Fashion Faux Pas on Siquijor

It's Friday the 13th and nothing bad has happened today, so let me start off with a comment that a good friend left for me on my Kodak Gallery album:

"It's good to see you enjoying life, Dennis. Hey, I've been wanting to give you this fashion advice since I saw your Amanpulo pix. Speedos are a no-no in the beach! Cheers!"

When I first saw the comment, I was hard put to think of a shot of me in my Speedos but after a quick check through the 145 photos on my Dumaguete album, I found the offending photo.

Hmm. Yes, this is definitely not Tom Hanks in Castaway, is it?

Thanks for the tip, Chingkee! In my view, any fashion commentary from a lady should always be followed. I shall have to make that mental note: Speedos are for underwater hockey and never again to be worn on trips to Siquijor and such.

Other than that fashion emergency though, Tyrone and I had fun on Siquijor. We took a fast ferry to the island and from there rented a pedicab to take us to Coco Grove, supposedly the best resort on the island. Unfortunately, this was Easter Sunday, the one day in the year when there was literally no room at the inn. We had a quick peek at their pool and some of the huts but then were asked to leave (and I wasn't even in my Speedos!).

Next door was the Royal Cliff Resort, which had one room available out of the five they have in total. The staff was friendly enough and apologetically disclosed that they did not have much of a beach (the lack of which is highly visible in this photo!).

Oh well, Ty and I parked our stuff in the room anyway and went off for some snorkeling. It's a short swim to the resort's bamboo raft, the underside of which is covered with sharp barnacles and shellfish. Ty and I had fun swimming under the raft without touching any of the sharp stuff.

After a late but tasty lunch of freshly caught squid, we looked for shells on the neighboring beach. Then we headed off in our rented pedicab to check out some other resorts.

We found the Coral Cay Resort a few kilometers down the road, which to us, seems like the best deal on Siquijor. The beachfront was wide and the sand was brilliant white. The staff were helpful and the pool was inviting. And the pricing was cheaper than Coco Grove!

Unfortunately, we didn't spend the night at Coral Cay, although when we have the chance to go back, that will be my choice of resort.

We headed off to catch the last ferry back to Negros. At the pier, we found out all the tickets to Dumaguete were sold out! Luckily we had bought ours when we arrived this morning, so we were good to go.

In summary, here's my list of tips for Siquijor:
1. Buy your ferry return tickets early.
2. Stay more than a day - we never got to the old churches or the caves in the mountains or the waterfalls on the north side of the island.
3. If you like class, reserve at the Coco Grove. But the Coral Cay is more down-to-earth and cheaper!
4. If you wear Speedos, don't load up the pictures on the web!