search...

Google

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Dumaguete = Charm + ‘Catastrophe’

Holy week 2005 was spent in dumaguete – at least the earlier part of the holy week…
~ again, with buds: chie, seth, and reg, we set off to an unfamiliar place: Dumaguete City

we booked this trip a while back… setting us off around P7,727 for the whole 4-day stay in this resort called: ANTULANG BEACH RESORT

it’s actually a nice place… the pix will prove it! But its really super FAR! An hour from Dumaguete City --- that far!

Anyway, we arrived at this sleepy town super early since our flight from Manila left at like 6am… wow… talk about excited :P hehehe…

So the roadtrip to the resort wasn’t the best but the resort was a relief once in sight… our cottage/cabin was cozy:



We re-arranged the furniture to make it work for us… hehehehe

So our first day was spent around the resort, checking out where the beach is… amidst the spiral of stairs, rock formations, vegetation… hahahaha! The waves were crashing by the shore and the cliff like crazee… scary… but calming too… had our lunch in the resto and plopped back to our beds right after to rest and relax…


After getting a few snoozies… we pulled ourselves up to dress up and head for the pools… it wuz cool and warm at the same time… juz right to plunge to after a hot hot day! View was beautiful… the water was calm… the sound of the waves was the cherry on top…


Had a light dinner after the photo shoot :P and then headed back to garden view room D3 as we had to get ready for a long and eventful day 2…

We were up bright and early for our second day… we were scheduled for:

>> dolphin watching at BAIS

>> lunch at the SANDBAR

We met our new buds: Mike Chan, Carol, Lori, Justine, Leslie, Geline & Dominic first thing in the morning as we were picked up by DUMAGUETE OUTDOORS at SCOOBY’S Siliman. They were a fun bunch – friends from High School(?) who all love to twavel! (like us!) we headed off to the port and then we were off to hunt for the famous dolphins…

after awhile, our spotters found what they were looking for --- dolphins!!! We were not the only boat there… there were maybe 3 more boats around the area… following the dolphins as they jumped, swooped, flipped in and out of the water! It was a magnificent sight… it was how we imagined it and even better… we took tons of pictures… although it was difficult to catch them as they were swift and tricky! Ü

Lunch was spent at the famous ‘SANDBAR’… put them in quotes because the sandbar was underwater when we went there… high tide, you see… but it was pretty, nonetheless! We had no choice but to have lunch in the boat… here’s the food… yumyum!

Then we had a chance to swim in the area… and when we went down to see the edge of the sandbar… whoa! It was as if it was a cliff! Scary!!! Hehehe Ü but really beautiful…


On our way back, Catastrophe #1 struck: Chiechie, upon changing clothes, hurt her leg --- badly. It had a deep sugat! And it was bleeding… it looked so ouchie… with it’s bruises and scratches… ugh!

We were able to get some betadine and cotton at the local pharmacy (they have this in every corner of the city, btw) when we had halohalo after the boat ride… the halohalo was yummy! Had avocado on it too!!! Hehehe! Ü
After that, we went back to Dumaguete City and met up with Reg’s cuzn: Mike Chua… we tried going to some of the shops they have there but it was really a hot day so we decided to head off to Mike’s store: Ruby Enterprises (?)… stayed there for awhile and see how business went… made kwento with him… took notes on his life story, etc… hahahaha! It was a busy day at the store and he said we were goodluck for his shop :P soon enough though, the lights and fans shut down >> brown out! Hwehwe… but it was OUR luck --- coz we were able to drag him out of his store early!
We went to his house… and all of us took short showers! Whew! Whatta relief! Then headed off for dinner at La Caviteña… yumyum!!! Then took a stroll at their very own Baywalk… soon enough, our ride back to the resort was there… then we tried to get some snoozies on the way…

Early our third morning, we got ready for yet another adventure! Went to the Malatapay Pier/Port where we rode a smaller boat to head off to Apo Island – it’s a more remote area, looking more like a small village than anything… we were there for some snorkeling… so we headed off to the ‘back’ of the island, walked down the pebble-y/stone-y shore, and finally snorkeled… the current was a bit heavy… and so swimming from end to end wasn’t a problem… although… staying put in one area was tough… as experienced by fwends: reg&seth
Catastrophe #2: Lizeth got pushed to the edge of the beach while snorkeling --- the area where rocks were huge, rough, and sharp… she got bruises all over her arms and legs… and scratches too that bled like crazee… reg was there to help her out and they were able to get some meds and cotton at a nearby house…
Because of this, and the heat of the scorching sun, our snorkeling was over earlier than expected… we headed back to the ‘front’ of the island, where we nursed seth’s sugats, had yumyum lunch, and took advantage of the scenery…

our crazee pix:


Marlon, our guide took us to the Apo Island Resort, just by the side of where our hut wuz… through a tiny walkway, we were amazed at how beautiful the place was… the famous shots of Apo Island were taken here… although… I wouldn’t wanna stay there, really… they don’t have electricity… just a generator to work up the lights… no a/c! ugh! I’d die!!! So anyway, took these marvelous pix…


And while we were getting some shade from the sun… waiting for reg to finish taking the best scene shots, then came Catastrophe #3: reg walks over to us as we were laughing over something (can’t remember what about :P), and she blurts out: “nadapa ako…” and sympathy overpowered us… “ha? Anong nangyari? Nasugat ka? Ok ka lang?" and then with a smirk, she replied: “nahulog ko yung camera…”
Let me leave my story there… it was sad… really sad…
So the ride back home was quiet… can’t really have mucho laughs with these catastrophes… but really, the experiences in Apo were great… different… fun!

Once back at antulang, I wanted to take probably my last dip at the pool… but not one of my 3 fwends were up for it… 2 were injured physically, and the other, reg, was in pain in a different way… so we just rested, told stories, ate our baons(shhhh… bawal to bring food in the resort, hehehe)… and caught some Zzzs…

Our final day was spent around the resort, taking photos… here they are:


Another one of my travelogues…
Thank you Lord Ü


Next up… Lids back to Bora!!!

No comments: