This probably is my shortest travel so far this 2014. I just negotiated with my Economic Analysis professor to deliver my presentation first just to catch my chosen fast craft’s last trip (3:45 PM) to Bacolod City which unluckily was cancelled though, thus making me burn my seat for another hour. Good thing, the new port is in the new Philippine Ports Authority building with anti-muggy-feels ventilation and the waiting area is now public friendly.
For a comprehensive and easy read fast craft schedule of ports in Iloilo, just click http://exploreiloilo.com/guide/iloilo-ferry-roro-fast-craft-schedule/
After extensively deliberating alternatives of where to serve our digestive systems their proper dues, we decided to try on a seafood gastronomic experience at a famous seafood restaurant in the City, the 18th St. Palapala Seafood Grill and Restaurant.
If Cebu City has their “sutukil” and Manila their “dampa” and Iloilo City has the famous “Breakthrough” and Roxas City their “Baybay–Roxas“, Bacolod takes on the challenge with their Palapala Market offer where customers have an array of fresh seafood to choose from with the opportunity to choose what recipe to have faith on. Cooking was surprisingly fast considering that the main ingredients were from scratch and servings were colossal. 18th Palapala resto actually is just one of the blood-against-the-artery-walls riser in the said seafood havens.
What I love about this City is the wide selection of hangout hubs and cribs. It has two main roads: Lacson Street to the north and Araneta Street to the south; yet we opted to try Art District as per advised by my new Bacolodnon (term for people residents of Bacolod) friends.
It is never complete for a trip without a glass of Budweiser for the featherweight and a dozen of Red Horse beer for the iron-liver after a long day or after a delish dine out. Own the club but keep the population congested so the total bill shall be of no painstaking distribution.
If you are bored of the usual suite life in hotels and would want to try new establishments that are trickling with idiosyncratic features and bashing out mainstream modern interiors, try Casa Amparo in Lacson Street. It could seem to be like an uptrend horror pension house since the walls are covered with old family portraits and other memorabilia that could instrumentally trace a family tree. I feel like I was a scaredy-cat inside an super over-the-top ancient ancestral house but I didn’t show it to my friends for reasons of ‘impressing them’ of course and all those shit.
For a quick guide and future reservations, navigate at http://bacolodtravel.blogspot.com/p/pension-house.html .
The day following, our friends, with the aftermath of the alcohol deluge at the Art District, craved for a soup-based delicacy to put gravity back on track with their heads floating. And then destiny drove us to Sharyn’s Cansi House at Narra St. in the Old Shopping area. For food hunters, this resto will definitely make you feel coming back there again just for Cansi (sour beef broth), a local Bulalo with huge chunks of beef bone with marrow served on the side of extra soup in mugs. Definitely going back there, pocketing the fact that said resto won The National Search for the Ultimate Pinoy Dish fore fronted by the Department of Tourism (DOT), Unilever Foundations and the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Everything in moderation, dear calories.
At long last, the dream of all my Bacolod dreams – delving in the dainty Calea Pastries and Coffee. Me and my new friends tried their ice cream cake, but one of them I think had the worst regret of choosing the same for said cakes have to be eaten asap or else everything will “Let it Go”. Interior wise, the place is heavenly. Cake wise, succulent. Coffee wise, Namit! Calea is a munchpunch!
I have always believed that at the heart of travelling, experience is what I really love to gain with considerations of money not a lost investment but rather a humbling experience of climbing a little notch higher from your comfort zone, explore, learn but staying grounded. And yes, more friends and acquaintances. Networks, as Toyota people call it.
Somehow, I didn’t really get sloshed in the City of Smiles but it is one of the BEST just-over-the-night-and-a-day experiences of my nearly quarter life travels.
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