Cherinicole Beach Resort Siargao

One response to “Cherinicole Beach Resort Siargao”

1. dutchpickle

   Jul 21, 2010 at 5:52 am | Permalink

   comment sent in by reader Lindsay

   Giday DP

   Back in NZ and freezing my nuts off!

   I tried to post this on your website but it throws up a box saying it’s spam filer won’t accept stuff from proxies…. whatever that means.

   Here’s the update:

   Started in Dumaguete on Negros, up to Cebu City. Delt with bike problems as previously discussed. Then up to Bogo City on north Cebu, across to Bantayan Island, stayed there two nights. Next over to Leyte and Ormoc where it was nice catching up with you. From there down to Maasin. We had planned to go Ormorc-Bato-Ubay in one day, but arriving in Bato we found the shipping schedule had changed from 1200 midday to 0900. So we pressed on to Massin and spent a night there, going back to Bato next morning early. Over to Ubay in Bohol, from there to Jagna Bohol. As said, you really need to check out that little Idea Pension in Jagna. From Jagna to Mambajal on Camiguan Island. Stayed there 3 nights at the Rooftop Hotel, owned by Gert and his lovely wife. Did some excellent back roads on Camiguan and had a very lovely local girl guide us hiking up over 3.5km of riverbed to a beautiful waterfall and pool. From there by boat to Mindanao (can’t remember the port) and on to Butuwan city. Here is very interesting, there has been much research of the human history of the area and the museum has a wonderful display of many artefacts. We were lucky, the museum manager took us on a tour of the museum and told us many interesting things about the area. The Chinese and even the Persians were trading in that area 2000yrs ago…. There are some boats that are more than 1000 years old. After Butawan we went to Suragao City. A couple of nights in Suragao, it’s a reasonably nice little town and the E.Y. Hotel is very comfortable. From there to Siargao Island, arriving at Dapa. We rode up to the Cloud 9 beach area and had a look, also rode down the beach in the opposite direction as well. Stayed at the Cherinicol and had a meal at Ronaldos. There must have been a flowering plant on the island that didn’t like me, I was struck down with the worst hayfever I ever had. Luckily, despite it being Sunday, the local Dapa doc was around and he prescribed medication for me. Back over to Suragao for a night, then took ship overnight back to Cebu.

   Had a few days rest in Dumaguete with Juvee’s folks and replaced the rear suspension monoshock because the hydraulic oil had leaked out. It is a gas filled damper with a coil spring, had to buy a new one. The part should not have failed, my bike has only done 10,000kms. After some rest I took Juvee to Bacalod city via a night at Kanlaon to see her old work-mate, then returned to Dumaguete after four days.

   Some memorable moments:

   At Cherinicole on Siargao Island the cook offered us a three choice off-season dinner menu: Fish, rice, or rice and fish. He kindly offered to include vegetables if we went to the market and bought them. I took the boy with me on the bike, gave his P200 and he went into the market. While waiting I noticed a lady starting to scream and throw green mangoes at a guy who was a stall owner. She threw them with great and increasing vigour, he crouching ever lower on his little box seat. Having run out of mangoes she shifted to onions, all the while screaming as he slowly got buried in a pile of fruit and veg. The crowd gathered offering much advice to both. The screaming lady ran out of onions and she found the big knife used to cut cabbages, and threw that. Finally the guy moved, onions and mangoes everywhere, eyes like golf balls. The knife missed, she dashed into the stall, grabbed the knife and began chasing him. He took of like a burning cat. Later I learned she was his wife, he had invested the weeks takings at the chicken fights, but on the wrong chicken….

   Juvee and I on the bike going south on very wide National Highway leaving Bacalod on a Sunday morning. Three-abreast jeepneys, tricycles, mayhem etc you know the scenario. We are nearer the center of the highway as it is unwise to ride on the right side of jeepneys. Two guys with a leachon on a pole step of the sidewalk to the right and start marching out to cross the highway. The two jeepneys to my right slow up to stop, the lead leachon guy sees me and I can see there is still enough clear highway to pass around him. I proceed only to find a woman hiding behind him, crossing the highway and looking the other way to her right (!) steps out in front of me…. The tip of the right hand-grip rubber grazed her ribs, the bike barely wobbled and she brushed my arm. Juvee immediately looked back and said “she’s down”. Bruce and I had discussed such a scenario in the past; I made the immediate decision to keep going. We know what can happened when hordes of onlookers gather around such an incident, especially with a foreigner, and being a Sunday no police (which I’m not sure is a good or bad thing) Despite the woman going down, I knew she was not badly hurt; had we hit her full-on she would have been, and we also would have been on the road. About 2km on a guy on a screaming XRM pulls up alongside and starts shouting in Ilongo at us. Juvee speaks fluent Ilongo so, against my better instincts, I stop and she and him have a chinwag. Turns out he is some sort of low-level local government official and is saying we must go back as the woman is “badly hurt”. Bullshit. I give him P1000 and tell him to take it to the woman, and before I realise it he and Juvee are swapping cell numbers. About now the jeepneys have caught up and are stopping, a crowd is building up around us. I’m outa here, the XT gets full throttle and we are gone before the shit starts.
   That evening in Dumaguete Juvee starts getting texts from the woman saying she has had a check-up, nothing is wrong but she needs more money. Next, her kids start texting saying they need more money as well… Changed SIM cards.

   We were on Siargao Island and came across a beautifully laid-out little purok, flower and herb gardens, nice little community hall etc. The local kids all rushed out to see us, smiling, laughing and shouting “give me money”. We were a little taken aback as this is the back-blocks and one normally never hears the “give me money” song. The adults wandered into view and we got chatting. Bruce spent quite some time explaining to them that the “give me money” thing is not a good look, denigrates the culture etc and is generally unappreciated by foreigners. The adults duly passed the message to the kids, and a great discussion ensued.

   Time to go, we wandered back to the bikes, got on and waved good-bye. To a chorus of “give me money….”

   Cheers

   Lindsay

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