Thursday caught me in a funk. Work and more work sent me dreaming of places where I could spend the day just staring at the horizon instead of staring at the glare of a computer screen. So when my friend called to see if I felt like going for a daytrip to the island of fire, Isla del Fuego to those who want something fancier, I jumped at the chance.

The island looked exactly the way it did when I last saw it a good four or five years ago-- the concrete pier, clear, blue-green waters, the smell of petroleum mixed with the fresh smell of seaweed. Tricycle and habalhabal (motorcycle-for-hire) drivers were waiting at the gate, all pushing their services. We hopped on one tricycle and asked the driver about good places to stay. His top two recommendations were Dondeezco and Coco Grove.

I was hesitant about staying at Coco Grove, because I had read somewhere that day trippers to the resort were charged 600 bucks a person-- pretty expensive, especially for a day trip that is only half a day long. The driver shook his head and said no, day trips only cost 100 per person for the entrance and it was consumable. So we headed for Coco Grove. On the ride there I was thinking if my budget for the whole trip will hold up if it turns out that the driver had sweet-talked us into riding with him. Thankfully, when we arrived it turned out that there was no entrance, that we can stay at the restaurant, and that day trippers are not allowed to use the pool. Blah. I felt a bit disappointed since I was looking forward to taking a nap by the pool. However, the place looked so nice I knew I could find some other way to occupy my time.


The restaurant was located a few steps down from the lobby, down a flight of concrete steps and past a few open-air cottages that faced the beach.


We arrived just before lunchtime so the first thing we did was order lunch, even though I wasn't feeling a bit hungry. The menu was extensive and everything looked delicious. I settled for baked macaroni , which was one of the least expensive dishes on the menu.


The beach was made of white sand, and the water was calm, despite the threatening rain. We spent a few good hours exploring the place and taking pictures. Coco Grove is well-laid out, and the cottages are spaced a good distance from each other which gives their occupants a good deal of privacy. I think most guests like to come here because the place is quiet and very conducive for an afternoon nap by the pool or on a hammock by the beach.
Coco Grove has a restaurant, a pool, a separate bar, and cottages for overnight guests, and open-air cottages for those who want to eat outside, just a few steps away from the water. Aside from that, they also have pretty waitresses who talked to us in English all the way, probably because they get so many foreigner guests there.




We stayed at the resort until 3 pm. By then it was time to head for the pier because the last trip goes at 4:30 pm. We walked for a few miles, listening to our iPods until a habal-habal passed us and we took the ride.


We reached the port, and because we still had a few minutes before the ride back home, we spent it taking goofy photos on the beach.

A day in Siquijor is enough to recharge anyone who's feeling burnt out. Long sweeping views of the ocean, green everywhere you look, good food, hospitable people, and nothing but the sound of the waves lapping on the shore-- there was nothing more I could ask for. I have crossed out going to Siquijor and blogging about it on my list, but I'm definitely coming back!

Just arrived from a day trip to that small little island across the strait (will blog about that later) and on the way home I came across a person I know of, not know, and I think I owe her an apology. See, I have this annoying habit of noticing the slightest errors in grammar and pronunciation that I come across on a day to day basis, despite the fact that with my job I churn out a number of grammatical errors on a day to day basis as well (note:I try to keep the number of said errors to a minimum, or else I will lose my job). This person gained instant recognition when she won a local beauty contest, but that is the extent of the information I have on her. I don't have anything against the individual personally, but I suffered a momentary lapse of judgment when as we were about to disembark from the Delta Fastcraft, I heard someone say something about 'fetch' but pronouncing it as 'fitch.' My friend who was walking ahead of me immediately did a double take on me, her eyes wide. She heard it too. We laughed about it, out loud, unfortunately. If some people heard us making fun, I was really sorry.

The person is the mother of a cute little boy, and I cannot imagine how I'd feel if I heard someone making fun about anything my own mother says or does. I know I shouldn't have said what I said out loud. I know I am entitled to my own opinions but when things are said out loud, there's often no way to get them back. Knowing my own opinions and keeping them to myself is very different from making fun of people's flaws within earshot of other people. I was truly embarrassed by my actions today, and although no one has called me on it, I am calling myself out for stooping so low.

My sister likes to bake, which is perfect for me since I like to eat. The other day it was raisin crumb cake, a concoction of raisins, vanilla, sour cream and a crusty topping made of cinnamon, sugar, flour and butter. The cake is perfect when warm, with a scoop of ice cream or all purpose cream on the side. YUM! I hope she feels like baking again tomorrow :D

It was almost dark when I moved to where the majority of the garbage was dumped. A number of 'basureros' were there, busy rummaging through the piles of garbage. Others were hauling piles of flattened cardboard boxes over the back of a large cargo truck that was set to transport its load all the way to Cebu. A welcome sight was the small hill sitting smack in the middle of the dumpsite. On top of the hill were two bright yellow benches flanked by two lamp posts on each side. It was only when I got closer when I realized that the hill, the bright yellow benches, and the man sitting on one of them were all covered by swarms of big, fat flies. Flies who live in a dumpsite should be fat, and these ones were ginormous.

I managed to get some of my questions answered by Manong J* who was sitting on the bench. That, yes, they do get dead bodies from time to time, and yes, pieces of jewelry and even money, large sums at that, often end up in the dumpsite by mistake. I saw a young boy hauling a sack of garbage over his shoulder while listening to music from his CD player. Another guy was texting someone on his cellphone while standing over a pile of garbage. Everyone in the dumpsite is friendly. They laugh and smile and joke while poking at the garbage with sticks. One guy told me to post the pictures on Youtube.

There are no plans to expand the dumpsite, which is a good thing. According to Manong J* there's nowhere to go but up, so I guess they'll start piling the garbage on top of each other until junk reaches the sky. Its a better alternative than turning the whole place into one large garbage pit.

I also learned that we can dump our garbage directly in the dumpsite, good news for us since the garbage truck seems to have forgotten to make the rounds around our area lately. There's a dumping fee though: 15 pesos for biodegradables and 30 pesos for non-biodegradables. I didn't really realize that the dumpsite was located right beside a river until I read this blog post on Multiply. I didn't know that that river still had water running through it, and wondered if the water I drank everyday has traces of the dumpsite flowing in it... scary thought.

Manong J* sitting on the yellow bench.

Living in Dumaguete City makes cooking just an option, with all the cheap food places around. Most of the eateries and restaurants are pretty cheap by big city standards. Dumaguete is a university town ,after all, so most establishments tailor their services according to what struggling and hungry students can afford. It is no surprise then that I do not know how to cook, save for the basic poached or fried egg and all its variations.

Anything that can be fried I can cook, but there are times when the whole exercise ends up looking like a skirmish with cooking utensils, with me using the pan cover as a shield as I try to protect myself from flying droplets of cooking oil. It was indeed a milestone of sorts when I managed to cook fried pork ribs coated with an egg and flour mixture... your typical fried chicken save for the fact that this was pork. It was just like cooking anything other type of raw food with oil, but this did not involve eggs, hence the incredible sense of achievement (I happen to know that cooking with pork can be really tricky).

Plus, I did not forget to sprinkle a little bit of salt, which I tend to do with food that aren't eggs.

I promised a friend I'd post the fruits of my labor.