The presentation and the meetings that followed took several hours, but my Ilongga friends insisted that I had to make a stop at Victorias Milling Corp. (VMC) compound to see the St. Joseph the Worker church, which depicts the "Angry Christ" mural created by artists Alfonso Ossorio and Benjamin Valenciano. You may read more about the mural here.
The church and its iconography had become world famous due to an article written about it in Life Magazine. I learned about these when I researched about the church.
Personally, I could not pray inside the church. Perhaps the bold strokes, the intense colors, and the overall energy of the mural distracted me. Perhaps I was too much of a conservative in my taste for art and in my faith. I was told that the founder of Christ's Youth in Action, the group that invited me to live a radical Christian life, had a conversion experience while praying inside that church. But I could not share Mike Joseph's experience.
I stayed inside the church for all of 10 minutes, just enough to look around and take the required tourist's photos. Then I went to have my picture taken at the old, dilapidated train depicting the old glory of VMC. After that, I asked the driver to stop over at Silay's famous El Ideal bakery to buy some Angel Cookies and Broas for home.
Back in Bacolod, I ate at Imay's for lunch and Kaisei for dinner. They were good meals, but not that great.
My friends at Roli's Bake Shop sent me two boxes of their irresistible Napoleones (flaky, creamy, dessert that melts in your mouth), and I gave one to my bosses and another to my parents. There's really nothing like freshly-baked Roli's napoleones. Namit gid!
I stayed at L'Fisher hotel for the night and then flew back to the office in Pasig the next day.
This is me posing for one final time...
