Gentle leviathan. Punto editor Bong Lacson swims with whale sharks in Oslob, Cebu. Read more on page 3.
Contributed photo
A DESTINATION. Known far and wide as the city Silliman University built, Dumaguete has more, much more than the iconic bastion of education established in 1901 by American colonials.
It’s Rizal Boulevard by the sea, with its antiquated lampposts, tiled pedestrian paths, and weather-beaten acacia trees that sway to the gentle sea breeze, is already destination unto itself.
Add the hotels, restaurants, music joints that line its other side, and you have one irresistible lure to the tourists’ peso, dollar, won, yen and euro. And then, some more: tempurahan – grilling and frying right on the boulevard put up every night for the greatest gustatory delights!
Dessert destination is Dumaguete too with its oh-so-divine sans rival and silvanas. Though outside the territorial jurisdiction of the city, the Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park in Sibulan town makes an integral part of a Dumaguete tour, situated as it is but six kilometres or so from the city.
The lush, lush greenery where emanates a symphony of cicadas and birds, and some such other local fauna, gives way to the cool calm waters of the lake – serenity that refreshes the very soul.
Ah, how the spirit soars beholding the belfry – built in 1811 – by the side of St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral, seat of the Diocese of Dumaguete, a remnant of a glorious past, a testament to a living faith, amid the currents of modernization that the city has not been spared from.
Yet, despite all the conveniences of the dot.com times and the i-pad age, the small-town, leisurely pace of life in the city has remained. This is one more reason to stay a little longer, and wish it be forever, in Dumaguete.
A gateway. From the Sibulan port, it takes only 15 minutes by fastcraft to Santander, Cebu and another 20 minutes by car to Oslob town which is fast giving Donsol in far-away Sorsogon a run for its butandings or whale sharks.
What an encounter, what an experience – beyond words, it could only be felt, savoured, lived up, internalized by being there, in the waters with the gentle leviathans.
Dumaguete too makes the perfect staging point to Bais City for dolphin watching and the Manjuyod sandbar, Apo Island Marine Sanctuary in Dauin, Negros Oriental and of course, bewitching Siquijor.
Ah, that will have to wait until the next journey. As my favourite travel quote cautions: “Don’t overdo it the first time, or there’s nothing to look forward to the second time around.
So for now, it’s all Dumaguete — from our weekend nest that is “Hacienda Remollo” – our term of endearment to the beautiful manse of Atty. Felipe Antonio Remollo, former mayor of the city, former president-CEO of Clark Development Corp. and current president of PGA Cars, read: Bentley, Porsche and Audi.
As much to his former constituency as to the Pampanga media, Ipe has remained one true friend.
