davao tripping

My first trip to Mindanao area was in Davao last December 4, 2008. The planning for this visit was planned as early as September…? I am not sure but it was planned beforehand so we can attend Karol’s wedding.

First Night

First night in Davao was pretty exciting yet I was stricken by the quietness of the city. The streets were wider than the usual streets in Cebu that made it almost empty but not bare. My tummy was grumbling just after we dropped out things in our pension house. We surveyed the area for some fast food chain so we would know where to eat just in case… and we saw TAPS just around the corner. I read about TAPS, tagged as a popular tapsilogan in the area from Smile travel magazine. The food was okay but the service for me is slow. The group decided then to go a place where we could hang out for a while. When all girls go together and considering the possibility that we don’t have any idea where to go… you’d all probably end up going back to your rooms. But lucky us we’re all not girls, we’re all bayots wrapped up in a woman’s physique, haha… So, we were able to finally come up with the place – Matina Town Square. We found a bar there where we played pool, drank beer, ate some pulutan and took some pictures. We did not stay late at the bar coz we had a big island tour day the next morning.

Isla Reta, Samal Island

Float bound to the isla is around 9-10 in the morning. At this time, the waves aren’t so big. The banka was also large enough to give us comfort during the trip. We sat on the boat for almost an hour till we finally docked to Isla Reta. The sand was white as I’ve expected. Karol’s bro already took care of our accommodation. We already had a table under a big tree waiting for us. Pare took out his IPOD and speakers. The place was perfect for relaxation and matching the mood with cool music and fresh buko juice. Ahh! Going back trip to the city was scheduled 3PM.

For dinner, we decided to go to Jack’s Ridge and eat at Taklobo. I was especially looking forward for the seafoods. The food was excellent and so was the bill. Haha… Just outside the restaurant you can see the city night lights of Davao and cemetery lights near the place. We just sat there and hanged out for a while. Talked and laughed a lot mostly. When we finally head back to the city, we decided to stop at People’s park. We got there 30mins before the closing time. So we had a quick tour of the place. From the park, the pension house was just few minutes away and so we walked our way to the pension house. But along the way, we got a little thirsty and hungry so we stopped at some Chinese restau and ordered halo-halo.

Eden Park, Eagle Farm and Crocodile Park

Eden Park is a haven for people who love to go nature tripping w/o feeling exhaustion along the trip. The park has a lunch and snack package that includes a shuttle ride around the area. They serve tuna sandwich/ spaghetti and juice for snacks. There I found colorful peacock, birds, deer and beautiful sceneries like flower gardens, cabin, pond, etc.

The highlight of the trip was the zip line…The idea of zip line is to start at an elevated place and ride your way through a rope attached at the other end of the line. The ride would take about 10-15 seconds. Haha…

Eagle Farm is a sanctuary of the wild eagle family. I like the idea of preserving the birds but putting them into cages eliminates the wild characteristics of this species.

Crocodile farm is not only home to crocs. There are also a number of animals that can be found on this place. The largest and I guess the oldest of the crocs name is Pangil. We arrived on time for a show and Pangil was displaying stints of protecting his territory using his sweeping tail power splashing water all over the place and unto the audience too.

At the end of the day, we were all so hungry because we only had a snack for lunch at Eden. When the van driver dropped us at Joe’s Inato, we were all starving. Good thing though is that the restau was just around the corner from our pension house.


BIG Day

The spare time we had before Karol’s day we spent buying wedding gift and pasalubongs.

The wedding ceremony was short and simple. I didn’t hear mommies crying that day. Instead I noticed the most unusual thing that day – wearing sun glasses in formal barong attire while taking family pictures. Hehe…

Good bye Davao

Finally it was time to bid good bye to one memorable place. I couldn’t think straight that morning due to lack of sleep which only lasted for a mere 3h and due to alcohol intoxication which ran through my system that whole day. I couldn’t file SL that day because I had to finish a report which I need to submit the next day. So, I came for work and was even surprised to also see my drinking buddies Baruk n Pare also showing up. Pare however did not finish his 9.6 while me n Baruk endured the ordeal between work and sleep that day. Whew! Girl power.