Even the whale sharks stay in Oslob

The whale sharks have stayed in the shallow waters of Oslob, a sleepy municipality in the southern tip of Cebu province. The warm hospitality of the people combined with their generosity and change of heart to feed instead of hunt these sharks, in contrast to the snobbish people of the city, have forced them to stay. So I think.

Oslob came into the limelight when they started feeding whale sharks (or butandings by the Tagalogs and tuki by the locals). People have different views (sometimes violent reactions) to their practice of feeding them that even caught international headlines.

So publicity has been done. And tourists come and go to the place.

But I did not go to Oslob for the whale sharks. I went there to relax and chill out. Just like the whale sharks. Everyone is welcome anywhere here. Just behave, the tricycle driver told us. The difference between me and the whale sharks is I paid to be fed.

A beach in Lagunde, Oslob. Empty even on a Sunday.

The municipality of Oslob is a good 3-hour drive from Cebu City going to the south or approximately 135 kilometers from the city proper. With less than 30,000 population, the place is quiet even during holidays. One can obviously notice the cleanliness of the place, a good sight to behold when you are from Cebu City. 

The beaches in Oslob are white but the sand is visibly not fine but smooth white stones. It feels good to sleep on them and dream of long lost loves. But if you want the heavenly touch of fine white sand, you should hire a pumboat (around 2,500 pesos roundtrip) to Sumilon Island, a nearby island that is part of the municipality. There is an expensive resort there, the Sumilon Bluewater Resort. But only if you have more money to spend or else just pay the entrance fee of 20 (or 40?) pesos to enjoy that special spot there where the waters are so clean and so clear you think it is just knee-deep.

The watchtower made out of coral stones

Must visit also are the remnants of the Spanish colonization in the town- buildings and watchtowers made of blocks of coral stones. You can actually find them in their plaza which has been improved and beautified with the eGwen project of the suspended governor of Cebu province- Gwen Garcia. The cuartel, the baluarte and the Immaculate  Conception church are all photo-worthy especially during sunset.

And then there's the Tumalog Falls. But you have to hire a habal-habal (motorcycles that can carry more than 5 passengers at a time) to get to the falls. According to the drivers, the falls used to have a heavy volume of water coming down but the municipality diverted some of the fresh water for the water supply of the town. What you see at the site are the extra water from their reservoir, creating a rain-like deluge from above several meters up.

Tumalog Falls featuring several drops

Kudos to the municipal officials who have a good tourism foresight. The falls is very accessible, roads going there are cemented. But all vehicles are not allowed inside the area. You have to make a 15-minute hike to the falls. That's after paying the entrance fee of 20 pesos.

Most local government units mistook the word "development" to concreting everything in sight. The Tumalog Falls retains its original surroundings with improvements that do not clash with nature. Trails were made out of stones and bamboo.

But one of the reasons why I kept coming back to Oslob is the people. Warm, helpful and always smiling. They are the epitome of the real Filipino hospitality. Maybe the whale sharks like them, too.

HELPFUL TIPS:

Ceres Liner  has an hourly trip from Cebu City to Santander passing through the town of Oslob. Go to the South Bus Terminal near Elizabeth Mall (Natalio Bacalso Avenue) and take the Ceres from there. Airconditioned buses and non-aircon trips are available. The fare from the city to Tan-awan, Oslob is about 155 pesos (aircon) and less for non-aircon. The travel is about 3 hours. Other bus companies also ply the route.

Accommodation abound the area catering from the "social" types to backpackers' delight.

Basking in the sun at South Sea Breeze.
In the background is Sumilon Island.

I recommend South Sea Breeze in Tanawan, Oslob (Telephones: [032] 415-5313; 09129-252-4046) because it is just a few meters from the whale sharks, if you like watching them. But the place is simple and homey. An airconditioned nipa hut costs 1,500 a day. You can bring your own food and let their kitchen staff cook them for you. They usually charge 200 pesos a day.

Also the Oslob Garden Stay in Lagunde, Oslob (Telephones: [032] 481-8072; 0922-811-1575) offers the whole house with 2 airconditioned rooms that can accommodate 3-4 pax. Towels, hot and cold shower are part of the package. Privacy is their mantra. They also charge 200 pesos if you let their staff cook for you. Or if you are feeling like Anthony Bourdain, you can do your own cooking.

Habal-habal fares range from 20 pesos to a hundred depending on where you want them to go. But they are the easiest way to move around. Haggle first before hopping in.

Go to the town's public market to see the whole town unfolding before you. Fresh produce are cheap and affordable, of course. The people there are extra helpful.

We all get lost once in a while

Somewhere in the municipality of Batuan in Bohol, Philippines

We all get lost once in a while, sometimes by choice, sometimes due to forces beyond our control. When we learn what it is our soul needs to learn, the path presents itself. Sometimes we see the way out but wander further and deeper despite ourselves; the fear, the anger or the sadness preventing us returning. Sometimes we prefer to be lost and wandering, sometimes it’s easier. Sometimes we find our own way out. But regardless, always, we are found. - Cecelia Ahern, Thanks For The Memories

Snapshots of Silay City (Instagram)

All pictures were processed via the photo app Instagram for iPhones. You can follow me at my Instagram account: edikdolotina. I would be more than happy to share with you my favorite shots there.

FIRST TIME TO VISIT: SILAY AND ITS SECRETS

Negros Occidental is like an enchanted place. So near yet so far. I heard so many stories about the place. Some tall tales. Some, grandpa promised, real and true. Grandpa would tell us of sugarcane views as far as one can see and haciendas and hacienderos and the joke, I would like to believe, about uncut men of Negros. These childhood stories made me long to visit that place and kept a promised to myself to kiss the ground when I go there like it’s the holiest of places.

That dream was realized just recently.

First stop- Silay

Everything has a story in Silay. Stories of lovelorn couples. Stories of forbidden love because of social disparity. Stories of why that house was built, or that cafe. Some were whispered, some were whispered loudly and some remained an open secret. From the decrepit house in a corner to the dulce gatas being stirred in the kitchen, Silay never ran out of stories.

My story will become a part of the huge library Silay already has.

Silay City is like an old, quaint town in Negros Occidental. Despite the addition of a new airport (the old one is located in Bacolod, Negros Occidental’s capital), the city’s aura of progressive development was drowned by the old houses and buildings. The heritage houses were actually a contrast to a new city life.

Unlike most cities, Silay has kept its culture (including her heritage) intact.

Kapehan sa Silay

Our tour organizers-cum-hosts Lee Santiago and Lynell Gaston brought us to this old building to have coffee and some breakfast goodies, my first taste of Negros. The Kapehan sa Silay was a good example of well-kept heritage site and reminded me of Cuban movies where folks while the time away, drinking dark coffee, talking about cockfights. The old musty smell of the place combined with good coffee wanted me to linger and know the place more. Personally.

But there were so many things to discover in Silay that lounging in the Kapehan is not a good start.

photo by Lynell Gaston

Next stop- 1925 Cafe

Mayor Montelibano of Silay

The smell at 1925 was intoxicating! Whatever the kitchen was cooking wafted back inside with a delicious guess of what the next plate would be when it comes in. No! I was not in the year 1925! The aroma of food was never this old but I believed all that has been cooked here stayed in the tiniest crevices of the walls of 1925, the café.

The smallness of the place made dining there really intimate and personalized. We chanced on the mayor of Silay, Mayor Montelibano, eating there and we were introduced like we used to be friends with him.

The Locsin ancestral home

The Locsin house was a home, that I am very sure. Despite its antiquity, the Locsin Home was still functional and without doubt being lived upon. The special edition literature pieces written in Spanish were intact. So were the gynaecology books, still in Spanish, in good condition. The old-style toilet, the handed-down china, kitchen paraphernalia, the lamps, the well-polished floors, the luggage bags in the attic, everything in the Lacson household were well-preserved and well-kept.

This was where I tasted my first Dulce Gatas sang Silay.

photo by Lynell Gaston

Emma Lacson’s

Emma Lacson’s house was like a fortress to those who were not familiar with Silay. But if you were privileged enough to get in the premises early in the morning, a gustatory wealth awaited for every welcomed visitor upstairs. Lacson makes the best of Silay’s delicacies involving pili nuts, the rest being lumpia and hopia.

It was here I saw a real pili individually pounded by hand just to get the nut. Sure it was nuts cracking them like that.

Mambag-id, Silay

One of the most exciting part of my Silay travel was the trip to Mambag-id. This place used to be a big sugarcane plantation with special railroads for transporting harvested sugarcane to waiting ships at the Mambag-id dock. Nowadays, with the decline of the sugar industry in the country and the imposition of the Agrarian Reform Law, the railroads have become obsolete.

But some enterprising residents made innovative ways of transportation to make use of the tracks. It was then that the Bagoneta came (some called it Karito), an improvised version of a kariton, pedal-powered ride using train wheels and slabs of wood formed like a platform where commuters 10 persons up hopped in and ride towards the now non-existent docks.

photo by Lynell Gaston

At the end of the ride where a community lived there, we were treated to a confusing array of Silay’s favorite kakanin: baye-baye, puto lanson, ibos mais, lumpia, siomai, and fresh piaya of Silay.

I dozed off in an airy nipa hut beside the river.

Balaring, Silay

As if the gustatory offering in Mambag-id were not enough, our hosts brought us to barangay Balaring and stuffed us again with fresh seafood the city can offer. It was at Ken’s, a cozy nipa hut close to the sea where the lapping waves would remind you that you were in the territory of the things you were eating. 

Being a person born in the hinterlands of Bohol, I am ignorant of the names of the seafood species. But my host said we were eating: tinola nga lison, fried tilapia, grilled pork chops, grilled squid, alimusan with gata, kinilaw nga tangigue, talaba, with ripe mango slices as dessert.

THE Charlie Co

My stay in Silay was made complete when we were invited by Ann Legaspi-Co to taste her frozen brazos and sans rival in their residence. The brazos and sans rival were honestly without rival until we met Ann’s husband, my idol artist from Negros - Charlie Co!

photo by Lee Santiago

The Negrense’s way of saying goodbye

Each moment of my stay in Silay was worth the trip. Our goodbyes were made more memorable when one of our hosts, Lynell Gaston, made a sendoff lunch for all of us.

Maybe this was the Negrense way of saying goodbye - stuffing guests until they could no longer move with ecstatic joy.

How about coffee to top it off?

photo by Lynell Gaston

 Addendum

We were actually the guinea pigs of Lee Santiago when he thought of a Negros Food Tour. With the help of Lynell Gaston, they cooked up an interesting combo of food tasting and having a beautiful experience in Silay, Bacolod and nearby towns of Negros Occidental.

There are no specific rates to the tour. Wherever we go, we share the van rentals. Whatever we decide to eat, we share them with the group and divide the payments per person. We pay our own accommodation.

Since Lee is outside of the country as of this time, I could not be sure if this kind of trip is still going on.

I fly in and out of Silay City with free tickets courtesy of my sister who works for Cebu Pacific. Cebu Pacific flies from Cebu to Silay City/Bacolod twice a day.

Welcome 2013

newyear2013.in

I have been crazily lazy nowadays. So much work to do and so tired think and write so that my blog has been neglected for a loooong time.

As we welcome 2013, I hope I can do better and post something more interesting in my travels.

Hope this new year would bring me more opportunities to travel and be out of the crowd.

WELCOME 2013!