Hey yo, hey yo! How have you been? I am very sorry for being missing in action for the last few weeks. I’ve been really busy with trips, work & engagements. My siblings & I also moved out of our house of 12 years. Imagine the amount of things we packed! Anyway, I’m super happy I finally have time to write again. I have so many trips & things to share with you. I know I haven’t started posting about my recent Japan trip, but I’ll definitely put up the posts soon.
Last weekend, my current & former colleagues went on a 48-hour spontaneous tito (or tita for my female friends) weekend trip to the City of Smiles, Bacolod. The city is located in the Visayas & is the capital of Negros, Occidental. The city is popular for the annual Masskara Festival (Festival of masks), the abundant sugar cane plantation & the famous piaya snack.
Now back to the trip. Don’t expect this to be an adventure-filled weekend. We flew to Bacolod with no plans at all & our goal was to have a break from the busy life in Makati. Let me share with you the whereabouts this 48-hour relaxing trip to the City of Smiles.
Plane Ticket
The trip started when my friends & I (a group of 7 people) booked a return Bacolod ticket for ₱3,706 each last January 2019. We found the fare deal in one of Philippine Airlines‘ low fare sale. The tickets include in flight snacks, 7 kilograms carry-on baggage allowance & 10 kilograms of check-in baggage allowance. Considering the flight schedule, flight dates & the fare inclusions, the ticket we got was worth it. Plus, it’s Philippine Airlines – our country’s flag carrier. Philippine Airlines’ fares are not as affordable as low cost carriers’ fares, except during seat sales.
Our flight left Manila at 3:55 in the afternoon & arrived Bacolod at 5:15 pm (with a few minutes delay). The flight back left Bacolod after 6:00 pm & arrived Manila before 7:30 in the evening. The schedules were perfect – we only took the Friday afternoon off from work plus we had enough rest time after the trip.
accommodation
Our trip was pretty last minute so the famous accommodations were already booked out. Good thing we found Jay’s property in Booking.com. The units were in CityScapes Bacolod, a relatively new residential building along 6th Avenue, a few meters walk from Lacson Avenue. We booked 2 units (one unit for the ladies & 1 unit for the gents) for 2 nights. It only cost us ₱970+ per person already for 2 nights. Affordable, right? The units were equipped with private shower & toilet, free Wi-Fi, private balconies, small refrigerator & a whole lot more. The units exceeded our expectations.
Click this link to check out Jay’s property at Booking.com. You may also opt to contact him directly for bookings – his number is +639477786688. Book early, his units are always in demand.
around bacolod
We flew to Bacolod without any plans at all. The only thing in our mind was to rest, eat the best chicken inasal & have dessert in Calea. We figured out our itinerary when we arrived. We initially thought of spending a day in Lakawon Island but we got stressed by expected travel time & resort / island fees. We decided to just go to the nearby upland town & go around the city. Check out the following places we went to & the local restaurants we tried.
The Ruins
The Ruins is an ancestral home mansion of Lacsons. It is located in within the family’s plantation in Talisay City. The house was burned down during the World War II. The remains of the mansion after the fire is now Negros Occidental’s most famous tourist attraction.
Aida’s Chicken Inasal
A visit to Bacolod is never complete without having the famous chicken inasal. One of the best places to have this staple Bacolod food is in Manokan Country, right beside SM City Bacolod. One of the most visited restaurants in this place is Aida’s Chicken. We went here for dinner on our 1st night.
Bacolod New Government Center
My friends & I stopped by the Bacolod New Government Center to have a photo with the big BACOLOD signage.
Don Salvador Benedicto
Our driver recommended that we go on a half day tour to Don Salvador Benedicto. It is a small town 45 minutes to an hour away from Bacolod City. This municipality is called Negros’ Little Baguio because of its location in the mountains & its (not so during our visit) chilly weather. We went to different viewpoints & Instagram-worthy places, plus Nami Island-like place full of pine trees. We also saw Malatan-og Falls from afar; we had no more time to hike down to the falls.
Balay Negrense
Balay Negrense is another ancestral house previously owned by the prominent Gaston family of Silay City. The house was abandoned years after the death of Don Victor Fernandez Gaston & was later turned over to the Negros Cultural Foundation & the Philippine Tourism Board. The house was restored into a museum in 1994 & was declared a heritage site by the government.
Seaside Restaurant
We headed to a seaside community in Silay City to have lunch. I forgot the name of the place but it’s a small row of ‘paluto‘ restaurants that offer cheap but fresh seafood. My friends ordered 2 buckets of oysters at ₱65 per bucket. We also had rice, buttered shrimp, pork sisig & liempo & a few more dishes for a very affordable price.
Calea Pastries & Coffee
Calea Pastries & Coffee is Bacolod’s most famous dessert place. They have a large range of cakes & pastries to choose from. They also have a wide variety of coffee & drinks to try. We were a group of 7 so we each got a unique cake of pastry. Their best seller Imported Chocolate Cake was so-so. We liked the pecan apple pie & pistachio cake.
Negros Occidental Provincial Capital Grounds
We dropped by the provincial capitol grounds before going back to our accommodation. We took photos of the building against the sunlight & the partly blue sky.
21 Restaurant
We had hopes of having batchoy for dinner at 21 Restaurant only to find out they only offer it until 5:00 in the afternoon. We had no choice but to order other kinds of food. We still had a good meal even if we felt we were under-dressed (we were in shorts & shirts).
Ted’s La Paz Batchoy
We can’t get over the fact we missed 21 Restaurant’s la paz batchoy so we decided to have lunch at Ted’s. Batchoy is a local noodle soup with round noodles & pork, chicken or beef as flavor. The broth is very rich & tasty. The soup is best paired with pandesal or puto (steamed rice cake). Ted’s la paz batchoy originated in Iloilo (another Visayan city in Panay Island) & fortunately has branches in Bacolod.
Felicia’s Pastry Shop
We spent our last few hours in the city at Felicia’s Pastry Shop. I didn’t try their signature chocolate cake because it didn’t look enticing to me. I got the pecan cheesecake instead. It was okay, nothing special. Their ensaymada with signature hot chocolate was so good!
Pendy’s Napoleones
One of Bacolod’s famous delicacy is napoleones. It is a pastry made of sugar, egg, flour butter & milk topped with white sugar glaze. In my opinion, Pendy’s & Roli’s have the best napoleones in the city. We went to Pendy’s the updated price as of early March 2019 is ₱18 per piece or ₱180 per box of 10. It’s a must buy pasalubong from Bacolod, of course together with the famous piaya.
That basically sums up our quick 48-hour trip to Bacolod last weekend. We basically went there to have food trip. Everything was relaxed & spontaneous, no plans or whatsoever. I look forward to more trips like this.
Any suggestions on where I should go next for 48 hours? Or maybe have you been to Bacolod? How was your visit? Which food or place did you enjoy most? Feel free to start the discussion in the comments below. You can also share your thoughts via email to contact@thewkndtravel.com. Make sure to follow me & please also help me in promoting my social media channels – Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
Until the next 48-hour weekend trip! I don’t have anything planned or booked yet but let’s see where I’ll go next.
PS. Photos were taken using my HTC U11.