so much more than just BACOLOD Chicken!!!

It's been six long years since my last visit to Bacolod;

the last time I went there,
ERAP was still President of the Philippines,
very few Pinoys had heard of MANNY PACQUIAO,
AMERICAN IDOL had yet to premiere,
and
BILL CLINTON was still the Leader of the Free World.

And that was the last time I'd had GUAPPLE PIE!!!



Yup,
it's the pie made from that GUAVA & APPLE Hybrid,
and made famous by the EL IDEAL Bakery.

Imagine the best crumbly crust Apple Pie
you've ever had,

with the same cinammon and nutmeg accents,
but this time,

enrobing the exotic flavors and infinite textures
of the GUAPPLE!!




here's what the fruit looks like...
thanks to Mr. Tanaka for the pic!

It used to be that you'd have to travel
to the neighboring town of SILAY
to get to the original El Ideal Bakery
and get your Guapple Pies.

I'was glad to find out that the bakery
has set up shop in downtown Bacolod,
right beside Riverside College.



When I got back to my hotel room,
I was just planning to take a few pics
of the pie....


... but 6 years is 6 years,

and before I knew it,
I justified slicing into it
to *ahem!* take "pictures with better angles".



suffice to say,
I brought home just 2/3 of the pie back to Manila!




MASCO ROCKS!!!

This is my other favorite delicacy
from our country's SugarBowl.

A century ago,
this was the all-purpose nugget form of
Mascovado Sugar,

sweetening the drinks of our forefathers,
or even better as a simple dessert with cold water.

I first bought this in a Negros Trade Fair
over at the MegaTrade Center,
and I've been looking for it ever since!

It's available,
along with all the other
newfangled foodie items below,
at the NEGROS SHOWROOM,
right across the main PNB Branch of Bacolod City.





This is new too~~

there are dozens of versions of Cheese Tarts
you can get all over the Philippines,

but this tops 'em all:

simply because,
the cheese BongBong uses tastes just like
Marca Pato Keso de Bola!!!





And finally,
two new wave incarnations of the most famous pasalubong
from Bacolod:

these are the kinder, gentler, thinner, crispier PIAYA!

Available as small snackin' chips,
or the small pita-sized version with a thin,
but flavorful layer of fruit filling.



and now you know why
I'm sooo glad to be opening up a new review center
down Western Visayas way!!!