Dumaguete Day 3: Life's a Beach

Our third day in Dumaguete was spent on lounging and relaxing at the beach.

Our friend suggested we go to Pura Vida. It is an hour away from the city. They also offer diving resort and has a pool if you don't fancy the waters in the beach! I loved that this day was very light, we only ate, swam, chatted and just had pure fun!

When we were there, we also noticed a lot of divers coming from a day of diving activity. It must be good. Maybe one day I will try it.

The place looks clean, very calm and relaxed.

So there goes my brief but very wonderful trip to Dumaguete! Woohoo! Off to the next blog.

Siquijor: Island of Fire and Dumaguete Day 2

Early morning of our second day in Dumaguete, we are bound to take the ferry to Siquijor. Unfortunately, we were late so we had to kill some time until the next ferry leaves.

I took this chance to drop by the Rizal stamp spot in Dumaguete. Yes! Another stamp achieved!

I can't remember how long the ferry ride to Siquijor was, but it was probably less than 2 hours. We were greeted by blue green waters. The sight was truly amazing.

We rested for a while and then headed to start with the island tour.

Our first stop is this mystic tree.

The rest of the group decided to go to the cave, but the rest didn't and stayed to wait.

After that, we head to the the falls called Kambughay. We had a quick dip and then we went to another beach.

We stayed overnight in Siquijor and the next day head to another resort. The beach was lovely. I can imagine Boracay without the massive crowd. Just sand and water.

Beware though, as there are some jellyfishes swimming as well. Don't get stung or else!

In the afternoon, we left Siquijor and dropped by the souvenir shops. We also passed by the Lazi convent.

Arriving in Dumaguete, we were hungry so decided to get lunch. We went to Neva's, well-known for their tasty pizza! I loved it and their servings were more than enough!

I ordered this for lunch...looks so delicious!

Neva's is just a short walking distance from Harold's Mansion.

The rest of the day we only stayed indoors and then at night head to have dinner at Hayahay Restaurant.

Dumaguete: City of Gentle People - Day 1

The City of Dumaguete is a city in the Philippine province of Negros Oriental. It is the capital, principal seaport, and largest city of the province. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 120,883 people. A person from Dumaguete is called a "Dumagueteño". The city is nicknamedThe City of Gentle People.^[2]

Dumaguete is referred to as a university town because of the presence of four universities and a number of other colleges where students of the province converge to enroll for tertiary education. The city is also a popular educational destination for students of surrounding provinces and cities in Visayas and Mindanao. The city is best known for Silliman University, the country's first Protestant university and the first American private university in Asia.^[3][4] There are also 12 elementary schools and 9 high schools. The city's student population is estimated at 30,000.^[2]

 From Wikipedia

After a day spent in Cebu, we head to Dumaguete the following day. We will be meeting the rest of the group still coming from Manila.

From Cebu, we took the bus to the Ferry terminal and a few good minutes we landed in Dumaguete around lunch time.

We stayed at Harold's Mansion, which was a good accommodation, very cheap, clean and accessible to the city area. We loved it! There were five of us in a room and we all fit in it perfectly. They have cafeteria where you can get something to eat and there's also free wifi. They also offer diving tours and free bike rental.

Since the group coming from Manila need something to eat, we head to Kri Restaurant. It was a cozy place and seems new.

I just ordered coffee since I'm already full after we ate at Harold's Mansion.

After resting for a while, the group decided to roam around the vicinity. One of our friends took us to the Bay walk lined with coconut trees, this area is nice for an early morning jog!

We then dropped by the St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral.

And an old bell tower near the cathedral.

It rained afterwards and we were a little hungry for some snacks. We went to Sans Rival to get a taste of their famous pastries and of course, Sans Rival! It was very smooth and I loved it. Very affordable at 25 pesos I think.

We left the place and decided to get a massage fix to get ourselves more relaxed. The next day we are actually heading to Siquijor.

Thai Boran massage place is just a few minutes walk from Kri Restaurant.

Cheers to My 100th!

This is my 100th blog post. It's been more than a year since I started reviving my blog and actually concentrating on writing about my travels. Yay!

Great Wall of China
Photo credit: http://www.destination360.com

I was browsing through my old posts this morning and realised that the first ever blog post here was written the night before Christmas of 2009. Check out my first ever post entitled Travel Writing. Such a nice thing to remember, I was probably so happy that I have had nice travel experience during that year and sparked my great interest to start blogging again.

After 99 posts and 20 months of sharing my experiences, I'm finally here and still enjoying the time. A lot of things have happened, a lot of places have been discovered and a lot of new friends I have met along the way.

So here in my 100th post, I simply plan to share some goals I have for the future and what could be in store for me and Tips 'n Travels the blog.

Here are some of the definite plans:

1. Bicol Trip on the long weekend of August 2011
2. South Korea Trip on November 2011
3. Cebu and Dumaguete Trip on March 2012

And here are the tentative ones because I have not made any flight bookings or arrangements yet but I'm definitely going to tick them off my list in 2012:

1. Beijing and/or China backpacking Trip or
2. London Summer Olympics Trip and visit my sister (depends if my visa gets approved, if not then going for Option #1)
3. Finish up the Rizal stamp sites - still sorting out when I'd travel to Iloilo and Zamboanga
4. Tick off some Beaches I haven't been to - Top 10 Philippines beaches
5. Improve my Lakbayan Grade - Perhaps more of Visayas and Mindanao Trips
6. Finally embark on a solo domestic trip

Wow so there you go. I hope the next 100 posts will be more exciting, fun and unpredictable ;)