Negros Oriental and the semiosis of my experience

These are what I most remember of the familiarization tour to Negros Oriental, among the numerous memories, the established liberty, the new friends, the expansion of boundary, and the ever redefining and discrediting of hypothesis.

The successful Negros Oriental Familiarization Tour was attended by various media personalities: CDN's Boboi Costas and Alnoe Paler; Sun*Star's Pura Kintanar and Alex Badayos; Cebu 28's Paulo Varela and Remton Zvasola; CCTN 47's Sam Costanilla and Jun Sta. Cruz; What's On and Expat's Janine Uy; and this writer for The Freeman. DOT Central Visayas' Senior Tourism Officer Ma. Agnes Toling, Market Specialist Judilyn Quiachon, and Tourism Operations Assistant Christian Glenn Abapo were the DOT guides. Val Casuco of PDP Digital, Inc. was also with us.

I courted Negros Oriental in a somewhat quixotic attempt for four ensuing days to discover the abstruseness of unaccustomed places, to hold dear the freedom of familiarizing these places, to meet several people in several ways, to contemplate the manner on how to unfold mysteries, to scrutinize even the faintest idea, and to grapple with all the experiences, the consequences, and the feelings that were flooding within me.

We arrived at the Toledo City Pier via Lite Ferry around 2 p.m. First, we checked-in at the Canlaon Pension House to refresh ourselves, then we went directly to the place where we could find the 1, 327 years old Balete tree, and then to the OISCA Model Farm. Returning to the pension house, we spent a night of restful sleep.

As we made our way to these places, we could view the province's landscape which consisted of rolling hills, a few plateaus and some mountain ranges. The places that unfolded upon me proved that people in Negros Oriental are actively involved in the agricultural industry. Sugarcane, corn, coconut, and rice are the principal products of the province.

The next day, we departed for Mabinay to visit the Mabinay Spring, the Mabinay Crystal Cave, the Tirambulo Highland Resort, and the Ilog River where I dared to experience kayaking. Yet, I failed to face my fear in the depths and the rapid currents of the river. I did not make it. I went back trekking the same discouraging distance, and traveled in the same van along the same risky road.

It was already dark when we finally departed for Bais City and checked-in at La Planta Hotel. Bais is one of the five components cities of the province of Negros Oriental and occupies the eastern portion of Negros Island. After dinner, we rejuvenated ourselves in Tanjay City by watching a ballroom dancing at the city's Ballroom Park.

After our breakfast the following morning, we headed to Capiñahan Wharf and boarded a boat for a dolphin watching cruise. The cruise took us out to Tañon Strait and Bais Bay to view playful dolphins. Every time they surfaced from their natural habitat, I found myself running from one side of the boat to the other, to catch their graceful antics. According to our tour guide, the most ideal visits are between May and September. You must have enough patience for this cruise. It took us almost an hour to finally spot them. We took our lunch on board while it was raining really hard. After which, we headed toward the 450-hectare protected mangrove forest.

We returned to La Planta to prepare our things because we were going to transfer again to another place. We checked-in at the La Residencia Tanjay, then proceeded to Dumaguete City. We arrived at Rizal Boulevard just before sunset. Then, we made a quick stop at The Village Bookshop and dropped by the Dumaguete Church.

We were supposed to stay overnight in Tanjay City, but the coordinators decided to spend the night instead in Dumaguete City. We went back to La Residencia Tanjay for dinner. We dropped by the Ballroom Park and waited for our vans to bring us back to Dumaguete City, where we checked-in at the OK Pension House.

Sunday, July 10, was our fourth and last day in Negros Oriental. We departed for Sibulan and proceeded to Balinsasayao Twin Lake, and then we went boating, and took our lunch at the lakeshore. Before we departed for Cebu City, I tried to catch the feelings of my experience - the tang, the resonance, and the scent of places - rapidly, before they depart from me. A place indeed is like a dream. No matter how elated you feel at a particular moment, it will disappear, and you will fail to reclaim it. Unless you note it immediately.