Dumaguete's Rizal Boulevard is a commercial area of mostly bars and restaurants that make reflection and contemplation along the paved shoreline more convenient and stimulating.
This long coastline esplanade of Dumaguete City is partly shaded with sporadic alternations of trees and stretched out with the panorama of the azure sea and sky.
Leisurely walks and jogs on the promenade is quite relaxing, especially in the wee hours of the morning and in late afternoons.
This main boulevard in Dumaguete serves also as a favorite ground for simple reminisces of the past.
An idle stroll and glance at the sea can bring to mind the way the city had been several years or decades hence.
Generations of people have relished the place as a rendezvous spot, a fun family picnic ground, or an outdoor sport practice area.
Ambling along the boulevard especially on quiet mornings or afternoons easily evokes such fond memories.
This boulevard in Dumaguete City - Philippines particularly comes alive on Sundays as idlers, strollers and visitors after a Mass celebration gather at refreshment bars and eateries lined up along the thoroughfare.
It is reminiscent of the old Dewey Boulevard in Manila in the 1950s when families spread out picnic linen sheets on the coarse sand after church on Sundays and prepared food for a family meal under a palm tree by the shore.
Children would feel the gentle breeze blowing against their hair as they ran around and kicked small seashells, as they do today along Rizal Boulevard.
Dumaguete fiestas are especially enjoyed annually on these areas of the avenue.
Colorful parades and street dances grace the otherwise quiet streets of the district on one side of the boulevard, while a lot of sea festival activities happen on the other.
The evenings along the thoroughfare are romantic, especially in the cool months before and past Yuletide.
A famous nocturnal activity here is the seafood market where fresh yields of the sea are sold or cooked over burning coals for serving on dinner tables by the sea - a live local band sprinkles the cool air with nostalgic music while tall drinks are sipped - to recall more a delightful past.