Hayahay Treehouse Bar and View Deck

After praying so hard for the typhoon not to swerve its way to our place of destination or at least for it to weaken so as not to ruin our trip, half dark about a successful travail we still went on with our planned adventure. And we brought for companion our fears of having the possibility of last minute flight cancellation or being storm trapped in an island. But I thank the heavens for a fine weather all throughout the trip.

We actually didn't prepare any plans or itineraries for our Dumaguete trip, for we'd be meeting our friend who studies there and who luckily was willing to tour us around.

We needed nourishment for we hadn't eaten since the morning and we didn't want our travel be distorted by an accidental fast. So off we went to this almost (2) two decades old place called Hayahay, a treehouse restaurant cum bar of locally snazzy type with an ocean view deck. Hayahay, I reckon is a Cebuano term for relax and calm state, a word that fittingly supports Dumaguete's claim as a city of gentle people.

Eat what the locals eat. The place serves fresh seafoods you wouldn't miss for the world. We had a plate of Dumaguete Express, a medley of squid, chicken, fish in ginataan or coco milk topped with lechon kawali. It was exquisite, good for 3 to 4 persons and shockingly costs Php 140 only. The squid was slow cooked to tender perfection, the exact tenderness and juiciness I'm obsessed about and what I nag about at my dad how he couldn't bring squid meat to tenderness.

Hayahay is one of those places where people do not stare at others, the locals are so carefree and accustomed to foreigners or sorts. We found a table cleaving to the balustrade having a good view of the ocean which according to my friends, to the opposite end is Siquijor island.

The place was half crowded, perfect proportion exactly. The people sauntering around seemed convivial but the look of the ocean was something seemingly between sombre and calm. All that smell of another place and taste of the salty air was rather odd with an afternoon languor. I did spend a great deal of time anatomizing the situation.

Pure fluke without the storm, we had a great late lunch. Thank you to my friends who were almost brothers to me for showing us around!