When in Bacolod Try Bob's Pavlova and BongBong's Pasalubong

Davao airport, my stop-over before Bacolod

I was on a recent trip to Bacolod for work. It was actually part of a one-week journey that led me to Davao then Bacolod then Iloilo with a side trip to Guimaras, which I will be sharing with you on a later post.

It was my first time in Bacolod -- well, ok, not technically. I had been to Bacolod when I was a young kid but I virtually had no memory of our trip there. My Mom was also out there for work at that time and she brought me along. I just vaguely remembered taking the plane to Iloilo with my 'suitcase' full of toys -- Barbie and kitchen supplies-- and it just flew open in the tarmac just as we were about to board the plane.  I also remembered not enjoying the ferry from Iloilo to Bacolod which I thought then took forever! But beyond these, I really have no recollection of that trip.

So I took this opportunity to explore Bacolod with the very little time I had. I flew from Davao to Bacolod via Cebu Pacific. CebuPac has only one flight from Davao to Bacolod which leaves Davao at 7:05 am. 

My CebuPac flight that took me to Bacolod from Davao

We arrived at Bacolod-Silay Airport about 5 minutes earlier and I headed straight to the taxi stand only to find there was no taxi stand! What they have are red-uniformed taxi drivers calling out passengers in front of the terminal. I asked the guard at the Departure Gate where the queue to the metered taxi was and he pointed me to a queue of taxis a few meters away but there were no waiting passengers. I then found out taxis there do not use their meter. It was pakyawan! Drivers offered P500 but I thought it was too much. I was then determined to head to the main road to get a 'metered' taxi when a driver whom I later identified as 'Gamay' approached me and offered to take me to my hotel in San Juan, Bacolod for P400. Realizing the main highway is a bit of a walk from where I stood, I took the offer.

No further caption needed ;)

I booked myself at Westown MO2 hotel in San Juan through Agoda.com but found out when I was checking out that the walk-in or phone reservation rate of Westown is way cheaper than what I got in Agoda.com. I got my Deluxe Room for P2,000 in Agoda butit was only P1,580 when you walk-in or reserve through phone according to the front desk.

It was a simple but nice hotel though and my room was unexpectedly nice too for P2,000. The hotel is only 10-minute walking distance to SM, about 5-minute walk to Bacolod's famous BongBong Pasalubong Center in San Juan and a 10-minute walk to San Sebastian Cathedral.

Deluxe Room at Westown San Juan Bacolod

Another angle

View from my room

Spacious and clean bathroom but a bit outdated

I only had 24 hours in Bacolod and I was there for work I only managed to squeeze in attending mass at the San Sebastian Cathedral since it was Palm Sunday.

San Sebastian Cathedral

I also dropped by at the nearby BongBong's on my way back to the hotel to bring home some 'pasalubong' for the kids. To be honest, I have never heard of BongBong's but my client who was with me in this trip mentioned that their cheese tarts were yummy so I thought I had to buy some for my daughter who loves cheese.

BongBong's is known not only from their cheese tarts and other packed pasalubong goodies, but also from piaya. You can buy freshly cooked piaya at BongBong's for P3.50 for plain and P4.00 for ube. I liked the plain better than ube which I find too sweet for my liking. But be careful when it's freshly cooked as it may scald your tongue!

Buy freshly cooked piaya at BongBong's for P3.50 for plain & P4.00 for ube

Piping hot piaya

For less than P500, I was able to bring home a boxload of goodies for kids including cheese tarts, caramel tarts, biscocho, meringue, and butterscotch.

Boxload of pasalubong from BongBong's

Yummy treats from Bacolod (and Guimaras)

Cheese tarts and Caramel Tarts

The highlight of my trip, however, is a heavenly cake from Bob's, a restaurant native of Bacolod since 1965. My client's friend suggested this friend so we headed out to SM Bacolod to look for Bob's.

Bob's in Bacolodis sill a crowd drawer since it started in 1965

My companion ordered Chicken Barbeque (which is Chicken Inasal to be more accurate) while I had spareribs (which isn't that great, to be honest) and a red fruit punch (also not that great).

Bob's Chicken BBQ for P105

Red Fruit Punch 

Spareribs (sorry for the pic,I was excited to eat it before I thought of taking a photo)

The highlight, as mentioned, is this cake called Pavlova. My client checked their pastries and a staff recommended Pavlova. It is actually very close to sans rival but lighter and fluffier. Sans rival has a harder and firmer base and is actually sweeter while Pavlova has a soft, fluffy texture from the white cream oozing out with a thin and enough base to hold two layers of these white cream. It also has cashew in the filling. I couldn't stop eating pavlova -- if only I was not bound to IloIlo and Guimaras after my Bacolod trip, I would have taken a few of these home!

Bob's heavenly Pavlova

 After our Bob's lunch, I headed back to the hotel to catch my ferry to Iloilo. The port is just at the back of SM but I had to take a cab because of my luggage. I took the 3:40pm trip to IloIlo and paid for a business class ticket that cost me P415 which I thought was too much and wasn't worth it. The trip was 1 hr and 15 mins long and like how I remembered it when I was a kid, I didn't enjoy that ferry ride. 

I was off to IloIlo to Guimaras after that Bacolod trip. I will share my Guimaras trip with you very soon.

Thinking of heading to Bacolod anytime soon, do not forget to visit:

• San Sebastian Cathedral
• BongBong's Pasalubong Centre in San Juan. Try the piping hot Piaya for only P3.50 for plain and P4 for ube
• Bob's in SM Bacolod for their heavenly Pavlova cake