Balay Negrense is located in Silay City, a few miles from Bacolod City. The house was built in 1897 by Victor F. Gaston. He lived there, along with his 12 children from 1901 to 1927, the year of his death.
The house has now been turned into a museum, with an entrance fee of P40. The first floor of the house has concrete walls while the second floor has the more common wooden facade.
The premises are very well maintained and contains furniture pieces from the bygone period. There is still that eerie feeling I dislike with old houses especially the room with the dolls.
Balay Negrense
Cinco De Noviembre St.,
Silay City
After our time in Balay Negrense, we walked a block or two towards El Ideal, a popular old bakery cum restaurant in Silay. It has been around since the 1920s and was one of the spots recommended to us to try out.
El Ideal is known for its Guapple Pie, I know it sounds weird, that’s what I thought when I first heard about it. Keeping an open mind, Carlos and I just shared a slice of the pie. It had layers of apple and guava mixed inside with crumbly pie crust on top. I could also taste lots of cinnamon inside the the layers as well. This was a very unique pie, I can’t seem to think of anything close to it.
Lumpiang ubod, wrapped in wax paper and served cold, was our complimenting order for the guapple pie. The lumpiang ubod had hard boiled egg pieces inside, kinda like a surprise ingredient.
El Ideal also has an area with lots of baked goods and other sugary goodies available for sale. I, of course could not resists grabbing a pack of mango tart and cookies to bring home to Lauren.
El Ideal Bakery and Refreshment
118 Rizal St., Silay City, Negros Occidental
034.495.4430
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I was there yesterday and sampled their guapple pie. Delicious. Also bought several boxes of angel cookies for pasalubong.