The beautiful streets of Siquijor

We spent the morning in Siquijor, taking pictures and messing around the billiards and gym rooms of Dondeezco. We almost lost our tripod bag that morning, but managed to find it in time before we get into the van headed to Siquijor pier.  Transport to pier is free courtesy of Dondeezco.

We travelled back to Dumaguete on board Delta Fast Ferries leaving at 12:30pm. We bought the tickets the day before so as not to risk our schedule and itinerary. When we docked at Dumaguete pier, we asked our tricycle driver for an affordable hotel. He took us to grand Pensionne plaza, where we booked a family room(good for 3) and added an extra bed, all for P1100. Since Dumaguete’s fried ice cream is one of the reasons why we choose to travel Dumaguete-Dipolog, we immediately looked for the ice cream bar. The receptionist told us that it was near our hotel and provided some directions.

Outside the hotel, we asked around again and were surprised that the locals didn’t know where it was located. We managed to find Panda Ice Cream Haus located on Ma. Cristina Street, Dumaguete City. We ate their infamous fried ice cream after our lunch at Scooby’s. After our sumptuous dessert, we thought that it’s time to tour Dumaguete.

First, we took a tricycle to the jeeps headed for Valencia. Although the jeep’s huge, it was cramped because about 6-8 people were required to sit in the middle of the jeep. They use small stools for the unlucky people who would sit there. The jeeps were scarce so it was normal to overload their jeepneys.

We took the jeep and hopped off at Valencia. The locals told us that the last jeepney trip was at 6pm (woah, that’s too early!). Amidst the chaos of haggling with the tricycle drivers, we managed to get a trike to Forest camp. Since it was already late (around 4pm), and the Casaroro falls was a long ride according to the drivers, we opted not to go there.

There’s not much to do in Forest Camp, unless you’d like to swim in the raging, rocky, river-like pool, where the water was taken from a nearby falls. I’m not sure where the source of the water really was.  We took a few pictures then head back to the plaza where the Spanish fountain was located.

We were amazed at the Dumaguete plazas we saw. For each plaza, there was always a Rizal monument as well as soccer and tennis fields. We never thought that Dumaguete is a sports-enthusiast province. We were also amazed when there was a sudden church-bells ringing in the air. The locals in the area suddenly stopped whatever they’re doing as a sign of respect to their church. I haven’t seen that kind of devotion in years.

Town plaza

We were unable to get the last jeepney trip back to Dumaguete City, so we were forced to hire a trike to get back. The driver asked if he could take more passengers. In the end, our trike had 7 passengers, the driver was 8th. Imagine how 7 passengers managed to squeeze-in in the trike.hehe

We asked the driver to drop us in the baywalk. We wanted to try the food sold there. However, we were a bit disappointed when we saw that the food available is something that looks like squid, coated in flour. We thought there were inasals or barbecues sold just like in Dipolog.

Afterwards, we walked to Sans Rival and bought some cakes for desserts. Then while looking for a good place for dinner, we saw la Cavitena’s Barkada package sign (for just P472). The food was great and affordable. The Barkada package consists of grilled squids, shrimps and pork. We decided to eat there again if there’s a chance. Dumaguete is a really good place for food-tripping.

Here is our expense breakdown for the day:

Our super fun trip to Davao

Here is the general information on our actual itinerary going to Davao last June 2008, featuring the best tourist spots in Davao. We’re currently on the process of finding the actual itinerary, haha. We’ll update this post with the total breakdown of expenses, once we get all the info.

Going to Davao

Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines has regular flights going to Davao. Fares ranges from P1500 to P3000 (One-way, non-promo flights).

Check out our Travel Promos category for the latest promo fare from Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines.

General Information of this Itinerary

Duration: 4 Days 3 nights (4D 3N)

Number of people in the tour: 4 pax

Pocket money: P6000.00 (including pasalubong, hotels)

Reservation in White Water Rafting : P2000.00

Fare of flight per person: P4385.00

Total cost per person: P12,385

Davao Itinerary

(Click on each Location, for the detailed description)

Day 1:
- Arrive at Davao Airport
-Tour

Eden Park Davao
Eden park is actually a nature park that’s situated on a hill in Davao city. We were actually told that this is the foot of Mount Apo[...]

Jack’s Ridge
Jack’s Ridge is located in Shrine Hills, Matina, Davao city, about 30 minutes away from the town proper. It is near the Shrine hills’ station of the cross and church.[...]

Japanese Tunnel
Japanese Tunnel was said to be the Japanese’s hide out in Davao during the World War II. It has now been commercialized[...]

Philippine Eagle Sanctuary
Part of our first day tour at Davao is the Philippine Eagle Sanctuary. This is where our famous national bird is, (previously the Maya bird, naks[...]

Day 2:
-Tour

Bat Cave
Samal’s Bat Cave also-known-as Monfort Bat cave, is home to almost 2000 fruit bats. It is said to be the largest colony of fruit b[...]

Hagimit Falls
There is a gate at the entrance to Hagimit falls, where an entrance of P30 is required. From the gate, you have to walk to [...]

White House Davao
When we hear the word ‘white’ and then ‘house’ something creepy always comes to mind. And Samal Island’s White House[...]

Paradise Resort
While preparing for our trip in Davao. Catnap and I saw a frisbee while looking for goggles I think. We[...]

Day 3:
-Tour

ZipLine at Camp Sabros
A zip-line (also known as a flying fox, zip wire, aerial runway, death slide or tyrolean crossing) consists of a pulley [...]

Day 4:
-Tour

Wild Water Rafting
White Water Rafting, was our last activity on our 4 Days, 3 nights tour in Davao. Prior to the trip, we have already reserved with D[...]

Davao Crocodile Park
Davao crocodile park, as the name denotes, is home to a few crocodiles that were caught in the Mindanao area.[...]

Macau Tower

Here is the updated itinerary of me and my boyfriend’s trip to Macau last January 2009. Our arrival date there was January2, a high peak season for touring, so if you want to pattern your itinerary with ours. Do except a much cheaper version if traveling on low-peak season.

All locations are divided in blocks, to determine how far each tourist spot is from each other. We were only able to accomplish about 80% of this itinerary.

Flights and Fare to Macau from Manila

Cebu Pacific and Philippine airlines have regular flights going to Macau from Manila. Price ranges from P7000 to P7500 (one-way, non-promo fare).

Check out our Travel Promos category for the latest promo fare from Cebu Pacific Air and Philippine Airlines.

The Macau Itinerary

Day 1:

- Call time [05:30pm]

- Depart Manila [07:30 pm]

- Arrived at Macau [09:30 pm]

- Tour

Casino Lisboa and other casinos
-walking distance from hotel

Day 2:

- Tour (walking tour)

Block A : from Hotel, took BUS #18 going to A-ma

Macau Maritime Museum
-beside A-ma Temple

A-ma Temple
-free Admission, open daily according to some sites. To be sure, we came there Saturday Morning.
-situated in Barra Hill.

Moorish Baracks
-walking distance from A-ma.
-yellow colored building

Lilau Sqaure
-accross the street from Lilau.

Block B : about 10 min walk from Lilau square

St. Lawrence’s Church
-walking distance from LiLau square
-yellow colored building

St. Joseph’s Seminary and Church
-near Sir Robert ho Tung library
-it was closed for public at the time we went there.

Sir Robert Ho Tung Library
-about 1 block away from Senado Square
-at the back of Dom Pedro V Theater

Church of St. Augustine
-beside of Dom Pedro V theater
-yellow-colored building

Dom Pedro V Theatre
-beside St. Augustine
-teal-colored, low-level building

Block C – About 20 min walk from Dom Pedro V Theater

Largo de Senado/Leal Senado
-Macau’s tourist office located here, can ask for brochures
-white building with green flag on top
-in front of the fountain (the fountain is the center of senado square)

Holy House of Mercy
-beside Leal Senado
-white building, with green embelishment on top…theres a name ‘santa casa de ..’ in the building

St. Dominic’s church
-located in Senado Square
-free admission, from 10am-6pm
-yellow colored
-just a few walks away from the fountain.

Cathedral Square/Cathedral
-coming from St. Dominics, following Leal Senado, there is an alley beside mcDonalds going to Cathedral Square.
-free admission, open on 7:30am-6:30pm
-theres a clock tower at the church.

Lou Kau Mansion
-at the street in front st dominics
-Address: No. 7, Travessa da Sé

Sam Kai Vui Kun Temple
-located in Senado Square
-this one we found at the back of a store in Senado Square. It’s small and ugly, not worth visiting, plus it’s location is really chaotic. There were boxes and stuff blocking the way into the temple.

Block D – walking distance from Senado Square

Ruins of St. Paul
-free admission
-ideal to visit in the morning, its populated the rest of the day.

Na Tcha Temple
-beside Ruins of St Paul.
-free admission, open from 8 am to 5pm

Section of the Old City Walls
-this is just basically a WALL beside Ruins of St Paul and Na Tcha Temple

Block E – walking distance from Ruins of Saint Paul

Mount Fortress
-free admission, opens from 7 am to 7 pm

Macau Museum
-located at the top of Mount Fortress
-Admission fee: 15mop, open on Tuesday to Sunday 10am-6pm

Fortress Corridor
-At the top of mount fortress
-This is where the cannons are located
-No admission fee required

Block F – From Mount Fortress, took a bus going to St Anthony’s church

St. Anthony’s Church
-about 1 block away from camoes garden

Protestant Cemetery
-beside Camoes Garden
-walking distance from St. Anthony.

Camoes Garden
-beside Protestant Cemetery

Casa Garden
-beside Camoes Garden

Block G – The Venetian

The Venetian
-went back to our Hotel, to catch the Hotel service going to the Venetian. Service is free.

Day 3: (Morning only)

- call time [6:30 am]

- Tour:

Macau Tower
-requires bus ride from our hotel
-opens at 9am

Nam Van Lake Cybernetic Fountain

Casinos near Macau Tower

Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre

Macau Fisherman’s Wharf
-We werent able to visit this, as we were catching the ferry going to Hongkong, but we saw this from afar and it looks like it’s worth visiting.
-Located beside Macau Ferry Terminal

- Checkout of Hotel

- Backpack Tour:

Vasco da Gama Monument
-in front of our hotel
-this is just a mini plaza.

Guia fortress
-at the back of our hotel

Guia LightHouse
-located at Guia Hill, no entrance fee

Our Lady of Guia chapel
-located at Guia Hill, no entrance fee, the chapel is converted to a museum

- Get to Macau Ferry Terminal to get to Hongkong.

-END-

Possible Additions to Itinerary

Macau/China border

Total Expenses of Macau Itinerary(3 days, 2 nights in Macau)

• Air Fare : P7574.00
• Hotel : 1,581.00HKD (P11,067.00)
• Pocket Money: about P20T to 25T (2 people)

Hotel Info in Macau: Hotel Royal Macau

• Price : HKD 1,581.00 x 1 Room (2 nights)
• Location : Estrada da Vitoria 2-4 Macau. (Walking distance from casinos, in front of Vasco de Gama, at the back of Guia Hill)
• Room Details
  • Complimentary American buffet breakfast for maximum 2 persons
  • Complimentary use of our indoor heated swimming pool and fitness equipment
  • Complimentary in-room broadband Internet access
  • Complimentary shuttle bus transfer between hotel and Macau Maritime Ferry Terminal
  • Prepayment of 100HKD is required upon check-in in case you use the paid facilities of the room, like the food on the refrigerator. Payment is returned when you check-out.
• website : http://hotelroyal.com.mo

Shops and Souvenir in Macau

• theres a souvenir shop near Ruins of St paul, near the Senate building [NA]
• theres one at Taipa Island called Rua da Cunha or Rua do Cunha. [NA]

FAMOUS SOUVENIRS (Costs between 15-80MOP)

• almond cookies
• Chess cookies
• Fake stuff
• Egg tart
• Seaweed wrapped wafer

FAMOUS SOUVENIR SHOPS

• Koi Kei Bakery, Tsui Heong Yun
  • located around Senado Square, I think Koi Kei is just on a street in front of Ruin’s of St Paul.

Tips and Traps

• Its hard to get taxi’s at Macau. Bus are recommended if commuting
• Fee payed on bus should be exact amount or higher
• Buses are numbered per route at Macau.

Food and Restaurants in Macau

• Restaurants
  • Cafe Tai Lei Loi Kei: Pork Chop Bun
    • served at 3pm hot
  • There’s one near Hotel Royal Macau, I forgot the name, but the food there is cheap, and the folks there can speak a bit of english.

• Food
  • African Chicken (grilled in piri piri peppers)
  • Tacho (a hearty stew of Chinese vegetables and different meats)
  • Galinha Portuguesa (Chicken cooked in the oven together with potatoes, onions, egg and saffron).
  • Minchi (minced beef with fried potatoes, soy, onions and a fried egg),
  • Linguado Macau (Macau sole fried and usually served with green salad)
  • Porco Balichao (Balichao’ pork).
  • Jagra de ovos (sweet egg tart).

CURRENCY CONVERSION- as of Oct 28 ’08 (Estimates)

1 SGD (singapore dollars) = 33 php

1 MOP (Macau Patakas) = 6.50 php

1 HKD (Hong Kong dollars) = 6.50 php

PICTURES OF MACAU:

(Click the picture to view the album)

A copy of Siquijor map at Forest Camp

How to go to Siquijor

Because of our mishap the day before, we were forced to tour Siquijor on day 4. We bought the earliest ferry (Super Shuttle Ferry) scheduled to depart at 5am. Tickets cost 350/pax and the ride was approximately 4 hours. I’d say this was a typical RORO because it has room for land vehicles.

When we arrived in Dumaguete Pier, we bought ferry tickets bound to Siquijor. Delta Fast ferry is fully booked so we settled for a GL Shipping Lines Ferry. We recommend Delta Fast Ferry more because it is faster and safer. When we board the GL shipping lines, we were worried because the ferry looked overbooked. Japanesecake and I asked the coastguards if we were still safe and we wouldn’t capsize. There were hardly any seats for all passengers. Besides, the ride was rough to the point that passengers at the topmost deck were splashed with water. L ended up throwing up and cursed ferries from that day onwards.

Japanesecake and I managed to get information from local passengers so we booked at Dondeezco Beach resort. We hired the first tricycle driver who doesn’t look an aswang to tour us. Just kidding.hehe. The driver was very nice. I forgot his name though.

Tourist Spots in Siquijor

Here are the tourist spots of Siquijor:

• Century-old balete tree
• Cambugahay falls
• St. Isidro labradore Parish church and convent
• Capilay Spring park
• (folk-healing village) – opted not to go here because of distance and time factors
• Cantabon cave – opted not to go here since we’ve been to Libuton cave already

Expenses

Here is our expense breakdown for the day:

Reception area, Dondeezco

Where to stay

Dondeezco resort has a fine, white beach to boot for. Unfortunately, we were unable to try swimming in the beach because of the Habagat. If Dakak’s water was so calm, Siquijor’s was the opposite. The wind was so strong that it was impossible to swim at the shore. The waves were huge and strong enough to capsize a small boat (I suppose).

Dondeezco contact info:

Phone : 035-4809066 / 09224143370

website : http://dondeezco.com.ph/

Siquijor is a diverse island having great tourist spots and fine, white sand beaches. I’ll recommend it to anyone who wanted to relax and have an adventurous day. Besides, as japanesecake described, Siquijor is no place for “aswangs”. Or perhaps we just haven’t met any? :p

More pictures of Siquijor here:

Multi-layered Cambugahay Falls

Last Feb 19-25, 2009, 3 friends and I toured Dapitan, Dipolog, Siquijor and Dumaguete. When we reviewed our total expenses, the total, including the air fare from/to Manila just costs under P10K. To find out how we did these, read on.

Preparation:
After our trip in CDO last October, we immediately planned our next destination. Japanesecake saw Dumaguete in LivingAsia channel and thought that it might be a good place to tour. Since Dipolog is just under Dumaguete, and since Dakak is in Dipolog (we saw the DAKAK commercial played nth times in Eat Bulaga, so that paved way for curiosity about the place), we decided that we can tour Dumaguete and Dipolog using an ARUNK flight. (ARUNK is a travel-industry term short for arrival unknown. Our flight is MNL-DPL and DGT-MNL, but going to DIPOLOG-DUMAGUETE is “unknown”, that’s where the term ARUNK comes in).

When Cebu Pacific 0 fare promo is offered to the public, we immediately decided our travel dates and booked a MNL-DPL and DGT-MNL flight. Our first step of preparation is complete.

Though we only booked hotels during trips, one week before departure, we opted to book for Dakak’s barkada package which is good for 4pax. The cost is only P2800, fair enough I guess. A few days before our tour, we finalized our itinerary. Our initial itinerary was:

Day 1: Dakak
Day 2: Tour Dapitan
Day 3: Tour Dipolog
Day 4: Tour Apo island, Dumaguete
Day 5: Tour Siquijor
Day 6: Tour Dumaguete
Day 7: Tour Dumaguete and head back to MNL

Due to some unexpected little mishaps, we changed our itinerary during the tour. It’s good that our itinerary is flexible enough to be changed abruptly and that we didn’t make any hotel reservations prior to our trip (except for Dakak). Here is our final list of itinerary.

Day 1: Tour Dakak, Dapitan (Dakak andDapitan Itinerary)
Day 2: Tour Dapitan and Dipolog (Dipolog Itinerary)
Day 3: Tour Liboton Cave, Dipolog (Dipolog Itinerary)
Day 4: Tour Siquijor island
Day 5: Tour Dumaguete
Day 6: Tour Apo island, Dumaguete
Day 7: Tour Dumaguete, head back to Manila

Here is the list of expenses per day of our travel. Breakdown of expenses will be shown per day in other posts.

Being able to experience a 7-day trip across 4 destinations for just under P9000 is a feat. Not only did we enjoy the tourist spots of the provinces, but we were able to prove a lot of things. One of them is Siquijor as a paradise, and not as the “aswang-infested” island we were used to hear.