Bayawan City ‘Boulevard’

My Negros Oriental Tour: Bayawan City Boulevard

Out at the church yard, I asked a trike driver if I could walk to ‘the boulevard’. He grinned and told me it was far so I should take a pedicab or a “potpot”. I did not quite get that, so I asked what a “potpot” is. The reply? “Kini!” and he was pointing to his pedicab. If his pedicab was called “potpot”, then I asked what a “pedicab” is. And he told me those tricycles using motorcycles. Haha and wow!

Let’s say that again folks… in Bayawan City a trike powered by a motorcycle is called “pedicab”. Just accept and remember it. No need to tinker with etymologies, alright?! And a trike powered by driver’s feet on a bicycle is called “potpot”. Ah this one is easy to relate to. It probably got its name from the honk that they use, the “potpot” much like that gadget used by taho vendors in Metro Manila, aight?! Now to the boulevard.

Ah yes, I went there on board manong’s potpot and it was a nice and slow ride along city streets!

Wow! “The Boulevard” is long and big! Like elsewhere, it is a coastal highway, newly spruced up, and to take advantage of the beautiful scenery, the surrounding areas were converted into a park. This boulevard in Bayawan is fairly new and has yet to see more establishments catering to the needs of those who might want to have a good time there. Some businesses have already started to sprout though. And this is such a long and wide boulevard, that am sure won’t run out of space that easily.

The Bayawan boulevard is definitely longer than those in Dumaguete, Surigao, Butuan, Oroquieta or Dapitan. Ah, for those not familiar, this 'boulevard' thing is a new “fad” amongst cities and towns in the country, trying to emulate Roxas Boulevard in Manila. Bayawan’s version though is more promising as unlike Manila, Dumaguete or Surigao, theirs is by a beach – a functional one that is – used for swimming or for docking fishermen’s boats. So, establishments can be erected on both sides of the boulevard, meaning beach side and land-side. The highway has four lanes with flower boxes in the middle of the road and park-like lighting!

Coke! Why did I feel triumphant when I saw those? Hehehe, my biases. As there are not so many big establishments yet, Coca Cola in the city has built stalls (kiosks) for would-be vendors to rent and serve as their stores. I felt triumphant this time as there are just so many establishments in the Visayas and Mindanao that serve only Pepsi products (I hear in exchange for those freezers, frdges and coolers) - which I don't like except Mountain Dew hehe. Anyway, the “temporariness” of those red kiosks at the beach side means the views won’t all be blocked by huts and houses when this area starts to bustle. Take note Mayor, don't block the sea-view, as I saw three that already do.

I went to one kiosk where the manang has started to grill her barbecues. I haven’t been able to have my afternoon snack, remember? The hot and musty restaurant over at Casa Rosario, remember? Here it was open air and breezy! I initially ordered a stick of pork bbq. Hmm, it tasted good so I asked for more. Ah, there was SanMigLight so I also grabbed one hehe! And stayed there for a while with some light conversation with Manang, her husband, a woman friend of manang and her baby. Discoveries? Well, here’s another one for the nomenclature conscious… the pork barbecue of manang and all other folks in Bayawan is called “tocino”! Splendid afternoon!

After the “snack” I moved on walking by the beach to as far as I thought I could going to the southeastern end. There was some fantastic eventuality about to unfold behind me, and I was all too conscious of that. As for the moment, I enjoyed seeing that even students opt to head home by walking along the sand. They still have that in Bayawan, yey! Then I came across some boys heading home carrying fish in their bare hands. All those fish looked to me like baby tuna (tulingan?). I asked where they bought their fish. They gleefully informed me that they did not buy but received those as reward for helping the fishermen unload their catch from the boat. I asked where the boat was and they pointed it to me… about 50 meters more! I went for it.

Why was I walking too fast? Wasn’t this supposed to be a stroll on the beach?! Well, I wanted to have a glimpse of the fishing boats unloading their catch. If you have been reading my blogs, you’d notice I have this natural propensity towards rural activities ehehe! But voila! This was not at all some lowly rural fishing activity. Gosh! Camera was “lowbatt” so I did not bother take pics of this scene. Some kids were still wading the distance from the boat to a truck but the crates were empty. Those crates are the plastic thing that they use at Navotas and other markets colored yellow or red or orange. And there were styrofoam boxes on the big truck. I still saw them topping ice on some of the boxes, and there were a lot of fish, many kinds. I asked one of the truck workers if that was a good catch. His reply “mahina, 33 boxes lang”. OMG! Well, looking at the truck, it could probably accommodate some 40 to 50 of those big styro-boxes.

And the spectacle ensued… and I was lowbatt, aaaaaaarrgh! My lowly brain did some rush analyses for options. None! So I was resigned that I would have forgone the beautiful sunset. Yes, that was the spectacle. My goodness! Bayawan is proof that sunsets in unpolluted rural places are better. True, really. If I compare the quality of the sunset here than Manila Bay’s, sus, Bayawan would be a 9 while Manila bay would be a 2! There is less or no haze at all in Bayawan’s sunset. And I wonder why I have not heard them advertising it. It is fantastic!

Call it fortunate, I accidentally pressed the power button of my camera, and it sprung open and ready! So I snapped a photo. It went through, then suddenly dead! Ahhhhh! I was screaming inside and praying for a miracle. After a while, I pressed it again and was able to take another shot. Another minute and I repeated the action. I was able to take a third pic and the damn thing went really dead it wont even power up. Argh! Time stamps on the 3 pictures… 5:21, 5:22 and 5:23PM hehehe!

So I went back to the hotel to charge both batteries and catch a little nap!


If you want to read the chronology of all stories on this tour, click the following:
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