Annoying Bilmokos

Bilmoko is short for the Tagalog phrase “Bili mo ko” which means buy me this. There are just people on this planet who liked to maneuver their way to other people in the off chance of getting some freebies.

I had an interesting interaction with one today.  I was looking at the biscuits and cookies trying to decide on which one I am going to buy when Girlie, weighing 140 pounds with a height of 157 cm, came to me with mouth still full of food and said…

Nyahaha. I am still undecided if I should laugh or get angry at Girlie.

And oh yeah, we have a friend who is now working in Singapore and is coming home for a vacation in Philippines soon and people are expecting FREE lunch/dinner from our OFW friend. Poor OFWs!

Rizal Boulevard and Kamalig

Afternoon in Dumaguete is best spent strolling along Rizal Boulevard. I love this place so much that I thought, hmmm.. I could retire here. Could die here even. Cebu City in my opinion could need a clean promenade facing the Mactan channel with a park loaded with big trees and restaurants nearby. I once saw a huge billboard in the old bridge advertising Mayor Radaza’s grand plans of such promenade BEFORE the election but as what Bisayan would call it, “Char Char ra!” (Just Bullshit).

Anyway, one downside about Rizal Boulevard is that men tend to just stand at the side of the promenade, face the sea and PEE! That’s just gross.

After our walk, its dinnertime and for our last night in Dumaguete, we dined at Kamalig which is just a walking distance from Harold’s Mansion. I was craving for fish but Bangus (milkfish), Philippine’s National fish was just too big for me that I asked to share it with one of the girls and we split the cost of the fish of course. I also have acquired a new favorite dish when I ordered Itlog na maalat (Salted Egg) and this is served with tomatoes and onions.  I find it appetizingly delicious that I was able to finish all of my rice.

All in all, my dinner at Kamalig cost me 45 pesos on Salted egg, 49 pesos on half-priced Bangus, 50 pesos on mango shake and 20 pesos on plain rice for a grand total of 164 pesos.  A bit expensive for my normal budget but well, I’m on a holiday and I could afford it.

Free Stool in Apo Island

I kept hearing about how beautiful Apo Island is from many couchsurfer people I’ve met that I’ve included it in our itinerary. It is said to be one of the best diving sites in the whole world but for non-divers like us, I don’t find anything special about this place at all.  Maybe because I haven’t gotten over the travel expenses still just to get to this island.

How to Get to Apo Island from Harold’s Mansion?

1. Ride a tricycle and tell the driver that you are heading for Apo Island and that he should take you to where the jeepney terminal bound for Malatapay Market in Zamboanguita is located. Tricycle fare is 9 pesos I think.

2. At the jeepney terminal, tell the jeepney driver that you are heading for Apo Island and to drop you off to where you can ride a boat to Apo Island in Malatapay Market. Jeepney Fare is 20 pesos.

3. The current price for the round trip boat is 2000 pesos with maximum capacity of 4 people and 3000 pesos for a maximum capacity of 8 people. I tried to haggle for the 2000-pesos boat and insisted that we are VERYYY slim and sexy girls too (nyahaha) but they are very serious about “safety” so we got stuck with the expensive boat.

Malatapay Market was closed. We had to walk a bit to get to the seashore

Our boat. I love the seashores here. They are blackish and sparkles when it meets the sea

Upon reaching Apo Island, we had to pay for an entrance fee – 25 pesos for Dumaguete people and 100 pesos for non-Dumaguete people. We insisted that we are from Dumaguete so we got away with 25 pesos charge only. Yippee.

We saw something weird floating in the sea and I tried to come a bit closer so I could take a picture of it. I wasn’t sure if it’s a TAE (stool) or not so I showed the picture to my brother and asked for his opinion. He said that I should have touched it so that I will know for sure. Nyahaha.

What do you think ladies and gentlemen? Is this TAE or NOT???

Other than this gruesome sight, we enjoyed frolicking around the rocky seashore of Apo Island Beach Resort.

Hayahay TreeHouse Bar and ViewDeck

It’s sort of a culture among Filipinos to share a bit of your good fortune so when my SSS salary loan checked arrived, I thought to donate 500 pesos for a dinner in Dumaguete and we’ve decided to spend it on Hayahay TreeHouse Bar and ViewDeck. I find this culture a bit stupid because sometimes people tend to expect it and if you’ve decided not to share anything because you needed the money badly, don’t be surprised to hear snide remarks behind your back.

So, Hayahay restaurant is just along the promenade but in the opposite side of Rizal Boulevard and I am happy to recommend this place because I love their foods and the prices were just acceptable even for someone as cheap as me.

 Hayahay TreeHouse Bar and ViewDeck

Happy and Satisfied Diners

 Baked Talaba at 145 pesos

 Sizzling Sisig at 125 pesos

 Adobong KangKong  with Squids for only 95 pesos

 Sinigang Lapu-Lapu at 80 pesos / 100 grams

 Dumaguete Express- fish, shrimp, squid sauteed with young coconut meat, topped with crispy lechon kawali for only 175 pesos

 Our total bill minus 500 pesos donation and then divided by 6.

Casaroro Falls After Typhoon Sendong

Dumaguete is known to be the City of Gentle People so I didn’t really prepare any detailed itinerary. My plan was to ask away and it works well for us on this trip.

How to Get to Casaroro Falls from Harold’s Mansion:

1. Take a tricycle to terminal for Valencia. Minimum fare of tricycle in Dumaguete is 9 pesos which is 2 pesos more expensive for the tricycle rate in Cebu City.

2. At Terminal for Valencia destination, one can take a bus or a jeepney. We chose the jeepney which cost us 12 pesos each.

3. At Valencia jeepney stop, There’s a signboard for the fix rate of habal-habal per destination. Going to Casaroro Falls would cost 100 pesos per person for one way but if there are 2 passengers per Habal-Habal then we only have to pay 50 pesos each for one way. Habal-Habal is like a motorbike taxi.

Although we have availed of the free breakfast at Harold’s, the girls were longing for rice first and one of the motorbike drivers was kind enough to show us Estrella’s Food House which is just a walking distance from the jeepney stop in Valencia. This eatery is where most of the government workers of Valencia dine so not only the place was clean and delicious but cheap too. My lunch cost me only 50 pesos (about 0.9 Euro) which consist of rice, ampalaya (a kind of vegetable), a bottle of water and banana.

After our second breakfast, we were then ready to head for Casaroro Falls. The road to casaroro falls are not paved all the way so we had to get off the motorbike sometimes and walk while the motorbike driver will go on ahead to wait for us. At the entrance of Casaroro Falls, there’s supposed to be a 20 pesos entrance fee but nobody was around so we saved 20 pesos. Yippee!

The motorbike drivers warned us of the 374 steps down to the ravine but the girls liked to joke that this is a lie because it didn’t count the hundred steps/climb over huge rocks. You see, it used to be easy peasy to get to the falls with the help of concrete path and steel hanging bridge but after Typhoon Sendong on December 2011, these were all destroyed.

Some girls wanted to cancel the trip after seeing the big rocks looming ahead but our motorbike drivers, who came down the ravine to guide us, urged us to push through and I’m happy that we did because it felt good to conquer the rocks and be rewarded by this beauty below…