Davao Vacay

My first vacation for 2013-- off to Davao! Thanks to airplane promo fares, it's much easier to travel these days. I haven't been to Davao since I was in grade school. When I saw Davao being one of the destinations for the flight promo, I immediately told my mom to buy us tickets so we could visit her siblings there. Good thing she agreed; we booked tickets for January 25.

We had our trip arranged by my cousin who works in a travel agency, we were basically on a relaxed trip since everything was settled. She booked us in D'Leonor for 2 nights. We didn't expect we'd be staying in a suite room. It was complete with living room, kitchen with appliances and two bathrooms. It felt like our little home away from home-- comfy and homey.

Our home away from home

Day 1:

First stop was Eden Nature Park. When we arrived at around 11 am, we first checked with the front desk for our day tour reservation. We got booked for 2 pm so we had a little time to kill before lunch, strolling around their Pasyalan, taking pictures of the feathered friends and having pictorials around the beautiful scenery of the park.

By 12 noon, we were already hungry and ready to feast on the lunch buffet at the Vista Restaurant. The resto was packed with tourists, we even found it hard to get a table so we took seats outside where tables were set-up. The food was delicious and colorful my plate looked like a feast. The PhP 470.00 meal rate was worth it, with awesome food variety. While munching, several peacocks roam around freely. If you're not used to these creatures getting near you, better eat inside, but they're actually harmless as long as you leave them be. At around 1:30, we were all ready for our guided shuttle tour. By 2 pm we were off to see the wonders of the park. I didn't realize how vast the park was until the tour started. There were varieties of trees, both fruit bearing and non-fruit bearing, mangostene, durian, and pine to name a few. There was an area that highlighted the cultural history of Mindanao called Tinubdan. There are a variety of activities to do at the park like fishing, hiking, and zip-lining. It was an awesome getaway from city living with all the greeneries and cool air.

The entrance

Amphitheater

Wishing well at Lola's Garden

Tinubdan

The Japanese Tunnel was our next destination.  The tunnel stretched for miles and miles, parts of it lead to Samal Island, the NCCC Mall, and even Mt. Apo. I can't imagine how long of a tunnel it is but the area left for tourism is only short since the rest of it is dangerous to pass through because there are already many houses and establishments built above them. Along the tunnel, the guide showed us an actual meeting table, prison cell, guns and bullet casings that the Japanese left behind during World War II. It was an interesting destination; somewhat like entering a time capsule of the 1940's.

Before going down the tunnel

Right at this spot was a Buddha with its neck filled with diamonds

Up to 10 Filipino prisoners were detained here. Unimaginable!

Posing for the tunnel

We shopped for souvenirs afterwards at Aldevinco, taking home bags, t-shirts, wallets, and keychains for ourselves and for pasalubong at a low price. For durian and mangostene candies, the driver brought us to Lola Abon's Durian Candy Factory, claiming they sold the best durian candies and he was probably right because their candies tasted really good.

For dinner, we had a bite to eat at Jack's Ridge overlooking the city lights of Davao. It was raining real hard but the beautiful sight was not even tampered by the pouring rain. Romantic and breathtaking-- two words for the place.

Day 2:

We spent the whole day at Pearl Farm Resort, experiencing the white sand beach of Samal island. We took the boat ride from the city at the Marina, it was about 45 minutes tops to the resort. There was an area in the resort under renovation, it was kind of an eyesore but everything else was pretty good. We strolled around and came across women of Mandaya tribe who were selling beaded accessories, we bought  bracelets as souvenirs. We headed to the neighboring islet which was still part of the resort, enjoying the white sand  beach trying to get a tan. Part of the day tour package was a lunch buffet, a really huge one at that with a wide variety of food from seafood to Chinese dishes to Filipino recipes to western cuisine which my eyes could all muster but my stomach can't. Anyway, I tasted everything I could just to get back what we paid for and it was worth it. I couldn't stand after that. Hah! Call it gluttony but nah... who cares?! We took a dip at the pool while waiting for our massage schedule, just enjoying the water and savoring the tourist life. Aside from the food, the other highlight for our day at Pearl Farm was the relaxing arm and shoulder massage. We were looking for the cheapest massage since we wouldn't want to burden our mother for any more bills. Haha! But  seriously, the massage felt more expensive. At PhP 200, my sister and I felt so relaxed and rejuvenated  All my muscle pains were miraculously removed from my body. I'm not exaggerating  the massage therapist was really good at her craft. Our day at the resort was great, enjoying the vacay life as much as we could was awesome.

The water bungalows

Pearl Farm Villas

My my... if only I had a stomach with unlimited expansion

The pomelo was excellent! The best I've tasted so far.

This was the pool near the entrance of the resort

Day 3:

Farewell Davao City; hello Tagum City and New Corella. It was a one hour bus ride from Davao City to Tagum. I'm pretty impressed with their huge highways rowed with palm trees that gives the trip good vibes. When we arrived, our uncle picked us up at the bus stop and he drove us around the city. We checked out their two cathedrals, the old one had big statues of angels and saints while the new church had a huge  Sacred Heart of Jesus statue with a big rosary below it surrounding the fish pond. Afterwards, we drove by their city hall which was still in the process of contruction but it was probably 90% done and it kinda looked like a mall. I'm amazed by the architectural design, I haven't seen a city hall quite like it before here in the Philippines. When we were done with Tagum, we went off to New Corella where our uncle and aunt lives. By the evening, we went to Matin-ao Inland Resort to take a dip in their 10 feet deep pool. My cousins said it was famous among locals and tourists alike having 7 pools in different shapes and sizes (they even have a heart shaped pool), including one half-olympic sized pool. It was raining but we took a swim anyway since we were leaving early the next day so we savored what the water had to offer. It was a short but fun reunion with our relatives.

I'm loving this highway

Sacred Heart of Jesus & a huge rosary at Tagum's new Cathedral

The rainy dip at Matin-ao Inland Resort

Day 4:

On our way back to Davao City, we were caught in traffic because of the flood. The night before was a long night of rain. Davao has been flooding recently since typhoon Pablo. Our uncle was supposed to drive us all the way to the airport but his car couldn't get through the flood because it was pretty high so we transferred to a bus. Most buses that drove by were full, good thing there was one with vacant seats. What was supposed to be a one hour ride to our destination became two hours because of the traffic. That was our first experience of knee-deep flood (but we didn't have to take a dip). So far we didn't hear of any fatalities due to that flood which is positive news. We hoped and pray for the safety of the people in Davao. After two hours of travel, we arrived just in time for check-in. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Davao.

Traffic jam!

This flood stretches to a couple of municipalities

Our trip to Davao was a great experience. It was our first travel for the year 2013 and I hope for more getaways for this year and the years to come. Ah, the joys of travelling! I'm hungry for more and I'm so ready. Keep it coming!