Life of The Dee Em: Unexpected Getaway

There I was, dealing with a customer on the sunny streets of Dumaguete City when suddenly my mobile phone prompted me about a text message. I checked my phone after my business transaction and read the following message: “Hi… Fiesta man dira sa inyuha noh? Mang invite ka? (Hi… You’re celebrating your fiesta in your place right? Are you inviting me?)”

I replied, “Uhm, sure? But I’m not sure if I can actually take you for lunch or dinner because we’re not preparing any food.”

“That’s okay,” Lyra replied, “We’ll find something fun to do.”

“Sure. Come here on a Friday since Friday nights are the best nights here to have fun.”

And we ended the conversation.

It was Monday then and I had to go back to my hometown, Cebu City, to follow up some business and visit my dad. I stayed in my cousin’s house for the entire duration and played ‘Skyrim’ most of the time. I caught up with a few high school friends and spent some time with them.

Now let’s discuss the sweet stuff.

Friday came and it was time for me and my cousin to go back to Dumaguete, but we were not traveling alone. Four of my high school classmates (Actually they were only three. One of them was somehow adapted to the batch unofficially), all girls, joined us in the bus that morning at 6 o’clock. They were very excited, or so I think, about the trip – with the fact that it will be the first time for three of the four girls to visit my ‘hometown’. So it’s up to me and the help of my cousin to entertain them and give them the best one-night-vacation experience of their lives.

We arrived in Dumaguete around ten o’clock in the morning and helped them checked-in their bags at a nearby inn. They took their baths to freshen themselves up while I took the opportunity to get some nice shut eye in one of the beds. If I’m not mistaken, my cousin was playing his ukulele.

Then we ate lunch at Gabby’s Bistro inside Florentina Homes in Bantayan and I ordered my favorite, cheesy chicken rice bowl, while my friends ordered adobo, Cajun chicken fingers, curry, and pork belly. It was very expensive for a meal, but nonetheless worth it since our stomachs was fully loaded.

We also ate our dinner at El Amigo’s where we ordered their barbecue plate, an olive-oil soaked pizza, and their red cucumber citrus gin juice with salty shot glasses. We ended the night with a good measure of tempura and balot.

The next day, Saturday, were – according to the girls – their best time of their lives, so far. So basically what I did was bring the four of them to the Silliman Student Center and let them rent our cute girly bikes with matching bells and a basket, and let them spend their whole afternoon biking around the city. Although tiring, and sometimes deadly (due to the fact that we bike in the middle of the highway and two of the girls are so slow), it was altogether a very fun and new experience to all of us.

After that, it was my cousin’s turn to tour them around the music college and let them enjoy a night of jazz and blues – jazz and blues rehearsals. Pretty much that’s it. Oh yeah, we ate our final meal at Manang Siony’s barbecue house and I finally had the guts to ask the old lady if her name is really Manang Siony. I was right.

Here’s some of the pictures they took while they were here: