Silay City: Vigan of the South and The Paris of Negros
While enjoying my breakfast of adobong baboy and hot beef soup in Mam and Sir Diner located along the high way in Silay City, I noticed that most of the people around me were mestizas and mestizos so the curiouser I got about the history, not only of Silay but also of Negros Occidental. Silay City is also known as the Paris of Negros because of the well-preserved old haciendas , about 30 of them, that provide a glimpse of life back when it was the leading sugar-producer in the country, examples of these are the Balay Negrense and the Bernardino-Ysabel Jalandoni Home which have been turned into museums for guests to appreciate the history and the culture of the town especially during when hacienderos were the leading figures of society. The Balay Negrense boasts of memorabilia and architectural features dating back 1897 when it was built by Victor F. Gaston, son of Yves Leopold Germain Gaston, a Frenchman who married a Batanguena and later on relocated to Negros. Balay Neg...