Patricia Sy-Gomez, Author at Off The Beaten Pat

In Common 2

What do women from various generations, diverse cultures and different backgrounds have in common? That is the question explored by 18 women Negrense artists in their group exhibit entitled IN COMMON 2 which opened last March 20, 2026 at UGSAD Creative Space, Bacolod City in honor of International Women’s Month.

Santan Flowers

A hedge of Santan flowers stands across a classroom’s door
A witness to uniformed students using coconut husks to polish floors
A witness to the lessons that transpire inside a class
A witness to a student getting scolded behind jalousie glass

Because Words Are Not Coming

But an image, of you in your kitchen in Manila, cooking up a storm for me and Ryan while there’s an actual storm brewing outside. It was our exams and the flood was already up to our thighs but we know it was worth it to commute to your place just to be able to taste your exquisite cooking and because you insisted.

The Passenger

His feet hardly reaches the floor
as he sits buckled up
gazing quietly out at the
windshield where he can see
the cars but not their tires

On Flying During A Super Typhoon

Our bags are packed
Our luggage too
We only have
One thing to do

Batchoy

For us Ilonggos, Batchoy, a noodle soup with chopped deep fried pork rind (chicharon) and pork and liver trimmings, said to have originated from our neighboring island of Iloilo specifically in La Paz district, is a snack or refreshment eaten in between meals or as a complete meal in itself during the day. It is best eaten also during rainy season maybe because it is comforting for the senses with its strong peppery and savory taste that is balanced by the addition of the tasty egg noodles and chicharon.

Inasal

For someone born and raised in Bacolod City, and who has been exposed to its flavors as soon as she could chew, the Chicken Inasal is a rather unremarkable local food that I don’t mind eating everyday.

The Great Xiamen Adventure: A Homecoming

My mother-in-law had been wanting to bring the entire family to China, to her and our father-in-law’s hometown in Xiamen for a while now saying it would be more meaningful for the family than any other trip. But truth be told, I only started to feel excited about going when I realized I would be setting foot on the very land where my own late paternal grandfather, beloved and dearest to me, was born and raised. There is even the possibility that I could see the house he had built for his relatives by the sea and meet family.

Mount Kanlaon

Here in Negros
We don’t have much high-rises
Our buildings don’t look
Like they could even touch the sky

Ensaymada: A labor of love

Yesterday, October 5, 2023, as the world celebrated Teacher’s Day and in remembrance of my late Tito Gary’s would-have-been 70^th birthday, I learned how to make ensaymada from his daughter and her husband. My cousins Andine and Ryan Villacorta using their father’s recipe, which is an heirloom recipe that he also inherited from his late paternal grandmother, Consuelo Araneta continued his ensaymada business after his death.