Iloilo – Bacolod Day 3 (Going around Bacolod – Part 2)
Itinerary for the Day:
Iloilo New Port to Bacolod Port, Campuestohan Highland Resort, The Ruins, SM Bacolod, Aida’s Chicken, Masskara Festival, Bacolod Port to Iloilo, Chika-an at Robinson’s
It’s about an hour ride from Campuestohan Highland Resorts to The Ruins. Once you get there, you’ll have to pay an entrance fee of P95.00 per person. I think the rates differ when you’re a student but I’m not sure since I could no longer avail of this.
From the entrance that we took, the first thing you’ll see is a huge park. It has a rather nice scenery if you wish to take a picture but we went straight for the Ruins since it was quite hot that day.
The Ruins, known as the Taj Mahal of Negros, is a mansion that was built by Don Mariano Lacson, a sugar baron, in honor of his late wife Maria Braga. During the World War 2, members of the USAFFE burnt the mansion down in order to prevent the Japanese from making use of it. It currently serves as a historical landmark and depicts a story of love and war. Romantic, isn’t it?
It was around 2:00-3:00pm in the afternoon when we got there but it looks like the best time to visit the Ruins would be from before the sun sets and until night. I’ve seen other people’s pictures of the Ruins in the evening and with the lights illuminating the facade? Simply majestic!
Unfortunately, we couldn’t wait that long since the Masskara festival would start soon. Anyway, aside from the structure that remains of the beautiful mansion, you can take a tour of the place and see some relics of the past. You can also visit their souvenir shop which was converted from one of the rooms. In case you get hungry or thirsty, there are also a number of stalls outside such as freshly cooked corn dogs and piayas. If you ask me, I would have preferred that they placed the souvenir shop outside, so as to truly preserve the authenticity of the place.
After going around the Ruins, we took the taxi and asked to be dropped off at SM Iloilo. Another one of must-tries in the area, Aida’s Chicken is just at the back of SM.
You could think of Aida’s as similar to or rather the original Mang Inasal – and serves their own blend of grilled chicken and BBQ. Despite it being on an afternoon, the place remained quite packed probably because of the festival. They’ve also decorated the place with colorful masks to show that they’re part of the festivities too! Aside from us, there were also a lot of other foreigners that dined in here.
Total cost for 3 people (we had 3 orders of chicken and rice, 3 coke, and pork BBQ) was around P505.00. After our meal, we asked around to find out where the best place would be to join the Masskara Festival.
The Masskara festival is held in Bacolod every 3rd weekend of October. Masskara, coming from the English word “mass”, and Spanish word “kara” meaning face, is a festival reminding us to smile in spite of the challenges that we face. In the early 1980’s, it started as the city’s way of coping up with the effects of a poor economy. Now, it provides a venue for different schools and communities to showcase their talents in art and dance. On Saturdays, elementary school students are scheduled to compete and perform with the local government officials as the judges.
After an hour or so of watching kids in colorful costumes and masks strut their moves, we took the ferry and went back to Go Hotels Iloilo. For dinner, we ate at Robinson’s Place Chika-an which was right next to our hotel. With our tummies filled, legs sore, and life catching-up, we went to sleep and prepared for the last day of our Iloilo – Bacolod trip.
