Fun Dive at Apo Island in Negros Oriental

fun-dive-apo-island.jpg

During a trip to Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, I brought Jana to Apo Island for a fun day at the beach and some snorkelling. However, when we arrived at the island, the marine sanctuary was closed due to earthquakes and typhoons that affected the area. They had to close it to let the coral reefs recover. … Read more

The Lost Bag of Oatiekin Bars from Tsokolat Bakeshop in Dumaguete City

UPDATE: The Tsokolat store sign might not be there, but you can still get these oatiekin bars. It’s not on display anymore but just ask the employee in the shop if you want some. For orders, contact Francine at 09178639443.

November of 2009, I spent a week in Dumaguete City in order to learn online jobs. It was a nice break since I never really had a long vacation from work. My leaves were usually spent as added days off from my normal rest days. While in the City of Gentle People, I was advised by a friend to check out oatiekin cookie bars from Tsoklat Bakeshop along Hibbard Avenue.

Tsokolat Bakeshop
Dumaguete City

oatiekins tsokolat
Oatiekin Chocolate Fudgy Bars
photo credit: michellephilippines.blogspot.com

Oatiekin Chocolate Bars – fudgy chocolate cream bars wrapped between oatmeal blankets.

I couldn’t remember the actual note posted in a red cutout paper. But it sounded something like the description above. This was recommended to me on Facebook and a few people at the office requested me to buy these rich choco bars for them. Below is a conversation on my Facebook wall.

facebook dumaguete
Great how technology works, no?

Prior to our online chat, I had to visit the place in order to see how their pastries tasted. The bakeshop wasn’t hard to find as it was located near a house where we lived when we were still staying in Dumaguete. Besides, the city is small so everything is easily accessible.

I arrived after lunch time and was welcomed with a quaint store between a water station and a laundry shop – really multifunctional. The bakeshop sold a number of desserts with peculiar names such as chizmosa, lanky chews, mango tango, kalamanji, hooters and so much . Pretty odd labels but still looked interesting.

tsokolat bakeshop dumaguete
Tsokolat Bakeshop Bread and Pastries
Where Sweet Dreams Come True

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2010 Highlights: A Year-Ender Blog Post

2010 in general, has been a blast for me. Although there were times where I got lost figuratively, it’s always nice to look back at the positive things that happened. This has actually been my mantra every time the year ends.

I can’t remember everything but what I do to recall memories is browse through photos in my hard drive that are neatly arranged. Putting them all in this entry would just be too much. Hence I’ll just list a few points that made the whole year worthwhile.

Trips

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some trips

Apo Island in Negros Oriental, Boljoon in Cebu, Adventure Café  in Balamban, Wordcamp in Manila, Nalusuan Island in Mactan, Alona Beach in Bohol, Shopping in Hong Kong, Bungy in Macau, Petronas Towers in Kuala LumpurSeair and Microtel Tour in Boracay, Blog Summit in Iloilo, Island Tour in Guimaras — I think this rounds up my trips this year.

I had my first trip outside the country! It took me a year to prepare it but I was really hyped up when it did happen! Considering that the prices for the round fare tickets were really cheap (1200 Php from Cebu to Hong Kong and 850 Php from Cebu to Kuala Lumpur), I was able to save a lot of money while getting my first stamps on my passport!

bungy jump

I also bungy jumped from the world’s highest platform during this trip which made the whole event really worthwhile. That alone is already an experience to remember.

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Reminiscing Casaroro Falls

Casaroro Falls in Dumaguete is one of the waterfalls in the Philippines that shut my mouth up. Not that I’ve been to a lot of falls already but there’s something mystic about the place. I guess it’s because it really takes a long hike to get to the body of water and when you finally reach the destination, you feel energized knowing that you have trekked a far distance.

In our case, we didn’t really hike from Dumaguete to Valencia; we took a shortcut and rode some motorcycles (habal-habal) due to time constraints. However, the stairs going down and up was enough to keep our legs sore for the next 2 days – You have to take 335 steps in order to get to the bottom and go up with the same number in order to get back to the starting point.

Casaroro Falls is actually located in Valencia in Negros Oriental and not in Dumaguete City’; which is a nearby town as well. I suggest that anyone who wants to stay in Dumaguete to drop by Casaroro and be amazed at this nature’s wonder.

Casaroro Falls in Dumaguete pictures

casaroro falls picture

Casaroro Falls in Valencia

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Cool green

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Dumaguete City: How Quaint Can You Be?

“This is it?” I asked myself when I saw the “mall” a local was referring to when I had the opportunity to stroll around the downtown area. He (the local) was talking about Lee Super Plaza, which was the bigger department store then. Dumaguete City. It was in 1999 when I first stepped foot on … Read more

Cafe Noriter in Dumaguete City

What I like about Dumaguete is the number of good internet cafes with 19″ lcd monitors and fast internet connection. Also, they come at a price that’s definitely worth it, 20 Philippine Pesos per hour only, some even would go low as 10 bucks. You can’t get a better deal here in Cebu considering the … Read more