Friday, September 26, 2014
FatGoddess
The 29th Negros Trade Fair
September 24 to 28, 2014
Glorietta Activity Center
Makati, Philippines
I am so proud to be from Negros Island.
Living in Manila for a couple of years now and I am ALWAYS missing home. The food. The people. The nightlife (YES, we party hard!). The places. HIDLAW is the perfect Hiligaynon term which means the longing for someone, something or some place.
I always go to The Negros Trade Fair to get that "bulong sa kahidlaw" which means to heal the longing.
I will tour you now in the country's longest running trade fair. Welcome to The 29th Negros Trade Fair!
We came around 7PM on a Friday night and the Glorrieta Activity Center was packed with Negrenses and lovers of Negrenses alike. I was with my friends January, Alden and Rachele and we were all famished after the day's work.
The food --- do I need to say more?
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| Negrense food --- home is where your stomach is. Inasal, KBL, Cansi and loads of rice. |
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| Mindblowing dessert Brazo de Mercedes from Elsie's at The 29thNegrosTradeFair. It proved once more thatLIFE IS INDEED SWEETER IN NEGROS. |
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| With Bacolod friends and a convert to our la dolce vita. Great food and wonderful people. (L-R moi, January, Rachele, Alden) |
I was transported back to Bacolod and Negros for a few hours. The smell of chicken inasal from the aptly named booth Inasalan sa Dalan (Grilling in the Streets) and the lure of the desserts all around were just too sweet to resist.
These are a few of my favorite things
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| at the Glorietta Activity Center |
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| Virgie's Cheese Tarts |
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| Mariel's Cookie Melts from Silay City |
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| El Ideal - one of the oldest bakeries in Negros |
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| Dulce Gatas |
And the exquisite design of my friend Ina Gaston for Hacienda Crafts:
And look they included my brother EDBON SEVILLENO's watercolor paintings!
Thanks Ms. Ina and Sir Joey :)
And don't forget to grab a copy of our documentary film
PUREZA: The Story of Negros Sugar by Direk Jay Abello
The art scene in Bacolod and Negros Island has a lot to offer in every genre and every medium available. You can take a peek into our art scene during The Negros Trade Fair.
I also had the chance to see my friend Paul Sumagaysay (from the town of Binalbagan, a municipality 2 hours south of Bacolod) who is a portraitist and painter. He is also the son of the late Negrense artist and portraitist Lor Sumagaysay. I am so happy for Paul to follow in his father's legacy. He also told me that many came to commission him to do their portraits and some paintings.
Seeing old friends from La Salle-Bacolod's Mass Comm: DLSU-CSB's Carrie Mendoza and Danjugan Island's island manager Dave Albao
Buy from this booth's little gifts and you can help Danjugan Island's efforts to preserve the reefs and marine sanctuaries in the Philippines. A big shoutout to Mr. Gerry Ledesma and Kaila Ledesma-Trebol for continuing their noble efforts to preserve the bounties of the oceans while educating others about it too.
KICULO BAGS from my friend KitKat Cusi-Lobaton
My friend Joba is my model for these bags :)
Shells with tassels put together in a charming ensemble ---
We have this in our house: flattened glass bottles as unique chimes ---
Weaving through time is how we see the designs of the tradition and arts of our ancestors. These are colorful banigs and woven cloths in different indigenous materials. This is also a salute to The Negros Trade Fair for encouraging both traditional and contemporary art to be showcased in Manila.
The fair also offered some usual treats with surprising twists like the Oregano Piaya.
A special thank you to fellow La Salle-Bacolod Mass Comm alumna Tep Hilado-Lindaya for entertaining our million questions.
Reminiscing All Star MassComm days back home :)
Hats off to you Tep and your team for this year's fair!
Please see Press Release below from Organizers:
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| Official Poster for The 29th Negros Trade Fair |
Smiles Beyond Borders
So goes the theme of the 29th
Negros Trade Fair scheduled for September 24-28 at the Glorietta Activity
Center in Makati. Moved by the destitution that followed the Bohol earthquake
and Typhoon Yolanda, the Association of Negros Producers (ANP), organizer of
this annual exhibition, has challenged its members to share the blessings of
their craft to people living in communities affected by natural calamities and
armed conflict. Disaster relief must be
sustainable, not only in terms of emergency food and medicine, but in helping
locals find new livelihoods so they can rebuild their lives. Almost a year
after Bohol and Yolanda, many are still homeless, let alone jobless.
Members of ANP, led by
their Chairman Mary Ann Colmenares and President Jojie Locsin, visited
communities in Bicol, Cebu, Masbate, northern Negros, Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan, and
Antique. They bought raw materials that otherwise may be sourced closer to
Bacolod, if not for the need to help alleviate the situations in devastated and
distant areas. They hired locals to gather shells, pandan leaves, wood from
fallen trees, and coconut shells and lumber. At the trade fair in September,
expect to find calamity-inspired products, including Hacienda Crafts’ Macramé
Pendant Lamp that uses woven baskets from San Remigio in Cebu, Tumandok’s
Haiyan Collection of furniture constructed from coconut wood from San Dinisio
in Iloilo, NVC’s “The Story of Maria
Luisa”, a mosaic art collectible depicting the life of a two-year-old in Palo,
Leyte, who lost her mother to Yolanda, Jojo Vito’s Festival Dolls Collection
wearing shells from Bantayan Island and Molocaboc Island, Marayo’s Sea Jewels
necklaces and bracelets adorned with shells from Cebu, Artisana’s Yolanterns
decorated with coconut shells from Leyte, and the pandan-woven Bantayan Tote of
Kiculo. Some of these products are also winners of the 2014 Bulawan Awards, a
competition that the ANP holds to push its ranks to create high-quality,
high-design merchandise. No doubt, products like these will creep into the
hearts of buyers, but it will also give buyers an avenue to help. Shoppers will
even more distinguish the Negros Trade Fair for this wonderful emotional
experience.
ANP members are experts at
helping. In the 80s, ANP was established by visionaries who built handicraft
businesses to give alternative livelihood to farm workers displaced by the
sugar crisis and insurgency. ANP’s original guards may have given way to the
next generation, but the calling remains.
The Negros Trade Fair is
the longest-running provincial trade fair held in Metro Manila every year, a
feat made possible by the support of the provincial government of Negros
Occidental. There are over 80 selling booths to be filled with the latest
merchandise from ANP’s five sectors, namely, Furniture & Furnishings, Gifts
& Housewares, Fashion & Garments, Food, and Natural & Organic.
There will also be hot food featuring the best of Negrense cuisine, headlined
by the original chicken inasal. The famous piayas, mango tarts, and other
pasalubong delicasies will also be available.
The five-day trade fair
will include the following events: Arima! Preview Cocktails on Sept. 23, the
official opening of the trade fair on Sept. 24, the NVC Foundation Thank You
Day on Sept. 26, the 8th Tipon Negrosallians on Sept. 27, a reunion
of Metro Manila-based alumni of the University of St. La Salle and St. Joseph
School. It will also feature the Balay Kalamay Exhibit: The Story of the Sugar
Industry of Negros in collaboration with the Sugar Regulatory Administration
and Victorias Milling Company.
The 29th Negros
Trade Fair will be open from 10am to 9pm on Sept. 24, 25, and 28 (Wednesday,
Thursday, and Sunday) and from 10am to 10pm on Sept. 26 and 27 (Friday and
Saturday). Entrance is free. For more information, call 034-434-1000 or
0917-312-1664. Follow the Negros Trade Fair on Facebook, or send an email to negrostradefair.anp@gmail.com.
CONTACT:
29TH NEGROS TRADE FAIR SECRETARIAT
E: negrostradefair.anp@gmail.com
Posted in: Baboy, Bacolod City, Cansi, desserts, fat goddess, food, Foodie, ihvonie, inasal, Kadios, Kansi, KBL, Langka, Makati, Negros Island, Negros Museum, Negros Trade Fair, philippines, Sweets, thefatgoddesslife
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