Dumaguete, on Negros Island

Friday 24/11 (2/2)

By Ludivine:

The boat was rather quiet and quick compared to our last boat whose motor was ear piercing and ride was long. When we got to Negros island, we went to the hotel and wound down about until the evening when we went on a walk on the corniche then came back to the hotel to eat (since Florence didn’t feel well).

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By me

Our hostel in Dumaguete, ‘Harold’s Mansion’, is well located. It has a nice rooftop with a pool table.

We all sleep in the same room, quite basic. The double beds are quite small, so I sleep on the mattress on the floor and Isabelle sleeps with Jules.

 

Saturday 25/11

By Florence:

This morning we woke up at any time. We didn’t have anything planned so we went and ate breakfast at the hotel. When we finished eating, we worked for 3 hours. We ate again. This time we went a bit further and ate at restaurant near the beach where the kids ate a pizza and the parents ate a fish salad (kinilaw). It was really good. When we were done, we had the afternoon off so mom and Ludivine went and got a manicure and pedicure while dad went looking for a barber and taking pictures and while Jules and I were in the room on our iPad/iPhones, playing Minecraft (we rediscovered it a few days ago). The whole afternoon we stayed in the room (enjoying the A/C) and at dinner we went out to a typical Filipino restaurant, in the city centre (hardly 1km from our hostel). We ate a traditional lechon (a roasted suckling pig), quite fat. There also was a tv where we were watching Harry Potter. It was really good. That was pretty much our day. Bye.

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By me:

Only a few additions to Florence’s summary:

In the afternoon, I went for a massage. Not great unfortunately. Isabelle works on a post for Jules’ teacher (Mr. Nicolas) who has followed Jules’ works since the beginning of our trip. He recently nicely sent a picture of the students of his class to Jules.

After dinner in town, we go back to the hotel where we sit on the rooftop. There’s unfortunately no internet connection tonight.

We go to sleep around midnight.

 

 

Sunday 26/11

Today is our 133rd day of our trip. We did one third of the world tour! Hard to believe!

Same programme as yesterday: homeschooling in the morning, lunch at nearly the same place (the restaurant beside the one of yesterday in fact; Isabelle and I share a tuna belly and a tuna ‘panga’ which is the meat from the tuna collar) and free afternoon.

I go to a spa salon where, for 450 pesos (7 Euro), I get a hair cut (the first one since our departure!), a beard shave (only the second one of the trip) and a (“Japanese/Swedish”) relaxation massage. It feels much better without the beard and the long hair. Isabelle continue preparing Australia.

We rent 2 motorbikes for tomorrow.

We eat at a nearby McDo since it’s already late and we have to wake up before 6am to go and see the dolphins tomorrow.

In the last 2 days, I’ve written 7 posts about Tokyo. I can start posting about the Philippines soon…

 

Monday 27/11

We wake up before 6am in order to call the “guide” for the dolphins excursion. Unfortunately it’s too windy to go and see them. We activate our plan B: we go with our motorbikes to a zip line but it’s closed on Monday. The roads are nice (and empty).

Plan C: swimming pools with slides. But they are cleaning the pools (till 1pm and it’s only 9:30am…).

Plan D: nearby pools with slides (and climbing wall). But the operator hasn’t come today…

We have no plan E…

We go back along the coast to have lunch in a very nice resort: ‘Atmosphere’. Nice and healthy lunch, in a beautiful setting.

The beaches along the coast don’t “inspire” us for a swim (black sand and rocks).

We stop at the Robinsons Mall to check the programme of the movies. Jules has been willing to go to the movies since quite a while. They are playing the new Pixar/Disney (Coco), which seems pretty good.

We also stop at a shop specialized in fried ice cream. Original concept.

We go back to the hotel, where we chill for 2 hours.

Around 5pm, we take our motorbikes to go and watch Coco (without Ludivine, who prefers to stay in the hotel). Very nice movie; we all loved it.

We have an appointment with Ludivine at 8pm at a pizzeria downtown. Good pizza.

Florence and Jules are tired.

We also go to bed quite early tonight (11pm).

 

Tuesday 28/11 (1/2)

The checkout time is at noon so we have time to do a (1h30) homeschooling session. We sit with Jules on the rooftop while the girls work in the room.

We take 2 tricycles (100 pesos each) to Sibulan port. The next ferry to Santander (on Cebu Island) is at 1pm. The (25’) crossing is a bit bumpy.

 

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