Anyway, since we made Dumaguete City as our base for our trips in Negros Oriental, I walked around the city to get familiar with it. Dumaguete City is the largest and the capital of Negros Oriental. The place has become a prominent educational destination of students in the province and nearby provinces due the number of prestigious colleges and universities. One of them is the Silliman University which is also where Dumaguete City is known for. Founded in 1901, by Dr. Horace Silliman a retired businessman from New York. He is an active supporter of colleges and universities and on one of his missions here in the Philippines, he has the conviction that Filipinos needs a new kind of education and the rest is history. Silliman University is the first Protestant university in the Philippines and the first American university in Asia.
The campus reminds me of University of the Philippines, it has a similarity in appearance, the old acacia trees which surrounds the campus, the old buildings almost looks like it. These huge trees made the campus a relaxing place to study.
The campus even have a cherry blossom tree which was in full bloom during my visit, honestly I haven't see cherry blossom in real world and I never thought that it was that pretty!
In the heart of the city stands an old bellfry, which is the city's landmark. The Campanario de Dumaguete was built upon one of the four original massive watch towers that parish priest Manuel Fernandez built in 1760 to discourage Moros from predating the town. It is situated just beside the parish church.
Just across the belfry is the city plaza, where I took a walk and watched how townsfolk spends their leisure time. And it seems like they are having a great time playing checkers, which I seldom see nowadays and which only shows that these people still prefers the traditional recreations.
And which our National Hero enjoys watching.
The St. Paul University is also one of the top university in Dumaguete City, in fact the school originated in Dumaguete to the coming of the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres in France on October 29, 1904. It started with elementary education and later on high school and then college was offered. Then they were granted the university status in 2004 thus becoming one of the four universities in in the city. The statue of the Sisters stands on the beach along Rizal Boulevard where they docked their boats when they arrrived many years ago.
The promenade along Rizal Boulevard provides luxury for tourists, townsfolk and people from all walks of life, who would like to sit or just watch the blue ocean and enjoy the cold breeze, chat with friends, read something or eat something and do you know what's good about it...it's free!
I have read that Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental is one of the best places for retirement and I have no doubt about it. Dumaguete has it all, you wouldn't be homesick!
You wanna go there?
1. If you're coming from Manila book a flight going to Dumaguete City which I think has flights everyday.
2. Transportation are very accessible from the airport, just tell them where you'll go and will be happy to guide you.
3. There are numerous hotels and inns in Dumaguete so you won't have a hard time finding one.
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