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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During my first trip to Siquijor, I’ve wanted to visit a Guiwanon mangrove park after reading about it from Ironwulf’s blog. Back then, I haven’t been to the Kalibo Mangrove Eco-Park, which was probably one of the most extensive of this type of parks, so I was really interested to go—wooden planks elevated several feet from the ground, gnarly trees and all. It was just unfortunate that we were unable to check it out due to time constraints.

A PROFUSION OF BRANCHES AND LEAVES

After four years of traveling around the country and outside of it, I’ve finally seen my share of mangrove parks, but still, I was still longing to see Siquijor’s own mangrove forest, a place that has long piqued my curiosity. And so on this recent trip, during our last few hours on the island, our guide at last delivered us to the gates of Guiwanon Spring Park.

We were at the town of Enrique Villanueva, it was almost evening and we still didn’t have a place to stay. San Juan, with its famous Tubod Beach, may be the most popular beach town in Siquijor but we wanted to explore the province’s other locales. Enrique Villanueva fitted the bill, we wanted a quiet place where we could have the beach all to ourselves, plus we were told that there’s a marine sanctuary near the area. We were sold, but first, we needed to find an affordable lodging.

SEASIDE GARDEN RESORT & COTTAGES FAN ROOM IN CAMOGAO, SIQUIJOR

The sun had finally set when we settled for the Seaside Garden Resort & Cottages. Located at Barangay Camogao, it offers a couple of rooms clad in sawali—the walls are made of concrete though, so there’s no problem with privacy. We’ve initially talked with the owner of the place, but passed off since we found their price a bit too high. Well, PHP800.00 per night for a fan room isn’t really expensive, but we’re cheapskates like that, lol. We eventually gave in, finding no other suitable place to bed in for the night.

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We were at the tail-end of our whole-day Siquijor island tour. From the Beach Port of Siquijor, to Lugnason Falls, the famous Siquijor balete tree, Cambugahay Falls, Kagusuan Beach, and finally, Salagdoong Beach; we’ve been to places we’ve visited before and to new ones. And there’s definitely nothing more rewarding after such a journey than a relaxing coffee break (or beer, perhaps?) right by the beach as the sun sets far off into the horizon.

THE OLDEST HOUSE IN SIQUIJOR LOOKS READY TO FALL DOWN

Those thoughts were running on our mind as Dennis, our guide, revved his tricycle along the empty highways of Enrique Villanueva. After passing through the now crumbling Cang-isok House, the oldest of its kind in Siquijor, we asked him to slow down a bit, we knew exactly where to end our Siquijoran adventure.

He counted; one, two, jump! On his back, he flew thirty five feet into the air, arms outstretched, his shout trailing behind as his long hair whipped about. The air swooshed against his scraggly beard and at the last moment, he turned, diving perfectly into the aquamarine waters below, plunging deep. And with a gasp of air, he reemerged, with a triumphant laugh.

Watching from the concrete platform from the cliff area of Salagdoong Beach, I wished mightily that I could jump too. My mind was sure I can do it, but my body resisted, my hand still painfully swollen after a minor accident at Cambugahay Falls.

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“Can you show us a different beach this time around?” I asked our Siquijor guide, Dennis, as our tricycle sped through the deserted highway loop around the island. We’ve been to a few of the famous beaches around Siquijor; Tubod Beach and Salagdoong Beach, particularly, but we knew this island still has a few more sandy secrets right up its mystical sleeve.

THE UNENDING TREE TUNNEL TO KAGUSUAN BEACH

From the highway circumnavigating Siquijor, we turned a bend from Barangay Minalulan in the town of Maria and crossed over to barangay Lilo-An. The road was narrow, set on both sides by lush trees bending right at the top, forming a sort of leafy cathedral ceiling for us. It might be the desertedness of the path but it seemed the road wasn't going to end.

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Down some hundred steps from Lazi’s main road is a scenery as magical as Siquijor’s mystical reputation. The afternoon was steadily progressing on as we made our slow way down on stone steps leading to Siquijor’s famous three-tiered Cambugahay Falls. The treads were evenly made with natural stones, probably procured from the river that feeds the waterfall. The falls cascade all the way from a small rainforest above the mountains, some freshwater springs, and watersheds.

UNEVEN STONE STEPS TO CAMBUGAHAY FALLS

A hint of light green waters, reminiscent of Palawan’s famed Kayangan Lake, springs into view in between the foliage as we made our ever downwards progress. And in less than five minutes, we were holding on to our jaws, lest it fall all the way downstream with the green gushing waters of Cambugahay Falls.

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The minutes quickly passed as our tricycle roared off into the humid streets of Siquijor. It was already two in the afternoon, and again, we disembarked and found ourselves staring right into a gnarly body of a huge centuries old Balete tree growing at the end of a shallow swimming pool.

VINES STRAGGLING DOWN THE SIQUIJOR BALETE TREE

The tree is said to be around 400 to 500 years old, depending on who you ask, and is definitely the biggest of its kind on the island. Balete or banyan trees are usually parasitic in nature, creeping up on unsuspecting healthy trees and wrapping itself around it until the host finally dies. This leaves a hollow core in the middle where one can enter if it becomes big enough.

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I wasn’t really aware that Siquijor has more than one waterfalls gushing down along the island. There’s the famous three-tiered Cambugahay Falls at the town of Lazi, and then there’s Lugnason Falls; a lesser known attraction located at Barangay Napo in San Juan.

LUGNASON FALLS DETAIL

There are a couple of reasons why this particular waterfall is relatively unknown to tourists visiting Siquijor. First, I heard it closed down sometime ago due to its spring source drying up; we’ve been told by our guide that it has only been recently reopened.

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I’ve always been mesmerized by the beach at the Siquijor port. The first time I visited this island province, the shallow translucent waters on both sides of the concrete causeway was the first thing that struck me as we disembarked from the ferry we boarded from Dumaguete City. This second visit, it was absolutely the same; the waters of Siquijor pier was so inviting that we decided to stay for a night and see if the beach in the area is any good at all.

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CAN YOU IMAGINE A PIER LIKE THIS?

The first thing we looked for was a place to sleep in. Camping out on a tent is possible, but was not a choice for us since, well, we didn’t bring no tent with us. After passing through the port gates, it was easy enough to ask around for lodgings. We were told there were a few inns in the area, although definitely not luxury resort types.

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