Travel sketches from the Philippines

Cebu city, Dumaguete, and Siquijor Island

Last winter we had a generous amount of year-end holiday, so we decided on an international trip and ended up on the Philippines. It was the cheapest ticket out of the country during the high season. Some few AI chats later our trip was planned around the goal of visiting Siquijor Island, south of Cebu.

We flew into Mactan Cebu International and rushed to transfer to a local flight to Dumaguete airport. My precious pocket knife I’ve had for 10 years got taken away, though. It had been airport safe until now!! Maybe it was meant to be, because the person who’d given it to me has been long out of my life.

With Christmas being an important holiday in the Philippines, Dumaguete was pretty busy (unusually?). As a city it’s not as polished, which is what made visiting Dumaguete Public Market an honest and terrific experience. (I dislike the word “authentic”).

Also it’s fun to see a rickety tuk-tuk pull up as your Grab ride (comes properly labeled with tuk-tuk UI on the app).

It was my first time having Budbud Kabog (kabog meaning milet), a staple for Dumaguete. It’s sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves, and they get stacked on the table like Jenga blocks. Had it with a nostalgic-but-sickly sweet cup of hot Milo cocoa. My grandmother used to have a TUB of Milo hidden in her pantry.