Oh, the city that prides itself on its food and warm culture. Leaving had my heart as heavy as my stomach after eating Inasal.
- Eating Inasal (most important on the list)
- Going on photowalks with my cousin
- Doing big-girl stuff like opening bank accounts
- Coffee shop hopping in Lacson! (CALEA’S PISTACHIO SANSRIVAL + Tom N Tom’s Coffee!)
- Burgers + Street food in San Carlos
- Learning how to appreciate sisig
- Going biking every afternoon as an attempt to stay healthy
- Actually going healthy because they force feed you gulay (I just wouldn't give in to the promise of a healthy life so I avoided the vegetables as much as I could. They always had back-up ulam just so I wouldn’t skip a meal.)
Bob's Open Grounds in Lacson. I had really good back ribs from Lord Byron's here! Would've stayed longer if it wasn't for my curfew :--(
- Finding my favorite dimsum restaurant right in the middle of the city.
- Trying Bacolod beer a.k.a Bog’s Brew (I was never a fan of Pale beer but I guess this was an exception.)
- Meeting new people, then going on a very competitive game of pusoy
My first visit to Art District! I honestly thought we'd go to a museum but I thought wrong...
- Chill nights out with the cousins (I learned that mixed drinks + tequila + beer do not go together)
- Spending all my cash on cab fare and expensive water ("I can afford 60-peso water!")
- Endless food choices yet we still end up eating chicken (Sanders’ Pesto Chicken – 10/10!)
- Finding the time and space to paint
- Appreciating the little things people do for you (like giving you water when you can’t get out of bed. Thanks, Lola!)
- More Inasal
- Going to a hilltop restaurant with the best view (Malamig na nga sa hills, I ordered ice cream pa. I ended up shivering on the way to the campsite.)
- GOING CAMPING IN THE WOODS FOR THE FIRST TIME! (I’ve camped on a beach a few times but never in the woods. What an experience!)
- Building a tent on our own!!!!
- Spilling Cheese Pimiento inside the tent... then having to dismantle it on our own.
- Putting my pink floater to good use by using it as a pillow
- Looking for coffee at 1AM in the middle of the woods
- Hiking then cliff-diving (They made me wear shorts so my bikini wouldn't come off... psh.)
- Being able to wear a bikini despite the apparent weight gain
- Solid heart-to-heart talks with the cousins
- Unsupervised trips to anywhere
- Last minute shopping at Bong-Bong's then reuniting with one of my best friends *heart emoji*
I tagged this trip as #prob1n5ya because I assumed it would be a full-on immersion in the province . It wasn't far from how I thought my trip would go but I didn’t expect to enjoy the trip as much as I did. I was hyped a few weeks prior but I got chicken pox a week in. (I’m still bitter over not being able to go to the beach every day.) Still, I had the best people to keep me company. Who would’ve thought we’d find adventure in a Bong-Bong’s store?! And as much as I love having a car for myself, commuting was just so thrilling!
If there's one thing I was going to miss most, it would be the liberation that came with my visit. From flying alone to having to going on solo bike rides, (as cliche as it may sound) I was often alone yet I was never lonely. I came home with a heavy heart with a craving for more adventures.