shall-LAN-good-D-eye: Masskara! (...maskin sa plaza ra! haha..)

15 October 2011

Just in time with the end of class is the Maskara Festival in Bacolod City. Since Bacolod is just relatively near and since I missed the celebration last year, I am going to Bacolod this time around to hit the streets and experience Masskara first hand.

According to the information available online, a school-level street dancing competition will be held on the afternoon of 15 Oct. So, RC and I left Miag-ao early that morning to catch the activities in Bacolod. We arrived at Bacolod early afternoon and had enough time to roam around SM.

Then we headed to the Bacolod City Plaza around 2PM to watch the Arena Dance Competition which was scheduled at 3PM.

Bacolod City Plaza, the venue for the Masskara Arena Dance Competetion.

We did not watch the street dancing because we wanted to get a better seat at the Arena. But Bacolod City Plaza is relatively small.

By the time we arrived at the plaza, the bleachers that the organizers prepared were already fully packed. Since there were no tickets, admission is free. First-come-first-seats is the name of the game. Unfortunately for us, we got none. We had to contend ourselves on standing on any elevated platform. Others were climbing trees just to get a view.

The venue is just too small and the bleachers were just to limited. Despite all my efforts to get a good shot at the performances, it was just too difficult. Much could be done with regards to the organization of the activity - venue, crowd control, etc. It was not only me who was a bit disappointed. The locals were also a bit frustrated. The schedule indicated that the performances at the Arena was to start at 3PM. However it did not start until past 4PM after all those lengthy openining remarks and after it started to drizzle. Well, no hard fellings. Haha!. That's just a minor set back. Hoping for a more organized program.

I gave up on the performance at the Arena and decided to head the streets instead. Perhaps, we could catch the street dancing. But there was already no street dancing. The participants were already lining up in the streets to prepare for their turns at the arena. There were 11 participating groups for the school competition. The barangay competition will be held tomorrow.

Masskara is very colorful. Since costume designs are not limited to a particular theme, imagination is the limit.

You can borrow a mask from the performers for some picture-taking. Or you can buy one for yourself.

We catch some of the performers inside the church. Filling in some guts before their performances. :)

When we thought that we've already seen all the participants, we decided that we will now head back to Iloilo.

We went to SM to buy some tickets. Unfortunately, it was already late for a trip back to Iloilo. At around 6PM, there were already no trips available heading for Iloilo. We looked it up online and went to the port just to make it sure, it was clear that we will be staying in Bacolod for the night.

Weighing it out, we decided that it was not practical to get an accommodation. Hahaha.

To rest for a while and to charge our phones, we stayed at SM Travelers Lounge. We stayed there until it closed at 9PM. When the Traveler's Lounge closed, we begin hitting the streets. Hahaha. We walked every corner of the streets. There was a strobe light visible in the sky. Like how the 3 Magi followed the star to Bethlehem, we followed the light. For wherever it leads, there sure is a party. Hahaha. After walking a few blocks, we reached Chinatown Square. The light came from its rooftop.

We catch a fire dance performance and some Reggae music, but it was already the finale. So we headed back to the plaza after that. We have not yet eaten and decided to find a place to eat.

What is so nice with Masskara and the same with Dinagyang is that food stalls line the streets - everywhere. There's plenty of drinking at the streets, which is a NoNo in Sinulog. We had lechon and chicken inasal. Bacold does inasal better (or shall I say best) than lechon. Hehe..

After having our fill, it was already around midnight! But the night is just getting started. Hahaha.

We headed next to the Carnival. Hahaha.

Admission to the carnival will only cost you Php10.

It had things you would expect from a karnabal.

While RC was on a Ferris Wheel, I kept myself busy tossing one-peso coins. Hahaha. Ferris wheel weakens my knees. Hahaha. The last time I ride one was when I was in high school and I swore not to ride one again. Hahaha.

With some luck on my side, I won a drinking glass. Hahaha. I told the game master that if I can exchange the glass with money instead since I don't want to go around with a glass. Hahaha. But the business is strict. No return-no exchange policy in effect. Hahaha. What you win is what you get. Hahaha.

With the Ferris wheel too boring, RC wanted to ride the ala-Anchors Away ride that we saw from afar. It turned out that there were two carnivals. The one where we were first at was just a smaller carnival.

At the other corner of the street was a bigger carnival. Admission was at Php30. And it had more rides to choose from.

Bump Cars

I don't know what thi's called.

Octopus and Cable Rides

A mini coaster

And the Anchors Away thing.

To get into the ride, you only have to pay Php50. Though Ferris Wheel scares me off, I was convinced to try this one. Hahaha. This should be easy. Well, I was damn wrong. Hahaha. See here how it went. Hahaha.

I could have loose my senses there. Hahaha. Seated at the very end, it's as if you could fall off. Waahh. Got my knees shaking with that. But it was nerve-scary-fun. Hahaha. And that was an accomplishment for me.

RC wanted a second try, but it was more than enough for me.

We passed the time playing Bingo. And never won. Haha.

Those 3 people on the right where with us at the Anchor's Away. It's their lucky night. The first time they joined Bingo, they won. And to top that, the won the final "Block Out" game with Php3000 prize. Waahh! I should have seated where they sat. Hahaha.

And the Carnival had to close. It was already past 2PM. Hahaha.e

Where nowhere to sleep, we headed back to the plaza and decided to spend the night there. Fortunately, it was not only us who had the idea. We've got company, a lot of company in fact. Hahaha.