And that’s where traveling out of town comes in– the excitement of having no work and to not worry about things that usually drains us seems perfect. It could be your own hometown or somewhere you’ve never been before.
To me, traveling out of town is about the adventure that I feel whenever I’m not in a familiar neighborhood yet not scared to walk around anyway because I know I’ll always end up being safe– and that’s exactly how I felt when I arrived in Dumaguete City.
From Oslob, we took a bus to Liloan Port, Santander. Most of the buses going to Santander usually stops in the port and from there you can buy your tickets for a Fast Craft for Sibulan Port, Negros Oriental. The ferry schedule’s their trip every hour and the duration from one port to the other is 15mins. I suggest you travel just around twilight ’cause the color of sky reflecting in the ocean is just majestic.
When we arrived in Sibulan Port, we took a jeepney ride to Dumaguete City. Now, usually if you’re not sure where you should be dropped off, you can ride motorbikes with passenger seats and they can take you to wherever you want to go. I’m not sure how much they might charge you but it could range between 20PHP-50PHP. But if you’re resourceful like us (with the power of Google Map), we already know where to drop off, so we only get to pay 10PHP each to get to the heart of the city.
We checked-in in Worldview Pension Plaza— it’s not a fancy place to stay but they have everything I need: a cozy bed and WiFi. Their rates range from 650PHP for a Single Room Deluxe to 1200PHP for a Superior Deluxe. After settling our things at the hotel, we went out for a snack in Rizal Boulevard, which was a walking distance from where we were staying.
After being satisfied with my balot and squid balls, we took a walk around the boulevard and back to the hotel. It was almost midnight that we decided to go to Café Racer Diner to get drinks which was on the other side of the city. We walked back to the hotel again through Rizal Boulevard and believe me, during that hour, despite the quiet ambiance of the city, I didn’t feel scared at all.
The next morning, we visited the famous St.Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral and enjoyed the site of the Belfry tower’s details. We took a hike around the downtown area and stumbled upon an ukay-ukay store. Note: this is also one of the best things to do anywhere out of town ’cause the thrift shops in provinces are cheap compared to the ones in the city.
Exhausted from all the walking, we went back to Perdices St (where all the restaurants are, across Rizal Boulevard) and decided to have breakfast in a place called Casablanca Restaurant. After the coffee was served, my travel partner and I immediately concluded that this was by far the best restaurant we’ve ever been to– the food was heavenly and appetizing, the staff was accommodating and the price was very reasonable that every peso was worth it. It was so good, really, that we needed to go back there the next day for lunch.
Since this was second time in Dumaguete City, there were some places I didn’t go to but would highly recommend it to you if you’re planning to go there:
- Pulang Bato Falls in Valencia Negros Oriental, which is 30mins away from the city. You can take a van there or simple hire a motorcycle driver to take you there. The rocks are reddish thus where the name of the place comes from.
- Siliman University Campus is not just for students who study there, it’s open for tourists and to the public. Their campus is filled with trees which would be perfect for morning or afternoon walks.
- Your trip to Dumaguete won’t be complete if you haven’t tasted Sans Rival Cakes and Pastries. They have an array of cakes that are enticing and you’ll never regret every bite.
The evening before we left, we spent our dinner in C&L Bayview Suites, where the bar and restaurant is on the roof deck. The view from up above is priceless and you can see the whole city from there. In fact, I do admit that it was simultaneously a sad scene since it would mean that I’ll be leaving Dumaguete soon.
Although, I do think that the entire trip there was all worth it. The things that I did– both the ones I shared and the personal ones , took all the burden away from me. Dumaguete City is The City of Gentle People and it will probably one of the cities I’ll keep coming back to get away from the city stress.
]]>