The Ruins of Talisay: Taj Mahal of Negros

Last year, Ayana Grace, my eldest daughter, had an opportunity of going on a business trip to India. When she came back she posted very nice shots of the Taj Mahal with stories on how she took efforts at visiting the place— Agra, Uttar Pradesh in India. A white marble mausoleum, the Taj Mahal was built by Mughal emperor Shah Japan in memory of his 3rd wife. I envy her for having visited the place, being one of the wonders of the world.

Well, this post is not about the Taj Mahal of India. As the title says, I'm featuring The Ruins of Talisay, the counterpart of Taj Mahal in Negros Occidental. Late post, this is...

I got to see this beautiful attraction for the first time in the pilot episode of the teleserye (television soap opera) entitled, "Ikaw Lamang", where the scenes were shot in Talisay, Negros Occidental. It was an amazing surprise for me to know that such a beautiful attraction existed in my very own province! I only came to know about this, years after it has been opened to the public in January 2008. A former high school classmate shared the information in a Facebook comment he made after I posted a stanza of the lyrics of "Iliili," a famous Ilonggo lullaby, which was featured during the introductory episode of the teleserye. From then on, I dreamed of seeing the place.

Well, my dream has finally turned into reality as I was blessed to see this historical grandeur twice. It's been three years since my first visit on the 17th of August 2016 with colleagues at work doing site visit of government hospitals in the cities of Iloilo and Bacolod. Here are photos of The Ruins on my first visit.

Since we were on a business trip, we hurriedly took a side trip to see the place before the setting of the sun. As they say, one gets a beautiful view of a sunset from the window of the mansion. But we were not very fortunate to catch that picturesque view. The sun was hidden by the clouds and it was fast getting dark.

We had to content ourselves with just taking shots of the mansion from different angles the moment we laid foot at its entrance.

Mesmerized by the structure from the side, everybody gradually advanced towards the front, while continuously clicking their cam.

Here's the front view of the mansion.

Me with the mansion at the background, of course!
How could I pass the chance.

Outside, one can stroll around to relax.

Photo ops by the bridge

A wishing well?

The bell and the well

Behind the bell is a souvenir shop where one can buy pastries and other delicacies as pasalubong.

For the finale, here's my Instagrammable shot of the mansion, glowing in the dark.

I was so glad we stayed on to capture this magical view of The Ruins with its lights on! Seeing this, I silently prayed I could come back another day with my own family.

It was getting dark and we had yet to take a tour inside. This I will feature in a separate post. Click here to read more. See you there!

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The Ruins of Talisay: A Story of Love

Pesto Spanish Sardines Pasta: A Remake

There's a saying that goes, "One is enough, two is too much..." Uh uhhh, not for this!!! I'm referring to the Spanish Sardines Pasta which was my welcome post this year. My daughter, Ayana Grace, bought a bottle of pesto from the grocery store last month (she usually does...we seldom run out of pesto sauce in our cupboard) and I just wasn't able to resist making another try of the Pesto Spanish Sardines Pasta so here it is... Ingredients: 2 tbsps reserved oil from bottled sardines 2 tbsps olive oil 1 tbsp minced garlic 1/4 cup diced tomato 1 cup flaked Spanish sardines 1/3 cup Pesto sauce 1/4 cup pitted black olives 1/4 cup button mushrooms 1/2 kilo pasta noodles, cooked according to package instructions salt and pepper to taste Whole pieces of Spanish sardines (1 piece as topping per serving) Parsley for garnish Steps: In a large saute pan, heat oil from sardines. Add olive oil as needed. Saute garlic until fragrant. Add diced

Ensaladang Mustasa

It's back to work today, after five days of rest, something I've been looking forward to. As if the long Christmas holiday vacation was not enough :) Well, days just seem to fly so fast! Thanks to the additional non-working holidays brought about by the Pope's visit to my country, the Philippines. I had time to relax, stay at home, bond with family and yes, sort picture files in my computer. In between social networking, of course, I cooked for my family. With my husband home, there has to be fish and vegetables on the dining table. There was a bunch of mustasa (mustard) leaves left in the vegetable bin. What could be a better and perfect partner to fried fish than Ensaladang Mustasa (Mustard Salad)? Very simple and easy, here's how I did it. Ingredients: 1 bunch of mustasa leaves Rock salt 2 medium-sized tomatoes, sliced 1 small onion, sliced thinly 3 tbsps vinegar Iodized salt, ground pepper and sugar to taste Steps: 1. Cut mus

Ensaladang Alugbati (Malabar Spinach Salad)

This post appeared in my Facebook memories today. I'm glad it did! I featured this salad in my FB page a year ago. Alugbati (Malabar Spinach) Salad (Ensaladang Alugbati). This came up when I received for the first time this bouquet of alugbati from Erik, my officemate. He shares with us fruits and veggies fresh from his garden.

Garden Chef's Needle and Pen

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