Bacolod Parol and Probation

Parol, not parole.


Parol is the christmas lantern that usually adorn Filipino homes during the yuletide season.


In Bacolod, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology has made it a yearly tradition for prisoners at the Provincial Jail to fashion colorful parol out of flexible bamboo sticks as part of their fund raising drive. Beginning the latter part of November, the jail's sidewalks become colorful as makeshift stalls line along the otherwise foreboding prison walls displaying the parol in solid christmas colors and in various sizes to suit your motif.


The parol is wrapped in sturdy colored plastic to withstand sun and rain when displayed outdoors. Thus it can still be re-used for two to three christmases thereafter. When finally they get worn out or you just want to change color combination, you can always bring your old set for them to re-wrap. But the small bunch of ten parol stars costs only PhP250.00 that it is well worth it to buy brand new.


The inmates supervised by the Bacolod Parole and Probation Office make parol of different styles. The classic 10-star series is always a big hit, it varies only in color and comes in small and medium sizes. The bigger ones are too heavy for hanging in series so they come individually, others propped up in bamboo sticks that can be planted into your garden for a magically starry night outdoors.


These stars on stilts only cost from PhP130 to 180 each. Not bad for a parol on parole.

For more on the history of parol, click here.

Alupi, Alupi, Alupi!

Alupi. This steamed cassava delicacy has a light sweet taste that is soft and chewy to the bite. Cooked in banana leaf, the wrapping adds a new dimension to its flavor. Buco strips make alupi more special.


Eating alupi is rather messy because of its sticky consistency. The best way to eat alupi is with a fork. Simply open the banana leaf wrapping to reveal a flat green-yellowish rectangular alupi delight. Slice away with your fork and enjoy with a bottle of cold Coke.

"May Toyo Ka Ba?": Do You Have Toyo/Patis (Soy Sauce/Fish Sauce)?

In Bacolod, patis (pa-TIS) in Hiligaynon means soy sauce, and the Tagalog patis is is Rufina patis. Thus, they are both patis, the only distinction is that the Ilonggos refer to soy sauce as patis, while fish sauce is Rufina patis, as if all fish sauces are rufina.

In Tagalog speaking areas, what the Ilonggos know as patis is called toyo (TO-yo^). So that Ilonggo speaking people must have to specify when ordering for patis condiment in a restaurant in Manila in order to be served with toyo (TO-yo^) or soy sauce, because for the Tagalogs, the Ilonggo patis is toyo and the Ilonggo Rufina patis is patis.

Makes you a bit crazy, huh? Well, for the Tagalog speaker, toyo also means a "loose screw" so that when someone asks you, "May toyo ka ba?". It either means, "Do you have toyo?" referring to the soy sauce, or to your state of mind.

Ah, this naughty Tagalog word for the Ilonggo patis.

888 Chinatown Square: What to Expect and How to Get There

888 Chinatown Square is the Bacolod counterpart for Divisoria's 628. It is the place to go for inexpensive China goods, RTW's, shoes, accessories, cell phones, DVD's and the lot.
888 Chinatown Square is found along Gatuslao Street, Bacolod City, right beside Land Bank of the Philippines and in front of the National Food Authority. It is very accessible by all sorts of transportation from trisikad to jeepneys to taxis to private vehicles.

When taking the jeep or jeepney, take the Bata-Libertad route when coming from the North of the Provincial Capitol Lagoon as your reference point. Take the Mandalagan-Libertad route when coming from the South in order to get to 888 Chinatown Square.

Tinolang Bangus, Ilonggo Style

Tinolang Bangus , Tinolang Manok, for the Ilonggos, they are all tinola, hot clear-broth soupy dishes. In Manila, only chicken is tinola (tinolang manok), and bangus is sinigang.

So much ado about the name, here's a great milkfish recipe for tinolang bangus, Ilonggo style:

• 1 piece large bangus, cleaned and sliced into serving pieces
• 5 cups water
• 1 small ginger, sliced
• 2 pieces tomatoes, quartered
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 2 medium radishes, cut into serving pieces
• 5 pieces string beans, cut into serving pieces
• 2 cups kangkong leaves
• 5 pieces batuan*
  
• 1 teaspoon salt

*A joke goes, "There are many trees, batuan is the best." And indeed, of all the souring ingredients to sinigang or tinolang bangus, batuan beats tamarind (sampaloc), camias, kalamansi, or guava.

To cook:

• In a casserole, bring water to a boil together with the ginger.
• Add the bangus, tomatoes, and onion and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add the batuan and salt to taste.
• Add the radishes and string beans and simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat, add the kangkong leaves, and let stand covered for 5 minutes.

Note: if you're out of radishes, you may also use sliced eggplants or banana heart for your own version of tinolang bangus, Ilonggo style.

Bacolod City Goes Orgasmic Over Organic

The Organic Market, situated in Bacolod City, is a brainchild of the Negros Occidental Provincial Government under the leadership of the late Governor Joseph Maranon.

The Organic Market started out as a small market and diner featuring organically produced fruits, vegetables, rice, herbal oils, and even fertilizers.

Now, the Organic Market has become the mecca of health buffs from all walks of life, be it local or foreign. For as low as P50, one can have an orgasmic, er, organic gastric delight of a complete meal including a healthy fruit shake combo.

The Organic Market is easily located at the big vacant lot right behind the Negros Occidental Provincial Capitol building. It is very accessible by both private and public transportation. When taking the jeep (a jeepney, Bacolod style), take the Bata-Libertad route when coming from the north of the Negros Occidental Provincial Capitol, or the Mandalagan-Libertad route when coming from the south.

The Organic Market is truly an organic treat you shouldn't miss when in Bacolod City.

The Ruins in Talisay City, Negros Occidental

The Ruins of Talisay is now what remains of the magnificent 903 square meter Italianate architecture with neo-Romanesque columns. The Ruins (before it was ruined) closely resemble New York's Carnegie Hall.

The mansion, built in the middle of a sprawling sugarcane plantation, was the largest residential structure built during its time. It is home to sugar baron Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson and his Portuguese wife, Maria Braga in the early 1900's.

Maria's father, a ship captain, brought with him the finest furniture, chinawares, and other decorative pieces from all over Europe and Asia. An imported, four-tiered fountain still adorns the Ruins' grounds to this day.

During the World War II, the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) burned the mansion to ruins to thwart Japanese invasion of the mansion with a view to making it as their headquarters. The fire lasted for two days until it finally brought down the roof and the two-inch thick wooden floors.

The main structure still stands to this day, thanks to one of Mariano's son's close supervision of strictly following the grade A mixture of the cement.

With the roof and wooden flooring all gone, it looks up into the open heaven, its grand staircase that was long stripped of its wooden covering seemingly leading to an imaginary second floor where you can almost hear soft elegant music reminiscent of the grand parties the mansion used to hold. And the ghosts of the past seem to be almost visible as they gracefully float in the silver screen of reconstructed memories (never mind that ghostly image in the digitally altered photograph, it's just me terribly frightened not by the thought of seeing the ghosts of christmas past but by the sheer height and nothingness beyond those stairs -- it's supposed to be off limits!).

Having an excellent view of the Talisay sunset, the Ruins is a picture-perfect backdrop for wedding pictorials and other theme pictorials. The historic mansion has a picnic grove a few meters away.

The Ruins is just some 15 minutes' drive from Bacolod City and by private transport. Public transport is a bumpy tricycle ride from Talisay highway and amid vast acres of sugarcane fields.

Another less turbulent (and perhaps safer) route is via Barangay Bata through Bangga Rose Lawns (memorial park), passing through Goldcrest Subdivision.

Conspicuous signs and festive flags have been posted at both routes that lead the way to the Ruins of Talisay City, Negros Occidental.