MASSKARA: SUGARY SMILES, ARTS & EATS

Despite predictions of rain, the sun shone down on us as we landed in Bacolod, the land of sugar, sweetness and smiles.

- VICKY VELOSO-BARRERA

The city is surrounded by verdant fields of sugar cane which produce the key ingredient in Bacolod's famous desserts. As always, a feast accompanies every visit to this southern belle, which never loses her genteel touch even as she glides into an ever-progressive future.

The feast that is Bacolod has a good deal to do with food, of course.

Between the golden orange chicken inasal, the addictive beef kansi with its subtly sour broth and comforting bowls of KBL (kadios, baboy, langka), your tummy will already be happy. But the city's heritage restaurants, beloved chicken houses and exquisite bakeshops will beguile you with so much more.

Apart from food, there is a feast of fine arts, with world-class galleries like Orange Project at the Art District off Lacson Avenue. There is Jojo Vito's Designs Gallery which carries the designer's happy line of masks. You can even paint your own mask. We scooped up lovely coffee art from the McDonald's at The Upper East which supports local artists. There are heritage houses in Silay and the iconic, romantic ruins where you can dream of lost love.

Bacolod's penultimate feast lies in its spectacular festivities, namely the Masskara festival. This is no shallow merrymaking but the city's determination to put on more than just a brave face in the light of twin catastrophes. A plunge in the fortunes of the sugar industry and the sinking of the Don Juan in 1980 could have driven the people to despair. Instead, they rallied and established the Masskara festival, an exuberant display of color, music, dance and bravura. They chose to smile through adversity and today, the festival is a joyous celebration.