Tag Archives: bacolod

June 18, 2012

Save Bacolod Heritage, Save the City Plaza

By Mark Mayo - Magallanes

Inset: An old American-era picture of the Plaza, officially named Plaza del Seis de Noviembre.

In every town in the Philippines, once could not miss out the presence of a Plaza near the downtown area, the Catholic church or the main government hall. It is one of the Spanish Era‘s most tangible influence on our urban planning and even in towns or cities created after the Spanish, there would always be a space allocated for a Plaza. Plazas in towns created in the Spanish Era always has a piece of history attached to it being a witness to revolts and wars that plagued our entire nation’s history. Bacolod City Plaza is one of them for its very official name Plaza del Seis de Noviembre was from the date when Spanish Gov. Isidro de Castro surrendered to the forces of the revolutionaries under Republica de Negros.

Inset: Photo from San Sebastian Cathedral at a calesa race in the Bacolod Plaza.

Inset: Black and white film image of the San Sebastian Cathedral fronting the Plaza.

The Plaza became witness to the formal inauguration of Bacolod City on October 19, 1938, a few months after it gained the cityhood status on June 18, 1938 when President Manuel Quezon signed the Commonwealth Act that created the City Charter in Malacañan Palace. A tindalo tree that he planted at the Plaza together with first Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Montelibano, Sr. still stands with a marker as a tribute. For the Bacoleños, the sunken plaza became alive every Sunday after Mass at San Sebastian Cathedral since it was the primary place for leisure, football games for men and gossip for women. As I have mentioned in my previous article, the City Plaza served as a place for social media way before Facebook.

Inset: Old photo of the now demolished Ever Theater near the Bacolod CIty Plaza.

Inset: The aerial shot of Bacolod City Plaza taken from the northeastern end.

I spent my childhood days running around the Plaza after lunch in Snakee and later on Shakey’s that was once located in what is now the Negros Navigation Ticketing Office. At that time, I can still hear religious, political and social debates around the Plaza while traders of indigenous medicine and some honey traders explain about their products. Some snake charmers can also be seen but they are not like those in India, they were selling forest products. As I am an Evangelical Christian, I would spend time hearing the church bells and ask my Dad who was still a pastor in a Baptist Church at that time is inside San Sebastian Cathedral. Those were childhood memories of the Plaza still beautiful but is deteriorating.

Inset: Filipino-Japanese Friendship Garden, my favorite childhood spot now in disarray.

Inset: A beggar eating food purchased from alms at the Bacolod City Plaza.

My favorite childhood spot in the Plaza is Filipino-Japanese Friendship Garden where there was artificial falls with a rocks path above 3ft. water which I love to skip on while my yaya watches nervously. I was amused by gumamela flowers that once grew there and the coys that once swam there. It was the loveliest spot in the Plaza in my opinion but when the core group of Alliance of Negrense Tourism Stakeholders visited the Garden, it is now a desolate place with barely grass growing and the water with schools of coy gone, no sign of gumamela flowers too. The scene repeats in other component gardens with fountains not working. It was a dismal sight to behold with the sight of vagrants and prostitutes roaming.

Inset: A waiting shed within the Plaza premises that is now in the state of disrepair.

Inset: View of the San Sebastian Cathedral with ukay-ukay stalls partially seen.

Benches at the Plaza were all broken and garbage or scraps stuffed underneath while the waiting sheds intended for those unlucky to have been stuck in the Plaza during the rainy season were in a state of disrepair. There are ugly red and yellow guard rails that makes the area unsightly. For a Plaza designed to conform to European standards, it was awful and what is worse is that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bacolod with Administrator of San Sebastian Cathedral allowed ukay-ukay vendors and other stalls to stay months after Masskara Festival! Jurisdiction for the Plaza is divided between the Diocese of Bacolod and City of Bacolod but there has never been any consensus between City Government and Diocese.

Inset: Newly repaired and repainted Plaza fountains now functioning.

Inset: Oldies having a chat about the latest news and issues at the Plaza

There is hope though as sectors answered the plea for help in preserving the heritage Plaza and improvement is coming in slowly. As of present, the fountains have been repaired, painted and is now functioning though only at 7am to 4pm, just enough to ease the heat for plaza goers. The ukay-ukay has finally been removed from the premises of the Plaza and has helped in easing traffic in the area though I am not yet fully confident since that happened last year and they returned to the Plaza. Though cleaning has been done, it is not yet optimal while comfort rooms have yet to be repaired and the pay toilet system yet to be implemented. Little improvements have been done but is still a long way into returning the old Plaza.

Inset: The tindalo tree planted by President Quezon still up and standing at the Plaza.

I call on the City Government of Bacolod to give more attention to the Bacolod City Plaza for the very history of the city is intertwined with the Plaza. It is where Negrenses showed that they are capable of fighting for freedom, establishing a fully democratic government with full order and control. This is where Masskara Festival is traditionally held and all its worth should be retained. A call as well on the Diocese of Bacolod to cooperate with the renovation efforts of both the government and the private sector with finally putting a stop in tolerating ukay-ukay vendors that damages the heritage and causing traffic. It is time to stop thinking about income alone and consider heritage which mould our very identity.

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Photos by Ms. Maricar Dabao of Viaje Negrense and Mr. Joey Yapjoco

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March 15, 2012

Kuppa Fort Bonifacio: Meet the Director

By Mark Mayo - Magallanes

Kuppa Fort Bonifacio Barista and Cashier Counter

Last February, I had the privilege of setting an informal interview for a pre-screening interview of Direk Jay Abello, the director of PUREZA The Story of Negros Sugar. We initially just thought of meeting up somewhere in Ayala Center but I remembered Kuppa just opened their branch in Bonifacio Global City so I asked him to meet me there instead. I have been before to Kuppa in Global City but that was for a teaser feature of the café when the owner, Ms. Karen Lo-Tsai showed me around when it was still in its finishing touches. This time, I saw Kuppa Fort Bonifacio once again and it was fully operational. The baristas and the manager immediately recognized me and got me a comfortable seat by the window, just as I would prefer sitting in a café.

Kuppa’s Push Button to Call for Orders and Needs

If you wish to order, you just have to press the order button usually located on the corner of the table. While waiting, the café has a complete set magazines and newspapers out in the market for one to read. The simple but elegant minimalist design sits well with the ambience that is deliberately casual and calm.

Reading materials available for the waiting ones at Kuppa

Nestled in the quite corner of Bonifacio Global City near St. Luke’s Medical Center, its a perfect place for casual conversations and for informal meetings with clients or just simply to relax. While reading a newspaper, Ms. Karen saw me and approached to greet me, asking how was my experience in Kuppa so far.

Freshly-roasted coffee beans at Kuppa Fort Bonifacio

Ms. Karen is the only certified coffee Q-grader in the country hence you can assure that your coffee is always of the premium quality. Coffee beans are sourced either globally from countries producing premium coffee or locally among the highland coffee plantations of Cordillera, Batangas and Negros Occidental. To maintain freshness, the coffee beans are roasted inside the store using machines directly imported from Italy, the gourmet coffee capital of the world, so that the aroma is captured and stays longer. The coffee beans are ground and used on the same day, never stays overnight.

Kuppa’s Imported Coffee Grinder from Italy

French pressed coffee at the counter

Since I was in the mood for dark coffee, I opted to order one French pressed. That made me interested where I could buy one of those since I regularly brew native ground coffee at home. The aroma of brewed coffee got me excited and certainly did favor my coffee-drinker senses. I usually drink coffee with sugar and milk but great coffee would have me drink black and I did! For those who love or maybe have been addicted to coffee, this would be a good find for you.

Mini-cakes and other pastry selections at Kuppa Fort Bonifacio.

Kuppa’s Blueberry Muffin

When drinking coffee, its good to have some cakes and pastries with you to munch on. They have good selection of cakes, mini-cakes, shortcakes and muffins to choose from. Choosing pastries was hard since they were all yummy but at the same time, was full from eating lunch in a previous event. Usually my benchmark for café pastries would be their cupcakes or muffins so I decided to order a blueberry muffin. I was not wrong in deciding to since the muffin was moist with chunks of blueberry mixed with the muffin, unlike other blueberry muffins sold that are merely flavored by artificial flavoring.

Angel Food Cake inside a dome cover at Kuppa

Kuppa’s Gelatto selections also available at their Fort Bonifacio branch

If you wish for something not coffee-related, Kuppa Fort Bonifacio offers a good selection of gelatto which one may get from the counter. What I usually notice is that gelatto offered in Negrénse café‘s are always good, not too sweet with a bit emphasis on the flavor itself than the sweetness. Kuppa also offers thin crust pizza at your convenience but unfortunately, since I had an event to go to, I was not able to order this time but do try that one.

Butter Thins and other cookie treats for sale at Kuppa Fort Bonifacio.

For those on the go, you may buy some butter thins and other cookie treats in a tin can for your liking. Want to experience the taste of Kuppa Coffee at home? They also sell coffee beans for you to grind or for those without grinders, they also have ground coffee for an affordable price. From what I heard from a Korean who visited the café, Kuppa is beginning to be a hit among the resident Koreans there for its affordable price and nice quiet ambience. If you are in Bonifacio Global City, do visit Kuppa and savor good coffee with tasty food selections. Kuppa Fort Bonifacio is located in Commerce Center, 31st cor 4th Avenue, just a block away from St. Luke’s Medical Center – Global City.

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March 7, 2012

Pascua sa Bacólod: Hasta Luego Negros

By Mark Mayo - Magallanes

Town Plaza of Pontevedra, Negros Occidental

After a long day at Hinigaran, we decided to wind down back to Bacólod City for us to cap off the Christmas tour of Negros. In the bus, I was able to sleep but arouse just in time to see the town plaza of Pontevedra. This sleepy little town is my family’s ancestral town where the family patriarch, a Spaniard, settled here and ran a farm. That town plaza was a witness to the bloody end of his life when he was shot there after being found guilty of sedition by the Spanish military court in a trial after a heated and enraged debate with the town friar. What could they have been debating? No one could remember and was not mentioned in the family annals but that gave me a sense of connection with this town. Some of my relatives still own the patriarch’s farm here.

Kalkag or dried small shrimps sold in the Bacólod Central Market

After a little segway at the Airphil Express office in the Old Bacólod Airport to pay for additional baggage allowance, he asked where he could buy some dried fish. I took him to the dried fish section of the Bacólod Central Market to do some pasalubong shopping. The Gatuslao Street portion of the Bacólod Central Market is where the most pasalubong shops are. Before even the pasalubong shops like Bongbong’s and Merci Pasalubong opened, Bacoleños did their pasalubong shopping here and some still do to buy quality pasalubong at bargain prices. Aside from dried fish, sweets like piaya, pinasugbo, baye-baye, kalamayhati sa paya, and processed foods like chorizo Bacólod, chorizo pudpud and uncut guinamos or bagoong blocks can also be found here.

A dried fish stall at the Bacólod Central Market

Unfortunately for us, it was a lean season and stocks have not arrived from fish-producing areas of Negros or those from nearby Bantayan Island of Cebú so we have to go through every stall and find stocks of dried fish in bargain prices. After a few minutes of walking, we did find the stall with the price we were looking for. My guest bought a box of dried fishes like kalkag or dried small shrimp, dried beluga, danggit, dried squid, dilis and another batch of small dried fishes. I just bought one for my family, our favorite fish tocino. Since we bought a lot, they gave us “paaman” or a little bit extra to bring home. I wish I could have bought more but I still have to buy pasalubong from both Bongbong’s and Merci Pasalubong for folks back in Manila to enjoy as a treat.

Front façade of La Planta Centro Hotel, the site of the former Ice Plant

Since I will be taking the same Airphil Express flight to Manila as my guest, I decided to move in to my guest’s suite so that we can together to Bacólod-Silay International Airport at four in the morning. He checked in at La Planta Centro Hotel, one of the most beautiful hotels in Bacólod City along Araneta Street. As we entered the grand lobby of the hotel, beautiful receptionists greeted us. We just left our bags in the room and accompanied my guest to buy some lechon since the hotel was near the famed lechon alley. We chose native pig for lechon since the taste was awesome which we brought to Chicken House for dinner with chicken inasal. What a tasty end to my year-ender tour of Negros but more adventure awaits for me as I go back again this 2012.

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