarita. There were other pica-pica like tacos, cheese sticks and french fries but I stuck with alcohol! Ha!

strawberry margarita at MO2 Bar

 Day 2. We ate lunch at Manokan Country. It was heaven for chicken lovers. Then again the famous Chicken Inasal started in this province. Chicken at your heart's desire!!!

yup, we conquered Manokan Country (photo courtesy of Faith)

The food was so cheap and delicious. No utensils needed. We ate using our hands!

Inasal at Nena's

Dinner at Cafe Uma. Sarrrrap but a little bit oily! hehehe

Grilled platter daw

Osso Bucco

Garlic Rice

The day is still not over until we tried (and tasted) Calea. Known for their delightful cakes. Rumor has it that Manila peeps tried to take Calea from Bacolod and bring it to Manila. But they failed because the owner wanted it to be a true Bacolod pride. :)

And indeed it was something to be proud of! The cakes were not too sweet...just perfect!!!

triple layer chocolate at Calea

almond thingy (hehehe) at Calea

Chocolate Cake at Calea 

Cafe Mocha at Calea

Day 3. Our last day in Bacolod. And we were not going to leave the place until we tried the famous Batchoy! So we went back to Bar21. And it did not fail us. 

tummy satisfied!

Bought some Napoleones for pasalubong.... but I just had to sneak a bite (....or two!haha) Sarap kasi e! I could eat the entire box of this, I tell you! And the box consist of a dozen Napoleones! tsk tsk

Virgie's Napoleones

PRAY.

And then we prayed. Part of our tour was to visit the San Sebastian Cathedral. We went back again to this church to hear the Sunday mass the next day. Although I have no idea what was being said during the mass (just grasp a word or two,) the sense of community was wonderful!

San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod built late 1800s

inside the church

I forgot the name of this Lady but was told that if you want to get pregnant, you as for her intervention

100 year old belfry

We also went to the LaSalle Museum where most of the exhibits were religious statues and relics.

Our Lady of Manaoag

My Fantastic 7--- The Archangels

LAUGH.

Whatelse to do when traveling with friends but laugh and have fun... as shown by these pictures.

you jump, I jump.... WE jump!

Checkmate?!? Seryoso???  (photo courtesy of Faith)

We played cards...and we lost. Still we were beaming with smiles!

the culprit for the above photo

we pose for pictures just about anywhere (photo courtesy of Mark)

...and no matter where we were, its the company we keep that makes traveling a joy!
(photo courtesy of Mark)

EXPLORE.

Saturday was our tour day. We were fetched at the hotel at 9am and went straight to The Ruins, the highlight of the tour. Said to have been burned many years ago and owned by one of the affluent families in Bacolod. The place has its rustic and still romantic allure. I was told a lot of weddings happen here.

I simply loved the architectural design. (Yes, gumaganon ako!hahaha)

kalesa

love this spot

fountain

We also went to the city hall...both the old and the new, of the Bacolod and Negros Occidental. 

happy travelers

Provincial Capitol of Negros Occidental

Bacolod City Hall

RANDOM THINGS...

Things I saw along the road...

Echoserang froglet!

I want my own Coat of Arms!

The weather report says there's a 60% chance of rain. I say...where?!?

vintage phone at Cellar

why, hello there! (at Cellar)

beautiful Bacolod sunset

streets are ready for Chinese New Year

hmmmm what to choose?! (at Cellar)

love the alignment of light posts

over-all the travel was a success! Bacolod was indeed the city of smiles....and those smiles were contagious as we left the city with a smile and wonderful memories.

still smiling,

prettytwistedchick