Our Journey To Siquijor

12 July 2015, Day 2 (Continuation)

After having our encounter with the gentle giants, we headed back to our resort to freshen up and check-out. We needed to catch the 12:00nn ferry towards Siquijor (from Dumaguete) because another friend of Ma'am Jacq is waiting for us in Dumaguete since morning. So our route is we needed to go to Dumaguete by ferry from the Santander Port. The fare is around 64php for a non-aircon ferry.

Ferry ticket

I just want to emphasize how beautiful the shore is on the port of Santander. I hope that the goverment will be able to maintain the cleanliness in this area.

Shoreline beside the port

There goes our ferry waiting for us

Boarding time

At boarding, I presented my ticket and the person in charge tear the boarding pass. Going down the boat, we took our seats at the front part of the ferry. Thank God for the clear weather for we had a smooth sail going to Dumaguete. We arrived at Dumaguete around 11:30am, approximately 30 to 45 minutes travel time. Going to the main port of Dumaguete, we rented one jeep for 200php. It was a good thing because it was only a short ride and we are able to catch the 12nn ferry to Siquijor. Whew!

Dumaguete's main port

This port was bigger from the the one in Santander. You can buy tickets to different locations outside the departure area. Approximately, 200 to 300 passengers can fit the departure area. There are also food stalls in the departure area in case your tummy gets a hungry.

Siquijor Port

The same with the one in Santander, Siquijor's port is very clean and peaceful. After getting of the ferry, we were welcomed by Kuya Dennis from the local travel agency. He used a new black Urvan for our group. Since we are all VERY HUNGRY (we haven't eaten since morning except for bread), we stopped by a new restaurant named Baha Bar along the main road.

From the outside, Baha Bar looks like a typical house. It has tables below and also at the back. But their main dining area is upstairs. Before you go up, you have to remove your shoes and wear a pair of slippers that can be found beside the stairs. 

View of the stairs from the main dining area

Baha Bar's main dining area

The Bar

If in case you get bored, you can borrow the guitars, read books, play scrabbles or even Sungka from the shelf above. Pretty cool right?

A painting of the Cang-Isok house hangs on the wall of Baha Bar

Interesting fact: Baha Bar's proprietors, Genalyn Albino and Steve Swatton, got the idea of the house's exterior and interior from the Cang-Isok House which happened to be the oldest house in the island of Siquijor. That's why the restaurant looks to homie and relaxing. It seemed like your inside a modern Bahay Kubo. The place before where Baha Bar stands was prone to floods and that's where the name came from.

In terms of food, their average meal costs around 150php good for one person. That time, we ordered their group meal specialty. One platter having seafoods and another platter for meat lovers.

Our sumptuous seafood platter

Seafood platter consists of different types of fish, tiger prawns, escabeche, and some potato chips. I was not able to take a picture of our meat platter but as the name says, the platter consists of fried chicken, pork and beef. Our total bill was 4,500php (2,000php for the seafood and 2,500 for the meat platter) so we gave 500php since were a group of 9. Not bad for the ambiance and quality of food. But what I love about Baha Bar was that their staff was very accommodating and hospitable. Kudos to their team!

Here are more photos of the Baha Bar:

Books available at the dining area

Baha Bar's Sunset Deck

Baha Bar's proprietors

Up next: One of Siquijor's best resorts, Coco Grove.

Exploring a Part of Cebu: OSLOB

11 July 2015: Day 1

I was very fortunate that I was able to join a group that decided to travel 3 Philippine provinces in one trip. Bea, whom I known since highschool, told me last April that her boss and a group of friends were planning to do a Cebu-Siquijor-Dumaguete trip in July. Since I have to travel plans yet for that month and me being an adventurer, asked if could join them. When she gave me a GO signal, right there and then I booked my flight from Cebu Pacific. Good thing that they still have a discounted fare that time. I got a MNL-CEB then DGT-MNL route for about 2,200php (Not bad!)

July 11 came and we are to depart MNL at 5:55am. I met Ma'am Jacq (Bea's boss) and friends at the NAIA T3. They were nursing graduates from Makati Med and now some of them are working here and abroad.

We boarded just in time on one of the Airbuses of Cebu Pacific. The flight was on time as well and we landed in Cebu a little past 7:00am.

Kuya Achilles, a MIASSCO accredited driver, picked us up at the airport to have our trip towards Oslob. It was a 3 to 4-hour drive with stops in between for we bought our breakfast at Jollibee and also dropped by Carcar to buy some lechon and drinks. We arrived at Lagunde Beach Resort (part of our Oslob Tour package), around noon to freshen up and drop our bags.

Lagunde Beach Resort's pool area

The resort was okay. It has a lot of rooms and when we got there, we were the only ones who were checked-in that day. They have a pool as you can see above and an access to the beach as well. They also have their own restaurant so you don't have to worry on getting your tummy full. However, their food was a bit pricey. (Tip: You may bring outside food and drinks to save some money) We had a family room that has 3 double deck beds and one queen size bed. The room has its own kitchen and bathroom.

At 1:30pm, we went to meet Kuya Jerome (our tour guide) at the resort to start our agenda for that afternoon. Sumilon Island was our first stop.

Here we are inside our van, excited to explore the famous island in Oslob.

Approaching Sumilon Island. See the turquoise color of the water?

The time that we visited the island, the famous sandbar was still submerged under water (Too bad!). But this did not stopped us from enjoying what Sumilon Island has to offer. The water was so beautiful and was warm too so my friends had a plunged to beat the heat!

 Panoramic view of one side of Sumilon Island

The girls showing of their modeling skills

A little sea creature spotted inside one of the rocks

It's actually fun to examine the rock formations here. Some part of the rocks had water dripping on it that made it moist and maybe that's why there are creatures living inside it.

After Sumilon Island, we headed towards Tumalog Falls. It was just near the drop off point where we road a boat towards the island. We rode the van again going to the falls. There is a 20php per person fee upon entrance. However, we needed to either walk or ride a motorcycle from the parking area leading to the falls. I can't remember how much the ride costs going down but I think it was around 70php per person. We decided to just walk since the road was downhill and a part of the road was very steep so be careful!

Follow the sign

There's Dreb walking down the road

The Tumalog Falls

I was not really expecting much about the falls. But when we got there, I was in AWE. The feeling was very surreal. The water was falling and passing through different rock levels that made it so beautiful. Like I can stare at it for one whole day. You can feel the cold moist coming from the falls once you go closer to it (Ahhh, so relaxing!)

You can see the unique formation of the rocks where the water falls 

Kuya Jerome taking a picture of the girls  plus Jason 

According to Kuy Jerome, the locals fixed the wall when Yolanda struck the country. It is the wall that holds the water from the topmost level of the falls to maintain the level of the water.

After enjoying the cold water and the view, we took a motorcycle (with a driver of course) back up where the entrance of the falls was. By the way, the motorcycles are parked just below the falls so you don't have to worry on walking your way up. It costs 50php per person for a ride. 

Small stores near the parking area

We had our merienda at the small stores near the parking area. There are rice meals, snacks, drinks (water, softdrinks, etc) for a reasonable price and fresh coconuts too!You can buy one at 50php and drink directly from the shell then they can open the coconut for you to eat the its meat for a fee of 20-30php (I'm not sure).

There, there..

After having our merienda, we went back to our resort to enjoy the rest of the night.

Stay tuned for our Day 2 adventure with our Whaleshark encounter.