Silay City: Ancestral homes [MWT]

@ mirandablue

When I was in Negros in April, I took an afternoon trip to Silay City to visit my great-grandfather's ancestral home.  But that would be in another post.:p  For now, let me share these snapshots I took while walking the streets of Silay City that rainy afternoon.

Dubbed as the "Paris of Negros", this is where the island's sugar industry started in the 18th century.  The first sugar mill (Horno Economico) was built here in 1846 by a Frenchman who was married to a Filipina.  Haciendas were later established in Silay, and families from the nearby island of Panay also settled here because of the promising sugar industry.

The hacienderos (land owners/sugar planters) grew rich in the sugar boom---the ancestral houses built during the golden age of the sugar industry speak eloquently of the lavish lifestyles.  When the 1980's sugar crisis hit the sugar industry, planters were faced with economic hardships forcing many of the sugar barons to abandon their farms and curtail their spending.  People who worked in the haciendas went through a more difficult life--the province became so impoverished that many people went hungry.   

This is the Maria Ledesma Golez House---bought and restored by a bank (RCBC) in the 1990's.  The house at the background (with red roof) is my great-grandfather's ancestral home.

@ mirandablue

There are about 31 well-preserved ancestral homes in Silay today--some of them have been turned into museums, most of them are still privately-owned.  

Below is the main street in front of the plaza and cathedral.  My aunt used to live behind the light blue building--and if my memory is correct, it's also where El Ideal Bakery was located.  El Ideal is an institution in Silay, baking traditional cakes and pastries in a huge wood-fired oven.  We used to buy snacks in the bakery almost every afternoon when I was about 6 or 7.

If not for the rain, I could have visited more ancestral houses.  Well, maybe next time.

These days, Negros is slowly regaining the vitality it had during the sugar boom in the last century.  But with the 2015 ASEAN Free Trade Agreement hanging over its head, the sugar industry is again facing new challenges on how to compete with cheap imported sugar in the market.

@ mirandablue

Silay City is where the new domestic airport is located.  It is an hour flight from Manila, and about 15 kilometers north of Bacolod City, the provincial capital.

Posted for My World Tuesday

Cluttered [Photo Hunt]

@ mirandablue

Wandered in the sugarcane fields of Negros a couple of weeks ago, and found this heap of burned sugarcane cluttered in the middle of a dirt road.  Sugar is the backbone of Negros' economy---60% of the Philippines' sugar production is on this island.  Aside from smuggled sugar, by 2015, the local sugar industry will compete with imported sugar that will enter the domestic market at zero tariff.  I wonder if the government would be able to effectively address the challenges at protecting the local sugar industry.  Many jobs are dependent on this industry.

@ mirandablue
sugarcane fields in Locotan, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental

Posted for Photo Hunt

On vacation

@mirandablue

In case you're wondering, I'm still on vacation...breathing in the sweet, juicy air of Negros.  See you in two weeks!

Tranquil Silliman

university campus

I first heard of Silliman when I was a little girl in Negros Occidental. A local girl who also went to my elementary school got a scholarship at Silliman. One summer break when she was home, I overheard neighbors whispering about her midriff top. Apparently, the sight of her belly button was shocking to the manangs at that time. I admired her midriff top, by the way, and the way she drove a motorbike around town, belly button bared, crazy hair flying, making people stop and stare. She was once a shy girl, the manangs lamented...Silliman was the reason for her transformation, they concluded with an eyebrow raised.

It was my first impression of Silliman---a bastion of liberal thinking, individualism, with some remnants of the hippie generation.:D I wanted to go to college there! Unfortunately, we don’t always get what we want.

Rizal Centennial marker and university seal laid in 1960

Silliman University is located at the heart of Dumaguete, overlooking the sea. The 61-hectare campus was founded in 1901 by Protestant missionaries of the American Presbyterian Church through a gift from an American philanthropist named Dr. Horace Silliman. It is the first Protestant school in the Philippines and the oldest American university in Asia.

Silliman Hall, the oldest building on campus was constructed in 1903

the University Church, completed in 1949
Alumni Hall, built in 1950

The rooms on its second floor where we stayed are designated for alumni and guests, while the ground floor is occupied by the office of the Alumni Affairs.

Splendid Bell

Located in front of the Alumni Hall and mounted in 1918, this bell was a gift from children in America given through the New York Women's Foreign Mission Board.

Silliman University gives Dumaguete a vibrant and dynamic character despite the city’s laid back lifestyle. My lasting impressions of Silliman are the peaceful moments under the acacia trees, cool morning sea breezes at the beautiful Silliman Hall, warm smiles, and a memory of that fearless young lady on a motorbike---breaking free.

Going home

a favorite past-time

This morning, I woke up in a panic, thinking I was going to miss my flight. I reached for my cel phone to check the time and noticed the post-it note hanging from the lampshade. In the post-it is the list of the things I need to pack. Realizing that today is a Tuesday brought out a sleepy smile…I lay back and savor another 20 minutes in bed. Tomorrow, I’m going home.

Holy Week usually brings me to places I’ve never been before. Instead of meditating at home during Lent, I find new places more conducive to reflect on my faults and virtues. But this year, I decided to go home for the Holy Week holidays, to be with my relatives in Negros, visit my 96-year-old grandmother, catch up with old classmates and childhood friends, and explore my old hometown.

After all the journeys I’ve made, there’s a primordial instinct to go back to where it all began, where I came from, where my roots are. I am a firm believer in the old saying, “Huwag maging dayuhan sa sariling bayan” (Let’s not be strangers in our own land), so I explore the archipelago every chance I got. But paid little attention to my hometown’s nuances that makes it different from all the other places I’ve seen and visited. In a way, I’m a stranger to the place that nurtured my childhood, been away for most of my adult life. I know a week is not enough, but I’m going home and try to rediscover my roots, and perhaps, in the process, rediscover myself.

Dreaming of Summer

at Iwahig Penal Colony, Palawan

"The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit."

Is summer officially here? We still get drizzles and cool breezes in the evenings, but the afternoons have become sultry. I’m off to Negros in two weeks and really looking forward to the trip.

Ah, summer---a season for adventure! I love lazy summer afternoons, having siesta in a hammock under the shade of my grandfather’s old mango tree. The leaves filtering the warm sunshine, creating a dreamy and magical light. The soft breeze cools the sweat on my forehead as I sip iced tea, snack on boiled saba dipped in bagoong, and marvel at the landscape of my childhood.

At night, under the full moon, I would lie on the grass; listen to the murmur of the wind, the rustle of the leaves, the songs of cicada. The stars seem so near as I watch one or two fall from the heavens. The distant strum of guitar serenades the enchanting night as frogs frolic in the nearby pond, night birds croon at their nest.

Summer mornings would find me by the beach, picking up shells and pebbles; chasing hermit crabs back to their burrows, gaze at the ocean's expanding blue horizon and dance with the waves. I would wait for the fisherman's fresh catch, wave at them as the small boat approaches the shore. I miss the unhurried mornings, and the simple joy of being at the water’s edge, feel the warmth of oncoming tide against my feet.

I don't know what it is about summer...but everything looks vivid at this time of the year, everything in full color. When summer comes, I'm in love with life "as an ant on a summer blade of grass".