Negrense Pride
TODAY is the last day of a two-day workshop "Writing for Art and Culture Workshop" supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (Province of Negros Occidental).
I attended yesterday's session and I ended the day more knowledgeable and better skilled in the technicalities...
Our good ol’ guinamos
THE condiment that makes our Ilonggo cuisine complete and so Pinoy is guinamos. A pinch to flavor laswa, our stew of mixed boiled vegetables, or sautéed in lots of garlic, tomatoes, and onions, we get flavorful soup or a side dish. What is unripe mango slices if we do not have guinamos to dip...
Cooking it up at the 8th Philippine Shrimp Congress
THE 8th Philippine Shrimp Congress was held at La Planta Hotel last May 9-11. Done every two years, the congress is in an appropriate venue because Negros Occidental is considered to be the shrimp farming capital of the Philippines.
For the 3rd time, local businessman, scientist and...
Ramon Hofileña: Silay’s Icon
HE IS one of the most recognizable personalities Negros Occidental has ever produced. His face has graced many a magazine page and even the cover of Readers’ Digest.
Whenever I introduce Mr. Ramon Hofileña to my guests, I never fail to mention the Readers’ Digest feature where Silay’s...
Negritos and Negros
IN THE hinterlands of Negros are still found the race of people after whom our island is named. The former Buglas (Hiligaynon for “to cut off”, or “snatch away”) became Negros when the Spaniards who arrived by ship were blown by strong winds here on their way from Bohol to Cebu in 1565 and the...
Wushu Federation turns five
TURNING five years old may be just another natural phase in life, but for Nelson Manahan it is a jubilant view of a two-decade wait.
On April 21, 2007, the Wushu Federation Bacolod and Negros Chapter was organized and chartered by Mr. Manahan with the help of his friends. Mr. Manahan...
Sores and San Roque
ENTER the Museo de la Salle, this 15-year-old ecclesiastical museum, tour around the many rooms for a bit of church history and, in effect, get to know about our country’s past. Inside, one can immerse himself in the various collections of religious artifacts donated by magnanimous supporters....
Our Shrines
THE Bacolod City Tourism Office sponsored a Visita Iglesia where the participants went on a pilgrimage and cultural tour of the churches of Bacolod City and one in Taloc, Bago City last March 23. This is the 8th Visita Iglesia and second pilgrimage that the local government had organized.
...Have a healthy start at Fresh Start Organics
I’M GLAD to see a store carrying the multi-awarded Victoria soap, a bio-degradable coconut-based brand of laundry soap. Not many stores carry this item, although it is of good quality. It is gentle not only to the hands but also to the environment and it comes in bar and soap flake form.
Flowers for lunch
WOULD you like to share my salad of lettuce, bell pepper strips, carrot shavings, onion rings, tomato wedges, and cucumber rings?
You might say that that’s a run-of-the-mill combination and you go “ho-hum” but not when you add dainty begonia flowers, crunchy yakon cubes, firm and sweet...
Arkitektura
IN CONNECTION with the Ani ng Sining: Philippine International Arts Festival in February, 32 beautifully-made large posters of the Anatomiya/Arkitektura, Morphology of Filipino Buildings exhibit are still on display at the Negros Museum until March 15.
From the Bahay Kubo, Ifugao Fale,...
Buffet by popular demand
AS AN alternative to breakfasts at fast food restaurants, this cozy little hotel tops my list. What was an occasional early morning offering dependent on the number of guests billeted for a particular period is now a daily occurrence at The Suites on Calle Nueva. Buffet breakfast daily at P150...
Mila’s got talent
FAMOUS by now, Mila’s in Hinigaran in the south of our province is a favorite stop for people journeying to there. Famous by now are Mila’s two-layered potato cake with its sweet crunchy topping and butter icing, the soft and fluffy royal bibingka, the bichokoy and everybody’s favorite buko pie...
Tumandok opens another home
CHANCES are your home could be housing a Tumandok vase or picture frame. After 25 years in the handicraft and home furnishing business, Tumandok Crafts Industries has manufactured thousands and thousands of products for the local and international market.
If there’s a Tumandok among...
Send in the cows
EVER wondered how you get to enjoy a glass of milk? And not just any milk but milk from our province, particularly from the cows of La Granja, La Carlota. Sold under the frenchi-fied brand Le Grand, bottled products come in regular, chocolate and pandan. Got milk? That’s creamy, pasteurized...
Frog At First Bite
IT MUST be the bracingly cold mountain air. It must be the stimulating company. It must be the chance that I might not have again and that is to take my first bite of Kermit’s kith and kin at Don Salvador Benedicto.
From the fields of the Summer Capital of Negros to the platter, frogs...
Rediscovering bamboocraft
“UNDER the bam, Under the boo, Under the bamboo tree,” so goes the simple ditty sang by Allie Fox of Paul Theroux’s unforgettable The Mosquito Coast.
Mambucal feeds the hungry
MAMBUCAL Mountain Resort may be famous for its lush forests, hot springs, picturesque lagoons, and mineral-rich mud but what is often overlooked is the fact that Mambucal can feed the stomach as well as the eyes. After a trek to the famous seven falls (if you are bursting with energy and have...
Fun at Hda. Adela
GRADE 4 students of St. John’s Institute visited Hacienda Adela for the first time and they had such a wonderful time. With some help from the Silay City Tourism Office and special mention to Tourism Officer Ver Pacete and super-knowledgeable young historian Solo Locsin, over a hundred young...
The Squids of Veloria
PERHAPS the squid population in the waters of Northern Negros does not know their role in prospering the coastal areas there. These ten-armed marine animals are carnivorous and feed on fish and crustaceans. Some live on the surface while the others live in the depths of the sea. Not surprisingly...
Edbon teaches how to Tampisaw
THE Weekend Workshops at the Museum (WWM) organized a special visual-arts workshop on Watercolor Painting last January 14 to 16 at the Phinma Gallery of The Negros Museum. Tampisaw, a Watercolor Workshop by Edbon Sevilleno is not for beginners. Beginners will have a hard time catching up...
The latest on S.P.A.N. (Spa Association of Negros)
I CONGRATULATE the passers of the board exam for massage therapy held in Kalibo on December 1-5 last year. Anyone who thinks it’s a breeze becoming a licensed therapist will be in for a surprise. December 01, 2011 was the day for the written exams. On December 2, the examinees had to wait for...
Life is, oh, so Delicioso!
THE list of good eating places in Bacolod City is getting longer and longer. Whatever list you’ve made, include one of the newest - a deli along Lacson Street in front of the Carmelite Monastery. Delicioso is Team Tikim’s first tikim this year and what a way to start 2012 - with a merry heart...
Gazo: What I know for sure in 2011
A HAPPY, happy, happy New Year to everyone! I think that New Year’s Eve was a meaningful one and held so much promise for the upbeat, positive-thinking person. There’s nothing like a huge celebration to signify the ending of a year and the split-second beginning of a new one. There’s no perfect...
Jesus, the Unborn
What would happen had Jesus been born under different circumstances? Well, how can anything be more ÒdifferentÓ from His circumstances of being born to a very young mother who got pregnant before she was married? Who would ever believe that Mary was a virgin when her child was conceived? Was...
