10 January 2012

DAY 2- The Original Chicken Inasal of Bacolod (The Bacolod-Guimaras-Iloilo Trip)

After a tiring yet exhilarating Mambukal Resort morning hike, there was no stopping us! We were on a tight schedule and the itinerary is halfway done for the day.

The bus dropped us off near BongBong's Piaya and Barquillos Pasalubong Center at Araneta St. and we did a quick pasalubong shopping rundown. BongBong's is probably the most famous of all pasalubong centers in this province and I am truly a fan of them. I always buy here or request pasalubong from my relatives to be bought from here. I just love their Piaya, Butterscotch, Napoleones and of course, the Caramel Tart. Love love it! Never fails to satisfy my sweet tooth.

I think we just stayed here for 20minutes as we really need to get along because we still haven't eaten our lunch and our fast ferry tickets are already reserved. We can't afford to lose track of time. And we didn't. We're good! =)

Quickie trip down the aisles of BongBong's for that pasalubong list. 
The proof of purchase =)
Next stop: Lunch! Right about time! We were already famished and adrenaline has left us. So our next itinerary was to eat, of course cannot be missed, Bacolod's pride which is their chicken inasal and the place to be was at the Manokan Country. I remember eating here when I was still little. It was my lolo Peter who was so fond of this grilled chicken dish and I got that inasal-loving trait from him. 

We selected Umbao as the owner of this place was the teacher of one of our companions Harold way back his  younger days. So it's also a small reunion for the two of them. It was good that at that time, there was just a couple of customers so we were served fast. See our pics below:

Umbao won 1st prize for the Cleanest and Best Stall during the Inasal Festival  back in 2009. Quite a feat, after all, there are lots of competition everywhere.
Hi inasal, you look good! =)
My order! Pecho with garlic rice. And Baticolon too! Yum!
This pic reminded me of a scene from Jurassic Park 1 where a cow was fed to a dinosaur and when the crane lifted up the material that held the cow, it was just bones. I despised that movie back then (I was in 6th grade that time) but when I remembered that moment here, I just smiled. Oh, childhood memories. 
Inasal from Bacolod has a different taste compared to Inasal restos in Manila. That's why you  can really taste the authenticity here in Bacolod. But for me, Joel Torre's JT's Manukan comes close in flavor. 
Group pic with the good teacher and owner of Umbao (far left) =)
Overall take on this experience.. Fun and filling! We did what we came here to do and we had lunch that we really enjoyed and very authentic in taste as well. Most importantly, my friends enjoyed the experience and that was the effect that I wanted them to have on this trip, every step of the way. =)

For details on BongBong's Pasalubong Center, check out:
http://bongbongspiaya.com/

For more posts on this trip, check these out: 
Day 4-Guimaras Island Hopping

Day 4-Iloilo's Heritage Churches 
 

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