Negros Occidental is known to be “The Sugar Bowl of the Philippines” because of it’s vast plantation of sugarcane and numerous sugar millings. Bacolod City is not the only place in Negros Occidental that is worth visiting, there are still a lot to see in the province like the towns of Manapla, Victorias, Silay and Talisay. This are the spots I’ve been to:
The Provincial Capitol, Park and Lagoon is located in the center of Bacolod City.
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| The Mansion in Hacienda Rosalia |
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| Chapel on the Cartwheels |
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| Cartwheels |
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| a pose inside the Chapel of the Cartwheels |
Hacienda Rosalia and Chapel on the Cartwheels is located in the middle of a sugar plantation in Manapla town. It is the ancestral house of Yves Leopold Germain Gaston, he was originally from Lisieux in France and settled in the Philippines where he engaged in the production of sugar cane which is now the primary product of the province.
I got the chance to meet Msgr. Gigi Gaston when we went inside the mansion, we knew that the house is open for public hehehe. When I told this to my new found friend Bernie he told me that I was “anak ng Diyos” coz I got to talk to one of the richest/holiest person in the place.
The Chapel of the Cartwheels is situated at the back of the mansion. The Msgr. designed the chapel, all the parts of the chapel were made of cartwheels, the windows are stained glass, and a Filipino Farmer Christ is crucified on a cartwheel.
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| The Church of the Angry Christ |
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| The Mural painting of the Angry Christ |
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| Bell Tower of the Church |
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| Locomotive Steam Engine of Victoria's Milling Corporation |
The Chapel of St. Joseph the Worker or Church of the Angry Christ is located inside the Victoria’s Milling Company (VMC is the largest sugar refinery in Asia) compound. The church was built for VMC’s Catholic employees and their families who are living inside the sugar refinery compound. We were lucky we got to get inside the church because according to the guards on the entrance gate we need to get passes first before we can tour the place.
After our visit to Victoria’s Milling we dropped by Silay City, nicknamed as the “Paris of Negros” it has 30 heritage houses as declared by the National Historical Institute. One of the famous old houses in Silay is Balay Negrense, it is the ancestral house of Victor F. Gaston a son of Yves Leopold Germain Gaston the owner of Hacienda Rosalia in Manapla.
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| Bihon Palabok |
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| a slice of Guaple Pie |
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| the famous Guaple Pie of El Ideal |
The Ruins in Talisay City is the last stop for our Negros Occidental tour. It is located in the middle of a sugar cane plantation and the road going there is unpaved, took us almost 20 minutes to reach the place because of the rough road and we paid Php50.00 for the entrance fee.
