negrense

i spent the past 3 days in bacolod for our data gathering. even during june 30, a special holiday, i had 2 meetings. but before the usual late afternoon rains came, i was able to squeeze quick trip to bacolod's nearby cities, talisay and silay on that day.

when you're in negros occidental, they say that you really need to see the ruins in talisay city. this mansion, built by don mariano ledesma lacson was torched during WWII by the USAFFE so that the japanese won't be able to use it as their headquarter. entrance was 4o pesos for non-negrenses and i'm glad that i saw it. again, the rains came, so i wasn't able to see it during sunset.

silay city is known as negros' paris. with heritage houses lined up in the city center and all well-maintained, it can be compared to vigan. the difference i guess is silay's heritage houses are much 'younger', most were probably built in late 1800s and silay's heritage houses are usually usually fenced inside a traditional mansion-type alta sociedad villas. picture below (left) is the ancestral house of former rep. teddy boy locsin's family.

of course, i got an everyday sampling of negros' chicken inasal. while walking around bacolod, i also tried their very own sinugba (no picture) and ilonggo dinuguan.

bacolod and its nearby cities are not hurried despite their economic progress, much to my liking. not much traffic, except in front of robinson's place and the people are really nice. it's a place to go to if you want to get that city-style relaxation without the usual urban rush. since it has a lot to offer aside from these heritage houses, i hope that next time, i get to see more of negros. (",)