Enjoying The Ruins: M and M

It was almost noontime when we reached Talisay City, Negros Occidental which is just a 10-minute ride from Silay City. From El Ideal you can walk straight to BDO where buses and vans bound for Bacolod City and Talisay City can be found. Funny thing was we tried to speak in Ilonggo since I knew some words anyway but to no avail. It was a challenge when its time for us to pay for our fare. I needed to come closer to the driver to tell him exactly where we're going and to ask for the fare. Good riddance, the van driver dropped us off right in front of Pepsi Bata where tricycles going to the Ruins were parked.

Tricycles were readily found below the bridge. I then negotiated for our roundtrip ride settled at PHP150. Worth the price because it was a long way ride and not that easy to find esp for first time visitors. As of September 2013, here's the entrance fees info.

Been goin' thru other blogs and they indeed gave justice to this place. Nestled amidst sugarcane plantation, this well maintained place has its charming appeal to a couple like us knowing that it was built by Don Mariano Lacson in memory of his first wife, Maria Braga, evident by their initials found on its walls. 

M and M

It looks like an E but its actually flipped letter M's which stands for Mariano and Maria. I got this info from Roger, the ever famous funny tour guide. Famous? well his youtube vid ranges from 545 to 237,244 views. Here's a link: ROGER the funny tour guide of THE RUINS Negros Occidental. He was actually one of our trip's highlight so I never missed the chance to have a picture with him and of course to give him a pat on the back for a job well done.

Now that's Roger at the middle

It was a treat when he took this picture, a famous spot of this mansion. Thank you Roger, 'twas a delight meeting you.

We enjoyed touring the entirety of the mansion, its interior, mini park, fountain and garden.

Interior

The rest of it

PS: This is part of my Bacolod and Siquijor Itinerary last September 2013

A Glimpse of Silay City - "The Paris of the Orient" and "Museum City"

We arrived at Bacolod-Silay Airport around 6:45am. First stop was the tourism booth, where we got the Silay City Heritage tour map. Thanks to this friendly policeman who gave me the map.

We walked up to the airport gate and hopped on a tricycle going to Silay City. Get refreshed by the greenery you'll see along the way.Yup, sugarcane plantation and lots of it :) Known for its "haciendas", Silay is indeed the forefront of sugar production. It has been told that European performers would visit Silay and its known for lavish parties back in Spanish era. This coined the term, "The Paris of the Orient" by chroniclers.

We dropped off right in front of the public plaza which is  right across the San Diego Cathedral.

San Diego Cathedral


Here's a sample map I got from the internet. 

The map that we got from the tourism booth was more detailed wherein you can find 26 ancestral houses. Three of these namely, The Balay Negrense (Don Victor Ancestral House), Don Bernardino Jalandoni Ancestral House and Manuel Hofilena Heritage House were converted into Museums. 

As of today there are 29 surviving ancestral houses. No wonder Silay was dubbed as "Museum City" by travel writers.

It was around 7am when we started our tour, as expected the ancestral houses were still closed for public. No worries, the walking part itself was a delight plus the sight of an entire neighborhood of ancestral houses that you'll pass by was amazing. Its as if you're back in time when everyone's wearing "barong at saya".

These are some of the ancestral houses that we passed by.

Manuel Hofileña Ancestral House

The Balay Negrense

Cinco de Noviembre Monument

Green: Jose Ledesma Ancestral House
and Sen. Jose Corteza Locsin Ancestral House

To cap our Silay City Tour,we ate at El Ideal known for its Ilonggo Delicacies. We didn't missed to try their tasty Molo Soup and Gwapple pie before heading to The Ruins, located in Talisay City, Negros Occidental.

Here's my entry for our itinerary and list of expenses By Air, Land and Sea: Bacolod-Siquijor Getaway

By Air, Land and Sea: Our Bacolod-Siquijor Weekend Itinerary

It's my birthday month. Another year to celebrate life and its intricacies. Original plan was to spend our weekend in Siquijor but after checking out the map and Cebu Pacific's promo fares, we decided to take a 45-minute flight to Bacolod before heading to Siquijor. Our target expenses should not exceed to PHP11,000. With a well-planned itinerary we managed to spend PHP11,441.16 for this trip, just PHP441.16 over than our budget. It would have been less if Dady's slippers cooperated during our Mambukal tour (one strap down) and if there was a nearby restaurant from Hotel Charisma in Siquijor (their food ranges from 120 and up). Here's the rest of our itinerary.

DAY 1

September 28, 2013

Bacolod City

06:45am         Arrival

09:00am         Heritage Tour-Silay City

11:00am         The Ruins, Talisay Brgy. Bata

11:30am         Off to Bacolod

03:00pm         Lunch, Check in, Siesta

03:30pm         Manokan Country

06:00pm         Mambukal Mountain Resort

07:00pm         Off to Bacolod City

08:00pm         Dinner, Calea, stroll at Lacson St.

Expenses (in PHP)

Airfare (Cebu to Bacolod)	897.08 each
Tricycle (Airport to Silay City)	15 each
Breakfast (El Ideal)	206
Pasalubong (El Ideal)	172
Jeep (Silay City to Bata)	15 each
Tricycle (The Ruins)	150
Entrance Fee (The Ruins)	80 each
Jeep (Bata to Central Market, Bacolod)	15
Ong Bun Pension House	530
Taxi (to Manukan Country)	50
Bacolod Inasal	306
Trisikad (to SM Entrance)	20
Jeep (Central Market to South Bus Terminal)	10 each
Bus (to Mambukal)	35 each
Entrance Fee (Mambukal)	50 each
Slippers	100
Bus (to Bacolod)	35 each
Dinner: 7 eleven	168
Calea	175
Taxi (Lacson st to Pension House)	80

Total Expenses: PHP4246.16

Day 2

September 29, 2013

Bacolod, Dumaguete and Siquijor

05:25am  On board Ceres aircon bus going to Dumaguete
11:30am  Arrived at Dumaguete port (right in front of the Boardwalk)
12:00nn   On Board Jaylan craft going to Siquijor
01:00pm  Arrived San Juan, Siquijor
01:20pm  Checked in at Hotel Charisma

Expenses (in PHP)

Taxi (Pension house to South Bus Terminal)	55
Breakfast	155
Bus (Bacolod to Dumaguete)	335 each
Boat Fare (to Siquijor)	100 each
Tricycle (Siquijor Port to Hotel)	250
Hotel room (Hotel Charisma, Deluxe room)	1400
Lunch	500

Total Expenses: PHP3230

Day 3

September 30, 2013

Siquijor

08:00 am  Pick up from Hotel Charisma
11:30am   Island Tour
11:30am   Off to Siquijor Port
2:30pm    Off to Cebu City

Expenses (in PHP)

Breakfast (Sari Sari store)	75
Packed lunch (Hotel Charisma)	400
Island Tour	1000
Entrance fee (Salagdoong Beach Resort)	25 each
Souvenir (Salagdoong Beach Resort)	120
Parking fee (Cambughay Falls)	20
Driver Tip	200
Boat ride (to Cebu City Ocean Jet)	1050 each

Total Expenses: PHP3965

Check out my other entries for this trip:

The Ruins, Talisay City
Silay City Heritage Walk
Bacolod City and Murcia