DIY Bacolod Trip -- Silay -- Lunch at Sir and Maam Restaurant

After visiting the first ancestral house in our list, the Bernardino Jalandoni House Museum, it was time for lunch.

Silay seems like a quiet city. Our map, which came with some travel tips, mentioned Sir and Maam, and so there we went for lunch. 

From the Bernardino Jalandoni House Museum (and a quick stop at a Mercury Drugstore for bottled water), we took a tricycle to Sir and Maam Restaurant. It's really a small open-air cafeteria type restaurant.

It's quite clean and the food good. Their CR's quite clean too. Our map guide mentioned that their fresh lumpia is good. Unfortunately, they had already run out by the time we got there. So, we just ordered dinuguan and lechon kawali. Each serving is good for 2 small people. hehe.

Regarding the price, I would say that it wasn't cheap, considering that Silay, despite being a city, still feels like a quiet town. For rice, dinuguan, lechon kawali and bottled water, we paid P240 or P120 each. It's a "safe" place to lunch, if you're not sure where to eat and you don't have much time to walk around to look.

Next stop, the Balay Negrense.

Total spend for the day so far: P256

P63 - Victorias trip

P15 - Bus from Victorias to Silay (non-aircon)

P50 - Bernardino Jalandoni House Museum entrance fee (with guide)

P8 - trike to Sir and Maam restaurant

P120 - lunch at Sir and Maam restaurant

DIY Bacolod Trip -- Silay - Bernardino Jalandoni House Museum

From Victorias, we hopped on a bus that took us to Silay City.

Silay is known as the Paris of Negros and is home to a lot of really old (and well-preserved) heritage houses. This was were the rich hacienderos and sugar barons used to live.

There are only 3 houses that are open to the public -- the Bernardino Jalandoni House Museum, the Balay Negrense and the Manuel Severino Hofileña House.

The bus dropped us off at the Bernardino Jalandoni House Museum, which was just along the main highway and the bus route. The entrance fee (which includes a tour guide) is P50.

Because I wasn't able to take a pic of the facade, here's a sketch of the house:

 

The entrance signage.

 Some pictures of old Silay.

 A family portrait.

 The dining room.

19th century fridge. The info guide posted near the fridge said, "Ice in the late 19th century was brought over by steamboats from Massachusetts, USA. Ten ponds of ice was delivered daily to wealthy households for 5.00 pesos per month, an amount equivalent to 3,500 pesos today."

 The tin ceiling. Part of it was destroyed, but was aptly restored.

 Law books. If you're a law student like me, then you'll find this writer familiar:

According to the guide, this tree is older than the house, which is itself more than a hundred years old.

There's a CR for guests at the back. 

Next, lunch.

Total spend for the day so far: P128

P63 - Victorias trip

P15 - Bus from Victorias to Silay (non-aircon)

P50 - Bernardino Jalandoni House Museum entrance fee (with guide)

DIY Bacolod Trip -- Victorias

After exploring Bacolod City on our first day, we decided to exploring the neighboring cities as well. The staff at Tamera Plaza Inn, where we stayed, gave us really helpful directions.

Victorias
 
From the hotel, we took a jeepney to the bus terminal, where we rode a non-aircon bus to Victorias. A non-aircon bus is fine because: 1) it's cheaper and 2) it's not dusty, especially once you leave Bacolod City.

If memory serves me right, it took us about an hour to get there. With additional help from the policeman and a nice old lady who rode on the bus with us, we were able to get directions to the Victorias Milling Company plant where the famous old train was. We got off the bus at Daan Banwa, where we took a tricycle to the train.

Actually, it's just an old train on display. 

We asked our tricycle driver to take us to the other tourist spots. Unfortunately, he didn't know where they were. I guess it was the fact that it was nearing noon, we decided to give up and asked to be brought to the bus terminal that was just nearby.

The Victorias Milling Company is still operational and at the time that we went there were lots of sugarcane being brought in for milling. This was taken on our way to the bus terminal.

We didn't really plan on the Victorias trip so we weren't too sure about the tourist spots available. I hear there's an Angry Christ mural and other interesting things.

When you do go there, just make sure you plan your trip so you know where to go. Transportation is not a problem and sometimes tour guides are not that useful, especially when you've done your research. So it will save you a lot -- and it will be a fun adventure -- if you just commute and ask around because the locals are very accommodating and nice people.

We didn't have to wait long at the bust terminal for our next stop, Silay.

Total spend so far = P63
P8 - Jeepney ride from hotel to Bacolod Bus Terminal
P30 - Bus to Victorias City (non-aircon)
P25 - Tricycle ride to and from Victorias Milling Company

DIY Bacolod Trip -- Where We Stayed

We stayed at Tamera Plaza Inn. The hotel is located along Lacson Street, which is the main highway in Bacolod City.

The price was okay. We got our room for around P1,320 for 3 nights through Agoda.

Overall, the place was okay too. Here's a picture of our room:

It was pretty clean, EXCEPT the curtains, which I think was dusty and activated my mild allergies. The staff were friendly too and were very helpful in giving us directions. They even let us store some of our pasalubong in their ref for free. Also, I bought a 500mL bottled water through room service at P20. They deliver to your room (duh) even when it's pretty late at night too.

Location-wise, it's towards the downtown, but not too downtown. Being located along Lacson Street is a major plus in terms of accessibility. Commuting is not a problem.

Another con, which I think is not a major factor, is the breakfast. They do have free breakfast. One plate of Filipino breakfast, plus coffee or juice. Don't expect a very generous serving. Here was our daing na bangus:

They have hot water, aircon and cable TV.

DIY Bacolod Trip -- Dinner and Dessert

I've been to Bacolod for work several times before. Back then, we would usually eat lunch at Imay's, and I love, love, love their Bicol Express! So, for our first night in Bacolod, we decided to eat at Imay's.

We had the Bicol Express (of course!) and the sizzling pochero. For our drinks, we had the sun cooler.

Total bill: P530. The serving per dish is good for 2-3 persons. What we ordered was actually a bit too much for 2 girls, but we wanted to try as much as we can while we were there. :)

For dessert, we went to Felicia's. Our guide at the Negros museum told us about Felicia's, which he said was the new competitor of the more famous Calea.

It's just a few minutes walk from Imay's. Very near, actually. If you're from Manila or Cebu, you'll notice that Bacolod is actually quite chilly at night, in a good way.

We ordered 2 slices of cake. The sans rival and the chocolate cake. Both were very good. The chocolate cake's icing tasted a bit like the Yanyan chocolate. Total bill for the 2 slices: P160. The price is actually not so bad, considering that the slices weren't small at all.

We wanted to try all the other pastries too, but we just couldn't eat anymore. :( We even went back to the Lagoon Park before going to Felicia's to walk around and make space for dessert. Here are more pictures from Felicia's:

(Photo credits: Badz and Sandra)

Do It Yourself Half Day Bacolod City Tour

We had half the day to go around Bacolod City. In the hotel, I inquired about a city tour that was being offered. It cost about P2,000 each! Which was way way way too much. Map in hand, we decided to get to know the city ourselves.

From Manokan Country, we went to SM because Sandra had to pay her cellphone bill. Their SM is the usual, but it had signs of the Panaad Festival all over the place.

 

From SM, a few minutes walk away, is the San Sebastian Cathedral. 

 

The San Sebastian Cathedral is an old church. It was built using egg whites. Inside the church:

 

Candles for prayers. Their candles are different from the usual ones in Cebu...and more expensive too. But you can also use your own candles or buy from one of the vendors nearby.

  

In the church courtyard, the centennial belfry are displayed.

 They don't use it anymore. I don't know if it still works though. This is the inside of one of the bells. Someone hanged his / her bag inside.

After saying our prayers, we walked across the street to the Bacolod Public Plaza.

 

We rested for a while under the shade and this white Christian guy gave us this pamphlet:

Next stop was the Dizon-Ramos Museum along Burgos Street. We actually walked there from the public plaza because we weren't sure how to commute. It's not that far though. About 10-15 minutes walk. Entrance fee is P30, and you get a tour guide.

It's the ancestral home of Raymundo Dizon and Hermelinda Ramos, hacienderos who belonged to the upper crust of Negrense society. They've long gone and passed away. Their son, who's a priest, has converted the old house into a museum. Aside from the family collections, the museum also display art from other artists, some for sale. When we got there, there was a Maskara display in the front desk area, which was a separate building from the house.

 

 

They still kind of freak me out, but they're really beautiful masks. Very detailed and very well-done. Some are worth a few thousand pesos. Some aren't for sale. Each one is unique and a lot of people buy them as collector's items or for display. This one was the freakiest:

There was a Chinese art on display also. 

At the foot of the stairs leading to the living room is this wood sculpture from Baguio.

You go up the stairs to enter the main living area of the house. On display here are the original furniture and things that the family used during the life of Mr. and Mrs. Dizon-Ramos, Negrense hacienderos who belonged to the upper crust of society. 

Under the main living area is what used to be the office and storage area of the family for their business. Now, it's being used as display areas, not only for the family's things, but also for other pieces of art. When we went there, there were modern / scientific art on display such as this one:

There was a room dedicated to the Holy Land. One of the children, who was a priest, spent a few years in the Middle East and had a vast collection of memorabilia and other collectibles. The room even had murals done by a local artist.

Another room had toys on display. These 2 dolls stood out.

After the Dizon-Ramos museum, we decided to make a stop to the Sto. Niño shrine. Being Cebuanos, we felt that it was just one of the things that we needed to do. Unfortunately, the place was closed. 

Our next stop was the Negros Museum. From the Sto. Niño shrine, you just have to walk to the corner to Burgos Street, and take 2 jeepney rides to the museum. We got lost when we rode the wrong jeep, but the locals are very very friendly. We eventually found our way.

The entrance fee is only about P60 or less. If you're a student, it's cheaper. And that comes with a guide. You can only take pictures of the ground floor, though.

Here, you will learn a lot of Negrense history. From the pre-Spanish to the modern times. There's even an old manual record player that the guide will play for you using an improvised needle. Sadly, the museum couldn't afford to have it fixed. On the brighter side though, it shows people (especially the kids that go there), that you don't really need all those electronics to have fun or to play music.

We ended our city tour by watching the sun set and walking around the Lagoon Park. A lot of locals visit the park, as well as jog around the lagoon. The lagoon has thousands of fishes, which I think you're allowed to feed. There's also a playground. If you're worried about security, there are guards posted around the place, so it's relatively safe.

(Photo credits: Badz, Sandra)