Merged: All about BACOLOD CITY

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Photo Credits to Anton Manso

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PHOTO SHOOT AT BALAY NEGRENSE
by IYO GAUDITE PHOTOGRAPHY























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The Philippines’ most livable, highly urbanized cities

by Harold Geronimo

Quality of living is a major criteria in coming up with this latest list of the most livable highly urbanized cities in the Philippines. Those who either lived or stayed in these cities can best describe how comfortable, worry-free and convenient to be residents. From security, peace and order, booming business activities to adequate healthcare and educational centers – all these are essential components to make a city a great place to live in.

1. Davao City

Who would ever want to live in a city where the monthly crime rate falls below one percent? Without batting an eyelash, Davao City deserves to be on top of this list. This most progressive city in Southern Philippines has been awarded the “Most Peaceful City in East and Southeast Asia for seven years and is home to the “Best Police Office in the Country” for six consecutive years. Going around Davao City even at night is very safe and I’ve personally experienced it. The city is also known to be typhoon-free all throughout the year and has an admirable city health office that offers free clinical and medical services to its less fortunate urban and rural residents. In terms of business, there is no doubt that Davao City is continuously booming. It is home to Mindanao’s largest SM Mall and will soon open Ayala Center’s first lifestyle mall in Mindanao. For four consecutive years, Davao City has also been recognized by Asiaweek as one of the 20 Best Cities in Asia.

2. Bacolod City

Known to be the country’s “City of Smiles”, Bacolod is always beaming with cheers of progress and peaceful living. Unlike other crowded highly urbanized cities, this premiere capital of Negros Occidental is proud for its clean and green surroundings and wide roads. The city’s residential and commercial zones are well-planned, making it the most organized urban planning model for local government units in the country. Bacolod has also made it to the Hall of Fame of the Cleanest and Greenest Highly Urbanized City.The city is home to two major shopping mall chains, SM and Robinsons, and has one of the most modern airports in the country today. With an upbeat local economy, the city became the region’s best performing city in economic development last year. It is also one of the fastest growing BPO and call center hubs in the country today. This is the reason why Bacolod is the second city in Visayas and Mindanao to have its own Starbucks, a visual peg of a progressive city.

3. Makati City

For most senior citizens, living in Makati is a utopian experience because of the VIP privileges accorded to them. Residents who are 60 years and above can watch free movies in any Makati cinemas, receive mid-year cash bonuses, get free cakes during their birthdays and golden wedding anniversaries as well as free vitamins and free out-of-town trips. Moreover, they are also exempted from paying individual income taxes and they enjoy special discounts in almost all business establishments around the city. This successful program for the elderly by the Makati City government has inspired other Metro Manila cities to do the same. As the country’s financial district, Makati is an attractive choice for comfortable cosmopolitan living by many expatriates and transient tourists. The city is home to five 5-star hotels and two popular world-class shopping malls.

4. Mandaluyong City

One of the cities in Metro Manila that remains diligent in ensuring security, peace and order is Mandaluyong City. During the past years, this strategic city right at the heart of the Metro has beefed up its local government security by putting up barangay outposts in almost every corner of the residential areas. Local police has also been establishing checkpoints in the city’s major roads and mobile cluster patrols are regularly roving the city all throughout the day. During the past months, the city enjoyed very low crime rate within its city center compared to other Metro Manila cities. Another remarkable feature of this “Tiger City” is its very convenient location. Being at the center of the metropolis, Mandaluyong City has easy access to Manila (through Kalentong or Sta. Mesa exits), Makati (through Makati-Mandaluyong Bridge), Quezon City and San Juan (through Brgy. Addition Hills) and Pasig (through Shaw Boulevard).

5. Cebu City

As the most progressive city in the South, Cebu City has become an alternate choice to those who want to veer away from the very congested Metro Manila life. As most residents say: “Cebu is like Manila minus the super heavy traffic and pollution.” As the Queen City of the South, Cebu has a good blend of history, culture and a booming economy. Amid its fast-paced economic progress, the city still exudes its rich cultural and historical heritage. It remains to be one of the country’s top business and tourism destinations in terms of the number of visitor arrivals. It has the second busiest airport in the country with regular international flights from South Korea, Hong Kong, Qatar and Singapore.

For your comments and views, you may email me at high5.harold@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter: harold_geronimo

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From LifestylesBacolod

Inasal on a wet afternoon
Published on: 8th May, 2011


Never mind if it was a little dark and dank; it was just as bad in the stall where you had a memorable Pompano dinner in Canton, China. Never mind if some extraordinary smells wafted through the air from time to time, they weren’t as strong as the ones in a public market in Saigon, Vietnam where you had the iconic pho. Never mind if it can get too crowded and exuberant as the Estero eateries in Binondo, Manila, where you once had a delicious Chinese meal at a quarter the cost compared to an airconditioned resto.



Grilled chicken like no other: Manokan Country inasal, pa-a and pecho

Never mind, indeed, the externals., concentrate only on the essentials. You come to Manokan Country in Bacolod on this dark and wet Saturday afternoon and go to the heart of the matter: eat a chicken inasal meal. In the process, you return to your heart of hearts: to find perhaps the high school teener visiting from out of town, marveling at the ways they serve chicken here. The juicy flesh. The spare parts made edible. The rice glistening with oil, colored with achuete. Or maybe the hungry college student, having a full meal that started with perfectly boiled, sticky arroz caldo and ending with a lot of burps. Or maybe the yuppie, earning a little extra now, demanding that they cook a fresh leg for his order, and not serve him the pre-cooked batch that has turned cold to the bone already
However the Manokan Country has turned out now, it is the Manokan Country in our hearts, irreplaceable no matter how far away we go in our never ending taste adventure.


Oysters just shucked provide a variation to the chicken meal here.

It is temple of the chicken barbecue of Bacolod that is simply incomparable, because the white meat’s flavor here is enhanced and not destroyed by too much seasonings. The chicken inasal here tastes, yes, like chicken, and is not hidden behind an overload of preservatives that it tastes like tocino, the way it does in Mang Inasal. It is not hidden in layers of batter to make it crispy like they do in Kentucky Fried Chicken or Jolibee, just kissed by perhaps simple achute oil while it is on the grill, to better release its juices. The so-called secret behind the chicken inasal in Bacolod is no secret at all: it is the prudent use of seasonings, the properly-aged vinegar for its marinade for example, and perhaps the ginger and salt in proportions that do not kill the flavor of the meat but bring out its best. It is also striking the right heat and maintaining it in the grill, so that the meat is thoroughly cooked but its juice still there. This is the inasal that is so flavorful because you cannot quiet figure the flavors other than that of the meat; so juicy because it was subjected to just right heat, at the right time It is a tough balancing act, but that is why Bacolod chicken inasal is so special.


Iconic plain rice drizzled with achuete oil.*

But Manokan Country is irreplaceable because it is also a mecca of our memories, the pure, unalloyed joy of celebrations in the past, perhaps when one got a bigger allowance or when one first landed a job. Maybe that time when a lucky streak had landed one a project with a nice package, or a pay raise, or a sudden windfall from a visiting aunt who was generous with her dinars.
They were celebrations that punctuated what was otherwise the humdrum of struggle, of trying to make both ends meet, and therefore they were truly celebrations, extra special because they seldom happened.
And here you are, on this slow Saturday afternoon, when the skies are gray and weeping thin wisps of rain. It is cold. It is smelly. But in your heart you feel warm and wonderful as you sit there and eat of the past and its happy celebrations.
Somewhere in the stall beside, the Apo Hiking Society’s ditty Batang-Bata Ka Pa plays. It is a revival by a latter-day band, and it revives more than just memories but emotions long forgotten. Chicken, oysters and yellow achuete rice all eaten with the hand have never tasted — and felt – this good.*

For feedback, log on to Lifestyles Bacolod*|*Online Edition of Bacolod City's lifestyle magazine

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halo-halo Bacolod street scenes













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[CENTER]BACOLOD-SILAY AIRPORT (again and again...)
Brgy.Bagtic, Silay City, Negros Occidental



Look mga pips! wla na ang tuktukon nga baral!...congrats!!! :banana:




Gate 2-3


Gate 4 with the new smoking lounge


sapagkainit!!!


leaving na kami


pag take-off sulod dayun sa thunderstorm...:nuts:

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Fly over update

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