A week ago, my little family of three ventured to get our passports renewed and also apply for a new passport for the little one. Since we were in Oslob, going to Dumaguete was the best and easiest way to get that done. We took advantage of this opportunity, got on a barge at 7:30 AM, reached Sibulan at 8:10 AM, and were at the Robinsons Mall before nine. We had no appointments because we have a baby with us and they are prioritized.
The process took less than an hour for the three of us, I processed it myself and then brought the husband and baby inside for the picture. Our passports will be valid for 10 years while the baby will have a 5-year validity.
After that, we had no more agenda so I searched for where to have lunch, we went to Alta Tierra and then the husband worked there for around three hours. In the afternoon, we headed to Rizal Boulevard at a bakeshop cafe named Breadsworth, it's just on the boulevard so it was easy for us to get to the bay walk at golden hour.
Our goal was to take photos. My husband brought our cameras. Here are some of the photos I took:
It isn't our first time to get to Dumaguete. This is I guess our fourth time and every single moment that we visit the island, we look forward to visiting the Rizal Boulevard.
I remember when we first came here, it was nighttime when we arrived and we were amazed by the many locals hanging out on the boulevard. The lights were amazing too and romantic as it has a view of the nearby seaport.
Today, after so many years, the last time we have been here was 2016 I guess and there have been so many changes. But one thing that stayed was these centennial trees. I adore the beauty and history that came with them. I am thankful to the city for making sure they are well taken care of.
The shade that these trees give to the visitors is very much appreciated. Aside from that, it adds to the nice ambiance of the boulevard.
It's a long walk from the port area to the end of this strip. I admit, we have not reached the end of the boulevard, we usually just stay in this part. I noticed that there are many foreigners too who came here with their partners and kids!
Pet lovers are also here of course. I have seen some who were just sitting at the benches reading books, some were with their loved ones, just observing the people around.
While there were also those who were alone but I am sure they don't feel lonely because there were so many things happening around them, they can surely get entertained if they look closely.
Dumaguete City is also the home of Siliman University, the first American and Protestant founded the institution of higher learning in the Philippines and in Asia. This explains the presence of many foreigners on the island.
Plus, it looked very peaceful in Dumaguete. The locals are even referred to as gentle people and I bet there's a huge reason for why they call them such.
So far in our experience, we never had encountered any trouble visiting the island.
With so many people around, vendors won't be absent too with this opportunity to earn. There are those who sell balloons for kids. Toys, candies, food, drinks, everything that you can think of in a street, you'll see here. There are also souvenirs in fact.
I asked the husband to look after Mattif while I try to capture photos. It is not easy to be in this place with a toddler. He wouldn't want me or his father to be holding him, he wanted to just walk by himself, jump, and run. But we were too worried he might fall down and the ground is a little hazardous.
And so the husband was not having a great time because he too wants to take photos, we took turns instead so he could also get his own but there were so many opportunities missed already.
We noticed new buildings being constructed too in the area. Also, we found new malls in Dumaguete, it's been really years since we had been here that we only figured these new malls are rising in the island. The last time we were here, it was just Robinsons. And coffee shops like Starbucks and CBTL are already available in the city too!
One of my favorites is the photo above. I managed to take a quick snap. This man was a few meters away from me. I was using an 85mm lens. My husband is not into this type of photography, he said he wanted faces to not be seen on his photos and I felt a bit bad about taking photos of random people's faces without asking permission. Do you think I should take this down?
Below are just some photos of the sea and the port:
I finished taking photos after this and just attended to my baby who went to the vendor selling guitars and tambourine toys. He went away twice and came back so I guess he really liked the items. I ended up buying the tambourine which was worth PHP 60.
The day ended and it was getting dark so we headed back to Sibulan and took the barge at 7:30 PM, we paid Php 900 for our car fare. It felt like we had a long day but it was fulfilling. We missed Dumaguete and we were glad we had the chance to go back.
J U N E B R I D E
Boholana | Cebu | Philippines | Travel | Photography Enthusiast | Calligraphy | Art
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