Silay City: San Diego de Alcala Pro-Cathedral [MWT]

@ mirandablue

One of Silay City's landmarks is a 20th century church formerly known as St. Didacus Parish in honor of its patron saint, Didacus of Alcala, a Franciscan saint more commonly known in the Philippines as San Diego de Alcala.  This church is right across the plaza and beside the city hall.

This church was declared as pro-cathedral in 1994, the only pro-cathedral outside Metro Manila.  It was renamed San Diego de Alcala Pro-Cathedral.

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The Silay parish was established in 1776.  The first church was built with light materials of bamboo and nipa.  With natural calamities such as typhoons, and insurrection against the Spanish, I'm sure the first church was destroyed and reconstructed a number of times.  By 1841, the parish priest initiated construction of a more permanent structure made of stone and wood but it was never completed.  During the Spanish-American war, parts of the stone church were destroyed and was left in a state of disrepair.  The remnants of the old church are well-preserved behind this church.  I remember spending summer afternoons in the courtyard of the old church when I was kid.  My aunt was then living about half a block away.

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In 1925, construction of a bigger church started after one of Silay's wealthy sugar barons, Don Jose Ledesma, donated a substantial amount to build it.  He even commissioned an Italian architect, Lucio Bernasconi, to design the church.  Bernasconi lifted inspirations from his native Italy and designed the church in the shape of a Latin cross like most ecclesiastical Romanesque architecture in Europe.  It has simple columns and a cupola rising 40 meters above the nave.  Being the only church in the province with a cupola makes San Diego de Alcala Pro-Cathedral unique.

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I could still hear the echo of bells ringing at Angelus.  We were usually by the fountain at the plaza across the church, and every 6 pm, the bells rang as a call to prayer.  Then as dictated by tradition, children would then kiss the right hand of their elders.

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The feast of San Diego de Alcala is celebrated every November 13th.

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My contribution to My World-Tuesday

Looking down [Photo Hunt]

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I wonder what Kyle was day-dreaming about. He was probably thinking about Jack Sparrow and the pirates...looking down to see if there were mermaids.:p

"I don't have a fear of heights.  I do, however, have a fear of falling from heights."                         ~ George Carlin

Join us at Photo-Hunt

Paint it blue [Sky-Watch Friday]

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It's time to reconnect with one of God's masterpieces---delight in these glorious shades of blue with some gold and pinks.  


Lose yourself in nature and find peace.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. ~ Marcel Proust

My contribution to Sky-Watch Friday

Stir-fried Chicken with celery

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Concocted this last week after my mother reminded me of the chicken fillet in the freezer  that I bought a few days before.  Originally, I intended to deep-fry the chicken fillet and prepare a cilantro sauce.  But instead of cilantro, I got parsley (duh!).  Rummaged the fridge and found fresh stalks of celery and some fresh tarragon--so this was the result of my experiment.:p

Marinated the chicken fillet (cut into bite-size) in salt and pepper, diced tarragon leaves and some oyster sauce.  Sauteed garlic and onions, added the marinated chicken, stir-fried until seared.  Added a small amount of water, simmered for a few minutes to ensure chicken is fully cooked, salt & pepper to taste.  Mixed in the celery and cashew nuts, and cornstarch diluted in water to thicken the sauce.  Turned off the heat as soon as steam started to come out from under the lid to keep the celery crunchy.

Verdict:  My mom didn't like it because the chicken was too white, it looked raw to her.  She loves to use soy sauce on everything.:p  My next-door neighbor liked it, and also my nephew. As for me, it was OK, not great but definitely better than from some over-priced Chinese fast-food.:p  I also like the white chicken and the greens---it even matches my blog's color palette! LOL


After a second helping, I had a eureka moment---I should have sauteed it in ginger!  Ginger and tarragon go well together.  Well, until next time.:p


Do you think the chicken should be brown? :p

My contribution to Food Trip Friday hosted by Willa

Reaching out [Watery Wednesday]

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Coconut trees reaching out to the cloudy skies along the shores of Punta Bulata.

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Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.
-- Mary Kay Ash

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 Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead.

-- Louisa May Alcott

Join us at Watery Wednesday

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.

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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

Manapla bridge

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It's been a while since I participated in Sunday Bridges.  Now I'm back!  I was with my cousins in Manapla a few weeks ago.  My cousin had some business here, and the meeting place was at the banks of this river.:p  I have no idea what this river is called---people were swimming and doing their laundry.  The bridge looks frail but in a couple of hours that we were by the banks of the river, there were trucks, motorbikes, tricycles and even a horse that passed through it.  I hope the next storm wouldn't destroy this bridge.

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This is the river down-stream...

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Posted for Sunday Bridges

Cluttered [Photo Hunt]

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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.

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sugarcane fields in Locotan, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental

Posted for Photo Hunt

Wet sunset

@ mirandablue

We are in the middle of a wet summer.  Just this past weekend, many areas were flooded because of a tropical storm.  Last week,  I was caught in a rainstorm with two cousins while we were driving back to Miranda.  The rain finally stopped while we were approaching the coast.  I asked Mark to stop and took photos of this mellow sunset.  This is looking towards Guimaras Strait.

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Posted for Sky-Watch Friday

Appetizers @ Golden Cowrie

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Friends invited me to dinner at the Golden Cowrie in Marina a few hours before my return flight to Manila in mid-April.  One of our appetizers was the crispy tuna fingers served with mayo dip.  I wasn't too crazy about it, didn't make an impression.  But I did enjoy the other appetizer...green mango with bagoong (shrimp paste)!

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Posted for Food Trip Friday and Food Friday

Pet [Alagang hayop]

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Natural, bida ngayon ang alaga ko, si Fritz. Para sa akin, si Fritz ang pinaka-poging aso sa balat ng lupa.  Malambing sya, mabait, mabango at kasalukuyang naghihilik sa tabi ko.  Medyo spoiled itong alaga ko...kadalasan, nagpapasubo pa.  Biro ng mga kaibigan ko, sayang lang daw ag binubuhos kong pagmamahal at atensyon kay Fritz.  Buti pa daw ang kalabaw, napapakinabangan.  Hindi ko minamaliit ang halaga at pakinabang ng kalabaw [lalo na sa mga magsasaka], pero pwede ko bang yakapin at halikan ito?

Posted for Litratong Pinoy

Naturally, Fritz is the star of today's post.  For me, he is the handsomest dog in the planet.  He's sweet, gentle, smells good and right now, snoring beside me.  I admit, Fritz is a bit spoiled...more often than not, he nibbles on his food but eats heartily when spoon-fed.  Friends love to tease me that I have a bad case of misplaced love for a pet, after all, Fritz couldn't do things for me.  While I don't underestimate the value and usefulness of a water buffalo [especially to farmers], I don't think I could hug or kiss this animal.

Trivia:  In 2004, the first test-tube hybrid carabao [water buffalo] was born in the Philippine Carabao Center in Nueva Ecija, and was named "Glory" after the former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

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For Thursday 2 Questions - you are invited to answer these questions and join us:


1)  If you have a pet, do you think he or she understands you?

• yes, I believe Fritz understands me.  certain words prompt him, he responds to my [tone of] voice.

2)  What is the most endearing trait of our pet?

• Fritz is most endearing when he lays his head on my leg and waits to be scratched; my heart melts every time he runs to the door to welcome me home, or licks my nose when I tell him I love him.

Danjugan Island [Watery Wednesday]

@ mirandablue

Continuing from the Punta Bulata series that I left off in mid-April, here are some photos of Danjugan Island.  I only learned about this island a few months ago. It's a 43-hectare island off the coast of Punta Bulata, lying 3 kilometers west of Negros Occidental.  Danjugan Island is a marine reserve and wildlife sanctuary, and a haven for skin and scuba divers.  More about Danjugan Island here.

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We only passed Danjugan Island on the way to another island where we spent the rest of the day.  But I promised myself to spend some time in this island soon...explore the lagoons, mangrove forests, beaches, caves, coral reefs and bird-watch.

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Posted for Watery Wednesday

The Ruins [MWT]

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A few years ago, a couple of friends from Manila spent a weekend in Negros Occidental, my home province, and they were brought to a place called The Ruins in Talisay City.  The place definitely made an impression that they kept asking me about The Ruins.  I drew a blank--it was the first time I've heard of the place.  I made a note to myself to check it out the next time I'm in Bacolod. 

The opportunity presented itself in late April when we were driving to Bacolod from Manapla.  We were caught in a rainstorm and had an extended lunch in Victorias.  I asked my cousins about The Ruins---they have heard of the place but never been there.  And as luck would have it, the sky started to clear as we approached Talisay City. I would have wanted to see The Ruins at dusk, but we were thankful for the blue skies.

The Ruins is what's left of a magnificent mansion built by Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson, a sugar baron, for his Portuguese wife, Maria Braga, at the turn of the century.  The story goes that after the death of Maria Braga, the widower became despondent and he decided to build a mansion in memory of his dead wife.  It's unfortunate that the woman who inspired a man to erect this mansion was no longer around to see its grandeur.

In 1942, as the Japanese occupation swept through the islands during World War II, American soldiers and Filipino guerrillas burned down the mansion to deflect the Japanese forces from taking shelter and establishing a headquarters here. It's been told that the mansion burned for three days, destroying the woodwork, the floors, roof and everything combustible.  Only the concrete structure survived the fire, and withstood the test of time. 

@ mirandablue

The Ruins is like a mirage in an otherwise unremarkable landscape.  Built in the middle of what used to be vast tracks of sugarcane fields, it is an unexpected and delightful sight at the end of a dirt road.  I love the elegance of its Italianate architecture.  From the original tiles to the graceful balusters---I can only imagine how this mansion looked in its heyday.  There was a belvedere on the second floor, facing west, that commanded an unobstructed view of the Guimaras Strait and sunset.  


My cousins, both engineers, were discussing the structural design...I was admiring  its symmetry, proportion, arches, moldings and columns.


This mansion was said to be the largest residential structure at the time when huge ancestral homes were built in Talisay and Silay.  And with the finest furnishings sugar money could buy.

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A four-tiered fountain graces the garden. There was once a lily garden here maintained by one of the daughters, and a Japanese gardener took care of the whole garden until the burning of the mansion.  Looming over the property is a concrete tower with a tree growing on top.  I thought it was a watch-tower or a prison tower but my dark [and romantic] imaginings were incorrect.  I didn't catch the details but the tower has something to do with sugar-making.

The current owner, a great grandson of Don Mariano, had the place cleaned up and opened to the public in 2008.  A cafe was later added inside and there was an ongoing construction in the property when we visited.  


The Ruins has become a tourist attraction and venue for weddings and parties.  And it's probably a good thing---music, laughter, good conversation and clinks of wine glasses would give the dark corners of this still and lonely place some positive vibe. 

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The Ruins at different angles.

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The Ruins is located in Talisay City, Negros Occidental.  It can be reached by car through Octagon Village in Brgy. Bata, about 20 minutes from either Silay Airport or Bacolod City, the provincial capital.

Linking to My World - Tuesday