#ppgoesplaces

[thewalkingsunshine]

Laborday 2015, we traveled for more than 5 hours by sky, by land and by sea. It was the longest and painful travel we have ever been, but when we saw the beauty of Caramoan, every mile was worth it.

Our photo blog is coming pretty soon but for now hope you enjoy our travel video as much as we did in Caramoan! ♥

PS: for HD, watch it on Vimeo.

[thewalkingsunshine]

MASSKARA FESTIVAL 2014

Since my friends and I started festival hopping last year, we didn’t let 2014 pass without having a festive experience and flew to Bacolod for their MassKara Festival. 

MassKara festival is one of the country’s most colorful and sought after celebration held every third week of October in the city of smiles, Bacolod. It began in 1980 when the province was in crisis due to the low cost of sugar canes. By that time the local government and civic groups teamed up to hold a festival that will symbolize why they were known to be the City of Smiles - to prove everyone that amidst the difficulty, Bacolod will never give up and continue to smile as one. 

It was our first time in Bacolod and I must say we made the best time of our stay there. From the colorful sea of masks and festive beats that will make you dance anytime in the streets, to their mouth watering chicken Inasal and to their epic street parties. MassKara festival is one experience we will surely keep!

So I’m sharing what we did there as a tip if you would visit Bacolod for MassKara festival.

TIP #1. Book Early

In order for us to have a worry free stay in Bacolod we booked our flight and reserved rooms months before the festival. Aside from getting cheap flights from promos, we also got cheaper rooms located near Lacson Street where most of the events happen.

TIP #2. Eat legit Inasal! Bacolod is known for it’s Chicken Inasal and we didn’t miss the chance to taste it! Well no need to worry on finding a legit restaurant because it’s actually everywhere. Though we rate Manokan 5 stars for its delicious taste and texture! 

TIP # 3. Wear festive clothes This means wear comfortable clothes with a festive twist because you'll be walking to go places since most the streets are either closed or crowded with partying people. We usually wore shirt, shorts, and walking shoes in our stay there. Consider wearing sneakers or jelly shoes because Bacolod’s weather is as Bipolar with Manila’s. It often rain during the afternoon so prepare to get wet. And even if it doesn't, water guns will make you all wet during the night!

TIP # 4. Experience Bacolod's Street Party

Everything happens on the streets of Bacolod. And one of the must see are the colorful and dancing masks during the float parade. We had so much fun dancing on the streets and taking photos with these colorful masks. I really admire how they were intricately designed, such a work of art!

At night the streets of Bacolod becomes more alive with the Elektric MassKara parade. Not even the rain can put away the smiles of the people during the parade. Indeed, the show must go on! 

MassKaraland was a free party located at Lacson Street. My friends and I were given VIP passes for being the party sparker.

Masskara Invasion is an exclusive party that we really look forward to! Water guns, glowing lights, beautiful crowd, fireworks and the country’s top DJs made this party one of the best nights that we had in Bacolod!

TIP #5. Go for a City tour and eat, eat, eat!

After all the days and nights of street party we had one more day to relax and explore Bacolod and the cities near it.

THE RUINS

Just a few minutes away from Bacolod, we went to see one of the 12 fascinating ruins in the world, THE RUINS of Talisay City. At first, we actually thought that it will be just the usual historic old building, but when we saw The Ruins, it blew us away with it's picturesque beauty. 

Bacolod's Municipal

Silay City's old houses and museums

There are many old houses in Silay City it's like Vigan but the houses are locates in different streets so be sure to visit early because at 4pm most of the houses and museums are already closed, the reason why we only get to see 2 houses. 

We were supposed to visit Campuestohan Highland Resort but our hired Jeep can't drive us up all the way to the mountain where it is located. It's a new place in Bacolod which is considered as their Tagaytay. Too bad we missed their morning bus ride because we woke up late from last night's street party. But If we would have the chance to return I'd like to visit this place and try all their different activities such as the zipline and aerial walk, and see the beautiful view of the sunset from the mountain. http://campuestohanhighlandresort.com/

If you have more than a day you can also visit Mambukal Hot Spring, where you can go for trekking and dip to their sulfur hot springs. 

Bacolod is well known for their delicious food. So after the tour, we filled our tummy with Bacolod's happy pill, foooooood!

Ading's

One of my favorite restaurants there was Ading's. It is like Dampa but more sosyal. The place was really nice and clean, you can choose if you want to stay outside or inside their air conditioned area. Juts like in Dampa you have to choose from the variety of sea foods and they will do the cooking.

Outside area

Airconditioned area

Their food? fresh and really worth going back for! Their servings are big and everything tastes really good!

Caleas

Of course, one thou shall not miss Calea's cakes. While the boys were waiting in the table, us girls were picking cakes from their wide variety of awesome goodness! We made sure we pick different cakes so we can taste everything. And we must say every cake tastes really good! 

I hope you enjoy my post as much as we did in Bacolod. I can't wait for our next festival trip! Until next time! ♥