Dumaguete City | Always Easy Like Sunday Morning

Three hours had already passed since we sat in one of the cafes by the boulevard in Dumaguete, yet it felt like we just started. Cup after cup, puff after puff, our musings of life, love & adventure seemed endless.

My friends are all migrants in Dumaguete & I, a frequent visitor. We thought for a moment, what is it really here that enchants people to stay?

Dumaguete: The City of Gentle People

Dumaguete is the premiere city of Negros Oriental. It can be easily accessed from Cebu, Bohol & Siquijor on a short ferry ride. Albeit its laid-back feel, it’s never short of urban conveniences like malls, hotels, tech hubs & party venues.

The city has grown out of its universities earning it the distinction as the University Town in the South. Students from all over Visayas and Mindanao come to Dumaguete because the schools here have produced notable leaders, scientists and artists.

Among them is Silliman University. Founded by the Americans in 1901 as the first Protestant school in the Philippines, it currently ranks as one of Asia’s top centers of learning. St. Paul University is also the first St. Paul school established in the country by the French Sisters of St Paul the Chartres. Other great schools include the Founders University & Negros Oriental State University.

Just anywhere around Dumaguete, are rustic-ambient cafes & small bars where students hangout. Passionate foodies will never be lost with lots of restaurants offering exciting gastronomic treats.

In the local market, a snack lane called “painitan” brings together all the lovers of this famed tandem nibbles called “budbod ug sikwate”. It’s suman or glutenous rice cake paired with traditional “batirol-style” chocolate drink. It also takes pride of its silvanas made by the ever-popular Sans Rival Café.

Among the most familiar landmarks of Dumaguete is Rizal Boulevard named after our national hero. Every morning, just before daybreak, this long stretch of easy breezy coastal lane is loaded with joggers.

In the afternoon, people begin to crowd its al fresco cafes to lounge in nothingness or read books over coffee or beer as they wait for sunset. Here, it is common to find artists & scholars exchanging stories, tourists & locals spending a quiet afternoon just letting time pass by unnoticed.

At night, the boulevard transforms into a vibrant chill-out place for strolling & sitting by the hawker stalls over delicious streetfood.

Anyone who journeys in Dumaguete finds the city truly quaint. The streets are small but not overcrowded. It is sometimes busy but drifts easily into calmness. People here still pause for the Angelus or play “dama” at the park.

The town is beautifully littered with heritage homes standing in cheek-by-jowl with modern buildings. Life here is joyfully unhurried, where everything gently unfolds in its own drama.

There is so much to love about Dumaguete—the picturesque town, its gentle people, food & culture. And these lovely feel are what make people stay or keep the tourists coming back for more.

Finally, the west had harbored all the light in the horizon & the city fireflies began to own the night. We walked to the spa just right in the next corner. And just before I completely snoozed my friend whispered, “so, when are you moving here?”

-oOo-

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