Showing posts with label Dumaguete. Show all posts
Tempurahan sa Boulevard
A few meters away from the sea port area in Dumaguete City, at the end of the lovely and romantic Rizal boulevard, a pack of hungry Dumaguetenos, foreigners and local tourists gathered, some eating while others patiently waiting for their street food which were about to be served by the accommodating ate and kuya vendors.
Tempurahan sa Boulevard is how the Dumaguetenos call it and this is only visible at night where tempuras, balut and other street foods are mostly in demand.
There was nothing special about the tempura or even the balut. They are the same food you can see and buy at any street side vendors, usually near schools or universities or anywhere where there's much number of people. There's one unique thing about their tempuras here, they don't have the sweet sauce ready to dip our sticks in or even the spicy ones. The sauces were placed in a container which you would personally pour on a plate or something, this is cleaner though compared to what we have here in Cebu where we all share the same can of sauce. Whatcha think?
Tayada Sa Plaza Sa Dumaguete
When we were in Dumaguete last August, we got the chance to watch an afternoon show at their own Quezon park which according to Maimai, our host’s sister is happening every Sunday afternoon and are presented as well as cooperated by all schools in town. I haven’t seen something like this for months now and it brought me back to my elementary and secondary years where I involve myself in every extracurricular activities.
I didn’t really understand what Tayada means, neither did I hear it from any Boholano or Cebuano term so I googled it. But I failed to find the right equivalent term instead, I found this:
DUMAGUETE CITY, Feb. 5 (PIA) --- Dumaguete City’s most popular cultural show returns to the stage today, Feb. 5, after nearly three months of absence from the local limelight.
Dumaguete City Tourism Officer Woodrow Maquiling, Jr. earlier announced the return of Tayada sa Plaza, a weekly cultural event that has been staged every Sunday afternoon at the Quezon Park for the past ten years.
Tayada sa Plaza showcases the numerous talents and skills of students coming from the schools in Dumaguete City.
Oozing Mount Talinis
Tanya's residence is in Talay, just a 10 minute ride from Dumaguete City and Don on the otherhand is in Valencia, town after Dumaguete. I never imagined that his hometown has more to offer. And indeed I had met an oozing volcano in Mount Talinis, more than 15 minute ride from Tanya's home.
Going up there is not that tough, nor that steep either. Some parts of the road are not cemented but are cool enough when travelled. The damage made by last year's bagyong Sendong was very severe that made the rivers widened and most buildings had been destroyed too. Huge rocks were washed into rivers, water running strong fast along those rivers made me wonder how the much harder those were during the typhoon.
Road Trip Via Dumaguete
It was an over-the-week plan, weather was acting up a bit when James, Darwin and I were on our way to the southern part of Cebu. We used the South Road Properties to avoid traffic yet strong winds had welcomed us there. Darwin was afraid of how this trip would go on considering the weather, I on the other-hand felt heartbrokened yet James was strong willed, he had the positive vibes even after we forgot to fuel up our vehicle and yet we needed to turn back to our route.
As we went back towards the high way roads, the rain poured out. In my mind, God was maybe giving us a sign to turn back and return home but in my heart I felt pursuance, so off we went when the rain slowly stopped. It was three in the afternoon when we moved our way, wet and tired because we had just gone out of work.
Surprisingly, the next city had no traces of rain, not even a single drop of it until we reached Oslob where the gentle giants reside.
Our trip to Dumaguete was once more tested when we missed the six oclock barge trip in Liloan Port in Santander. James begging to the barge officers did not help, Darwin arrived five minutes after the barge took off.
See You Soon City of Gentle People
Gener Gener go away come again another year, little Jean wants to travel!
Yeah it's August and last year, James and I went to Dumaguete City for our third year anniversary celebration. This year, we are again gonna go back to the city I fell in love with. Tanya, my good friend will be going home for her nephew's first birthday celebration and we are gonna be tagged along too though James, Darwin and I will be going on Saturday while Tanya is going tomorrow.
I am quite excited about this trip because we are going with our own Baby Mia. This will be our first long trip together and we are gonna cross seas so it's really adventurous.
Playful Cafe Noriter in Dumaguete City
While James and I were in Dumaguete last August, I made sure we can visit this coffee shop that I had read from Creative Dork's blog. Curious with how playful the place is as with Robbie's photographs and he also stated they serve cheaper coffees too.
Surprisingly, the cafe was just a few blocks away from where we stayed in the island so it was no sweat getting there.
I learned that the Dumagauete branch is the first branch ever here in the country. There are computer units inside and you can actually use it for Php 20 per hour, if that is too pricey for you, there are more units at the second floor costs Php 15 per hour. But if you have your own laptop, just order a minimum of Php50 and your on your way to unlimited wifi internet access, which most coffee shops has.
What I love the most about the place was the interior decoration and how the owner or designer had made the area so playful. I love stationaries, polaroid photos, miniature toys and colorful things and they have all of these inside. I was totally amazed and astonished that there's something like this in Dumaguete. Unlike other coffee shops I've known like starbucks or Bo's, cafe noriter has a child-like, girly, creative feel. I spent my entire time wondering on each displayed items. I had definitely enjoyed being there.
Here are some of the pretty cute stuff you can see there:
More of Dumaguete City
As early as seven in the morning, both of us were already out in the streets of Dumaguete City. I love the silence and though it is a city, there were only a few vehicles roaming around. We were really strangers out there, we didn't know what to do and where to go, blame it to the planner. Well, we were not serious of planning where to go before we reached here. Anyway, since we were already there, we just enjoyed it.
We reached this moto-lending stall, I was not interested in borrowing one and driving the whole city but James was persistent. He said we will just ask how much but after awhile, I found myself riding it already. He doesn't have a driver's license so I was forced to drive. This is my first time to drive in a city and I was really nervous. I can't drive straight! Good thing there weren't jeepneys and huge buses there. The city reminds me of Tagbilaran City where the means of transportation is just tricycles.
It was good to have a motorcycle to tour around the city but it was a hassle because we don't know where to go, we were just driving around in circles. BTW, we rented the vehicle Php150 every five hours. Since Robinsons is a bit far from the main city, we decided to go there but since it was too early, the mall was still closed. We just toured around the area.
Travel: Rizal Boulevard
Three years isn't long if you are happy.
This was a comment by a former colleague after knowing that James and I had just celebrated our third anniversary last August 24, 2011. Indeed, it was like we just started our relationship yesterday. I could still remember when I was in my freshman year in college, he was the only guy who got my attraction but I didn't give it any meaning because way back then, he was in a relationship as well. We were matched by our circle of friends when we were already in our senior year. And then the rest is history.
We had our pre-anniversary celebration at Dumaguete City last August 21-22, 2011. Dumaguete is beautiful, it's been known as the city of gentle people and I must say, the city is very safe, calm and of course lovely.
I posted about how we get there, where we stayed and today, I wanna share with you the highlight of our Dumaguete City travel - Dumaguete's Rizal Boulevard. I fell in love with it that night. After reaching the city, we went straight to Rizal Boulevard and were surprised because of the number of people in the area. There were students in groups who were marching around the city and I just knew that it was Siliman University's 110 Foundation Day. Siliman University is quiet famous because it is the first protestant university founded here in the Philippines. The students in the campus are from all sorts of families also. Most of them are foreigners or meztizos. A large percentage of their student population comes from well known families and those who are rich ones.
Hotel Nicanor
Way before going to Dumaguete, I had already asked Mr. Google about the affordable hotels to stay in in the city. Among the list, I chose Hotel Nicanor because so far they had the best webpage I had seen and the accommodation suited what I had expected. I would say that their webpage would be one of the things that hotel owners must develop well because today's generation is a web-based one. So people most specially travelers would consider checking on the net first before going to a tourist spot. The hotel is also accessible because it is just a walking distance from the city stores and of course the Rizal Boulevard.
Anyway, we were greeted by a hospitable front desk officer and was immediately taken cared of. Opted the Matrimonial one for Php 1050 and so we were accompanied by a housekeeper towards room number 409. The hotel uses a switch card for access.
The lobby:
Travel: Dumaguete City Pre-Anniversary Special
How would you feel if you travel to a different island with your loved-one? Ofcourse, you'd be happy, right?!
Aside from Bohol and Cebu, which are our own provinces, James and I haven't gone to any other different island yet and so we had thought of going to somewhere near yet an interesting one. And Dumaguete is the best place! We decided then that we will definitely be going to the island for our third year anniversary and I am just so glad because we made it and yesterday, we were in Dumaguete!
To the South:
We rode on a Ceres Bus Liner via Cebu South Terminal to get to Bato Santander port. Our seat numbers 39 and 40 and at exactly 1:00, we were on our way there. It would take five hours to get to Dumaguete City. The truth is, there were two options, we can either take a bus to Liloan port and take a boat towards Dumaguete or just simply ride on the ceres bus until it reach Dumaguete, which means, the bus will be shipped via a barge ship to Dumaguete. We opted the second. Bus ride costs Php 200 per head.
The Best Buko Pie IMHO
If you are a buko fan like me, I mean if you are that person who loves to eat coconut nut's fruit like eating it raw, eating it with it's juice and some milk on it which we call as "Butong" or even as a viand, yes in Bohol, we cook it for lunch, then you would definitely love Dumaguete's Buko Pie as well. This is so far the best buko I have ever tasted, honestly speaking. I had eaten some buko pies in SM or in some stalls in downtown and I found all of them just so-so. Dumaguete's special buko pie has just been my favorite since I first tasted it from Tanya, my colleague and is also from the city of gentle people.
Just this weekend, some of my colleagues went to Dumaguete for their team building. I grabbed the opportunity and asked one of them to buy me one box of the buko pie. She did buy one for me and I received it last night.
The good thing about it was that Janet who bought the pie placed it inside the fridge while it
