The Great Negros Adventure

A day after missing my flight, I finally made it to Negros.:) Hell yeah, I woke up on time.haha

Since I was a day late, I flew in to Dumaguete instead of Bacolod. Felt kinda bad 'cause missing the road trip to Dumaguete meant missing half the fun. But it didn't matter, the important thing was I finally got myself out there.

I met up with my college friend Vingaye in Dumaguete to take the first ferry trip to Siquijor, where our friend, Tat and her Bacolod friends were already staying. There are only four Dumaguete-Siquijor trips daily- 9am, 10:15am, 1:30pm and 4:30pm (trip costs P160 per head). These trips leave on time so make sure to be at the pier at least 15 minutes before departure if you don't want to miss your trip. Which was exactly what happened to us, thanks to Cebupac's (yet again) delayed flight.

Top, clockwise: First sight of Dumaguete from the port; going on board;
floating pre-departure area; Vingaye hitting Dumaguete. 

After a 45-minute ferry ride we finally hit the mystic island of Siquijor. Oooh. Haha.

Siquijor hits! Welcome to the Island of Fire. 

Thanks to the resort we were staying at, Prinsesa Bulakna, who threw in a town tour with port transfer, we got to go around the island before settling in.

Siquijor is not exactly the most breathtaking place in the Philippines I've been to. But there's something about this sleepy town that makes it so captivating. Maybe it's this sense of secluded intimacy knowing the island is pretty small, with its coastline stretching only a good 102 km and that you can tour all six towns in less than a day. Maybe its the oldness of the towns on the island. Aside from very few buildings in Siquijor town, most of the houses were really old, made of wood and of pawid. And hearing all these stories of aswangs (mythical creature in Philippine folklore) in Siquijor surely gives the towns this eerie feel.

I'm sure you've heard of those as well. Now I really wouldn't know if these were true or not. Our trusty driver, Kuya Kenneth told us that there is such a thing as panglalason in Siquijor, which in English translates to "poisoning". But it's actually more like pangkukulam or witchcraft. This ranges from getting really bad headaches, to stomachaches, to throwing up non-stop with just a tap from a seemingly normal stranger. Pretty creepy. Whether that were true or not, the stories did keep us amused the entire ride.

One of the things the province boasts of is their century old Catholic churches. We were able to visit some and I fell in love with them immediately.

St. Francis of Asisi Church in Siquijor town. Built in 1780's, it is the  oldest church on the island.

St. Isidore Labradore Church in Lazi, Siquijor. Built in 1857.

Lazi Church entrance.

Lazi Church bell tower.

The Lazi Convent, which stands on the block directly across from the church,
 is said to be one of the largest convents in Asia.

The churches were a beauty. Would've been great to see other old churches in the other towns, but we were on a pretty tight schedule.

We also got to see a couple of natural beauties. First was a climb up Mt. Bandilaan which lies between towns of Lazi and Siquijor. It's the highest peak in the province where you can get a mean good view of the entire island. Sweet.

Just a heads up though, be ready for a bit of work out getting to the peak. Haha.

It all boils down to this, really. View of Siquijor Island from Mt. Bandilaan. 

Aside from being the highest peak, Mt. Bandilaan also serves as the Golgotha
 for those doing penitence during the Holy Week.

Long way up. On the viewing deck with Vingaye, Tat and Jo. Photo by Ira. 

Next stop was Cambugahay Falls in Lazi. I have to warn you again, trekking down the falls requires a wee bit of work out. Either that or we were really just a physically un-fit bunch. Haha.

Me burning calories trekking down to the falls. Photo by Ira. 

Although we didn't swim, the falls looked really refreshing. We caught a couple kids enjoying a dip.

Who needs Splash Island when you can have all the fun with nature? :)

My models. :) Such a cute duo.

After our short adventure, we headed to the resort for our ultimate R & R.

The beach was a bit of a disappointment. Don't get me wrong, the sand was really fine and the water was really clear but driftwood and seaweeds line the shore. I guess they don't bother much to clear the beaches around that area.

Nothing can stop us from beach bumming. Left to right: Jo, Ira, Tat & Rica;  camwhoring with Tat; losing the cover up. 

Since we couldn't do the beach, we did the pool instead. Princesa Bulakna has a pretty nice infinity pool perfect for poolside drinking. 'Nuf said. Haha.

Vingaye and Rica with the boys. Photo by Ira. 

Afternoon drinking with the whole gang. 

Goofing around with Ira, Vingaye and Ping. 

Nearing sunset. 

In case I haven't mentioned, aside from my college friends Vingaye and Tat, I've only met these people for at most, the fourth time. Some of them I've met for the first time here in Siquijor. They are Tat's high school barkada whom most of them I got to know last year when Vingaye and I spent a weekend in Bacolod. We'd get to hang out when they go to Manila to visit Tat. They're probably the most easy going bunch of people I know. :) I don't know if its the innate friendliness of Bacolod people, but stress doesn't seem to exist in their vocabulary. Hanging out with them always meant fun and beer. And that was the story all night.

Left to right: Tat, Bonk and Rica post swimming; Empi, Alrick and Chino; us by the pool.

Actually that was the story the entire night. The rest of them drank 'til the wee hours while I, slept. Yuck, tumatanda na 'ko. Haha. I heard a lot happened during their drinking spree while I was off to dreamland but let's leave it at that. :p

Good morning Siquijor! At Prinsesa Bulakna beach resort.

Around lunchtime we left for the port in Siquijor to catch the ferry going back to Dumaguete where we will be spending the night.

With the whole gang. Thank you, Siquijor! Til we meet again.

Off to Dumaguete. We didn't go around much but we did go to one of the must-visit spots in Dumaguete at night - the boulevard. Rizal Boulevard is like the tamer version of Roxas Boulevard in Manila. Endless open air bars, balot/peanut/quail eggs vendors line the bay walk. A stay in Dumaguete is not complete without a night out here.

Tat, Jo, Vingaye, Rica, Ira and Cy.

The boys Alrick & girlfriend, Burjok, Herc, Bonk, Chino, Empi and Ping. 

It never sleeps at the boulevard.

Still sober with Tat. And a fisheye camera haha.

After the boulevard we went for a night cap at some gasoline station, by then the Red Horse was kicking in so I had no idea what gas station we were in. I think we stayed there 'til 4am. Proof that we really drank the night away was me going to bed without taking a shower. How amateur. Haha. I swear I woke up with one of the worst hangovers I've had in months.

What better way to shake off a hangover than a 6-hour drive back to Bacolod. Before leaving Dumaguete be sure to try some (and buy some as pasalubong) the best sylvannas from Sans Rival. You can get them at Robinson's Dumaguete at P110 per box of 10. They're friggin heavenly.

This is how road trip looks like now- movie watching and photo editing. Haha. 

A 6-hour race to Bacolod,

"Ruins" by the road. Closest I got so far. Haha.
Thanks Ping for taking this photo while I was too lazy to get out of the van. 

The trip, no matter how long and hot, was surprisingly refreshing. Guess I'm still so used to my out of town trips at work where I have to be on top everything- when to eat, where to stay, what time to leave, toll fees, meal allowances. This time, I can just literally sit back and relax. Shout out to Rica and Burjok who were our pseudo-mom and dad the entire trip. :)

We got to Bacolod at around 9pm. Final night was spent in our staple inuman place before, Tropics. Wasn't able to catch Kuppa open that night 'cause we went out a bit late. We were all really tired from the trip that after a few rounds at 11 in Art District, we called it a night.

Until the next day when it was time to say goodbye. The trip was bitin short and sweet. How I wish I could've gone around some more. Visit more old churches in Siquijor, tour Dumaguete more (I wasn't even able to take a picture of Siliman University). It's already my second visit to Bacolod but I've never gone to the ruins in Silay, can you believe that? But I wouldn't complain. It was a great way to kick off summer. And like they say, it's the people that make the place and I was with one of the nicest, most fun group of people I know. That said, Bacolod will always have a a a place in my heart.

And come to think of it, missing all those tourist spots means I have to go back and do Negros again. Haha. :)

Salamat gd, Bacolod! Thank you Negros. 'Til our next great adventure!:)

Roanni


*Thanks Ira for some of the photos I used in this post.

**More on Siquijor churches on one of my favorite blogs, http://www.ivanhenares.com/.