Bacolod City is the capital of Negros Occidental, popularly known as the “City of Smiles”. It is the proud home to the world-renowned MassKara Festival.
My friend Rosahleehas been witnessing the festival for four years now. It’s because her advertising work required her to be there together with the client. She’s been telling me to go there and witness the festival. I thought of joining her last year but unfortunately it didn’t happen. Since Rosahlee will be there for work, “dyahe naman” if I join her together with the client. Hehehe!
Good thing Mellany a.k.a Chingpay/Wangbu), my friend, ka-orgmate sa mountaineering OCMI, former officemate and travel buddy as well, called me up and asked me if I want to go to Bacolod for the Masskara festival. “Yes, join ako dyan!” For photo enthusiast like us, a colourful event like this is one photo opportunity that’s hard to pass up. I'm excited for this is my first time to take photos of the Maskarra Festival!
Oct17, Mellany and I flew to Bacolod via PAL. Mellany recently bought a Nikon D60, well actually it was a gift from her bf, “wow galante”, i guessed we have somehow influenced her to get one. Few other members of OCMI have also been bitten by the shutterbug, so baka maging camera club na rin kami. heheh. Naku baka magalit ang founding members, yari!
While we were waiting for our flight , I promised Mel I will give her pointers (feeling pro ako!) Since I’m a Canon user, I don’t know much about the functionalities of Nikon camera, kaya hayun pareho kami ni Mel nag-aaral ng manual ng Nikon. Hahahah, pareho naming hindi alam mag-erase ng picture sa memory card! Walastik! Wangbu talaga si Mel, sabi ko na aralin ang manual eh! Ngek!
After a few minutes, we deciphered how to erase the image in her Nikon camera. I gave her a crash course, basic and advance photography combined. Dapat yata singilin ko si Mel ng PF ha@! Since she’s my friend at sya ang nag-ayos ng lahat papunta naming Bacolod, sige quits na (pero sobrang salamat Mel sa pag-booked sa flight at hotel,mwah!). Matalinong bata si Mel, naintindihan nya ang mga technical aspects , elements and compositon ha, hmm in fairness, galing ni Chingpay!!! =)
We landed safely at Bacolod Int’l airport 10:26am, 20mins ahead of schedule. We didn’t have planned IT but Mel had a copy of iternerary posted by RACE so we thought that we’ll just follow their IT (thanks RACE!). Our first stop was Balay Negrense,Silay Heritage, one of the old houses that can be found in Silay, northeast of Bacolod. Afterwards, we headed to our hotel, Bacolod Executive Hotel now known as O Hotel www.http://ohotel.com.ph, located, San Sebastian street.
We roamed the city and had lunch at Mang Inasal. Bacolod is actually known for Inasal or grilled chix , gutom na kami, hindi namin mahanap ang Bacolod Inasal! Kaya basta may Inasal resto go na! Bacolenos love to eat on bare hands. Kasi nga naman yung chix, kelangan kutkutin, yun bang buto lang ang ititira. We shared seats with two young lads, they eat with their bare hands. Rapsa! The resto served unlimited rice.
Our hotel was near main streen Lacson , where happenings at night were alive. There were street dancing at night, concerts and beauty pageant. Lacson street is where you can find the nicest restaurants in town. We’ve tried Pendi,Calea, Cafe Bob’s , Trattoria Uma, and Enting’s. Pala-pala, is also in the area. I’m sure there are lots of good restaurants in Bacolod that we’ll definitely visit next time.
Please click on the link to view the Maskarra festival album
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