Lay witness to my so-called fundamental existence.

I’m in Bacolod City once again. This trip is all about working my ass off and making a big ass of my self. The urgency to conduct client calls and visits to prospect buyers in the City of Smiles had left me no option but to go to Negros Occidental and get things done.

That time, the most practical way was to take a bus ride to a northwestern town of Cebu, cross the Tañon Strait to the port of Escalante City and then travel for about 100 km to my final destination. This segmented trip would take up at 6 hours of my time or half of my office hours. Had my boss approved my request for airline ticket, then it would just take me at most an hour only to Bacolod City.

At 5 in the morning, I strut my way out of the house and waited for a Ceres Bus to take me to Sugarlandia. 30 minutes after, I hailed a non-aircon bus and started my journey to my birthplace again. The ride going to the port of Tabuelan was okay except for a bumpy, dusty road section as we approach the port.

The bus was jampacked with people and bags and cargos. A few seats in front of me sat a woman with her kid sitting on her lap. This woman held a piece of cloth to wipe the puke from the mouth of her boy. The disgusting smell of puke had scented the bus like crazy. So everybody decided to open the windows and braved the coolness of the wind.

When the bus navigated the un-asphalted section of the highway, we were all covered with limestone dusts. We arrived at Tabuelan by 8am. Our faces had turned white from the road powder and we smelled like we just barfed on ourselves.

As we waited for the bus to be loaded on the barge, I looked around and see if there were other buses waiting. I wanted to transfer to an air-conditioned bus so that I could ride comfortably. The barge left the port with only the non-aircon bus and a couple of 18 wheeler trucks as load. I realized then that it’s the only trip to Bacolod City.

Tabuelan Port

It took two hours to cross the waters that separated Negros and Cebu. We would be docking at Escalante City by 10 am. I remembered how I used to take this exact route to visit my grandparents in Hinigaran. In those trips I was accompanied by either my mom or my aunts. I remembered how I used to feel dizzy and nauseated when I travel by land to Negros. I even puked once because I got dizzy from watching places and towns that the bus would pass by.

I thought that the bus could take off at 10 am. But delays were incurred as some crew from the barge had difficulty in securing the vessel to the pier. It took almost an hour for the barge to finally open and let our bus go. People were already eager to reach their destinations. My self included.

Port of Escalante City

Negros Occidental had the most number of cities in the country. There were a lot of town converted to such status for the past several years. I think turning towns into cities was the favorite past time of their lawmakers. Heading for Bacolod City, one could pass by the cities of Escalante, Cadiz, Victorias, Silay, and Talisay. And one could pass by endless tract of sugarcane plantations.

I slept for almost the entire stretch of the trip. At 1pm, I reached Bacolod City and began my mission. My 3 days of stay there had been very strenuous. It was tiring. I’m just too tired to talk about it right now.