11 Days in Dumaguete

Location : Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, Philippines

In Search of a Cheap Room
After 2 weeks in Apo Island, I defaulted back to one of my favorite places - Dumaguete. After one night at Harold's Mansion, I was in search of a cheap room where I could stay for a month. I'm tired of moving every 2 nights. Ideally, I'd rather stay a month in a place before moving on. I couldn't find a cheap room. Fortunately, my benevolent universe had other plans for me, and it wasn't cheap - it was for free, in exchange for web services at Hotel Essencia.

Hotel Essencia
Hotel Essencia was still under construction 5 years ago when I left Dumaguete to live a homeless life. Now, it's fully constructed. With its central location, handy facilities, comfortable amenities and buffet breakfast for two, I was on Easy Street - at least during my short stay. I could invite friends to join me for breakfast and I'd be in the thick of things as soon as I got out of the hotel. I couldn't ask for more.

Dinner with the Abesamis
Good friends from my previous stay in Dumaguete 5 years ago, the Abesamis - Rene, Nadia and their 2 daughters, invited me to join them for a dinner at their lovely home. There were other guests as well including an old friend, Che, Jorge, Raz and a Caucasian healer. It was an evening of shared anecdotal narratives, advocacies and political views.

Peoplescape
Dumaguete's charm lies in the people who call it home. More than the tourist attractions, I am drawn to the wonderful people I've met along the way and the ones who are already endearingly familiar.

Angelo
Angelo is Dumaguete's iconic flaming diva - outspoken, opinionated and irreverent. Take him or leave him...he offers no middle ground. He has this endearing defiance. A visit to Dumaguete is not complete without having a beer with him. He knows the ins-and-outs of the (city) and I defer to him in pointing me to the right direction.

Michael and Razel
I walked around the bend from Hotel Essencia and discovered this newly opened cafe - Arteasan Handcrafted Beverages. It's a small cozy place with good air conditioning and reliable wifi. Coffee is good and waffle is delicious. Brewed coffee starts at P50. Whoa! This is my kind of place. I met the owners, Razel and Michael. We had dinner and I would often bring my friends to the cafe to chill and hangout. With people of good energy, it's increasingly becoming inevitable I become friends with them.

Dodong
Within Hotel Essencia is a pasalubong store - Dodong's Dumaguete Delicacies. I made a pitch for the owner (Dodong) and he agreed to meet me. He was a soft-spoken man and only 31 years old. I thought I would meet someone weathered by life already. Dodong had an interesting story of abandonment, perseverance and prosperity. But what got my attention was, like me, good things happen to him. He seem to be in the right place at the right time, meeting people he needed to meet. Given our parallelism, I was trying to discern what our common denominator was. By the end of the meeting, I was drawn to conclude his heart was in the right place. I guess it all starts with volition. That seems the only thing existing in nature that is beyond reproach regardless of outcome. It wasn't important anymore if I made a deal or not. Meeting Dodong was reward unto itself.

Kate
I thought I'd source CouchSurfing to make friends with its local members. That's how I met Kate - a heart-centered health enthusiast who is growing roots in Dumaguete. We had an engaging talk at Arteasan Cafe about what's looming on the horizon for us both.

Jorge Emmanuel
I met Jorge at the Abesamis' residence over dinner. He intrigued me for his wealth of knowledge and passion to make this planet a greener world. I invited him to be my breakfast guest at Hotel Essencia. We touched on a lot of non-technical issues which essentially made for good bonding. He's gone back to the US and I won't be in Dumaguete when he comes back. Oh well, that's life.

Rachel
I've known Rachel since my residency days in Valencia 5 years ago, but never really got down to have a coffee conversation with her until now. It's comfortable to be having idle chat with someone I'm at ease with. We met at Valencia's market day over sikwate then again at Neva's for some wood-burning oven pizza.

Angel
Angel and I go back to my Dumaguete days when Aesha, her daughter, and I, partnered for the Eco Adventure Race 2010. She guested me on her talk-show when I was a hit-and-run victim. I'm just glad she found time to join me for coffee despite her busy schedule.

Laura
Laura and I hang-out whenever we bump into each other - Dumaguete, Bali, Cebu, etc. Like me, she travels extensively and we share common pursuits - yoga, scuba diving, snorkeling, meditation, etc. Now on new ground starting on a clean slate, I give her metta.

Karl
Karl surprised me. He was one of my web design students at the College of Fine Arts, University of the Philippines, back in 2005 when I was still teaching. He recognized me and introduced himself. I remember him as the one who tried unorthodox approaches to web design - something I admired. Too bad, I had to vent out on him my frustrations about UP. His batch, the one I taught, had the most number of cum laudes in the university. Surprisingly, due to career constraints, he's working for a corporation doing something not related to the arts.

Dumaguete Eats
When in Dumaguete, I always go out of my way to eat at Neva's Pizza. By far, still the best value in Dumaguete - wood burning oven, hand-tossed pizza dough and pizza starts at P108! That's hard to beat.

At the market, I make sure I go to Sison's Painitan for the best sikwate native cocoa drink and Budbud Kabog made by Manang Pina (you can place your catering order here - 0926.237.7428). After these two, everything else is optional.

Ending Thoughts
I thought I would stay a minimum of a month in Dumaguete, but somehow, after my stay in Hotel Essencia, I felt the need to move on again. Dumaguete gave me a new flavor this time - lots of new friends, a whole new perspective of doing things and taking ownership of an emergent role I seem to be playing. My feelings for Dumaguete remain unchanged - she's bridal material. I'm just not ready to settle yet. Where to go next?

I am fortunate to have a few outstanding invites at the moment - attend an Ashtanga Yoga class in Cebu City with Jeanne, accept Greg's invite to join him in Coron for some white-knuckle adventure, go to Amlan on the invite of the tourism officer to explore its wonders or lead a monastic life for 2 months in Thailand teaching English. Somehow, breakfast conversation with my dear Jeanne excites me.

--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
YOGA by Gigit | Learn English | Travel like a Nomad | Donation Bank

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More on Dumaguete:

Dumaguete Map

Dumaguete, Philippines

tourist attractions

• Filipino Japanese Amity Memorial Shrine - 2175 feet above sea level and perched on a hilltop overlooking the sea and the neighboring islands
• Casaroro Falls - pencil-narrow waterfall dropping nearly 100 feet to a wide and deep lagoon
• Balinsasayao Twin Lakes - twin crater lakes 894 meters above sea level
• Dumaguete Boulevard - 1km long boardwalk along the main hub of Dumaguete

- hotel

• Hotel Essencia - 9-storie hotel in the heart of Dumaguete
  39 Real St., Corner San Juan St., Dumaguete City - 09°18'32.1"N 123°18'20.3"E

scuba diving

• Mario Scuba Diving and Homestay - homestay in Apo Island, scuba diving, restaurant
  Apo Island - 09°04'40.08"N 123°16'09.19"E
• Dumaguete Divers - scuba diving in Apo Island, resto / cafe, accommodation
  Dauin - 9°11'18.6"N 123°15'54.3"E

cafe

• Arteasan Handcrafted Beverages - coffee, tea, milk tea, frappes, waffles, sandwiches
  79 San Juan St., Dumaguete City - 9°18'33.0"N 123°18'21.0"E

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Dumaguete >> Cebu City by bus/boat

Dumaguete to Cebu City route is done by bus and boat. Ceres bus leaves almost every hour from the Ceres Terminal bound for Cebu City. It goes to Tampi and boards a roro until it reaches Bato, Cebu. From there, it resumes its land travel until Cebu City. 7 hours, PHP xxx.

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Dumaguete Itinerary

Things to Eat in Dumaguete:

• Eat at Neva's Pizza. They have a wood-burning stove and make the best pizza in Dumaguete
• Eat the local version of Tempura, fish ball, balut at Tempurahan, an adhoc outdoor section by the City Port entrance.
• Eat Paklay, a local delicacy made of pork inards. Popular in Dumaguete's roadside eating places
• Try any of the lechon manok (chicken roasted on a spit) that's scattered all over the city
• Try the torta bread (bread made with fermented coconut nectar) - you find that along the highway in Dauin...or the Dumaguete Public Market
• Eat the breakfast combo - Budbud Cabog (Dumaguete's specialty suman) or puto + tsokolate (sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf + native chocolate drink)

Things to Do in Dumaguete:

• Stroll along The Boulevard
• Taka a tour of Silliman University

Sightseeing / Activities Near Dumaguete:

1. Valencia
   1. Forest Camp in Valencia - a mountain resort fed by the Banica River. Great for getting wet and picnics (blog by Lakwatsero)
   2. Go to the Japanese Shrine and Casaroro Falls - 100 meter falls and site of a fierce WWII battle between Japanese, Americans and Filipinos
   3. Head out to Camp Lookout in Valencia for great views. Famous writers stay there for the Silliman University National Writers Workshop.
   4. Stop by The World War II Museum in Valencia and talk to curator/owner/collector, Constantino "Tantin" Cata-al.
   5. Splash on Pulangbato Falls and Hot Spring - via Palinpinon road towards PNOC. Great to dip-in after a day's hike or for hot lazy days
   6. Climb Mt. Talinis. At 1864 meters, it lords over Negros Oriental, and home to endemic and rare species of flora and fauna.
2. Dauin
   1. Dive on Apo Island - best for scuba and turtle watching
   2. Dive on Dauin's District 1 Marine Reserve - best spot for snorkelling - 10K grouper, turtles, cuttlefish, Titan Triggerfish, etc. This is only one of many marine reserves dotting the Dauin coastline.
   3. Soak in Baslay Hot Spring
3. Sibulan
   Go to Balinsasayao Twin Lakes - two lakes almost 1000 meters above sea level
4. Siquijor
   Take the ferry to Siquijor - stay in Siquijor overnight
5. Zamboanguita
   Visit Malatapay Market on a Wednesday and try their lechon, tuba, and grilled fish
6. Bais
   Go dolphin watching and swim on the sandbar
7. Mabinay
   Rappel down Mabinay Caves
8. Siaton
   Experience Lake Balanan

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