This year marks the 32nd celebration of the MassKara Festival with the theme “Celebrating the New icons of Bacolod”.

It talks about the new structures all over the city which symbolizes Bacolod’s progress making it one of the country’s growth center. Some of these new icons include Bacolod City Government Center, Pope John Paul II Tower, SM City Bacolod, East Block, The Chalet of L’Fisher Hotel, Planta Hotel, and Art District.

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Read the rest of Bacolod MassKara Festival 2011 Schedule

© 2011 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bacolod, Bacolod City, Bacolod Events, Bacolod Festivals, Bacolod Tourism, Bacolod Travel, Festivals, Masskara Festival, MassKara Festival 2011, Negros Festival, Negros Occidental, Negros Occidental Festivals, Tourism Negros, Visayan Festivals

The tower is composed of seven (7) stories with a relatively small floor area that made it really look like a tower. The Pope celebrated a Eucharist on this actual site before an assembly of almost a million people on February 20, 1981 during his memorable visit.

This landmark stands in a 700 square-meter lot at the  reclamation area within the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corporation (BREDCO) area just across SM City Bacolod. An 8-foot sculpture of the Pope was also built beside to complement the tower.You can have a clear and crisp panoramic view of Bacolod and the Guimaras Straight here than anywhere else in the city for FREE. No entrance fee or something to be paid but there is no elevator in the building, you have to trek your way up until you reach the summit of the tower.

SM City Bacolod

BREDCO

Also exhibited inside the tower are the memorabilia and photos of the Pope’s visit.

Related posts:

1. Bacolaodiat Festival 2010: Ushering the Chinese New Year in Bacolod
2. SuperCat is Back: Iloilo – Bacolod v.v.
3. RoRo from Dumangas Port to Bacolod

© 2010 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bacolod, Bacolod City, Bacolod Tourism, Bacolod Travel, Pope John Paul II Tower, SM City Bacolod

SuperCat Fast Ferry Corp. once again had opened its operations in Bacolod and Iloilo after its closure in 2005. SuperCat has been known as the most convenient vessel to ply Bacolod-Iloilo route. With its cozy seats and faster travelling time no wonder SuperCat has been a favorite ride of passengers from and to Bacolod and Iloilo. MV SuperCat 25 has a 204 passenger capacity and has a speed of 25 knots which travel at the rate of one hour and 15 minutes in both ways. SuperCat will have eight trips daily from Bacolod to Iloilo and vice versa.

SuperCat has constructed a new terminal building in Iloilo near the Weesam Express terminal to accommodate passengers and a new facility also in Bacolod with free wi-fi access. They will also deploy personnel with canine dogs to ensure the safety of the passengers. SuperCat will be starting its operations on Thursday August 27, 2009 with the passage fare of P280 one-way. However, they are offering promotional fares like 50% discount for return trips and another two days advance booking discount of 20%. Students, on the other hand, get an automatic discount of 15 percent while senior citizens get a 20 percent discount. Supercat Fast Ferry Corp. is owned by the Aboitiz Group of Companies under Aboitiz Transport System (ATS) Corp.

So this is gonna be a good news for those who have frequent trips in both cities (Iloilo and Bacolod). You now got 4 options to take, there is Weesam, Ocean Jet, RoRo in Dumangas and now SuperCat.

Trip Schedule Bacolod – Iloilo
6 a.m.
9 a.m.
12 nn
3:15 p.m

Iloilo – Bacolod
7:30 a.m.
10:30 a.m.
1:30 p.m.
5 p.m.

Related posts:

1. RoRo from Dumangas Port to Bacolod
2. Western Visayas to Masbate: A Travel Guide

© 2009 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bacolod, Bacolod Travel, Travelling to Iloilo

When traveling to Bacolod from Iloilo you got two options to take, either the quickest yet expensive Sea Jets or a 3-fold lower cost RoRo yet takes you a bit longer traveling time. If you chose to take RoRo to Bacolod then here’s a guide for you. This guide is based on my own experience. From Iloilo, take the van at Lapaz Baldoza Terminal going to Dumangas for Php35.00. Just tell the driver to drop you off at the crossing going to Dumangas Port at Brgy. Nalu-uyan. At the crossing take a tricycle ride going to the port for Php15.00 and you are ready to jump off to RoRo ferries that heads to Bacolod. The fare varies from vessel to vessel, ranges from Php48 – Php60. All in all your traveling cost to Bacolod via RoRo at the Dumangas Port is only around Php100.00 with a traveling time of 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours. Fair enough because you saved a lot in your traveling cost. Refer to the list below for the exact time of schedules and fare matrix.

Courtesy of: www.exploreiloilo.com

Courtesy of: www.exploreiloilo.com

I am just wondering though why there is no direct trip of vans going to the Nalu-uyan Port? It’s just a hassle to trasfer from a van to a tricycle which most of the times goes overloaded and running after each other along those bumpy junctions from the port terminal to the crossing. It is so risky for the travellers. I think some authorities should make a move to facilitate the direct trip from Baldoza Terminal to Nalu-uyan Port in Dumangas. Those tricycles could take in other routes. It would  further boost the activities of the pier because even now more and more passengers are taking advantage of this route everyday.

No related posts.

© 2009 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bacolod Travel, Travelling to Iloilo