Villa Marmarine, Siquijor---The Holiday Surprise

"The night is still young," Nicki Minaj sings so I'm going to squeeze this in before Monday hits a few minutes from now. :-D La Isla del Fuego or the Island of Fire commonly known as the island of Siquijor is just nestled across Dumaguete (where I lived for almost five years), an hour ferry away, but I didn't have the guts to set foot on the place because of its mystical stories, something that usually bothers people from the province. On a positive note, I heard loads of wonderful stories too about this interesting piece of paradise, which I just realized and witnessed very recently. 

If not for someone who's always hungry for an adventure, I won't probably be sharing these stories with you now. The moment the fast craft docked, all those hearsay about Siquijor just vanished after being greeted by its warm summer breeze and of course, the one that everybody's after, its white sand beach.

The open deck at the restaurant where guests can enjoy al fresco dining. Need I say more?

Lonely Planet gave us a few options about where to stay while on the island. I called a few resorts, but it was in Villa Marmarine where we tried our luck at. Since it's summer, most of the resorts are already fully booked including this one. For our two-night stay there though, we had to move from one room to another the next day just for us to be accommodated. The place offers a few room options ranging from Php 800.00 to Php 3,000.00. It's owned by a Japanese family so it's not a surprise that the rooms had Japanese names too. :-D 

I originally chose Shige for Php 800.00 a night being the cheapest and it's beach front. With that rate though, expect the room to be booked always so I failed at that point. The lady I talked to on the phone named May was so nice to give me more options. And she, in fact, was really nice in person; always smiley and very accommodating. We opted for Mato during the first night for Php 1,800.00 and Sayuri for Php 2,500.00. The former though did not have A/C, but big enough to accommodate six people as it's a two-story building. The bed was four-poster with lacey curtains as mosquito protection. It's Sayuri room though that gave us the most comfort because first, it has A/C and the building is quite new. The only challenge was the WiFi because it is situated far from the restaurant where the modems and routers are placed. Check this for more about the resort (Villa Marmarine).

View of the beach from the restaurant. If this is always the view at breakfast, as I said before, I'll never miss breakfast anymore.

Probably one of the most expensive cottages in the resort. 

It looks like someone is getting cozy here. :-D Don't kill me for posting this.

WHERE TO DINE?

We wanted to look for the cheapest, but decent place where we could eat. Though the resort is only a 10-minute drive from the town central, we didn't want to stress ourselves travelling every time we wanted to satisfy our tummies so we opted to eat in the resort resto for breakfast and dinner. Looking at the menu, I thought the prices were reasonable enough so it was a good choice for us to be in the resort to have two of our major daily meals. :-D 

I'm not really into Japanese food, which is "unfortunately" the specialty in the menu, but my buddy loves Japanese food so it was really a treat for him. Surprisingly, after being left with no choice, I found their Japanese offers really gastronomically satisfying. Yes, I'm not a fan of this kind of Asian cuisine and ironically, I've been to loads of Japanese restaurants already, but I must say, the ones in Villa Marmarine are now a favorite.

The one you see in the photo is my most favorite that because of being too yummy and because I was too indulged, I forgot to take note of its name. So for those of you who find the food below familiar, please feel free to educate me. I'd love to have this again in the future. When you arrive, the staff would serve a welcome drink and during our first dinner, they gave us free ice cream and the rest of the guests who just came in that day too. Talk about Japanese accommodation! Surely, though the resort is ran by non-Filipinos, it's a place where one wouldn't feel out of place. 

THE ISLAND TOUR

Being with the best cartographer in the world, I knew I won't have any problems with directions. So we wanted to tour the island on our own with a bike, a scooter again this time. We were worried at first because I don't have a license and based on the staff's experience, policemen are usually scattered around and capture those who drive without a license. But we didn't allow any worries to ruin our plan. We pushed through. I drove. We almost ran out of gas at some point. And there were no policemen. We got lucky, I guess. :-D

The resort offers a cheap bike rental too compared to others that we saw for only Php 300.00 and that's already an entire day use. You just need to fill the tank up with gas, maneuver the handle bar, free your heart from policemen worry, and you're good to go. Hahaha I would still recommend though that you have your license ready if ever you plan to drive around somewhere or in Siquijor. Don't risk it. :-D

THE TRADITIONAL SUNSET STORIES

There's never a beach excursion without a sunset story to showcase. During the first day, it was simple. A stroll on the beach, cracking of jokes, unleashing the craziness, and just watching the sun go down. And before I forget---taking "Instagrammable" photos of this romantic setting. Who did you think got the most likes? Better check out our Instagram feeds for that. :-D Hahaha Okay, jail me for being sopppppppppppppy! 

THE HOLIDAY SURPRISE

What do you have in mind? It's nothing big actually. I just didn't expect the resort would sweep me off my feet. I wasn't impressed of the photos online so I thought it would be a basic accommodation and we might have overpaid for it. Only to find out it was all worth it. The restaurant has a magnificent view of the beach, the food was decadent especially my favorite, the rooms were big enough, the location was conveniently accessible, the sunset view is pretty romantic, and most of all, the resort owners and the crew are really polite and accommodating. I have to agree with my buddy that Japanese people are one of most polite people in the world. There surely are a lot of resort options on the island like White Villas or Coco Grove (with their own yacht), but Villa Marmarine is defo a place to be when in Siquijor. Be surprised!

XoXo,

Red Eye ;-)

@EditsByRedEye (Instagram)

@RedEye0920 (Twitter)

Life Of Red Eye (Facebook)