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.

One Day In Cebu

It's one of my most awaited trip this year since my supposed first solo trip was canceled in January. I was able to hit three wonderful province with one stone last March and I'm travelling again with some of the enjoyable friends from Couchsurfing. Our last trip together was the South Korea trip so we kind of missed the fun we had and here again is another memorable occasion for us to bond and just relax together.

It was an early Saturday morning and we need to fly to Cebu so early. I didn't mind since I always look forward to finally step to another place I've never been to and this time our first stop is Cebu. I'm travelling with Abby and Jester who have been to Cebu before so we didn't have any problems navigating around especially with the help of Jester's GPS enabled phone. I'm probably getting a GPS enable phone (jealous alert)!

We arrived in Cebu between 6-7am. We decided to stop by first the Mactan Shrine.

Mactan Shrine is the site where Lapu-lapu conquered Magellan in 1521.

Afterwards we head so SM Cebu to get something to eat as we are starving. We ate at KFC. True enough, I felt like I was just in Manila. But before heading there, we dropped by some souvenir shops near the Mactan Shrine.

After our lunch we head to check in and rest at Pacific Tourist Inn. We went to take a nap and later that afternoon we headed to Fort San Pedro to get our Rizal stamps. I'm still keen to complete my stamps although the contest may well be over in June. I still got a few more stamps to get.

Larsian is the quite well-known foodstop in Cebu. It used to be full block of the barbecue shops but when we got there there was just but one left.

We walked around and dropped by other Cebu attractions like the Magellan's cross, the Cebu Cathedral and made our way to Larsian for dinner.

I also got to see the Crowne Plaza Hotel where the SkyWalk is found. I'll hope to comeback and try it too! 

We had a great time and headed back to the inn to sleep and get ready for the next day. 

We are travelling to Dumaguete!

El Nido: My Little Piece of Paradise

One of the unplanned trips last year, was this trip to El Nido with my CouchSurfing friends. I didn't really plan it initially since I was also just coming from a trip to South Korea. However, the tripper that I am, it didn't take long for me to make a decision to say yes and join them. The flight to Puerto Prinsesa is the same day as my arrival from South Korea. So I basically had to go home after arriving, pick another set of bag, full of new set of clothes and toiletries and then jet-off once more to the paradise called El Nido. I was full of excitement for another journey.

Day 1

The flight to Puerto Prinsesa is in the afternoon but I left the house around 1pm to make sure I'm not late. I only had a back pack with me since we didn't avail of the luggage check-in option.

So off we go and arrived in Puerto Prinsesa almost 6 or 7pm. We stayed in a nice hostel in Puerto Prinsesa. We were hungry and need to get dinner so we head to Kinabuchs to get something to eat and meet with some  Couchsurfers in the area. I did try their well known exotic food, see below photo.

After dinner, we head to the baywalk that they call it to take some relaxing stroll.

We decided to head home and rest as we plan to head to the Butterfly Farm the next day and perhaps explore other sites nearby before we meet the rest of the group arriving in the afternoon.

Day 2

We head to the Butterfly Farm which is a jeepney away. We first decided to eat at Bona's for their nice tasting noodles and bread.

 

After Butterfly Farm, one of the locals suggested we also go to Baker's Hill, so we did. I liked this place as it has very nicely decorated houses and Christmas ornaments. We thought we wanted to go back to this place after we've been to El Nido.

There was a souvenir shop in Baker's Hill as well to get more pasalubong.

In the afternoon we met the rest of the group and we had lunch again at Bona's. They also wanted to try their tasty meal.

After that we all head to a rough ride to El Nido town. We had a time to get some rest as well.

One of my CS friend's family owns a resort in El Nido and gladly hosted us for the next few days.

We had a nice dinner at night and headed for some drinks.

Day 3

We go island hopping. I didn't take note of the islands we went to but as far as I can remember we had the Island Hopping tour A

Day 4

Another island hopping day. It's Tour B this time.

Day 5

We had a visit to our friends Grandma and in the afternoon head to the falls. And later that day is our flight back to Manila.

Whew! El Nido is such a wonderful place. I may want to go back when I get the chance. But for now, I'll happily reminisce this sweet paradise thru my photos.

I'll list the details and brief itinerary of this trip on my next post!