Coming To Manila, Day 7: Silay, Mambukal And The Dinner Party

So the following day after breakfast, Manong Tinong and Tito Bam went with TJC and I to Silay, to check out some of the old houses which the city is famous for. Silay has a lot of history to it, and one of the first places we checked out over there was the Balay Negrense. Here is a picture of it:



We then went to El Ideal, a famous bakery in the area, for some treats. I got some of their famous goat milk's barquillos (wafer-like finger cookies), which I enjoyed eating. I ended up bringing some back to the States for my folks and my friends the Woos, and basically guarded the things with my life as it was always in danger of crumbling. Proud to say, they made it back Stateside about 60-70% intact, which is GREAT.

We grabbed lunch, and here is a pic of Tito Bam, TJC and Manong Tinong



Afterwards we dropped off Tito Bam back at the house to finish working on the Village. Manong Tinong then drove us to Mambukal, a mountain resort about an hour from Bacolod City. The scenery was gorgeous, and it was quite a trip to see hundreds of bats just hanging upside down on the trees, waiting for nightfall. Here are some pics:








After Mambukal, we stopped by my Lola Manoling and Lola Tiba's graves to pay my respects:




We then grabbed a quick bite to eat, where we were joined by Manong Tinong's son. They then dropped us off back at the house, where preparations for the dinner party to celebrate the opening of the Christmas Village was in full swing. TJC and I were able to sneak in a quick hour nap. We woke up just as the guests started filtering in. The garden was all prettied up, a bar was set up, the food table was set up, and I saw a lot of new faces, but also a lot of old faces from the past which was great. Manong Jutay (the 2nd of Manong Tinong's 2 brothers), his wife Manang Procy and some of their kids stopped by, as did old family friends such as Mrs. Marsona, Tito Bambi Borromeo, Manong Josar. Also, some family members were there too: Tita Pet and Tita Luz. Here are some pics - the 2nd picture is of Mrs. Marsona and Tita Pet with my Tita Ma, and the man in the 3rd picture with Tito Tony is Manong Josar:








The food was great, the dessert was great, the alcohol was great. Everyone then gathered up in the 2nd floor for the soft opening of the Village, complete with a blessing from a priest.

We all then went back downstairs for more food and drinks, but as the evening wore on, the humidity, combined with the heat from not only the lights but also the collective body heat from all the people in attendance, started getting to me and I had to excuse myself. Went back to the room, turned on the A.C. and I rested up and ended up falling asleep as I felt drained. I woke up after the last guests had gone, and I took a quick look to see where everyone was. I think this picture alone shows how exhausted we all were:



So back to bed I went, knowing that my stay in Bacolod was almost done. Tomorrow, we were off to Iloilo!