I spend most weekends alone, pining for those days when the children were young and my wife was still alive. We always spent it together. That was many years ago. With her gone and both my children married, weekends torment me with melancholia.
So if an opportunity comes to break it, I never let it pass. It came on the last week of last month when my daughter asked if I was interested to go with her and her hubby to Bacolod. In a snap, I said, “Of course, I am.”
And it was a weekend of fun – for a change.
But first things first…
A few things about Bacolod you should know
Bacolod City, or Bacolod for short, is one of the leading business centers in Central Visayas, together with Cebu to the east, Iloilo to the west (see map).
A long drive of fun
Our road trip was not a single-car affair but a part of a 12-car convoy of Toyota FJ Cruisers – those big, expensive cars men-of-means love to drive on or off-road. Most came with family members except for one (or two) who were alone.
The group converged in a McDonald outlet in Talisay City at dawn, two Saturdays ago. After an hour or so of friendly greetings and filling stomachs (and emptying them, too), the convoy started rolling for Toledo City – for a ferry boat ride across the Tañon Strait to San Carlos City.
A member of the group greeted us on the other side, with a sumptuous lunch to boot. After we’re locked and loaded, we started rolling for Bacolod.
Around half-past two, we checked into our hotel, the MO2 Westown Mandalagan. It’s not 5-star, but the rooms are clean and big and the two twin beds were a welcome sight after being on the road for roughly 12 hours.
And I slept…
The total distance between Cebu and Bacolod is only 191.3 kms, but our travel time was stretched because of the numerous stops along the way, i.e. leg-stretching, bladder-emptying and, yes, the photo ops.
But there was never a dull moment. Each car has a kiddie hand-held radio to coordinate with each other and to exchange endless chatter.
The Ruins
My daughter woke me up around 4 pm and told me to get ready as we are rolling. “To where?” I asked. She answered “The Ruins.”
The Ruins is an awesome sight to behold. It is dubbed as the Taj Mahal of Negros – with a bit of hyperbole, of course. But it was built for love, too.
Here’s its story…
Maria Braganza was the wife of Don Mariano Lacson. Between them were 10 children. On the last term of her 11th pregnancy, Maria slipped and fell. This caused a miscarriage resulting in her untimely death. That was in 1911.
Her death left Don Mariano inconsolable with grief. To take his mind off his loss, and in remembrance of his beloved wife, in 1920, he built a mansion in his 440-hectare sugar plantation in Talisay, Bacolod (Talisay is now a separate city).
During the Japanese occupation, Don Mariano allowed the invading forces to billet in his mansion. In retaliation, Filipino resistance fighters burned it to the ground in 1942.
It remained in ruins until 1980 when Raymund Javellana, a great-grandson of Don Mariano, resurrected it as a tourist attraction.
And he did a marvelous job.
In its heydays, this mansion of Italian architecture had 10 huge rooms decorated with furniture from Philippine hardwood and floored with Machuca tiles (handmade cement tiles).
What is left now is an empty shell, albeit, echoing its past beauty and grandeur.
There is a pavilion for functions and conferences and another serving as a diner. A huge, well-manicured lawn is perfect for guests to stroll around and take photos with The Ruins as a backdrop.
The group was so engrossed with the enchanting aura of The Ruins not to notice that it was time for supper.
Chicken House – Capitol Shopping
Bacolod is probably enamored with chicken. There are so many chicken houses in the city it’s difficult to know which one is the best. In a dilemma like this (especially when one is famished), the best way is to let the locals do the choosing. And he made a perfect choice – the Chicken House Capitol Shopping.
Never mind the awkward business name, but its grilled chicken tastes great. Oh, they only serve chicken. But the size of our group depleted their stock of a certain chicken part those who ordered it had to settle for another part. LOL!
I was so hungry I dispatched mine with haste – keel with garlic rice downed with a cold bottle of Coke – and didn’t take any pictures of the riotous and hungry crowd.
For a nightcap, a few members drove to a new arcade (it’s so new it still smells paint) where the well-heeled crowd of Bacolod goes for a nightcap and conversation. As usual, I had brewed coffee.
Knowing Bob’s
Bob’s is, of course, Bob’s Restaurant and Pastry Shop – the group’s place of choice for breakfast. A Trip Advisor reviewer dubs it as the place that serves the “best burger in town.”
Being an early riser, I was not very optimistic about it. I knew that the group can’t be up and ready before 7 a.m. So I had mine at the hotel – after a few laps of jogging around the parking lot.
True enough, it was past 8 a.m. when the group started trickling out of their rooms.
But Bob’s did not disappoint. Even at mid-morning, the parking lot was already full. The place is well-appointed, the service is good and the patrons belong to the B and A categories.
I cannot say about the food as I only had coffee. My daughter and her hubby had a full serving and later raided the pastry shop to gift some people back home.
We almost missed it
While at Bob’s, word came that our 3 p.m. ferry back to Cebu was canceled for mechanical problems. Phone calls were immediately made to secure a space in Lite Ferries, an alternative carrier.
Once done, we made haste for San Carlos City (after the women made a quick shopping at Bong Bong’s Gift Center).
We arrived way past noon with most restaurants already closed except La Grotta where we had lunch. It is a dainty little Italian Restaurant in the middle of a subdivision. Since we had no more plans to go anywhere, we stayed there until boarding time.
We left San Carlos before 6 p.m., and I got home past 9 p.m. Though tired and hungry, deep within was a feeling of unimaginable joy for having a weekend of fun.
~oOo~
