Negros Oriental is one of the two provinces that make up Negros Island. It is bounded by Negros Occidental on the west, the island of Cebu on the east and island province of Siquijor on the southeast. It has a total of 25 towns including Dumaguete City (the City of Gentle People), its capital.

Most tourists who visit the province usually enter—both by ferry and plane—via Dumaguete City. With that in mind, I would be basing this travel guide with Dumaguete as the base of operation. This actually makes sense as not only are there numerous hotels and restaurants in the city, but it is also centrally located when it comes to the tourist spots within the province. And indeed, the province has a lot to offer (including the nearby Siquijor Island, which is usually part of the tours in Dumaguete); gushing waterfalls, pristine lakes, historic buildings, breezy boulevards, beaches, sandbars, good food and yes, the gentlest of people.

I love hotdog sandwiches. You won’t ever hear me complaining on plain ones, with a simple zag of mayo on top and a sprinkle of cheese. Heck, even a fried Tender Juicy in between a soft pandesal is good enough for me. On this last visit to Dumaguete, you can just imagine how my eyes popped when Massive Munchies prepared a hotdog for me—with pickles, spicy jalapeños, crispy fries, and lots and lots of cheese.

COOL GRAFFITI ON THE WALLS

Coming from our Siquijor trip, we saw Massive Munchies on our first night in Dumaguete. Their store design was quite intriguing so we took a peek right after having our fill of BellyChon from Qu4dros Grill, it sits just right across the street. We promised we’d be back the next day.

And indeed, after trying out Dumaguete’s painitan the next morning, we trooped over to Locsin Street with our backpacks on (again) for our final meal in the city before flying back to Manila.

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Without complimentary breakfast from Plaza Maria Luisa Suites Inn, the hotel we’re staying at in Dumaguete, we headed straight to the public market for one of the city’s traditional breakfast fare, budbud. The locals call the place painitan, which, I guess, literally means a place to warm up in.

A TYPICAL STALL AT THE PAINITAN IN DUMAGUETE

As we walked along the open-aired stalls along Dumaguete Market’s painitan area, we were immediately overwhelmed by vendors calling out to us to try their budbud. I have tried this unique delicacy before when I visited Dumaguete the previous years, but I have yet to sample it as a breakfast fare.

Indeed, this is a popular place, it was packed with locals having their early morning grub, luckily, we quickly found an empty seat right by the road. We joined the fray.

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With amused grin, we walked towards our twin room at the Plaza Maria Luisa Suites Inn. The corridors were very colorful—like rainbow colorful—and it totally wasn’t what we were expecting when we saw the façade of the hotel. I asked my buddy, do you think Jolina Magdangal owns this hotel? Lol.

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THE HOTEL’S COLORFUL HALLWAY

Finally, after literally knocking around several hotels in Dumaguete, including the one I stayed at before, Hotel Nicanor, we finally found a vacant room at Plaza Maria. Apparently, there’s an ongoing event at Silliman University and almost all of the lodging places in the city is fully booked. We were lucky we found a hotel at all. Remind us to book ahead next time we tour Siquijor again.

Coming straight from a one-hour ferry from Siquijor, the first thing we looked for in Dumaguete City was dinner. Having had nothing but beer for lunch, we were absolutely famished. It was early evening when we arrived in the city and still without accommodations, we roamed its street with our backpacks on for something to satiate our hunger.

While walking, we were also checking out local hotels in the area where we can sleep the night off before our midday flight the next day. It was absolutely by chance that we passed by Qu4dros Grill (which, I guess, is pronounced as quadro) on Locsin Street and was arrested by the sight of a gargantuan piece of skewered meat—lechon belly!

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The wind whipped like there was no tomorrow through the narrow streets of Chavayan Village. I was in Batanes, the dream destination of most travelers in the country. There was almost no one around except the silent stone houses and a bunch of giggling kids rolling a plastic drum. Approaching them, I asked what they were doing. They replied in tongues foreign to my ears, controlling their laughter at the task at hand, that is to roll the drum with another kid riding inside.

While absolutely no trace of the Filipino language was uttered from their innocent mouths, I was still able to communicate through smiles and gestures with these Ivatan children.

A realization occurred to me then—had they spoken to me in Filipino, that magical moment I witnessed would have been totally different. It would have transformed it into something ordinary; reduced to a street scene perhaps at the crowded alleyways of Manila.

It would have lost its magic. It would have lost its charm.

Most people in the country associate beaches with golden sunsets since a lot of the nicer shorelines in the Philippines are located in the western seaboard. This, however, is not true in Dumaguete City as it faces the east where mornings are greeted by the rising sun.

So it was that during our five-day stay in Sta. Monica Beach Club, I struggled everyday to get up the early hours of the morning to catch the colors of the sunrise.

One of the things that made our five-day stay at Dumaguete City’s Sta. Monica Beach Club extra special was the fantastic selection of dishes served during our vacation. We were so gut-bustingly full every meal time that I felt it needed a separate article to give justice to the culinary delight we experienced while at the resort.

I did a full review of the beach club in the previous article, now let’s dig in deeper to what Sta. Monica’s kitchen holds.

Warm sunshine and calm azure waters bade us good morning as we entered the gates of Sta. Monica Beach Club. We walked along its manicured lawns and marvelled at the serenity of the place. Located on the northern coastal area of Dumaguete City at Barangay Banilad, it escapes the bustle of the city and brings guests out into a more laid back part of the city.
Sta. Monica is nestled between nipa plantations and an authentic fishing village. It overlooks the Dumaguete City Bay, which brings in the cool sea breeze the whole year round. There are no car noises and no motorcycle throttles here; it’s simply us, the trees and the beach.

When not running off to the nearby towns of Dumaguete City, chasing waterfalls and beaching around, we usually just walk around the streets of the city; checking out its sights, trying local restaurants (and looking for streetfood, if we still haven’t had our fill) and simply shooting the breeze at the boulevard to pass the time.

Dumaguete City is considered a university town, being centered at one of the oldest university in the country, Silliman University. Most say that its atmosphere is laid back, but I beg to disagree. The city is bustling with vehicular traffic; one can hardly call it laid back, until I guess one steps inside its quieter tree-lined university.

The water rippled as the wind blew over the sea making picture-perfect patterns across the shallow shoal. Beneath us is the creamy white sand of the famous Manjuyod Sandbar. From the viewing deck surrounding one of the elevated thatched huts, we surveyed the vista unfolding before our eyes, it was nothing short of breathtaking.

I remember the first time I booked a flight to Dumaguete City with no inkling as to what it holds. I quickly googled the places to see in the area and the first thing that caught my attention were the beach huts, seemingly standing like sentinels in the middle of the sea. The Manjuyod Sandbar. I knew I was in for a treat.

The calm aquamarine waters of Lake Danao sprung into view after climbing a snaking stone stairway surrounded on all sides by the cool shades of whispering trees. It led to the ridge separating its twin, Lake Balinsasayao. After an hour of traveling from Dumaguete City, we were finally right in the middle of the famous Twin Lakes of Balinsasayao.

Our group has previously disembarked on a small placid body of water on the way to the National Park, thinking it was already part of the twin lakes. Although the place looked real nice, we were incorrect in our assumptions. It’s but just a pond, the Kabalin-an Pond to be specific. We did the next best thing though, use the comfort rooms located on the gazebo beside the two-heactare pond.

About an hour away from the urban rumble of Dumaguete City is a unique waterscape named after the reddish rocks and boulders along its banks; Valencia town’s Pulangbato Waterfalls.

Mini clouds of white steam rise up from the folds of rocks along the highway as our van navigated to the quiet town of Valencia which is nine kilometers west of Dumaguete City. We can smell the sour sulfur fumes in the air even with our windows up, the municipality is known for its geothermal properties; the heat probably being generated by the potentially active Mount Talinis.

The distinctive facade of the Silliman Museum usually represents Dumaguete City on postcards and pamphlets. Sad to say, it’s now my third time to visit the City of Gentle People but I haven’t stepped on this iconic structure even once. Being a museum guy, I’m elated that the Silliman University Anthropology Museum was gonna be our first stop on this particular trip.

I’ve always loved Silliman University’s laid back atmosphere; it’s tree-lined boulevards, its grassy fields and its very American architecture. I’ve actually written about a walk I did years prior along its arcades, searching for a fried ice cream. I still haven’t found that said dessert but the university hasn’t changed one bit from what I remembered it to be.

The warm midday breeze swept from the sea, past the long avenue of trees along Rizal Boulevard and into the double-door entrance of an old two-storey mansion right across the road. It was lunchtime and we were gonna be treated to Dumaguete City’s newest incarnation of its famous sweet delicacy, the toothache inducing sans rival and silvanas.

What used to be a small affair of a café just a few meters from the mansion has now extended to a full blown restaurant. From the cramped dining area of the original café, the new Sans Rival Bistro has now a spread of posh tables and chairs on a spacious area. Decorated tastefully in classic and modern motif; the floral designs and fancy chandeliers compliment nicely with its grainy wooden floors and blank white walls.

Squeezing in one more church into our Iloilo side trip proved fatal.

The blue hour greeted us as we alighted at the sleepy town of Guimbal in Iloilo to shoot another of the province’s iconic stone edifice, the 400-year old San Nicholas of Tolentino Church. The church however was closed, due probably to the relative lateness of the hour. It was almost seven in the evening and the streets were almost deserted and the shops almost ready to close. I guess the practice of going to bed early in small towns still hold true at Guimbal.

We contented ourselves in shooting the church façade. Guimbal Church’s yellow-tinted stone walls perfectly contrasted with the electric hues of the early evening. And as I was contemplating on shooting the cemetery right beside the church, the rain fell.

Dumaguete City usually is the jump-off point for Siquijor, Apo Island and Bais City. But the city has also its own little secrets that can be explored in a day or two. Here’s a run-down of the places we visited in the City of Gentle People.

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I T I N E R A R Y

Day One
Arrive from Siquijor (Click for the Siquijor Itinerary)
Lunch at Cafe Antonio
Walking Tour of Silliman University
Overnight at Hotel Nicanor

Day Two
Morning Walk at Rizal Boulevard
Breakfast at Qyosko
A Visit to Dumaguete Cathedral and Belfry
Lunch at Sans Rival Cakes and Pastries

T O T A L   E X P E N S E S: Php 2,756.08 or Php 1,378.04 Per Person (2Pax)

Transportation: Php 913.08

Php 8.50 x 2pax - Port to Hotel Nicanor via Tricycle
Php 8.50 x 2pax - Hotel Nicanor to Qyosko via Tricycle
Php 8.50 x 2pax - Cathedral to Hotel Nicanor via Tricycle
Php 120.00 - Hotel Nicanor to Airport via Tricycle
Php 30.00 x 2pax - Airport Terminal Fee
Php 341.04 x 2pax - Dumaguete to Manila via Cebu Pacific Promo Fare

Tour: Php 0.00

Php 0.00 - DIY Tour of the City

Accommodations: Php 1,050.00

Php 1,050.00 x 1 Night - Hotel Nicanor Standard Matrimonial Room (Good for 2pax)

Food: Php 793.00

Php 127.00 x 2pax - Day 1 Lunch at Cafe Antonio
Php 70.00 x 2pax - Day 1 Dinner at Hot Lugaw + Shakey’s Mojos
Php 80.00 x 2pax - Day 2 Breakfast at Qyosko
Php 119.50 x 2pax - Day 2 Lunch at Sans Rival    

Additional Places to Visit:
Sidlakang Negros Showroom
Quezon Park

“You’re going off to Dumaguete? Don’t forget to try their sans rival and bring home some silvanas too!” That seems to be the tag line for someone off to see the Land of the Gentle People and we’re not exempted. I’m really not a lover of sweets but the fervor for this certain Sans Rival in Dumaguete was such that I was wont to try it, well, at least just once.

Opened in 1977 by Trinidad Teves Sagarbarria, Sans Rival has always been one of the most popular places to eat out in Dumaguete City. I cannot get past a forum discussing the city without its name getting mentioned.

The small pastry shop is located on a quiet niche in the city, away from where most of the restaurants are located. Its façade is pretty unassuming; azure colored walls, dark windows, an awning with their name and that’s it.

The city of Dumaguete has its own share of historic structures and one of these is the St. Catherine of Alexandria Church or more popularly known as the Dumaguete Cathedral.

Located far on the church’s left side is its old bell tower, the Campanario de Dumaguete, one of the four watchtowers that once dotted the city. It was once used as a warning device against marauding Moro invaders in the 1700’s. The circular tower is made of coral stones with a pentagonal bell house topped with a red dome.

A Pieta sculpture along with a grotto dedicated to the Our Lady or Lourdes can also be found on its base.

We got lost in Dumaguete looking for an oddly named food place. Qyosko which I gather is a play on the word kiosk is not the easiest thing to ask a tricycle driver to locate and we got dropped twice on the wrong restaurant. I guess third try’s a charm and we finally found the 24-hour diner tucked in one of the less busier part of the city.

There weren’t much people eating inside as we entered its yellow portal. We secured a colorful table near the entrance and proceeded towards the counter for our orders. This place is more of an eatery than a fancy restaurant so customers are expected to pay as they go.