Time travel in Negros

It takes only about an hour by plane from Manila to Bacolod. That’s one quick way to get there. But there’s a more leisurely way, if you have time to spare and are willing to take the less travelled path. First, fly to Dumaguete. Spend the night. Then go on a road trip, from Dumaguete to Bacolod.

Who was it who said: “There’s no better way to learn geography than to see it yourself.”

This much I’ve learned. Bacolod and Dumaguete are both found on the island of Negros in the Visayas region, with Dumaguete City as the capital of Negros Oriental and Bacolod City, the capital of Negros Occidental. A mountain range cuts through the island, separating the two provinces.  It’s said that because of this natural barrier, the people of Dumaguete seem closer to Cebu, which is just across its northern waters, while the people of Bacolod seem closer to the Ilonggos of Iloilo on the other side. What’s common to both provinces are the sugar cane plantations which abound throughout the island, making Negros the country’s prime producer of sugar.

Our Cebu Pacific afternoon flight from Manila was comfortable and pleasantly uneventful, which is how you’d want your flight to be. As the sun set, we were driving down Rizal Boulevard, Dumaguete City’s famous promenade which faces the bay. We caught a glimpse of the oldest building at Silliman University, the country’s first Protestant university, built by the Americans in 1901.  We noticed the old acacia trees, which must have stood there since the time when our national hero, Jose Rizal, stopped here on his way to his exile in Dapitan. Even today, Dumaguete is a great place for a layover, if not a final destination. It’s popular among both local and foreign tourists as a jump-off point to dive sites such as Apo Island, which is just a ferry ride away, or dolphin watching in Bais Bay and Tanon Strait.

Just about15-20 minutes away from the domestic airport is gohotels.ph Dumaguete, which is located within the Robinsons Place Dumaguete complex at the Dumaguete Business Park. This budget hotel belongs to Robinsons Land Corporation’s fast-growing chain of hotels strategically located all over the country.  “It complements Cebu Pacific’s budget air fares and are located where the airline has destinations such as Dumaguete, Bacolod, Puerto Princesa, Tacloban, and soon to open in Iloilo,” says Adrian “Adi” Ong, gohotels.ph sales and marketing officer.  Book on-line and get the best rates at www.gohotels.ph .

Just a stone’s throw away from the hotel is the mall. Robinsons Place is “the first full service mall in Dumaguete,” says mall operations manager Mary Grace Tirthdas-Lim. It houses three cinemas, “the only ones in the city,” Grace says. We were also glad to see an outlet of the Sans Rival pastry shop, famous for their silvanas (great for pasalubong), inside the mall.

Dinner was at Mooon Café (yes, three o’s), one of many dining options within the complex. If we had wanted to venture farther out, we could have easily taken a ride from the public transport terminal nearby. But we needed to preserve our energy for the long road trip the following day, so we chose to get a massage back at the hotel instead.

We had no difficulty falling into a deep and restful sleep after the Japanese Shitao stone massage treatment by Sparkle (the spa also has a branch at gohotels.ph in Mandaluyong). A great part of the credit should also go to the chiropractic pillows and Windsor bed, manufactured exclusively for gohotels.ph. This is one budget hotel that does not scrimp on what truly matters, the comfort and well-being of its guests,  from such basics as full-length mirrors as well as  hand-held and rain showers, to the smallest details such as the multiple hooks on your bedroom wall, for hanging your clothes or towels instead of using the back of chairs.

The next day, after a hearty breakfast in the hotel, we were on our way. We headed northwards, passing along the coastal national highway through Sibulan, then making a short stop at the public market in Tanjay to buy budbud (Visayan suman) for our mid-morning snack, which we took inside the moving van.

After Bais, we left the coastal plains and started our ascent through the winding mountain roads of Mabinay.  Lying on the mountain range in the interior and central part of  the island, Mabinay is known for its many caves, numbering in the hundreds, mountain springs and waterfalls. One can imagine an adventure tour on motorcycles along its paved roads as well as off-road trails. Ceres Bus Line, the local passenger bus line, ply this route, and we saw a number of them along the way, headed in the opposite direction, coming from Bacolod going to Dumaguete. We also saw a number of open trucks filled with sugar cane headed for the sugar mills in Manjuyod in the lowland.

We stopped for a late lunch at Zaycoland Resort in Kabankalan. We are now in Negros Occidental.  We had been on the road for roughly three hours, with a couple of restroom stops along the way. It will take roughly another three hours before we reach Bacolod City. The ride is smooth and easy, past bucolic scenery, sugarcane fields, towns with fruit stands by the  roadsides —  singkamas in Binalbagan, watermelons in Pontevedra, mangoes from Guimaras  in Valladolid. There’s a century old church built in1858, the church of St. Mary Magdalene, in Hinigaran. This is also the town where you’ll find Mila’s, famous for its buko pie and bitchokoy (a local pastry).

You can’t say you’ve truly tasted the local cuisine unless you’ve tried Bacolod’s famous chicken inasal. That’s what we had on our first night in the city, at the Chicken House, a casual family restaurant on Lacson Street, walking distance from our hotel, gohotels.ph Bacolod.

Of course there’s more to a Bacolod food trip than inasal. There’s fresh seafood in abundance. Bob’s is a popular restaurant and a must-visit when in Bacolod. And naturally,  there are the sweets. Some of the best places to get them are at Felicia’s as well as Calea,  which is where we had our slice of cake and late night cup before calling it a day. We can’t  say we did not feel tired after the long road trip, but no one was complaining. Back at the hotel, the Livewell Spa and Massage in-room service helped us unwind and ease into blissful sleep.

North of Bacolod City are the cities of Silay and Talisay. The three cities comprise modern day Metro Bacolod. Time was when Silay was called the “Paris of Negros”. It was the center of art and culture, where wealthy sugar barons lived in mansions and vast haciendas.  You can still find traces of the opulent lifestyle of this bygone era, in the heritage houses still standing, a number of which have been turned into museums such as the Bahay Negrense as well as the Hofilena Heritage House, both in Silay.

 In Talisay, there is the Balay Ni Tana Dicang, a bahay-na-bato ancestral house which showcases original 19  th century domestic furnishings and paraphernalia.  It’s the love story behind ‘The Ruins’, the remains of what used to be a grand mansion in the middle of a vast sugar plantation,  that gives it its unique appeal. You can imagine it all lighted up at night, serving as  a romantic setting for an elegant wedding reception; almost like going back in time.

In the 1980s, the price of sugar in the world market crashed, and with it, the economic prosperity of Negros which was largely hinged on its primary product. But the resilient Negrenses were not to be defeated. They conceived the Masskara festival, characterized by smiling masks, to uplift their spirit despite the difficult times. The women folks turned to making handicrafts using indigenous materials and selling these at trade fairs in Manila. Eventually, the Association of Negros Producers was born. Today, you can find their products on sale at The Negros Showroom at the Central Citywalk of Robinsons Place Bacolod.

Robinsons Place Bacolod, which opened in 1997, was “the first full-service mall in  all of Negros,” says Joseph S. Sian, operations director for Vis-Min of Robinsons Land. With Robinsons Department Store and Robinsons Supermarket as its anchor stores, it also has six cinemas, one of which is 3D. “Sixty-five percent of the food outlets are home-grown.” Sian says, such as Green Tree Gelato Café, owned by young entrepreneurs Alvin and Joan Rongo. We enjoyed a sumptuous lunch at Chika-an at the mall’s Central Citywalk, (scallops, laswa, mongo done the Ilonggo way). 

Too soon, it was time to pack our bags and head for the new international airport  in Silay for our Cebu Pacific flight back to Manila, just when we were getting accustomed  to the easy and casual rhythm of the island. If you simply want to chill, this is the place.  

No rush. Take your time.