Greetings to all Hivers! A blissful day to all. I am Honey and I enjoy traveling. It helps me rejuvenate from the lonely and isolated life that I am currently in and let me discover unique experiences and stories that I would love to share.
Today I'm gonna talk about my experience on the so-called healing island of the Philippines, "Siquijor". Beyond its myths and witch tales, what really is in Siquijor?
As a Filipino, when you mentioned the place, automatically the thing that will register in your mind is witches, witchcraft, love potions, "Aswang" and other negative connotations about the island.
Last year, 2021, I was assigned to hire someone to manage our marketing affairs. Then we got a referral, a lady that worked in Dubai for 10 years. A perfect fit for what we are looking for. Her name is Grace. Grace shows a lot of potential for the work, so we immediately hired her, plus we love the vibes she brings.
It seems that everything is going well until Grace drops out of contact one day (we work remotely). We tried calling her and chatting with her for several days, but she never responded.
After 4 days that she went missing, we finally decide to move on and try another candidate, and then.., she chatted. Grace has all the excuses in the world why she can't work but mostly because she doesn’t have power and internet for a few days. Then there she mentioned that she live on the island of “Siquijor”. It's the first time I search for it on the internet. It lies around the south of Cebu Province.
We have a staff house by then in Cebu City where she could move and work with me, I offered her but Grace gladly refuse it, saying she can't leave her island life. I was intrigued by her response. It was odd that she would let this good opportunity slip away just because she didn't want to leave a boring island (Grace was still single and had no family in Siquijor at that time). So we let her go and moved on.
A year later, as I was deciding on where to spend my precious 1-week company vacation, I remembered Siquijor and Grace. Then just like that, I took a bus and 2 boat ride on my way to the Island. This time I reconnect with Grace and just in time the day I arrived, she messaged me back saying she would love to meet me in person for the first time.
Port of Siquijor, Siquijor
The island of Siquijor is so small that you could even tour it in less than a day. The fourth smallest in the country. As I set out on my journey, I met someone who would become my companion throughout the trip.
At the port, our tour guide/driver who is a local resident of the island met us with enthusiasm in his motorbike, handling a small welcome note, even though we are already late. His name is Raul. Raul immediately start our day trip soon as we arrived. He is very energetic, makes funny jokes, answer all our questions about the witch tales, and is the best at taking photos. We right away became friends.
He took us to the most beautiful beaches that you could ever be in your entire life. Siquijor has plenty of it. We went to a magnificent diving cliff, pristine white sand beaches, amazing waterfalls, and a lot more.
But aside from all the beauty that it has offered my eyes. I fell in love also with its people, the community. How happy and content everyone looks. The smile and giggles of its children while running around the beach. The bright vendors' faces when you purchase a small and cheap meal from them and the way they express their gratitude when you bought something. The vibe of the island brings joy into your heart. It was warm and peaceful.
I have talked and drank with several locals and their expression to me of gratefulness that I am not being a hypocrite tourist or being boastful makes them happy, and it makes me happy too. It has the reason why it is also called the healing island. Shamans and great traditional healers can be found here and moreover there you would appreciate the beauty of simple living. That we don't need that much to be happy. We don't need cars, theaters,s or malls to be entertained. All that we really need is peace, within our hearts and mind. Right there great healing will start.
A group of a young band in the hostel preparing for their next gig
Raul with my travel companion and friend @kellyane having our simple lunch
Mr. Croz telling me the tale of the medicinal coconut wine and its secret
Then I realized why Grace doesn't want to leave before, probably because this is the best life she could ever have. On this simple, and small island of Siquijor.
Grace preparing her motorbike to take me back to the port upon leaving the island
Thank you for reading my blog today. Have you been to Siquijor? Share with me your thoughts and experience in the comment section. See you in my next post. Much Love!
Your Honey XoXo
Cheers to more travels to come with you Hon!
looking forward on our Negros tour @kellyane .. yay!
I really miss this place. Beautiful beaches and a very welcoming people.
I totally agree @psychkrhoz. It was fun makitagay sa mga locals. They have a lot of funny stories to share. :)
The place looks serene and yes it has the vibes of healing written all over it. So you lost an office mate but gained a friend in the process. I'd say that that is a win for everyone. I would find it difficult to leave this place also. With that beautiful beach and waters. Manong tour guide looks like a nice guy. haha. !PIZZA
Kuya Raul (driver) makes the trip more enjoyable, he is soo good at taking post-perfect photos. I had a sad heart as well when I have to leave as some of the locals there already become my friends even just for a few days of stay. And yes, Grace is happy and got married to a local farmer as well. I can see the contentment in her eyes when I met her. Thank you for the PIZZA @juanvegetarian.
That's a great story on how to make friends as we Filipinos are already known to be hospitable and friendly. Good for your friend that she got married to a local dude. Awesome driver too, he knows how to take great photos. 😁
I hope you could visit Siquijor also in the future. It would be a fun experience also for you :)
Hopefully, hahaha. 😊😊😊
I havent been to Siquijor and its one of my bucket list. Thanks for showing us around, 😃
I hope you could visit there one day. I can tell that it is one of the underrated travel destination in the county, a must visit place
Yup. I agree!
Ang ganda din talaga ng Siquijor. Sana makabisita ako. Magandang gabi sayo kabayan.
A must visit place kabayan. Isa sa pinakamaganda sa mga napuntahan ko 😊
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Hiya, @LivingUKTaiwan here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Your post has been manually curated by the @pinmapple team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider supporting other authors like yourself and us so we can keep the project going!Thank you @livinguktaiwan and the @pinmapple team for the honorable mention. Will definitely check other posts on the list.❤️
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