The Bacolod Conscript Adventures

Houses outside bacolod

2011-01-13T15:48:00.001+08:00

here's something that might surprise many foreigners how do some of their "chatmates" live out their everyday life in some places here, well a good comrade offered me sneak peak of her house and look what i've seen..

houses like this in areas like slums or old apartments are some of the most lowest conditions you can consider, well anyways she can live roughly on this kind of places where she learns the word "survival"

Vanity 101; the schoolgirl's only means of leisure thru some magazine pages taped into the walls of her room..

black shoes.. sketchers..

A collection of Bags

Cosmetics and some good old stuffs

Illongo Conscript Christmas

2010-12-25T20:04:00.002+08:00

The few beautiful parols made by inmates in bacolod provincial jail

A tree in a comrade's house recently the dacha didn't have a tree this season coz it was nowhere to be found and we didn't have the time to get one..

Well 24th and 25th of December is a calendar mark by every illongos around town its a perihelia of reunions, company christmas parties, and so on well for me today is just a special day that we know someone was born to save a lost world..

well anyways here's some pics from my activities I did from 24th to this 25th..

family reunion from my babushka's family side..

mmm.. this little girl just loves that salad..

now that's a mouthful..

Another mouthful..

oh watch the kids gobble up entire plates..

well right in the afternoon I went around still people in the 24 are still busy look at the traffic in Lacson Street..

Love the Tree...

Well anyways, here's more from a children's Christmas party..

A Christmas quiz..

love those happy faces of the young illonga pioneers..

Gifts and prizes galore.. every little pioneer wants one..

you gotta love how this young conscript vows to herself not to touch such beautiful cupcakes for the little ones even though she is that hungry... and wants to pick one!

This guy can't wait for the cotton candy..

I think she knows the answer...

balloons!!

game time! paint me a picture.. the little people just love this!!

Talent Portion time each kids gives out such talent well..

Awards, time brown guy was the champion..

Illonga kawaiiness never fails to scribd the eye..

whats happy about this, this kids are part of child development center which aids such kids like them by giving them incentives and monetary funding in order for them to continue their eduction..

Parents eat out with their kids as they get their rations up, well its so good to see the madlang mahirap smile..

you gotta be kidding me how she gobbles up that small cupcake in one gobble..

after such a hectic week, I decided to doze around and chat with some comrades, well such a week you just need to cool down from the ruckus of the season and share some experiences..

Well something for you guys to know the true meaning of the week im in and your in;

lets just ponder on this girl..

Well to all my comrades, here's something you can ponder about this 25th, the true meaning of Christmas..

The true meaning of Christmas is love. John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." The true meaning of Christmas is the celebration of this incredible act of love.

The real Christmas story is the story of God's becoming a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ. Why did God do such a thing? Because He loves us! Why was Christmas necessary? Because we needed a Savior! Why does God love us so much? Because He is love itself (1 John 4:8). Why do we celebrate Christmas each year? Out of gratitude for what God did for us, we remember His birth by giving each other gifts, worshipping Him, and being especially conscious of the poor and less fortunate.

The true meaning of Christmas is love. God loved His own and provided a way—the only Way—for us to spend eternity with Him. He gave His only Son to take our punishment for our sins. He paid the price in full, and we are free from condemnation when we accept that free gift of love. "But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Comrades!!

Dapug

2010-12-01T04:50:00.001+08:00

something you won't see outside in inday's front yard

Dapug (Dah-poug) is literally a local name for an open hearth fireplace were illongos prepare everything from meals to hot water. basically its an open hearth stove were its part of kitchens of houses inside and outside the city it is fueled mainly by either firewood or charcoal or any combustible materials. basic construction is mainly its a bamboo or wooden table which then is strengthened and made into a box and the next step is the box is filled with a non-combustible materials such broken cement chunks and or earth.

This kind of dapug uses a pottery hearth as the cooking area, the flames is kept in control by chunks of cement at the side in order to control the spreading of fire..

Inday seems too lazy cleaning the pots nand the kettle, these pots are made by aluminum but is blackened overtime by burning wood.

very dented due to to falls and bumps..

A rural kitchen sink

next to the dapug is a place where there is available water such as the sink or a large earth jug of water.

another kind of dapug which uses steel rods and 2 cement chunks as its cooking area..

the dapug uses mainly firewood and charcoal as their main source of fuel while others use scrap plywood, dead leaves, twigs and branches and many other combustible materials.

Firewood is tored under thew dapug while others store it either under or above the dapug.

Well I hope you otakus out there get the idea of illongo fireplaces...

breakfast and lunch combined

2010-11-22T05:14:00.001+08:00

Sausage and Tocinong isda; what's left of the breakfast that I was not able to wake up to..

I decided to eat my lunch as early as possible and breakfast as late as the day.. because of having hard times doing some papers and the time spent, I almost have no time to eat at a regular time, brunch among illongo people are mostly done by bystanders, jobless and call center agents and even students are also included on the list of people taking this out.

well my brunch was personally made up of leftover food from the morning breakfast which I was not able to catch and some new dishes I cooked myself to help out with the left food..

of course a middle day course is never complete for an illongo without rice

that egg thingy is actually the filipino omelet which is made of sauteed onions and tomatoes which is tossed into scrambled eggs while the creature-like food beside it is dried squid known locally as Lokus nga Pinakas (Lo-kos ngha Pe-na-kas )

Some illongos cannot complete a meal without him...

Modern Illongo Wedding

2010-11-15T04:25:00.000+08:00

Well how's its like to hold a modern illongo wedding here in Bacolod?? Well some illongo couples have already started to utilize package plans from different coordinators and caterers, depending on their proposed budget and economics many couples decide to use the in house banquet style, meaning the wedding and reception is held in the same place, it may be the couple's church or a multi-purpose hall similar to Bacolod's Popular Benjamin Hall..

Well the caterer decided to setup base from the nearby utility kubo of the church, here they stocked necessary dishes and viands and all the needed utensils for the wedding

The delivery truck arrives

Well I got off to bad start in the afternoon and decided to sip some laswa or vegetable soup made from papaya and malunggay leaves which some of my comrade waiters cooked up before the wedding proper

Well anyways, back to the wedding; everyone was really getting ready

well the ceremony proper starts..

Sponsors which Comprises of "Maninays and Maninoys" enter..

Flower Girls, Ring, Bible and Coin Bearers enter the stage...

The Groom enters with his parents..

The Ceremony starts with the officiating reverend opening the event with a solemn prayer..

The Bride prepares to enter

The bride enters with her parents

The newlyweds present themselves to the people well its chow time after this!

Rainy Bacolod Afternoon

2010-11-11T05:43:00.005+08:00

Well i was off to the streets with an important matter to deal with with some of my papers, and was going around town since the past 5 hours, well after a very tiring roundabout I decided to visit my mother alma matter NOHS, well I stayed there for an hour and decided to talk with a friend inside well when I was about to leave the school, the rain kicked in;

because of the rain, many student got late and some got so wet when they entered school;
well the malice attitude of filipinos and especially illongos are inborn.. talk about this young schoolgirls who don't bother that their male schoolmates see their most guarded intimates to show up and display all the beautiful colors and designs it has..

A bunch of lovely, wet and sexy young illongo schoolgirls met me across the gate as I was about to go out..

The reason why they get wet is that they never expected the rain to fall down and many never prepared even a sweater or a jacket, they just run across the rain..

some illongo schoolgirls never learn a lesson..

yup; this pic shows the schoolgirls who ran and got wet after reaching the gate; talk about an instant underwear fashion show.. when I took the pic this young ladies were talking about the bura they were wearing for the day..

well if your not convinced, here's a more detailed cropped version of the pic

As the rain continued to pour in more and more students came, wet and tired and too anxious to go to class..

the rain continued to pour and pour..

I decided to run down awing not to delay my time; well as I was going thru I encountered more students and stuck pedestrians who seek shelter from the awnings and fairings of the nearby buildings

others came prepared but still wet, because of their friends sharing umbrellas

yes; although sharing is caring but the so-called illongo wet and wild underfashion show which I shared to you, the essence really starts at an early age..

i'm not exempted I too was drenched by the torrid rain..

more schoolgirls do the rain marathon and end up exposing everything...

well that's high school life, this pic shows male students sprinting and playing tug with oncoming vehicles

some students got stranded and some of them decided to AWOL and either go home, or do the layaw thing as the last option...

I decided to take a trisikad to help ease out my soaking problems and reach my final destination..

well although i'm kind of wet I never had an onset of fever whatsoever after such misadventure...
ti'll my next post comrades!

Bacolod Photo Runabout 3

2010-09-21T20:43:00.000+08:00

hmm.. student teacher time is here! some young aspiring education students are being deployed to some coop-schools around the island, armed with the knowledge the acquired from their 3 years and 7 months of schooling, and sexy apprentice teacher uniforms; they are invading a public near you!

More Photos around Bacolod and Negros Island! did some runabouts after hard days work but I just want everyone to have slice of Bacolod City life..

busy people around SM Bacolod food court, they may be too busy to eat or too busy chatting..

Heavy traffic near 24th lacson Street, scrambling thru this vehicles are pedistrians trying to take an opportunity cross the lacson street traffic..

check out this school children striking a pose for the camera after a satisfying retreat they are now ready to go homebound..

Inside a ferry terminal in Bredco port just after their vessel left the wharf.. ronery..

Some Student teachers again this time from BCC college of education striked a pose with me, again the dignified young ladies with very hentai skirts..

midweek break and midterm break is around the corner, and some college and schoolchildren enjoy this small opportunity for a week of RnR.. some go out for excursions and out of town trips because after a week its back to the grinding busy life of the Bacolod metro..

yup and of course my little comrades also BT-ied me some of their pics, well for illongo school kids midweek break is also around the corner and I hope everyone enjoys it!!!

Lutay

2010-09-01T04:32:00.001+08:00

its one of the most usual experience you may have here in bacolod is some of the injuries concening the joints, tendons, and muscles there is a local remedy which we call here "Lutay" (Lu-tay) it is also called generally as "Hilot" (Hee-Lut) and are similar in most aspects and techniques its mostly known to the world as reflexology, The filipino hilot or the illongo lutay has traced most of its techniques and roots from traditional chinese accupressure and reflexology which was introduced for hundreds of years ago by chinese traders and has been passed on to most people, especially to illongos, since my childhood the Lutay has been my babushka's remedy to some ailments especially fever and flu due to falls and accidents...

I had a very serious feet misalignment after I did some work and had an accident where I fell with my feet sloping inward, I felt a vein or so got out of its position and I felt very terrible pain, and since then I had no choice by the second day but to go to a lutay or manug-hilot to finish my agony..

Well one thing I had t have another misadventure which took me half a day,

from the dacha I took a jeepeney ride from a bata jeep and had no option but to walk my aching feet a few meters, you see the street above I took is I walked it for almost 35 minutes, the street is known as the 17th street its the fastest shortcut to North drive a busy street where you can ride a jeepney going into the hearts of the city; the right foot really hurt a lot after 35 minutes of walking the whole length of 17th street..

After a while I took time to rest and wait for a Shopping Jeepney and took a shot of the Busy North Drive Street, a few moments I was able to board a jeep..

here the jeep turns into Rosario Mabini where the jeeps goes into the heart of downtown bacolod..

I arrived approximately ten in the morning in the hernaez-smith streets where there are numerous lutay masters who have their places in front of boutiques and small kiosks where they mainly just have some chairs, some equipments for use in the trade. mst of them use coconut oil, but according to comrade kuzin; (she also knows some procdures in lutay) says u can use any kind of oily or greasy cosmetics which include lotions, baby oils and even hair cream is possible..

A customer undergoing a session, here the manug Lutay or Manughilot does a Back Aligning procedure and uses traditional oil to work his way I was next then to this guy, these lutay master will accept any fee possible just a minimum of 20 pesos will do..

The principles of Lutay have been practiced in the Negros for hundreds of centuries, dating back to an era that predates the country’s written history. Since there is no history of this art, numerous Lutay masters failed to document the origins, dates, facts, where the arts originated and who developed these effective and intriguing healing art. There is no doubt that Hilot and lutay is practiced in the Philippines to varying degrees or levels, nationwide.

Lutay is mostly accupressure and reflexology rolled into one, it employs chiropractic manipulation and massage for the diagnosis and treatment of musculoligamentous and musculoskeletal ailments. They also have been known to reset dislocated and sprained joints such as the knee, ankle, fingers and metacarpal bones and mostly concentrates in realigning mislocated arteries and veins and other vital systems such as nerves which have been dislocated due to accidents, falls and some certain sports related injuries

Coconut oil is essential in all kinds of Lutay and hilot procedures to maintain warm hands. The oil does not only lubricate the massage but it also keeps the Lutay master's hands warm.

After a hilot session, the person is usually warned not to bathe for approximately twenty four hours so the oils can absorb into the skin.

well after the session I had, I was advised not to take a bath for the next 12 hours but I can take cold water but not wet the right foot, well just to make sure I decided not to take a bath for the next 12 hours and I was deranged to use a bottle of softdrinks to roll my feet around once in a while to promote circulation around the affected blood vessels, the lutay master confirmed me that by a day or so the condition will get better.. well up until im making this post I was still rolling the bottle on my feet once in a while..

so much for that comrades! for you guys here living in Bacolod and having problems with their body such as back ache that cannot go away for weeks go to your neighborhoods nearest friendly "Manug Lutay" or Manug Hilot..

Bacolod photo runabout 2

2010-08-12T05:47:00.002+08:00

well here's another batch of photos after a few run abouts, been busy with some paperwork and some side jobs but I never forget to take down some pics around happenings in town,

Rainy time around 2PM somewhere in mandalagan

A Starex Jeep and an ex-rjg jeepney wait for passenger near lopue's mandalagan

Playing Wet.. this young tween fonder around their school center barefooted playing "tubiganay"

A young lonely high school girl

Up front a jeepney plying thru a busy afternoon in the downtown area..

Head up close with the new Takara L300 Unit, this old player has been upgrading their old L300 with newer 2010 L300 models

A couple Trucks up front the Pepsi Bacolod plant waiting for their load of sodas and other beverages

Sitting in a barrier up front the sum-ag road around a glommy 3PM..

Bacolod Photo Runabout 1

2010-06-29T04:16:00.016+08:00

The City felt rain last Thursday, signalling the rainy season.

Just did some runaround since last week, here are some of images of Bacolod that some readers may find familiar..

last week I went to a friend of mine who goes to BCC, Bacolod City College, This road leads to the Taculing campus, inside the wall on the left is the popular Bacolod City High School

seems like the BCC have no classes during this period and they seem to be busy for an event in the school.

This afternoon I ran around town with my kuzins had a chance to take some pics from their K-Van. we took a shortcut thru barangay banago due to the traffic in Lacson Street, we passed over some schools and here it is! for some comrades in japan this is how the life of a filipina high school girl is,

High Schoolers from the Domingo Lacson high school

This is really what I call a real overload..

Two friends go home together..

We passed thru barangay one and passed thru Andres Bonifiacio Elementary School II, and yes lots of little schoolgirls.. it seems these are from grades 2 to 4...

While Talking around comrade cousin, we suddenly catched the very unslightly nice Vapors and body smells of grade schoolers as we passed thru this crowd of little people.. making kuzin remember her college days while she was assigned for apprenticeship in this same school that she smells like this grade schoolers..

first day high!

2010-06-17T04:25:00.000+08:00

just passed by this 15th of june in front of my mother school and wow! this was somewhere between 10 and 11 in the morning, and look at the size of the students coming out of NOHS or the Negros Occidental High School, I think it was somewhere between noon break so better expect this kind of stampede..

here's closer shot at the students, you'll notice some of them are still wearing civilian clothing and not yet uniforms, anyways its nice to see this cute schoolgirls again in their seifukus as the year starts...

the volume of students overwhelmed the volume of cars, some of these high schoolers just live at the nearby neighborhoods still others go to their usual eating places just around and outside the school.

Here's a shot going down rizal hernaez streets, as still more and more high schoolers go home to their homes and their favorite eating places and even their "secret places"

life around schools like this revolve around this kind of lifestyle; wakeup, eat, school, eat, rest, school, go home and/or go to malls before going home and so on.. public schools are some Bacolod's most inhabited places for me, once I was also in this deranged cycle of my life but I was happy it became a part of helping me who I am now..

reminiscence.. the sum-ag jam of 2008 and 2009

2010-06-16T04:24:00.000+08:00

found some pictures in my 7390 when I had my escapades to my friend every week when I was going to him in barangay sum-ag the last barangay of Bacolod City along the south national road of negros. this pics were shot during the 6:30-7:00 time bracket, during this time the roads along this areas were being developed and were given with a large budget from the national government in the road rehabilitation project under then now outgoing congressman Monico Puentevella.

early morning traffic jam at around 6:45AM, notice that some drivers turned off their engines to conserve fuel. the pace of every vehicle is about 10 to 18 inches every 2 minutes...

A patchwork, along the way there are cut off asphalt roads and newly finished concrete roads while some areas like this, are being demolished to make way for the foundation of the new concrete roads, sad thing is its very delayed and work begins after 5 or more weeks after the old road has been bulldozed and scraped, and by the time its being built and ready for concreting the rain comes in and ruins the conditioned road and delays the concrete laying for another week or so...

this cycle of delayed work has made serious problems to the roads and also created more and more problems as the rain came in this is what the problems you see..

because of such thick traffic jam, some jeepneys along the route gets stuck and some passengers even get so exhausted of waiting some even to the point they fall asleep in frustration.

that's what happened before you saw the really modern highways along the south and its some of its true stories...

flooding vulnerability of Bacolod

2010-06-11T07:47:00.000+08:00

This part of the Bata creek was once so dried up frogs here were killed.. now look what happens

Yup! in just a few span of weeks rain has once again returned after several months of torrid heat almost decimating agriculture of negros and bacolod. but the entry of rain posed another threat, flooding. last 2007 bacolod faced the threat in a very deadly manner and several areas in the city. looks like most bacolodnons still did not learn a lesson on the last 2007 flood that hit our city.

the large amount of garbage dumped here during the dry season poses a serious threat of clogging up of the area downstream

the small creeks and streams around town is one of the city's natural flood control systems, if we are to sustain these we better know how to take care of them by not dumping garbage into them.

the big problem here in the city is that most residents do not observe proper disposal and segregation of garbage, that is they just throw garbage in places where they think that natural bodies can just wash away their garbage. the threat of flooding again in bacolod is about a likely large percentage due to the fact we still do some old acts and do not implement proper waste disposal and at the same time the department of public services or DPS did not fully implement and deploy their disposal vehicles around town and that most subdivisions around town do not have a truck that picks up garbage in the area or they just limit their collecting routes, making it impossible for residents to have a decent garbage collection system, meaning some residents either burn or just let their garbage rot overtime, like whats happening to some subdivisions in the city.

As the rainy season kicks in, residents in Bacolod are still going blank on this issue...

first thing we must know proper waste disposal, segregation and recycling, bad thing about it is we filipinos are too lazy doing this, next when a local government implements this it does not have a sharp teeth or someone in the government also tries to sabotage the implementation.

Look at japan and its cities they are a proper example of waste disposal and even living in Japan you have to get accustomed to their policies and practices in waste management....

As i've known japan is the most organized country in waste disposal, why can't we do it??

these kinds of garbage trucks is a must in our city but maybe its light years before we can have one of these..

and recycling plants such as these are introduced to our city, not only will the government earn taxes but also help the environment. better to government officials watching the blog, check these pictures below

recycling plants can be built by private contractors and pay not only residents who bring their garbage but also government garbage trucks, the plants are just the ones who is responsible for the segregation and each recycling plant sells one kind of garbage to the other, meaning everyone will benefit.

if we are to minimize or to stop flooding in the city of smiles, we better rethink everything and change our attitudes in waste disposal...

Sago gulaman illongo style

2010-05-31T14:27:00.000+08:00

A vendor's latest concoction as of 3 in the afternoon, sago and some palamig coolers

its been hot since the following months and Bacolodnons had a hard time with the intense heat of the sun with temperatures from 37 to 40 degrees C, who would not bare to stand the sun searing his or her throat in the wide open and the streets? like me.. luckily a roadside sago gulaman and palamig vendor was around the corner, and selling his trade, every filipinos favorite sago gulaman and palamig.

illongo style coolers are very similar to their manila counterparts although each vendor has secrets in making his or her commodity a hit to the masses. generally illongo palamigs are in general sweeter than manila or cebuano palamigs, due to illongo's taste for sweetness and that sugar legacy, most of this palamigs are more delicious than from other regions, also some additional ingredients not found in other regions are specifically available only in Negros. for example illongo halo halo uses mascubado (raw sugar concentrate) instead of refined sugar.

you can buy some of these from roadside stalls, and even those in trisikads(pedicab) selling these by the roadside..

The sweet fields of bacolod

2010-05-13T05:15:00.000+08:00

Sugarcane fields around the Talisay-Bacolod border

One of my favorite places to hang around is some small communities of sugar workers at the neighboring fields around the subdivision as you know the dacha sits between the border of the cities of bacolod and talisay, people living here make a living by working in the sugarcane fields lying around the subdivision. the place where i'm going now is a small quarters of sacadas or sugar field workers working for the fields of the lacson family.

the subdivision where I live is formerly in this state after the down of the sugar industry in the 80's one of the lacson family members decided to make his property into a real estate area, that's what created the subdivision(where I live now), but he retained a few hectares from being developed into a subdivision to continue profiting in the sugar industry.

I lent this 100cc Kawasaki XE motard (actually is a 100cc Kawaski KE 100 enduro modified to motard spec ) for this travel, the sugarcane during this season is still in the maturing stage and at around 4ft in length.

To reach my destination, I used the motorcycle above which is one of the motorcycles lying around the dacha, it was going 5pm when I got to the dirt road, the sun was going down and it was a good time to go there, not too hot and no too dark, when I arrived my appointee was not around but her chichi-san was around to tell me she was doing some chores and was going to the neighboring houses to buy some packed ice (which is very popular here in bacolod and sells from 50 cents to P2.)

This is the worker's main quarters, it is a quadruplex of 4 divisions which 4 families share.

the one who comes around and hangs around with me in that places is a 12 year old tween who is now in her grade 5(going grade 6), she is known in their place as veron.

This kawaii little tween is the one who lets me come to their place time to time, she is known as veron

she is known around the place as "veron(beron)" which is the nickname of her late mother, as she has retained all the qualities of her late mother. she lives off helping her father around chores while she has no classes yet.

One of the filipino madlang people's favorite pastime basketball.

while the sun was setting the sacadas were having a follow-thru game of basketball after a hard days work in the nearby fields, by these following days the topics being discussed around was about politics during this tallying of who will be proclaimed the so-called bringer of new hope for the nation.

The cabo's carabao Arrives and drinks water from the drainage..

The Cabo (Ka-bo) is a person in charge of the sugar field workers and is responsible for issues in the quarters and also is one of the few persons who have active contact with the farm owners or the hacienderos. cabos are also the ones who handle the salaries of the cane field workers.

A corral for the carabao, here the carabao is kept and also given food, the carabao will eat any vegetation it can see i front of it, from cane leaves, to weeds to grasses..

as the evening approaches some people in the small area comes out their quarters and cools down from the hot weather by dozing off at a sarisa tree where benches have been put up so that they can sit and doze off, well so much for this I will post more pics if you want about this place.

well we hope some of you guys know more about the slice of life here in Bacolod

Lagoon standby

2010-05-07T07:17:00.003+08:00

Welcome to the bacolod capital lagoon, the lagoon is a small leisure area located right in front of the Negros Provincial capitol building, situated right in the heart of Bacolod City, it is one of the town's most favorite resting and exercise spots, in the center of it is a large pond, with a depth of 4-5 feet, and can hold as much as 40 to 50- metric tons water. The park today has become a popular spot for local families to hold picnics on Sundays and holidays and is a major tourist attraction of Negros

The pic above I took with me and my comrades resting after a 1 hour walk from Robinsons bacolod, which is almost 1 to 2 kilometers away whe we arrived at around 3:30 in the afternoon, we decided to take a rest here and do some "standbying" before we go to our next destination.

The lagoon was built during 1924 to 1935 together with the provincial capitol building, which today is the seat of the provincial government.

An Afternoon Jogger, this people tend to jog around the lagoon at around 3:30 or 4:00 until the evening.

the Lagoon is a Favorite place for bacolod fitness buffs during the morning, during the mid morning to the near afternoon the lagoon is a favorite spot by both bacolodnons and other illongos coming from nearby municipalities and towns after doing a hard runabout around bacolod come here to relax and enjoy, by the afternoon, local residents, especially coming from nearby barangays flock to the lagoon and try to relax after a hard days work, you can often see some office people coming in and relax in the park. Also, other activities at the park include jogging, aerobics, school dance and drama rehearsals, promenading, Arnis and martial arts practice and feeding the tilapias of the lagoon. the tilapias in this pond has become omnivorous and will eat anything from the prescribed popcorn and popped rice to bread, junk food and even sputum!!

A Bunch of young girls feeding the tilapias

The Park has complete amenities, from a skateboard and roller skate rink to a playground, there is also restrooms available at the admin office when you go near the north-west entrance of the park. actaully the tilapias are harvested at sometime, and the ones who benefit from the large number of tilapias from the lagoon pond are prisoners at the nearby provincial jail, every 2 years, a few selected prisoners together with a squad of jail guards come to the lagoon and are carefully guarded, while the pond is being drained, to a "harvestable" level, the prisoners catch the fish and then they are put into fish containers and carried back to the jail, where the prisoners will reap the reward of the provincial lagoon.

North Side of the Lagoon you can see there are so many people

As for otakus who are interested in bacolod schoolgirls and their school life, when you arrive here in bacolod (usually school starts at June), you can visit the park every weekends especially Saturdays where you will find a lot of Bacorod Joshikō-sei and also a lot of them stay around here in the weekends and you can see them in their seifukus.

Asal

2010-04-29T06:38:00.001+08:00

The Pic I got above is what I got from recently while going back to the dacha, for you otakus out there in all over the world the food being cooked in the picture is best described as barbecued chicken parts and organs, and barbecued bread, the chicken organs are first cleaned thoroughly in boiling water before being cooked on the grill, next this are marinated in a combination of different spices and mixes depending on the preference of the seller, then they let it sit for a couple of hours or so before selling it. usually some of this who are really serious in this business starts their work in cleaning, marinating and keeping the chicken parts to be barbecued usually starts somewhere 10 in the morning to do this stuffs and then let the chicken sit for around 4 hours. the finished products are sold around 3 in the afternoon here in the city.. next a barbecue sauce is prepared usually it is made from any ingredients the one cooking it can have an idea to, such as soy sauce, cooking oil, ketchup, and so is mixed with spices such as laurel leaves, ginger, garlic, etc. then it brushed on the barbecued chicken parts while being cooked to enhance the flavor. barbecued bread is a bread called pandesiosa or similar bread sold in local bakeshops which is inserted into bamboo sticks and cooked gently under the grill and brushed with the same barbecue sauce used on the chicken parts until the bread turns light brown but not burned, which goes great with the asal. unlike the asal in lzuon, asal delicacies in Negros and Bacolod do not need to be dipped in sweet or spicy sauces like tagalogs prefer, illongos like to eat this straight and also it can go as a hearty dinner if the scenario requires..

here are some parts of the chicken being sold as barbecued (asal) delicacies:

isol(e-sol) - chicken butt
atay(ah-tay) - chicken liver
batikolon(batey-kohlun) - chicken gizzard
li-ug/og - chicken neck
adidas - chicken feet
tina-e(tina-ei) - chicken stomach
dugo (dou-gu) - chicken blood

and so many more!
hope our otaku friends from all over the world get to know this kind food from Negros!

mushroom en cheeze

2010-04-14T20:50:00.000+08:00

The finished recipe, not enough cheese to cover the mushroom, but it satisfies..

well; when was the time you got ronerey in ur dacha?? well i've been for a while, while waiting for the VIPs I got kinda bored and started to whip up another crazy illongo food, mushroom en cheeze, well here's some of its main ingredients;

In my version; first off, we need is some canned mushrooms and counter cheese

Here in Bacolod, the cheese comes from manila manufacturers especially kraft, I got is only a few of what is left of a large batch, so far I got a few slices and tidbits, and some canned mushrooms lying inside the fridge, just drained some liquid of the mushroom and topped off the remaining cheese.

Pop it into something fast cooking like a microwave or a toaster oven, NOTE! in an oven always use heat resistant kitchenwares like ceramic or Pyrex bowls.

Round and round it goes.... for 2 minutes..

well just in time I ate it, and hmmm... its nice, you gotta have illongo ingenuity with leftover foodstuff when the stomach grumbles...

Bacolod Walkaround 3

2010-04-09T08:45:00.000+08:00

well were up to roads again, temperature on the road these days can go up to 35 Celsius, I got a chance to go around town for a while when I did some chores for d family,

Afternoon in downtown in San Juan St.

Riding a San Jose jeepney

Summer street fronting Bacolod Plaza

morning during palm sunday

Power Interruptions in Bacolod City

2010-03-30T09:15:00.000+08:00

Power interruptions here in Bacolod is a part of daily life of each community and households here in the city, due to the never ending reasons such as trees tripping line breakers, grid overloading and so on, and so forth, there are many said causes but one sure thing is the most reason cause of it, its the overloading of the city grid and at the same time the so-called power shedding scheme of the local power utility Ceneco; which is one of the reasons of computer damage, consequently a tripping which they suddenly turn it back on is termed as "Pitik" (means in illongo "snap") which is considered the number one killer of appliances and household electronics, one thing for sure, the precautions most bacolodnons do here in this scenarios is they wait 5-10 minutes for the line voltage to stabilize and hook back their appliances.

A scene from outside the dacha I captured using my RCP-200(EEV 220 + Night Scene mode)which is one of those ronrey nights you may encounter here in Bacolod

most times a power interruption may range from an hour or even a whole 8 hours, the most boring of this is during the night time where there is most things to do, it gets even worst when the local utility flips the switch... unintentionally on unwary pc users like me working in the middle of something, which in turn may frustrate some people like me(if its that important actually...), but its a part of developing country to have scenarios like these.

well if you're decided to settle down here in Bacolod always prepare for scenarios like this, if you have to yourself, go buy a generator set even if its just at about 1 KVA value, if you don't want to be ronrey, if things like these happens...

scrapper boys

2010-03-10T10:29:00.000+08:00

A group of "scrapper boys" or "scavenger kids" outside the Duma

filipino kids now these days are getting more and more witty these following months, here as you can see above I took a few shots with RCP-200 a few off-laden scavenger kids trying sneak past the security zone and trying to grab a few metallic objects in the burning stake we have outside.

as you can see here entong is trying to scramble around the dirt finding a few cans or other metallic scrap or so..

As of my known info this kidos are somewhat lving in the pov-area of barangay bata, this guys either skipped their class for this day or has never gone to school because of poverty reasons etc. they just come around waiting for a right moment if no one is looking around and they start to fondle ands scramble places where there are garbage or similar things are being dumped and pounce in and grab what their small hands can grab on, a peice of foil, metal strip, few wounds of copper wire, steel sheets, cans of all sorts etc.

Entong again, now unsuccessful to find any valuable items in the heap walks away as if nothing is happened.

well these are a few examples of these scavenger kids, actually they are all around the city, coming from poverty-stricken families and even middle-low class society kids who just wants a taste of pov-child life.

all I can say, is if both the government and the parents can do responsible things, for these guys, maybe they will have a bright future ahead them...

2010-03-01T07:02:00.001+08:00

just when you thought these guys look serious think again...

The bacolod plaza in downtown bacolod is the place where you may want to be, every afternoon, you can watch people here from all walks of life come here to relax and spin off a whole days problem, not these group of people.. welcome the "debater's guild" of Bacolod Public Plaza...

this is clip of what you might hear among the topics debated by the debaters in the public plaza

these guys come from all walks of life, just wasting their time the right way by debating all sorts of topics from religion to politics to transportation etc. you will be surprised they will jump from one topic to another, there is no time limit, jurors, judges and the like to arbitrate or rule over its discussion, its just plain "kung sin-u ang pikon sila ang pyerde" "those who are quick tempered are the losers" anyways we will bring more of this funny debating seen next time...

spaghetti rice! not curry..

2010-02-22T09:14:00.022+08:00

some kind'a looks like curry for our japanese friends...

every filipino is an inventor, well we filipinos especially illongos are very creative in many stuffs, especially food. from the tasty chicken inasal to the hearty la paz batchoy, illongos have a unique creativity in the field of cuisine and food, meet the ordeal food, made from leftovers, the spaghetti rice...

As you can see, this spaghetti rice uses an Italian-style sauce and the cheese has been cooked together with the sauce, the melted cheese seems to give a tangy taste, plus pesto and other italian style spices are included in the sauce..

Spaghetti rice is made by pouring over some leftover spaghetti sauce from a meal of pasta which came from a big party or event a few moments from the time, to a handful of cooked white rice, it really tastes more satisfying than pasta, (as you know here, rice has been also the best food filling the tummy among illongo's) and gives that meaty and saucy taste similar to curry minus or with the spicy taste, sometimes its sweet and spicy... :D

well the key to this is the sauce from spaghetti which can be different from each preparation, either it can be filipino-style, italian, american and even carbonara sauce...

The illongo kitchen

2010-02-04T11:15:00.000+08:00

some things in the countertop... glasses, utensils, dish dryers, seasonings and so, a small rice cooker even toothbrushes and knives are present in small plastic containers, mugs and cups and so on...

wow! its been a while, since iv'e been to our ancestral house in downtown Bacolod. when get in I always pass thru the old kitchen of the house.. wait.. yes lets take a look at a typical illongo kitchen which can be found at households around Bacolod...

in today's modern illongo life, there is no way the old kitchen cannot be disneglected; it is where you cook your food and where you smell that thing that makes you crave for more, here is how a typical illongo kitchen looks like in old houses today in Bacolod, as you can see there is a moderately aged gas stove with an aluminum pot "kalan" and an aluminum frying pan sitting atop of it. the stove as I remember was there since I was seven. some kitchens are so old that even the tiles are not being fixed like what you see here. the sink is preferably also very old as in my guess, some of the cupboards and cabinets are also out of place, but still the people around here still use this place to prepare their meals. other activities beside preparing and cooking your meals include heating water for your hot beverages in a very old kettle, washing the dishes and

here's another view of the gas stove...

ever since the house was taken over by my aunt, she decided to make it into a boarding house, here you can see, there is one of the boarder's gasulito stove, which they use in cooking their own food. the orange bottle is a hot water thermos which they use to store hot water for the day. the funny thing about us here is that we have a very good scientific knowledge in bacteriology; we are able to control bacterial growth environment at kitchens like this; by just wiping the countertop and let dust settle in the cabinets and even in the cupboards.=)

pots and pans all stocked under the countertop in case of emergency.... yeah, if there is a big preparation, or a special occasion which requires large preparations, these are all conveniently stacked below and can be taken out easily when needed. just a few rinse off at the sink and drying... your ready to cook!

well hop you see a typical illongo kitchen at one house i'll going around and let you see more kitchens around houses in Bacolod. ;)

Pala Pala

2010-02-02T10:26:00.000+08:00

Pala2x stalls in barangay 1, here you can dine taste fresh cooked seafoods and have some good time

While I was on my way with a friend to a place to sell scrap, we went around walking and we walked around pala-pala area, there were once 2 pala-palas, old and new. the new pala-pala is now what you see a vacant lot in front of the provincial capitol, the pala - pala is a word for shoveling, because in the olden days when bacolod city was thriving it is said the fish being bought over this old fish terminal was by the truckload, and some people just shovels to move the large amount of fish being traded...

In here, you can buy seafoods right off the stalls and have them cooked in stalls like the one above, delicacies like Tula or fish soup, Sizzlings like marlin, lison and tuna. there are a variety ways to choose how to cook your food, usually you can request it, or have the people in these stalls make the specialty of the house... next time if I can be with my friends or family who are having plans to eat here, i'll give you some pics of food you can try out here in this stalls...

Plaza Bacolod

2010-01-31T20:38:00.000+08:00

Plaza Bacolod or the Bacolod Public Plaza is a key place around town, since the early days of the city, the Plaza has been the Major spot of afternoon and weekend lifestyle in town, there are many things you can do in the plaza name a few hanging around...

some specific things people do in the Bacolod Plaza may be:
- for young couples; dating
- for the old people around town its the place to let loose
- for some very professional photographers... a place for waiting customers or do a photoshoot.
- this is also where you can buy fishball, tempura and similar foods, street ice cream, street popcorn, street fried chicken and other street delicacies
- for serious debaters, the Plaza is the place to be; you will see many professional and amateur debaters meet here regularly =D..

timbang misadventures! 2 - Text!

2010-01-30T22:02:00.000+08:00

Most house helpers in bacolod are one of the most well off-paid among their classes, 1 helper can go at around P1500 a month depending on the assigned contract or the confirmed deal with their superiors, while I was on my way going home, I got a shot of some house helpers along the way and discussing about a text by I don't know either its her textmate or boyfriend... anyways how much can an "illongo timbang" cost her a day to get along with her communications??

well, as far as my friend and I know, the usual house helper will load a minimum of 15 pesos worth of credits in her phone, others will load depending on the network she uses, a call-only load, a text-only load or other types of load, she may spend 15 to 30 pesos worth of load...

example, she loads 15 pesos a day, 15 x 30 days, she will spend as much as P450 worth of load for a month
a 20 pesos load a day, P20 x 30 days she spends as much as P600 a month, depending to her if she has a lot of com-mates, she can either decrease it by urging her mates to pass a few credits to her number or she increases passes while she passes load to her com-mates number.. well as of now, texting and short calls are considered a major pastime of some people, I just come to think if they just spend it in buying their needs or just send the money to their families instead of spending it on a long-distance relationship that may not work her improve her status in life, well so much we can't hand it to them...

some bacolod gaming stations that you may not like to work with..

2010-01-29T09:16:00.000+08:00

well there are some on the-road professionals who rely on the gaming station desktops to do most of their work, especially med-reps, salesmen, purchasers and many on the road professionals, usually they store their files in flash medias and even in the station's server computer for name sake some even save their file on online storage sites to help them ease out their work, but some internet and gaming stations here in the city of bacolod are not user friendly, check out this establishments that you a wired professional or a very level-intensive gamers who likes to save their missions on a game may not give a good recommendation;

1. Mudhouse 1 (Cuadra) - known as the first mudhouse franchiser in Bacolod. Mudhouse denies accessing of basic saving folders such as my documents, creating new folders, saving in desktop and the like, their pc protection system denies saving of documents and their deepfreeze is set to reset all win xp configurations to their basic system specs. they hidden their MS Office package but you can read office docs of all formats, they disabled windows explorer which denies you of accessing even your flash media once you lug into their pc's usb hubs.

2. Marby (All Stations) - marby is not really that strict, you can continue a mission, save game profiles, but cannot access, my documents, windows explorer is slightly enabled, you can only save images but cannot save other file formats except MS office files. Flash media is not readily accessible, and marby does not use firefox browsers.

3. battlestation (all branches) - battlestation desktops are locked by a PC gaming station control program, so don't expect openess in file saving and sharing...

4. smackdown - smackdown also uses a PC gaming station control program so expect what you get in battlestation, you get it also in smackdown.

well, there are also many internet and gaming stations around bacolod who lock or disable windows explorer, thew basic browsing you need to browse files in a pc, but if ever just request their technicians or attendants if they can disable their locking software.. better yet, get a notebook or netbook, there are many wifi spots in bacolod these days.......

Old devices...

2010-01-28T21:30:00.001+08:00

hello im out again in the streets of bacolod, and i was called by my relatives to do a job at their house; check out this cnet 8-port switch!

this model is almost 3-5 years old and still working! well, so much for it, one thing for sure they had let me estimate and test a connection of more than 30 meters, the switch was not able to provide enough signal packets to its destination a church in their place wants to share their connection, good for a 1 mbps, well enough I suggested to them to buy a router to boost the signal and place the switch somewhere between the next 20 meters

here's another view;

the switch is situated up high in a dusty divider, together with the Modem and Splitter, 2 desktops and 1 netbook share the connection, one thing for sure, it was a labor of love, for a church, still have a good feeling I can help my brothers even though they are from a different denomination, well speaks... anyways congratulations to my relative's church for achieving internet connection! and almost.... =)

bacolod timbang misadventures!

2010-01-26T18:57:00.001+08:00

I've been with a couple of house helpers around town, and here are some two girls I would not miss talking to around; meet tikay and rose aka "dayang" tikay and rose are relatives and help around with the land lady in a boarding house here in bacolod, dayang to the left just turned 12 while tikay is in her twenties, here I caught the two girls talking about the Philippines, dayang is a really smart girl and joins the soccer team in her school. but when i asked dayang about the first president of the philippine republic, she replied with the first president of the philippine commonwaelth. although I caught her at a glitch, she seems to be smart as expected. she is really good at sports and likes soccer, meanwhile tikay is a high school graduate and both come from victorias, dayang lives off with his father in bata and sometimes comes around to visit her manang tikay, we had a lot to discuss thou, I had somethings done...

the Timbang

2010-01-23T23:12:00.001+08:00

"Mae"; one of the former helpers in the Duma

the timabng is an illongo term for a house helper, most of these house helpers start at an early age, as low as 14 years old. depending on her age,work experiences, an illongo house helper can perform duty and tasks as instructed; most timbangs are hired to help with laundry and housekeeping, especially in keeping a house clean. but other timbangs especially those with more experience can go to cooking and even babysitting. the term "maid" is used by folks in the bacolod middle and high class.

a timbang or house helper may be a very aspiring, industrious and responsible young girl from the towns and barrios outside Bacolod City. she may come from very poor families she may be the breadwinner or the most responsible sibling among them. she either has finished elementary, high school or a certified undergrad, some house helpers are even college graduates... but because of the scenario of poverty in the barrios and towns in the provinces, most of them are forced or even have no choice but to help earn money for their family,

what do they have in common??

"Rosslyn" texting her boyfriend

coming from really poor families inside and outside bacold, house helpers keep up with their daily housework and routine, most of their free time they would usually do the following stuff:

- Sleep after work

- eat

- chat around with their comrade-in-arms

- work even more

- manicure

- tend to their personal needs

- text! text! text! text! X 1000!

- call call call

- call their boyfriends (if any)

- read pocket books

- watch tv (if the house has)

- listen to radio

- nap
during their day-offs(if given by their in-house), house helpers spend their allowances for their personal necessities like clothes, underwears, cosmetics, cellphone load, etc.

how to choose the right house helper here in Bacolod:
this for our foreign friends who are especially interested in settling down here in Bacolod and get a house helper, usually there is no strict criteria in selecting among almost all households around town, usually a house helper/timbang must be:
1. hard working
2. knows how to do laundry
3. if she knows how to cook she will have better opportunity
4. she is tidy in all her work
usually if all 4 criterias are met, she can start working for the first day she arrives.
most girls are hired thru speaking of words among them from the towns and or opportunities which a friend who also works as a helper in bacolod, will say her neighbor is finding a helper for their house.

for people who can't be sure about their helper they hired its better to do the following:

1. get a background info about her, if she has a work experience around the neigborhood, better ask her co-workers who know her about any events or any records she has from he former employers

2. check for her legal documents. usually her school transcripts; especially helpers who graduated elementary and high school has these,

remember guys, there is a bill passed by the Philippine congress called "Batas Kasambahay" or Magana Carta of Household Helpers; below is the following are a few articles:

Employment of Househelpers

Art. 141. Coverage. This Chapter shall apply to all persons rendering services in households for compensation.

“Domestic or household service” shall mean service in the employer's home which is usually necessary or desirable for the maintenance and enjoyment thereof and includes ministering to the personal comfort and convenience of the members of the employer's household, including services of family drivers.

Art. 142. Contract of domestic service. The original contract of domestic service shall not last for more than two (2) years but it may be renewed for such periods as may be agreed upon by the parties.

Art. 143. Minimum wage.

Househelpers shall be paid the following minimum wage rates:

Eight hundred pesos (P800.00) a month for househelpers in Manila, Quezon, Pasay, and Caloocan cities and municipalities of Makati, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Malabon, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Pasig, Marikina, Valenzuela, Taguig and Pateros in Metro Manila and in highly urbanized cities;

Six hundred fifty pesos (P650.00) a month for those in other chartered cities and first-class municipalities; and

Five hundred fifty pesos (P550.00) a month for those in other municipalities.

Provided, That the employers shall review the employment contracts of their househelpers every three (3) years with the end in view of improving the terms and conditions thereof.

read more here

USLS Sports fest.. the cheering competition

2010-01-23T12:02:00.001+08:00

happy and fun I was able to take a peek at the cheering competition of USLS last days; certainly a ton of fun and cute la salle girls are here in these momentary event. here are some pics I shot;

the la salle coliseum was jampacked with a few places vacant; got to see some team colors which dominated their weeklong sportsfest. gotta admit being the largest school in negros is not fun..

and the winner is..........

a souvenir for you guys there;

again hehehe....

yet exam week is up once again...

2010-01-22T18:15:00.002+08:00

I'm in talisay! can't believe there is just immeasurable silence around one of the great college of negros, hilado memorial state college, I get to spot 2 CHMSC girls walking and at the same time studying, well this is exams day for Negros colleges once again ; maybe this time if you have a girlfriend inside schools having exams, its better just leave her alone and let her concentrate in her studying its better you schedule your date and or important appointments some other time coz she's really on her chest studying those major subjects and thinking positively for herself she will pass

yet another view I taken a shot with my Rollei RCL, as you can see all students who finished early their exams quickly climbs up those jeepneys waiting on the other side of the street. And they really dash back to bacolod to either go directly home or just hang out a bit in their favorite mall...

yet another shot I got the afternoon later; still the streets are so clean of students.... I spot another 2 girls going home, and they really looked so exhausted... must be a very hard subject!

USLS Sports fest

2010-01-22T10:20:00.001+08:00

what an opportunity it was I was able to come and swing into La Salle bacolod and take a look at the ongoing school sportsfest, I had some prepositions to make with a student here, actually my cousin about a project for this site I stumbled into some good things that day, not to mention a lot of really cute and good looking la salle girls,

Suddenly a good old friend from college comes out from
the unknown spaces of USLS! he just continued a new course
here, electronics engineering!

while waiting for my cousin to finish her meeting with her group,
I had a little snack, good for a 14 pesos worth of fishball of 14 pieces
while outside it costs about 10 pesos actually... anyways the snack and the
wait was worth and I finished my snack after a few minutes.

anyways the trip was good worth! seeing such school in times of special
activities I can see most La Salle Students just come to have their attendances
checked and the go to their own destinations, a usual Filipino attitude you
can generically see among Filipino students...

The Typical Bacolodnon Bathroom

2010-01-21T09:20:00.001+08:00

well, i've been to many typical mid class houses around bacolod city
for a while and its been interesting to foreigners how a typical illongo
bathroom may look like, so I grabbed a few shots of a typical
mid-classed illongo bathroom.

like all Filipino style bathrooms in manila, illongo bathrooms are of the same
style, they have bath area and the bath area includes some necessities like
the usual bucket and dipper. also this bathroom is equipped with a shower
and electric water heater, if the owner wants to have a cozy hot water bath!
hey but still! they wont use the shower! they lead the hot water into the bucket!

illongos like all other filipinos like to splash large amounts of water, say get all!

center edifice from the toilet flush tank they got everything above it!
tissue dispenser at the right, some few cosmetics like petroleum jelly
hair treatment formula, toothbrushes and sachets of shampoo.

well I hope you feel comfortable in an illongo style bathroom! because this
kind is what every family around san juan and dawis street look forward to
have in their houses..

care for some price alert??

2010-01-19T21:37:00.000+08:00

hello guys the conscript is running around the city... and its been a while since the last price of chicken rose around the market. last time the price is about 140 pesos plus per kilo... now as I went shopping around with some friends, I was shocked to see the price rocketed another 30 or 20 pesos in bacolod... a kilo of chicken now goes around 160 to 170 pesos a kilo, this is caused by increased demand as of this moment, I hope it will just drop its price by the second month...

fried fish???

2010-01-17T18:31:00.002+08:00

boners are chared fishy...

better to say crazy illongo-style fried fish are the best!

how to prepare illongo style fried fish:

utensils:
1. Frying pan (preferably Aluminum Frying pan )
2.Spatula
3. a good heat source

ingredients:

1. gulaw (known as mackerel) depending on the quantity for a 4-person meal preferably more than 1 kilo.
2. vegetable oil preferably half of a tanduay "junior" bottle in volume
3. salt

procedures:

because the fish doesn't have that much scales, it is usually first washed and then after washing it is rubbed with salt afterwards and the fish is set aside for a minute or so so that the salt penetrates the fish. while doing this, heat the frying pan for 5 minutes or so or when the pan is letting out a few smoke, then the cooking oil is added and then you have wait until the oil is also smoking when the oil is also smoking, (means the oil is boiling), you add the fish! CAREFUL! when putting the fish into the pan, boiling oil will really splash out of the pan, (because the oil is in contact with water) and you may burn yourself... after adding the fish, let it cook in oil for 2-4 minutes gradually turning the fish from side to side checking if its golden brown, once the other side is golden brown, flip the fish to the uncooked side and also let it cook as the same time as the other side was. after both sides are well done, use your spatula to take the fish out of the pan. you can now eat it with a generous serving of rice and side dishes.. most negrenses serve this with ginamus or sliced tomatoes, sinamak, or calamansi-soy sauce dip...