The Magical Siquijor

Ola! Como estas? Haha. Happy Holidays by the way! 🎄🎄🎄 

Today, I am finally sharing the continuation of my Dumaguete-Siquijor blog. If you haven't seen my Dumaguete blog yet, just click here.

For our 2nd day in Dumaguete, we decided/I insisted that we take a sidetrip in Siquijor. I've been meaning to go there since I was in college and it took me almost a decade before I saw its beauty with my own eyes. Hihi.

That morning that we're heading to Siquijor, I decided to take some pictures of where we're staying at. I love the cozy vibes of the place. And I love how it isn't crowded like the big hotels. 😬

Taking you to a mini tour now!

Their common area.

Their cute table center pieces. 😍

Grilling area.

Chillax area. LOL. Imbento ko lang. Hehe.

Then minutes later, we were ready to be dropped off in Port Lo-oc where we'll be riding the Ocean Jet that will take us to Siquijor. How exciting!

We were dropped off by one of the staff of Sunshine Villa, Kuya Tata in the port. Sadly, it wasn't for free. We paid 350.00 for it and it only took us 15 minutes getting to the port. LOL. But it wasn't bad after all, it was convenient, though my only comment was - the van that we used was pretty old already. Hehehe.

Moving on, we bought our tickets outside the port. Ang weird nga eh, I don't understand why it has to be outside the port because it was about 600-800 meters away from the port's gate. 🤦🏽‍♀️

Anyways, here's the daily schedule of Ocean Jet that will take you from Dumaguete to Siquijor and vise versa.

Tadaaa! Here's our ticket! 😬

And here's the ship that will be riding on.

Welcome aboard! Hihi. It's kinda old but I cannot stress more on how cold their aircon is. Plus one for Ocean Jet for that inspite of their old ship! Hehe.

By the way, you have to check-in first before finally boarding the ship. It's not like buying your tickets then riding the ship  It's check-in first before riding the ship.

40 minutes after, WELCOME TO SIQUIJOR! 😬😬😬

Taray ng pa-welcome! Colored talaga and I love the background! 💯

OMG! Thank you so much, Lord for letting me tick another place from my bucket list. Hihi. 💚💚💚

Beside the Welcome To Siquijor is this beautiful old church of Saint Francis of Assisi. 😇

Of course, it's time to say thank you and pray to Our Creator. 😬

Mandatory solo picture here! Of course, of course! 😬

Then back to our tour! Our 2nd stop was in Paliton Beach a.k.a the "Boracay" of Siquijor according to our tour guide.

Damn! It's so beautiful, right?!

😍😍😍

While here, don't miss the chance to have a picture in the slanted coconut tree below. Climb at your own risk! Hehe. Just kidding! Two guys will actually help you climb it by holding onto the 2 long bamboo trunks they're holding. It's to keep you balanced while climbing/walking. Ok, that's a secret ha! So ssshhh. LOL.

Don, the brave soul who went for it! Hehe.

Too bad that we only had a few minutes here in Paliton Beach, so let's hop on to our next destination now - Balete Tree.

Before showing you the century old Balete tree of Siquijor. Let's take a moment and check this Love Potion from Siquijor that is for sale! Hehe. Siquijor is well-known for its mysteries and seeing this is actually normal to them, I guess?

Moving on, here's the Balete Tree from Siquijor. Compared to the Balete Tree in Baler, this one's pretty smaller. The best part here though is the fish spa that you can avail. 😬 By the way, we paid P10.00 each for the entrance here.

Don and my sister trying the fish spa. And it's tickling them to the max! LOL.

After they tried the fish spa, we bought some souvenirs from the stores there. In all fairness, they sell souvenirs in affordable prices. 👌🏽 Love ittt!

Then before we went to our next destination, I took some of these photos:

I bought that white one by the way. 😬

Our next destination is shortly know as "Witch". 

DISCLAIMER: It's not an encounter with a real-life witch. Rather, it's an experience doing a witch broomstick challenge. LOL. The place is called "Hapitanan Broomstick Challenge".

The challenge was very simple - just have a photo taken riding a broomstick. In my mind, "Sht! Quidditch ang datingan nito. Lakas maka-Harry Potter! Haha."

It was exciting yet scary at the same time because you have to do it in a platform/mini stage like. And you'll either fall on soil or in the wooden floor. So again, do it at your own risk. *wink*

There's no payment here but as a courtesy, let's please give a tip for the guys who are maintaining this place. They have a tip box by the way. 😬

Some more potions, folks!

This was just a random multicab outside Hapitanan which is a headturner. Hehe.

Our next stop then was at San Isidro Labrador Church. And too bad that it was under construction when we went there. ☹️

This is the convent across the church.

And here's the actual church.

Since the church is under construction, we just peeped into it and decided to head to our next destination - Cambugahay Falls.

Ito na yata yung pinaka-matinong signage doon, guys. Anyways..

Here are some t-shirt souvenirs that you can avail as you go down to the falls.

OMG! This is ittt!
Panira lang yung mga nasa gitna. Juice ko. Napakatagal nila nagpipicture diyan. Jirits!

😍😍😍😍😍

Main goal here: to do the Tarzan jump. LOL. Thank goodness that I had the courage to do it! Hihi. Another tick in my bucket list! Heeha! 😬

Then before leaving the place, here's a picture of us. Hehe. 😬

Hindi ko lang makalimutan na senglot (lasing) yung nag-tour sa amin dito. Kahawig pa naman nya si Gab ng Urbandub. Lasing version lang, LOL. But mabait naman siya, sobrang amoy alak lang. Kaya pa-sway sway na siya eh. Trololol.

After Cambugahay Falls, we went to Siquijor's version of man-made forest. And man, it was beautiful just like Bohol's. But in my opinion, Bohol's still the best one for me. Hehe.

I forgot to get the copy of our photos here from my mom's phone. That's why I'm only sharing one picture, sorryyy.. ✌🏼

Then finally! We decided to fill our tummies with lunch. For our lunch place that day, we had just let our tour guide decide where to bring us. He's very kind that's why we entrusted him with that. In fairness, though he brought us to a place in a pretty hidden area (hehe), the dishes are thumbs up! 👍🏼 Our tour guide seemed to know everyone in the place and maybe that's why he brought us here. Hehe.

Kuya Nice.

Inside.

Outside the place.

And the only food that I was able to take a picture of - Adobong Pusit! Sa gutom! Haha. Masarap ito, guyth! 😬

Here's the name of the restaurant by the way - Sans. Super personalized pa the lalagyan ng bill! Hehe.

And our total bill is... dan dan dananan! P835.00 only for 6 pax. My gahd, can I take this place in Manila?! Nakakaiyak sa mura. Hihi.

And your friendly doggos outside. Hehe.

Our next destination was something that I've never seen before in the internet, kaya medyo may element of surprise talaga getting there.

Without any further ado, welcome to The Secret Garden Beach, folks!

What a beautiful day to be traveling on a Ber month. Huhu. Thank You po, Papa God! 💕

Since this is our 2nd to the last stop, our tour guide had let us enjoy the place. Good thing that there are some activities that we could do here, like: cliff diving and chilling in those floaties that you can see. 

We didn't do cliff diving for the sole reason that: TAKOT. Hahaha. But for personal reasons like mine, I was able to do it in La Union already. So I guess, okay na yun? Hehe.

That's why we just decided to chill in the floaties here. Just scroll down to see how we enjoyed and chilled. Hihi.

Don going for the floating swing. What an experience! Hihi.

This hammock! 💯 

Meanwhile, here's my sister and my mom kayaking. Hehehe.

Then a mandatory photo op for my mudra. 😍 Mas sexy pa sa akin nanay ko. Haha.

Kuya Nice chilling there. Hehehe.

Minutes later, may kung ano na siyang sinisilip dun. May isda daw kasi! LOL. 😅

Then the rest of our photos are just us swimming and posing. Mehehe. 

As for the last photo there, I'm sharing with you this beautiful transparent Kayak. 😍

Next on was buying "Torta" na akala naming lahat ay tortang itlog. Anak ng baka. Hahaha! Yun pala, ito yun: 

"Torta" a.ka. the famous bread in Siquijor.

I remember that this was once featured in Biyahe Ni Drew. And Drew Arellano himself was making a Pan De Coco that time. So, ito pala ang Pan De Coco ng Siquijor:

Here's where you can buy it:

In fairness, it's good and tasty! 👌🏽

On our way to our last stop, the driver stopped us here because he heard how I was in awe seeing these 2 trees na sabi ko, parang sa "Six Feet Under". Hehe. How nice of our driver, right? Hehe.

On our last stop, we visited this Mangrove site where you can walk along a bamboo bridge. In fairness ha, lakas maka-nature. I love it! Though the water is dry.

That's me, silhouette na lang. LOL.

Then before 4PM, we already had to say goodbye to the beautiful Siquijor. Huhu. 😭 It was a short but sweet trip indeed! I won't really hesitate to go back here if money permits me to. Hehe.

Here's our kind tour driver by the way, Jovanne. 😬 You can directly contact him in this number: +63 936 223 1223. 

Just like that, hello again port!

You're truly magical, Siquijor! Glad to meet you in person, finally! 😬

P.S. These postcards are from one of the souvenir shops in Balete Tree.

Then our last itinerary for the day was to buy Sylvannas and have dinner. And as we were walking out of the Dumaguete port, we passed by these Dumaguete tourist spots on the wall. You may zoom in for more details. 😬 

Oh, why hello there, Siliman University! 😬 One of our country's finest universities. Yay! 

Here's Dumaguete City's Bay Walk. ☺️

Just a couple of steps, here we are now in the famous Sans Rival! Alam nyo ba, matagal ko nang gustong pumunta ng Dumaguete dahil dito. Hahaha. 

Then while waiting for our food, I saw this across the street. If you're a Paulinan, you should know what statue we were standing in front of. Hehe.

It's the french SPC sisters/nuns who traveled to Dumaguete City. And they started building the first Saint Paul school in the Philippines ever, in Dumaguete City. 😬

Then back to our dinner place that night - Sans Rival. I love how classy its interiors are! Sulit ang bayad! Even their food are tasty and good! 👌🏽

My phone's battery was already dead when we were having dinner. That's why I apologize again if I can't show you the pictures of the food and our expenses here. Hehe. Here's their menu na lang which I found in Zomato.

And time's up! I'm leaving you now with these pictures as we end our day 2 in Dumaguete City. It was their Buglasan Festival Week by the way when we arrived in Dumaguete. That's why it was pretty traffic and crowded during the time we were there. Nothing to worry about, living like a local ang peg! Hehe.

DAY 2 EXPENSES:

60.00 - van going to the port (1 pax)

250.00 - Ocean Jet (going to Siquijor for 1 pax)

560.00 - tour van in Siquijor (for 1 pax)

10.00 - entrance fee in Balete

20.00 - unlimited Tarzan jump

167.00 - lunch (1 pax)

30.00 - tip to our tour guide (for 1 pax)

200.00 - bamboo floaties only per head (it's 450.00 per head including the flamingo floaties & kayak)

20.00 - entrance fee in Mangrove

250.00 - Ocean Jet (going to Dumaguete for 1 pax)

TOTAL: 1,567.00

MY OWN EXPENSE:

120.00 - 4 ref magnets

200.00 - 2 dream catchers

100.00 - 3 postcards

200.00 - tip to our tour driver (my own expense)

TOTAL: 620.00

So, that's all folks! Thank you for reading this long blog post of mine. See you on my next one and happy new year!

Love lots,

Dona