I would really like to go on a camping trip with my family. There is nothing like the great outdoors to incite a great family adventure. Of course, on top of the adventure, or even more than that, is the family bonding that a camping trip fosters.

There are short trips that can be done. I think in our locality, it would be nice to set up camp at Mambukal Mountain Resort or to pitch a tent at the camp site behind the Ruins in Talisay City, Negros Occidental. Or we can just do it in a beach resort. But sometimes in the beach there are lots of mosquitoes.

Anyway, the problem with camping however is packing things. Especially that we have a young child, we will need to pack a lot of things. It would be nice to have an RV to our name. There are lots of new rvs that can fit any budget in the United States. But here in the Philippines, I think it should be ordered from the United States and imported or something.

Oh well, I guess we will just have to pack our bags in a our small car and still enjoy a camping trip nearby. It should not really be strenuous because we have a young baby. And it should be near civilization. Maybe eventually in the future we can have a grand camping trip.

I am giving way to an article by Jay Gallera Malaga about The Ruins of the Don Mariano Lacson Mansion in Talisay City, Negros Occidental. Do read on and appreciate the magic of the past and the culinary prowess of the present generation.

Just by roaming around The Ruins in Talisay City, you would already feel a sense of history. And if you happen to exchange a phrase or two with the owners, read the information cards placed on the walls or grab a brochure, you would know the stories behind the construction and the people who lived in it before it was
burned.

And most likely you would appreciate the mansion even if it was already reduced to its skeletal frame, or maybe it is its present condition that adds to its character and beauty. That’s the charm of old structures; it invites you to engage in an experience just by being there, getting to know it better through the stories it continues to tell.

Much of the fame The Ruins is enjoying these days can be attributed to word-of-mouth; people come, experience, and then, tell other people about it. Yes, the mouth, such a powerful instrument, and it is perhaps in the same thought that the owners have decided to open a restaurant at the site. After all, the best way to a man’s heart, we say, is through his stomach.

And the mouth would definitely lead you there. So, in the process, guests can enjoy a sense of history and have their fill of butter cake or Brazo de Mercedes, too. How about some cheese to begin with (although Filipinos are not really fond of cheese)? Who knows if we try the Manchego from the La Mancha region of Spain, pair it with some crackers and guzzle them down with a glass of red wine or just beer, we would be quoting Don Quixote all the way to the main course.

Guests dining inside the Ruins.

It’s interesting to note most specialty dishes, particularly comfort food, were inspired (if not created) or mastered by our mothers, and their mothers, and their mothers’ mothers. “Just like my mother would do it,” we usually say while appreciating a certain menu or, with a slight change of tone, commanding the chef to do so.

Too bad, Wikipedia doesn’t have anything about that certain woman named Mercedes whose arm had inspired that custard-filled meringue log cake recipe. For the rest, read on. As chef Michelle Lynn Lacson would want the food at The Ruins prepared fresh from her cozy kitchen in a corner at the mansion, and without the use of commercial broth cubes, they produce their own.

And that would be the same with the pasta and the bread, plus the herbs and spices later from her own garden. So, fresh food peppered with bits and pieces of some interesting history would absolutely make you say: Mamma mia! Consistent with our Spanish tradition and The Ruins’ Mediterranean menu, chef Michelle’s kitchen masterpiece happens to be Callos a la Madrid.

Originally part of the Asturian cuisine, Callos is a stew of ox tripe flavored with spicy chorizo de bilbao and traditionally served with olives. Another Asturian dish on the list is Fabada, a rich stew of dried large white beans which is a distant cousin of the French cassoulet.

Now, la cucina italiana (Italian cuisine or kitchen). Quite deviant from the “just like my mother would do it” tradition, Pasta alla Puttanesca is an Italian pasta dish known for its sauce which is not part of the traditional Italian cuisine and was said to be prepared “like a whore would do it.” Somehow, you knew already there was something saucy behind the name, no? Some say it got its name after local prostitutes in Naples, some would argue that it actually refers to the sauce’s hot, spicy flavor and pungent smell. Others believe that the dish was served cheap to lure potential clients into the brothels, while chef Jeff Smith of the Frugal Gourmet believes the name came from the fact that it was a quick, inexpensive treat that prostitutes could dish up between customers. Perhaps, your mother would prefer its lesser known name: Spaghetti alla Buona Donna or “Good Woman’s Spaghetti,” even then such name would still prompt naughty minds to come up with naughtier interpretations. Tsk. Tsk.

Chef Michelle Lynn is also proud of her Panna Cotta, which literally means “cooked cream” in Italian. It is a dessert made by simmering cream along with milk and sugar and then mixed with gelatin. It can be served with caramel or chocolate sauce, or wild berries and other fruits. In the bread department, there is Focaccia, a flat bread which derived its name from the Latin focus meaning “center” and also “fireplace” as Focaccia is usually baked in the hearth.

So, travel in another place and time by taking pleasure in your callos, your puttanesca or panna cotta at The Ruins, and have helpings after helpings of stories beyond chef Michelle’s kitchen right into anywhere in the Mediterranean. You can even revisit that place where that famous pasta got its name. Just don’t do anything there that your mothers would not be proud of.

Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson

The view at night.

My husband and I had a lovely afternoon today. Despite the rain clouds attempting to pour, I believe that God held it back to allow my hubby and I our post anniversary date.

We decided to hit many birds with just one trip, so we went to potential clients and also had photo opps in two places in Talisay City–the Spa by the Sea and The Ruins.

The Spa by the Sea, I believe, had been a beautiful resort…had…because it was victimized by Typhoon Frank and a lot of the cottages there and the function hall were destroyed.

But then we went to The Ruins. This place is actually the ruins of the mansion of Don Mariano Lacson during the 1920s. What a place! The Americans burned the house for several days so that it will not become a headquarters for the Japanese. Anyway, after more than 80 years, the place still stands. The solid structure of the house still stands proud and proof of the opulence of the Old World.

Going through the ruins, I tried to imagine what it was like living there, with its high ceilings and rooms and stairways.

It is a lovely place for a pictorial. They opened the place to the public only January of this year. It is open for wedding pictorials and also some receptions.

But what I like about our visit there is the people watching over the place. They are very friendly and helpful. One guide, Junjun even volunteered to take our pictures because he saw that we were laboring with the tripod and timer and then I would run to join in the picture. It was really funny. So he went around with us, going up and around the big house.

It is quite easy to go there. From Bacolod City, we took the Lacson Street to go to Talisay. Just after the Honda showroom, we turned right and hit a dirt road that was three kilometers long. The ride was bumpy, but going home, we took another route, the one that goes through Bata Subdivision in Bacolod City. It is actually very near Bacolod, just after the border. Entrance there is P25 per person.

Here are the pictures we have.

The Garden…
The Ruins…
Junjun the caretaker…