Dining in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental

One of the reasons I was excited about our summer vacation was because it meant we would be visiting 2 provinces in one trip! Siquijor did not have an airport so we had to go to Dumaguete, Negros Oriental first, before catching a ferry to Siquijor. 

Enchanting Siquijor Day 2:Coco grove

Coco Grove Resort in San Juan is definitely the biggest and poshest resort in all of Siquijor. It has a beachfront of 800 meters of white sand and a marine sanctuary exclusively for its guests. That's why it's also the most expensive on the island. (But  at P4,100/night, really cheap compared to Boracay and other more touristy islands) So guests can just relax under shade of the native huts or swim in the shimmering sea without having to worry about someone taking their stuff or dealing with pesky trinket sellers.

A trip back in time: Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar

Ok, I have a confession to make: It was only after I got a little education in college that I started to appreciate old things. Before that, brand new was best for me. Now I value old houses and old furniture because I know that they have history.

Wow Davao! Part 1: Pearl Farm

I am so proud to say that I have finally gone to all the major islands of my country, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao!
I chose Davao for our trip this year because I got jealous of my balikbayan uncle and cousin who lived most of their life in the US but got to Mindanao before me, a Filipino who was just an hour and 40 minutes (by plane) away from Davao. Luckily, I got half-off my plane tickets and also got discounted gift certificates at Davao's very chic Pearl Farm.

Back in Boracay!

After 5 years, I'm back in Boracay! I won a 3 day/ 2 night package including airfare  for 2 at a Rider sandals photocontest which brought me  and Papa back to the party island.

Twinx invades Bicolandia!

Twinx and a co-teacher were sent to Bicol for a school activity. Their former president went with them on a tour of the Mayon volcano and fortunately, they had a cool tour guide/photographer who took some amusing photos.Climb every mountain, search high and low, follow every byway, jump over a volcano...

Suddenly Sister Mikee turned into a 50 foot nun!!! RAWRRR!!!Luckily, Twinx found a magic stone and swallowed it to become......a 50-foot girl and tried to climb up the Cagsawa bell tower!

twinx in ilocandia

Pictures from Twinx's trip to Ilocandia. They had a school meeting there and they went to Ilocos Norte, Marcos' tomb, Pagudpud and Vigan, where my balikbayan aunts, uncle and I were supposed to go in 2006 after our Wowo's death anniversary. Captions to follow

Coron: jewel of palawan

View from Seadive

Seadive resto

Palawan is indeed the last frontier and going there is like setting foot on another country-- far,far away from the travails of city life. If you want to go to Coron but don't want to spend too much, you can join blogger Owen Ferrer's DIY groups or you can just browse the net for tips and make your own trip/schedule like we did.
My sis took these pics below especially for my blog.

Hallway leading to our roomsRelaxing on the hammocks on the 2nd floor verandah.Our fan room and below, bath and toilet. We reserved 2 fan rooms (P700 each room/night) at SeaDive in Coron town and just rested the whole afternoon. The rooms are a bit stuffy on hot days. The seabreeze can't seem to get through. There are no TVs in the rooms so I'm glad we brought some books and my portable dvd player. I'm glad to report that Seadive has plenty of clean water, a strong shower and free-flowing coffee all day.They also have a water dispenser so we didn't have to buy a lot of water like we had to in Bohol. I even joked that we should be called the Sulit family because we had coffee ,tea and water by the restaurant almost 3 times a day. There's also free wi-fi, too bad we didn't have a laptop. But then, why bring your laptop on your vacation, right? Excellent value for money. The only thing that would make this place better is if they had a pool on the 3rd floor as the water surrounding Seadive is not good for swimming.

Then, we went to Makinit Hot Springs at 6pm. The salt water temperature can reach 40 degrees celsius so it's better to go there at night lest you get broiled!

We had dinner at Bistro Coron, which Lonely Planet recommends and we were treated to a truly unforgettable meal!

Tarragon chicken, P165

Chicken cordon bleu, P175

Calamares, P120

Pa's favorite meal on the island: Beef tenderloin with pepper sauce, P280

Fish in herb and butter, P170

Day 2 was our Coron island tour courtesy of our tricycle driver/tour guide Anthony. We bought lapu-lapu (P180 a kilo) , crabs, rice and mangoes for our picnic lunch before riding a small boat to Beach 91 The beaches on Coron island are really small but pristine. Partly because of the hefty P100/person entrance fee but also because the people here know that eco-tourism is their major source of income so they have to keep it clean. Naturally, it became a perfect setting for a photoshoot! Suck in those stomachs!

I love this shot. Wish I was in that pic.




But this is ok, too. Check out our camera case which lets Twinx shoot underwater!

I swear, being on a small island without a TV or newspaper totally made our worries seem so small and insignificant.

Can't decide which one to use for my wallpaper...

More pix coming soon!

things i learned about bohol

here are some tidbits i learned from my trip to bohol

-like the mexicans, boholanos pronounce the "y" as "j" so "maayong adlaw"(good day) becomes "maajong adlaw"

-because of the 85-year rebellion led by francisco dagohoy , all the churches in bohol are built only around the periphery of the island as dagohoy's men controlled the mountains.

-there are no NPAs/rebels here because there were no sprawling haciendas here so most of the lands the boholanos till are their own.

-nowadays, europeans own most of the property by the seashore because according to our driver, mang jun, the locals didn't think much of saeside land because it was not arable.

-one property owned by a german has a huge balete /banyan tree which old people say is the home of spirits and elves. he did not believe in that but consulted a shaman anyway who said the spirits allowed their tree to be included in his property. what's curious is that there is another balete tree they didn't fence in and they had to make the gate go around it. maybe those spirits didn't want to belong to the german's land?

-sinigang is called tinola in the visayas and they use tomatoes to make it sour. they also put ginger and red bell peppers. they also put red bell peppers in the bam-i , their version of the pancit. i love how they serve colas and other bottled drinks here with the straw firmly held up by tissue to prevent flies and sand from getting in your drink.

-sandugo /blood compact (from twink's first trip to bohol)

-contrary to popular belief, Sulayman and Lopez de Legazpi drew blood from their chest and not from their wrists to signify their friendship.

-baclayon church

-the oldest chruch in bohol is made of coral, limestone and eggwhites. in the olden days only the rich had pews with chairs, some of which can still be seen there. for the more snobbish, there was a special area on the second floor where they could hear mass without mingling with the indios.

-tarsiers

-do not touch the tarsier's heads as the top of their heads(bunbunan) is very delicate

-tarsiers can rotate their heads 180 degrees and not 360 degrees like the possessed in the exorcist

-tarsiers are very territorial and may commit suicide by banging their head on a tree if transferred to a different location.

-tarsier sex lasts only 2-3 seconds but may last longer on a full moon.

-in contrast, the butterfly, which only has sex once in its lifetime lasts 6-10 hours (ay bastos!)

click here for more pix of bohol!