⌛ 12 Days In Dumagete - An American Review

I must admit that when I read another users post that he actually got bored with Dumaguete after 3 days, I was a little frightened of staying so long. I proved him and any other visitors wrong of the relaxation, excitement, food, fun and people experience that I forever have with this providence of the Philippines. In fact, within my Phili island travels I enjoyed Dumaguete the most!

There were extenuating circumstances attached to my visit as I didn't do Dumaguete as a complete tourist but rather as an IT volunteer for Little Children of the Philippines and The Great Physician Rehabilitation Foundation (GPREHAB). Most of my visit was for playtime and visiting friends.

#1 - I met Roody (site webmaster) completely by accident in one of the restaurants and how I recognized him from just an eyeball avatar was amazing. Roody - you are a great guy! Keep this forum up and keep your people happy! Actually, a local pointed him out.

#2 - I guess all the Dumaguete Americans were hiding this visit because I didn't get a chance to meet any of them. At any part of the day you will find Europeans, Brits, Swedes and other nationalities sitting at the local water view drinking holes. Most of them were years older than myself so I didn't make friends there. The Mc Donald’s also sported retirees hanging out and discussing world problems. My American upbringing couldn't get a grasp on the geezers who had young Filipinas with them --- I must admit, I had to laugh at this but who am I to judge? Ten bucks says most of these guys don't listen to Lady Gaga or Avril Lavigne with their ladies.

#3 - There was an awesome concert in the city park square one Saturday night playing classic American rock (Stones, AC DC, Boston..). No one was standing, dancing, jumping up or even clapping --- the Filipinos merely sat in chairs at tables around the stage. It was the weiredest thing I ever experienced in my life! When I started to rock-out, my Filipino friends needed to remind me that I was in The Philippines and not America... ha ha. I couldn't get over it. I felt sorry for the band - they were great and the city was great for sponsoring this event.

#4 - Restaurants. Here are my pics for the city restaurants. I visited them more than once so I didn't give them a poor impression but some I had to frequent more often:

Casablanca - 3 out of 5. Nice atmosphere, service is slow and breakfast is good too.

Coco Amigos - 3 out of 5. Nice atmosphere. nice service - I live in Los Angeles so I know Mexican food and this place was average in the Mexican cuisine.

FoodNet - 4 out of 5. Great Filipino fare, nice portions. The place is always busy and for a good reason... the girls that work there are also very nice.

Haya Hay - 5 out of 5. Nice people, good prices and a fine atmosphere. I went there a few times and at one point there was an outdoor blues concert. The grilled fish is out of this world fresh.

Cafe Laguna - 5 out of 5. Takes dining to a class all it's own. Great presentation and nice service. The place has a cool American atmosphere while providing classy dining at a good price.

Scoobys - 3 out of 5. Better than doing McDonalds for breakfast and you get classic Filipino food. Actually, anything but Jollibees is better than McDonalds.

Chicken Inato - (Sibulan) 4 out of 5. Nice place for seafood and classic Filipino dishes. The atmosphere is great at oceanside with bamboo hut like tables and very nice servers.

Jollibee - 2 out of 5. How do Filipinos make this place so busy? The burgers are not burgers, the chicken smells aweful and the spaghetti is full of sugar.

Dunkin Donuts - Coffee is 5 out of 5 and the donuts are not real Dunkin Donuts... enough said.

Blue Monkey Grill - 4 out of 5. One of my favorites and seemed busy all the time. The food was excellent every time I went. The service is a bit slow but it is a good place to people watch.

Mang Inasal - 3 out of 5. A so-so place trying to act like it is upper class. Pinoy burger was half decent but the sisig was great.

I will post more as I go along. I took a great deal of notes on this visit...

here are some pics:



-- Luzi at the fruit stand



-- Hanging with Dumaguete local friends



-- The girls at food Net



-- Giving out toys to the kids at the pier



-- Server at Coco Amigos



-- GPRehab staff



-- Dunkin Donuts coffee...yes!



-- Little Children of the Philippines Center



-- KoiKoi's .. Best place to get a scooter or moto for rental. Great guys!



-- This one had to post.. I was like "what the hell, a hooker traffic cop?"

 

Great review SoCalMark! I'm from the States too but staying in Dumaguete for grad school with Silliman. I too agree with some of your restaurant ratings and also, now know what to expect the next time I try Cafe Laguna, and Casablanca. I can't understand why that person said he got bored within his three days stay when there are plenty to do. Maybe he wasn't very adventurous.

 

Anywhere can look good for 12 days..

 

Except for Los Angeles, California --- It's crappy forever. :D

 

As an "old geezer" with a young filipina, I have to take issue with your criticism. Was is jealousy on your part? Do you have a big chubby american wife and you were disgusted seeing geezers with young attractive girls? So I apologize for we being the only negative part of your visit.

 

No offense taken but lets get real here ... getting a Filipina wife there is like shooting fish in a barrel. All you need is a wallet and being handsome is not necessary. Sorry for shooting down the star for you and hope your relationship is different.

 

No star, no problem with your comment or opinion SoCalMark, just expressing my opinion.

 

great review and thanks for sharing! :-)

 

I agree with your restaurant ratings too. One can get bored anywhere, even in Las Vegas if you don't know how to use your time productively.

 

I totally agree with your 1st point, :D

Restaurants? well, all but 2,5 have so many "secret ingredients" that I simply would not have a drink in a can unless I can clean and open it myself. but in that short time you were here, you can still blame the airline-catering for stomach probs ....

Anyway, thanks for sharing, waiting for more pictures to come