5 DAYS BACKPACKING NEGROS+SIQUIJOR

Im dreaming of visiting all the 80 provinces of the Philippines. September last year when a budget airline Cebu Pacific Air offers a 1 peso fare for all their domestic destinations. Without hesitations I grab the opportunity. I booked a flight from Manila bound to Bacolod then Dumaguete to Manila. This 5 days trip would cover the 3 provinces- Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.

The Ruins in Talisay, Negros Occidental

Day 1

• arrived at the Bacolod-Silay Airport
• explore the heritage city of Silay
• dine  at El Ideal Bakery
• glimsed of yesteryear at The Ruins in Talisay
• tasted the famous Bacolod chicken inasal
• checked-in at Bacolod Pension House
• roamed around the City of Smile-Bacolod City

Day 2

•  jogged at the Negros Occidental Provincial Capitol grounds
•  hop a mini-bus bound for Mambukal in Murcia
•  explore the waterfalls of Mambukal Resort
•  checked-in at Ong Bun Pension House

San Isidro Labrador Church in Lazi,Siquijor

Day 3

• travelling from Bacolod to Dumaguete
• arrived at Dumaguete City seaport
• boarded a ferry boat to Siquijor
• arrived at the Island of Fire- Siquijor
• eat lunch at the Diamond de Siquijor Beach House restaurant
• rested from the long hours of travelling

Day 4

• explore the whole island of Siquior

Siliman University in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental

Day 5

• jog with the locals at the Rizal Boulevard in Dumaguete
• roam around the City of Gentle People-Dumaguete
• from sweets to streets foodtrip

THY WOMB

Shaleha Sarail(Nora Aunor),a Badjao midwife hails from a coastal village in Sitangkai, Tawi-Tawi. The province is a seaweed-producing spot in the southernmost part of the Philippines all the way down the Malaysian and Indonesian archipelagos. Aging and still smarting from three miscarriages in the past, Shaleha agonizes over her failure to bear a child. Though an adoptive parent to her nephew, she still feels that her husband Bangas-An (Bembol Roco) desires to be a father. She struggles to cope with the irony of her own infertility amidst the deprivation of her community.

To fulfill her husband’s only wish and to be blessed by Allah—in her belief that having a child is a tangible proof of divine grace—Shaleha resolves to find a new partner for her husband. Night and day, she and her husband sail away from their floating village and to nearby island communities in search of a fertile woman. As if by providence, Shaleha finds the girl through friends' recommendations. But on the eve of her husband’s second marriage to Mersila (Lovi Poe), jealousy gnaws and consumes Shaleha. .

A saga of island life stuck between the devil of passion and the deep blue sea of tradition.