By. Ten Ilajas

Traveling makes you closer to nature and sometimes to other cultures or food, or even to other people. Yet what is also exciting about traveling is that you get to discover and find out many things and sometimes get lost in all these new discoveries.

You discover many things, from how you interact with others to how you deal with different ordeals during the journey. Or fortunately, you can be lost in the open, and in the process of finding your way, you find yourself instead.

– And this is what I have learned from my sojourn in Visayas.

I woke up in a Ceres bus as it travails Oslob. I woke up to the sun’s warmth that peeked through the closed curtains that dangled on the windows, hearing Air Supply on the playlist. I stared outside to watch the sun slowly rising. I have been to Oslob once, but maybe it is true that the second time you visit a place would never be the same as the first.

We got off at the port going to Dumaguete to ride a ferry.

The ferry was a bit small and was jam-packed with tourists and locals. As everybody was seated close to each other, I have eavesdropped on some of my fellow passengers’ conversations. I was entertained by the very deep and accented dialect. With the way the locals talk, you can identify how cheerful these people are and how colorful their culture is.

The waves were huge as we crossed the sea that separated Bato from Dumaguete. During my previous trips, I discovered that I feared being in the open sea, and I vowed to learn how to swim. So being at the ferry was the longest 30 minutes of my life, as I evaluated whether I could really swim or not.  But as the ferry ride ended, so did my fear. We immediately hopped off and were so excited to roam the city.

The town was almost sleepy. You know that feeling when you’re in the middle of being dreamy and awake? Dumaguete has this kind of vibe that is laidback and busy at the same time.

In the morning, locals and tourists are smoothly living their day to day lives – people go to markes, kids play under the sun’s heat, and tourists happily chat over puto maya and sikwate. But during night time, Dumaguete has a very cool night life. From laidback mornings and siesta afternoons, Dumaguete turns into a street party. They have a street where pubs are lined up, and young people flock to these pubs and enjoy the night. They have cool bands, too. They played OPM for us that night, and they really are good. They proved that Visayans are very good at producing music.

This is where I met Isabella Angan, one of The Panoramic Soul’s finalists. She’s from Cebu, but since she’s studying at the Silliman, I got free tips on how to explore Dumaguete and its neighboring towns. Isa and I exchanged stories and experiences of our cities. And she told me that since Dumaguete is a small town, everybody tends to get bored sometimes that they tend to drink to socialize. She even told me that in the evening, I can see people in their homes just sitting with family and friends as they drink to talk about how the week or day went.

One of Isa’s recommendations was the baywalk.

At the Baywalk, they have this night market where vendors sell street food like tempura, fish balls, and balut. There are also vendors selling souvenir items and key chains. Opposite the Baywalk was Sans Rival, an iconic store that sells Sylvanas – a cookie-like delicacy with cream in the middle. One thing that made me love Dumaguete even more is that people are really proud of their culture. Aside from their food that tasted really great, they have local beers displayed on the pubs and in the hotel where we were staying.

An enchanting day at Siquijor

While staying in Dumaguete, we had two side trips: one is in Apo Island and the other in Siquijor.

When we were in Siquijor, we hired the best tricycle driver in town to tour us around and who found us tickets going back to Dumaguete before nightfall. Manong brought us to beaches and a few landmarks in Siquijor. The island was quiet and refreshing to the senses. The air was fresh, and lush green groves lined up the roads.

Siquijor, being known as an enchanted island, scared us at first. I had a silly question in mind, “What if we never return to the city as humans?” But of course, we did, and what have I discovered?

– Indeed, Siquijor is a magical island, not because of enchantresses, but because of its enchanting beauty and the kindness of its people.

One of Siquijor’s attractions was the huge Balete tree that spreads its roots to a crystal-clear

pool where fishes could enchant your senses by relaxing your feet. There was also a river where you can swing and scream at the top of your lungs as you let go of your heavy heart and feelings and, of course , the rope.

Among the attractions in Siquijor, what struck me most was that vendors were selling souvenirs and concoctions that were magical or enchanting. They sold everything from lana, himughat, and amulets to love and luck potions. You can see how innovative Filipinos are. Siquijor is tagged as a place of Aswangs, Witches, and Enchantresses, but instead of feeling bullied or instead of hiding, Siquijoranos made it an advantage and used it as their brand. I jokingly asked manong driver if he knows someone who can perform  baran (kulam/witchcraft) and he happily replied that yes, he knows someone! And he can accompany me to the hills if I wanted to. So I did not dare ask him again.

We ended the tour in Siquijor, running to catch the last ferry while watching the beautiful sunset that lit up the horizon.

The turtles in Apo Island

A visit to Dumaguete would not be complete without experiencing its marine life. We coordinated with the hotel and booked a day tour of the famous Apo Island. We traveled with other tourists – mostly foreigners who wanted to dive with the Pawikans.

There I was, tugging at the edge of the boat again, thinking of whether I should swim or not. But seeing the enthusiasm in everybody’s face, I thought, if they can do it, so can I. I put on the life vest, the snorkel, and the flippers. I was ready to jump – that is, until the waves got turbulent again and my heart started racing fast.

But there is something about fear that excites me; it makes you conquer yourself.

We stayed with a guide, Kuya Alex, who also served as our life guard and photographer.

In the middle of swimming and exploring the life under the sea, I decided to take off the life vest because it was hindering me from swimming deeply and moving freely. And there, I felt that I was one with the ocean, and I was not trying to swim for my life, but I was swimming to explore and to discover things.

I swam close enough to see but never touched the corals and the Pawikans. The corals were of different shapes and colors, and colorful fishes inhabited them. The turtles were very used to humans that sometimes, they pause in front of you, and you just stare at each other under the sea. I also observed that some of the turtles have scars on their shells. Kuya told us that long before tourists flocked the Apo, some fishermen poached the turtles to sell them. But when tourists started to visit Apo, people like him had a new source of income. Now, everybody is helping protect not just the Pawikans but the marine life in Apo.

We swam the ocean freely, floating and excited about our new discovery.

Staying in Dumaguete felt like living the island life and living somewhere you can call home. As I roamed the streets, I can’t help but admire the simplicity of the lives of the people. It is there where I realized that happiness does not come from complex things or extravagant and luxurious trips, that finding yourself does not require a silent retreat or living with monks in the mountains, that love does not have to be the kind of love that beats all the odds, that a fulfilled life does not mean having everyone in your life to admire you or appreciate what you do, and that life should not be lived in the borders of fear and the limits of the things that you can and cannot do. The thing is, we should live like Dumaguete – simple and warm and true to the heart.