It was a 7-hour long bus ride, and I couldn't seem to feel my butt anymore. Finally, we were in Dumaguete--our first stopover before going to Dipolog.
Dumaguete is the capital of the province of Negros Oriental, and is situated on the southeaster coast of Negros island. It is also a gateway to some other places in Visayas and Mindanao, like Bohol, Leyte and Dapitan. Because of its geography, it has been a favorite among local and foreign divers.
Since we only had three hours before our boat leaves for Dapitan, we did not have much time to go around the city, but we saw some key places like the the Silliman University and the Boulevard. We had lunch at Atong Kamalig, on the famous Boulevard, because that was where the tricycle driver took us after we told him to take us to a good place with good food near the port.
Atong Kamalig serves good Filipino food, and it seems to be popular among the locals based from the many customers who were already there when we arrived around 1 PM. The tricycle driver was right. The place was perfect for lunch. We ordered Sinigang na Isda (I can't remember the name of the fish), chicken inasal, grilled squid, and pork barbecue, sotanghon guisado, and paid around P800-P1000 for a party of four adults and 1 kid.
Just a few meters away from the restaurant is Silliman University, the oldest and the first American university in the Philippines . It was founded in 1901, and is one of the top performing schools in the country. We opted not to go inside the campus because we did not have much time, and we were so tired from the long journey, so we decided to just get our tickets and spend the remaining time at the port.
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| Silliman University. Founded 1901. |
The port was less than a 5-minute walk from the Boulevard. There were three shipping lines to choose from, but we picked Aleson, because that was the only available trip left for the day. The trip was set for 3:30 PM, but we boarded the vessel around 4 PM, and it was not until around 5PM that the boat sailed for Dapitan.
It was a comfortable journey. The boat was airconditioned, and there were sleeping bunks. There was also a lounge area with a TV set. After about 4 hours, we arrived at Dapitan around 9 in the evening. It took another 45 minutes to get to Dipolog City, where we were accommodated by my aunt's cousin-in-law.
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| My mom looked too happy. |
