Late post…

Just like any trip that I will go to, food will always be a vital part of my trip.  One of the reasons why I go to different places is to try out their specialties.  Bacolod is known for its Inasal (in English, grilled food) so I tried to have grilled food in every meal that I have in Bacolod (but I didn’t have that much grilled food so there is nothing to worry about taking too much cancer causing agents during that trip).  So day 1, I had grilled spare ribs of Chicken House which is one of the best tasting spare ribs that I’ve ever had, which I mentioned in Bacolod Day 1 on October 16th.  In the evening we went to a Pala-pala, it’s like a small wet market with a lot of small restaurants that you can go to and have the food that you bought cooked the way that you want it cooked.  Day 2, we had breakfast at the Sunset Beach Resort, ate fresh Lumpia at Bongbongs, a delicacy store in Bacolod and had a take out at a local chinese restaurant for Dinner.  Day 3, we had breakfast at one of the stalls in Mambukal, I had Chicken Inasal (which was a bit weird for I can taste the ginger but it wasn’t that bad for the chicken was juicy and was cooked just right) and had chicken inasal again from a stall named Carmel’s in Gaisano Mall in San Carlos City.

In all that we had in Bacolod, I’d say yes to the Chicken House’s Spare Ribs, the fresh chinese lumpia in Bongbong’s, the Grilled Pork in Mambukal and the food that was cooked in Tulahan ni Leah (the dinner that we had in the Pala-pala).  For the rest, let’s just say it was all charged to experience. 

This is a late post…

At around 5PM, October 16, 2009, we checked-in in a resort in Silay, Negros Occidental.  We couldn’t find any available accomodation that is within our budget in Bacolod City so we were forced to check out the resorts in Silay which is a town 30 minutes away from Bacolod.  Sunset Beach Resort is a nice choice if you are a group travelling in a tight budget.  You can get a room for Php 1,250, for four people, with 4 single beds.  However, don’t expect too much on the facilities and commodities that goes along with the accomodation though.  The water in the shower room tasted and smelled like rust, the towels are not as white and as new as the towels in five star hotels or the hotels in big cities.  So if I were to rate the resort, I’d give it half a star if I will compare it with the other resorts that I’ve gone to like the Alegre Beach Resort.  But I’d give it 3 stars, if it will be based on the budget.  I mean, where else can you get an airconditioned room with 4 beds, a cabled TV and a swimming pool for PHP1,250 per night?

Arrived in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental at 12:20PM. Was not so impressed by the place. It’s not far from how Tacloban and Catbalogan look and feel like. Now I understand why they say it is laid back compared to Cebu and Manila.

The Principal, Senyorito, Mother Len, Father Stephen and I had lunch at Chicken House in the East side of the city. I had spareribs as suggested by the Mother and I have to agree that it is good. I think it is even better compared to the spare ribs of Casa Verde and Moon Cafe. It tastes better and at a cheaper price. How cheap? One serving is at Php 55.

P.S. At a cafe right now hoping to do my PDC courses on Time Management. Sad thing is, it’s not loading. And there is a kid behind me who is playing by himself and sings the same song over and over.

little tim

How I wish I could afford to threat my team and my friends on a small getaway. At Bantayan maybe and see them enjoy and smile and forget about their stress at work.  It’s lovely to hear other people laugh and make fun of each other.  I come to love Bantayan through Geraldine and Kristha.  Geraldine for she paved way to me having a connection to the locals by meeting some of her family who lives in Bantayan who happens to own the Balikbayan Restaurant there.  They even prepared a wonderful dinner for my team.  Kristha because she made me walk to a local bakery store to buy “Pandesal” early in the morning.   We went to the town and saw one of the oldest churches in the Philippines.  These are small experiences but gave me a small glimpse of how the locals live their every day life.  Now that I am writing about our trip to Bantayan, I realized that in all of the resorts that we went to, that was the first time that we interacted with the community.  More often than not we would stay inside the resort walls and leave for a tourist spot and then go back to the resort.  And I also realized how much experience I actually missed.  Hmmm…

Here are some of the pictures that I took during our trip to Bantayan.

I went through Wena’s blog today and saw her pictures with MJ.  Looking at the pictures it seems that MJ is a good travel mate.  And so I ended asking myself if I will be as good as a travel mate as MJ.  I once saw this add on a travel network that said “It will be better to travel alone than travel with a bad company”.  Well, from what Wena placed on her blog on her last travel abroad, I’d say MJ is a great company for they were able to meet new friends.  Imagine if that was me.  Like Weng, I am hesitant in talking to strangers even at work, I seldom talk to new acquaintances.  My friends are mostly friends of my friends.  I seldom make friends that are complete strangers to me.  Unlike MJ who is very out going.  Imagine how it would be like in a foriegn land.  I guess people will just see me come and go without knowing who I am or who I was.

I saw this tour package on TV and I was really hooked.  OMG!  Imagine you get to stay in Dakak for 3 days and 2 nights!  Come on where else can you find a tour package like this?!  Here are the specifics of Buklod sa Dapitan package:
 

MINIMUM OF 10 PERSONS PER GROUP

Inclusions

• 3 Days/2 Nights tour in Dapitan City for a minimum of 10 persons or pax per group
• Roundtrip airport/wharf–resort transfers (drop-off and pick-up). Daily transfers for the whole tour destinations as indicated in the itinerary
• 2 Nights Room accommodation at the Family Pavilion inside Dakak Park and Beach Resort with daily breakfast
• Full meals include lunch and dinner outside (also served during River cruise and Fishpond cruise, schedules of which depend on given itinerary)
• Fantasyland tour where you ride all the fun rides (available by March 2009)
• Historical Tour to Rizal Shrine and other sites
• Visit to Gloria de Dapitan leisure complex and experience nightlife and shopping in Dapitan City
• River cruise and Fishpond cruise

Just visit www.buklodsadapitan.com for more inquiry.  Now if I can only find 10 people to go with me. *sigh*

Alright, the first thing to do if you want to travel abroad is to get a passport.  Weng and I have planned to go to Bangkok however, since I don’t have a passport, I can’t go anywhere whenever I want to just yet.  So sad, but I am planning to get one.  It’s just that it will take a lot longer than the usual for I will need to get an approval from a government agency first for I have signed a contract for my scholarship that I will work in the Philippines for a certain number of years before I can go out of the county.  Oh well.  I guess that travel plan will have to be put aside for now.  Well, at least until I get my passport.

I don’t know why but a lot of things changed when I worked in a call center. Before, I used to be a home-body. I always look forward to my rest days for that’s the only time when I can truly spend my time at home. Watch TV, read books, listen to music but now I look forward to outings more than that of spending my time at home. I guess it’s because of the level of stress that I have to endure each day at work to meet the company’s goals. Going on a holiday is a way to get some time off from everything! From the city and from the people that you interact with each day (well, at times that’s true). And one of my favorite destinations are beach resorts. And the ultimate beach resort destination that I’ve been to as of the moment was Alegre Beach Resort in Calumboyan Sogod Island, Cebu. It is one of those resorts in the Philippines that are like hotels combined with luxury and nature. Luxurious because of the amenities that they offer their clients. A bathroom is covered with marble tiles from the floor to the ceilings, a bath tub (complete with mint bath salt and mint scented bath gel), a shower room (with bath gel, bath soap, shampoo and conditioner all mint scented as well), a counter top (with a bar soap and lotion which is mint scented as well and get this… a hair dryer!). That is why, most of my colleagues were so excited about the bathroom. But what I love about the resort are:
1. The bed that was so comfortable that I slept like a baby.
2. The restaurant that served the best dishes and the best leche flan so far (it was so good that I think I’ve felt euphoria).
3. The surroundings especially in the morning (I’ll just post the pictures again for you to see what I mean).
4. The crew who are so nice and courteous (I think I have said Good Morning a dozen times in one morning! I guess that’s the reason why I had a great morning that day.)

Alright, I guess am making a lot of fuss about this and I know there are a lot of other resorts who offer the same things but like what I’ve said, this is the ultimate resort that I’ve been to as of the moment and the best experience that I had in a resort. That’s why am writing about it but that doesn’t mean I will stop going to other resorts and stop meeting new people and stop experiencing new things. Because who knows I might have better experiences to write about. Right?

I don’t know exactly when this church was built.  All I can say is this was built in the Spanish Era based on it’s structure.  St. Catherine’s church is located in Carcar City, Cebu.  It’s a 45 minute to and hour ride from Cebu City.  I went there with my friend David and Alfonso.  I didn’t know it then but it turned out we love old buildings and we love to take pictures of the places where we go to.

*Again pictures were taken using my Sony Ericsson k700i phone.  Lovely!