Travelling for work is not at anyway a luxury. Most of the times your itinerary revolves around the airport, hotel, restaurants and clients. Your working time extends to late night and weekends to completely cover the objectives of the trip. This was how usually it was with me. But if I didn't turn the opportunities into gold, I may have eloped with my backpack and thrash all the work documents the moment I saw a bus with a sign "going nowhere".
So, in June 2010 when I landed in Bacolod on my first leg of a West Visayas OB trip, I made use of the small gaps I had in between my priorities and my real life. A big thanks to some friends who made it possible for me.
Guintubdan Mountain Resort
How to get there? I don't know. Maybe Mr Google can help but unfortunately I cannot, I was out of directions at that moment because I just got off a plane, took a quick lunch and off we're gone driving through sugarcane plantations, wide plains and highways cutting through the mountains with thick forests and fog. I didn't know where we were heading and didn't see any road signs nor any motorists. Hour later we reached a lone establishment at a hill called Guintubdan. We were in La Carlota. It was a Sunday.
What's in there? Oh, a beautiful and gracefully flowing falls. But there will be some legs exercise before witnessing this.
Again, please refer to the ever-friendly WWW for details getting there because I was a clueless passenger the whole time. The only thing I can remember when on our way was we were caught in a very heavy rain right at the view of Mt Kanlaon.
What's in there? A hot spring, a sulfur pool, a mudpack experience and 7 falls. Interesting eh. It's been a go-to place for both locals and foreign crowd.
Dampa: Bacolod Version
It's not as organized and big as Macapagal's but the food was fantastic and way lot cheaper. We did Hyksos Tulahan and feasted on fresh shells, prawns and tasty fish dishes.
The place is located at Old Pala-Pala near SM and well-known to local public transport.
Eveytime I am in Bacolod, this is my comfort zone. It's recently improved, clean, peaceful, nice rooms, good food, relatively affordable rates and cool pool.
Bacolod Chicken House
It's never complete without a meal in here. All grilled, everything chicken. Iwi or chicken's ass is a personal favorite. Please take note though that the store operates in broken hours. Meaning on lean times (2PM to 4PM), it closes and opens right before dinner starts.
Balay Negrense
Balay means house and Negrense means people of Negros. It is an ancestral home preserved and maintained. The house was built in the 'old' community of Silay, an hour from Bacolod city. This is closer to the airport.
What's in there? Anything antique, from telephones, radios, furniture, staircases, statues, etc. All Spanish-inspired.
The Ruins
Not far from the ancestral houses is a used-to-be ancestral house itself but its wooden walls, interiors, floors and roof turned to ashes. The house was burning in 3 days. What remained are the concrete parts.
What's in there? An empty house. A huge frame of a house. A mansion. A beautiful surrounding garden. A water fountain in front. A very photogenic and symbolic structure.
There. That's pretty much not in my itinerary in Bacolod because I was there for work and should have just jumped between the airport, hotel, restaurants and clients. But I didn't, 'coz I have a life and I work only to live and not live only to work.
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