General Admission

Bacolod beckons, as always

By Al S. Mendoza

 

I’M back from Bacolod where I had fond memories again.

I’ve been there a thousand and one times, I guess; still, each time, it felt like heaven.

Never did I lose the itch to be Bacolod-bound.

Always, it’d be a thrill the minute I had the chance to fly there.

The love affair began the day I set foot there when I was in college.

It wasn’t that long ago.  Ahem!

I was then a campus journalist/delegate to the annual College Editors Guild of the Philippines in Bacolod’s West Negros College.

First time for me to board a ship then from Manila to Visayas.

I practically gulped gin to hopefully kill seasick. Played Lucky 9 on the side.

Didn’t work.

Almost all night, I was puking.

I fell asleep from weakness.

When I woke up the morning after, we were already in Bacolod.

Immediately, hangover and all, I fell in love with the place.

Good food.  Good folks.  Good company.

Years later, when I got back to Bacolod, I had actually wanted to relocate there.

I don’t know.

Maybe it’s the alimusan?  Vulgan?  Batchoy?  Kansi?  Batuwan?  Callos?   Laksa?  Goat caldereta? Durian?  Marang?  Piaya?  Or sinamak?

As the years went by, my romance with Bacolod had become all the more passionate—especially in the years following the friendship I had struck with Ramon & May Uy.

They’ve become more than friends with my loved ones like Sol—Ramon & May being the nicest guys Bacolod has ever produced.

They pride in owning picturesque May’s Organic Garden, an exotic getaway in Brgy. Pahanocoy south of Bacolod.

Pahanocoy by the bay has that sky-blue Olympic-sized pool that is surrounded by quaint flora and fauna.

The couple’s May’s Organic Garden boasts of organically grown vegetation that offers a veritable feast to the naked eye.

This is on top of Ramon’s state-of-the-art solar-powered water system efficiently operating in the area.

Ramon’s solar system ably backstops his shredder technology, his nationally acclaimed invention as a waste/organic fertilizer management partner.

Already, first-time visitors to the couple’s paradise, like Senators Angara and Cynthia Villar, among others, have become instant admirers.

Consistently now, they unabashedly recommend a must-trip to the couple’s place for would-be first-time Bacolod visitors.

Me, too.

As I did when I went there only a while back to play in the PAL Media Golf.

Also, I covered the 71st PAL Interclub Golf under the usual able stewardship of PAL president Jaime J. Bautista.

My felicitations go to Manila Southwoods for winning the premiere Men’s Regular crown for the fourth straight year, with Luisita and Canlubang finishing second and third, respectively.

But Canlubang won dramatically in the Seniors division over dethroned champion Luisita.  Del Monte wound up third.

Ding Marcelo and Jun Engracia finished equal first in the PAL Media Golf.

Me?  Proudly, I finished third. Practice I had practically none.

Isn’t lack of preparation the best formula for failure?

Next year, watch out.

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