Davao City

TRAVEL DATES: September 2 - 5, 2012

Backpacking around a certain city has been a long dream of mine. It was in Davao City that I made this dream come true!

Davao City is located at the southern part of the Philippines and is dubbed as the business central district of the whole Mindanao provinces. It is also Philippines' biggest city and I can attest to that because it's not that easy to tour around Davao in just a day.

First flight via Cebu Pacific Airlines and there I went off to Davao City. I landed at 8:30AM and the flight took around 2 hours. Upon exiting the Francisco Bangoy Terminal, I grabbed the chance to get a picture of myself with the giant Durian. Durian by the way is their famous fruit here!

 

I traveled to many places in Davao, and unfortunately I did it all (well almost) by taxi to avoid inconvenience. Well, the places to go were quite far from each other so I made the right choice. Pictures, pictures, and pictures again to delight your eyes and below are the various places I've visited:

 Crocodile Park Davao

                                        Butterfly Garden                               Ponce Suites

Outland Adventure's "Xcelerator"! (1.1km)

Jack's Ridge's overlooking view of Davao City

After a tiring day of going here and there, a perfect way to end the day is to stay in a comfy, safe and affordable hotel / pension house accommodation and the new "North Zen Inn" was the perfect place to stay. The hotel accommodation was only cheap and you can check its updated rates through www.agoda.com.

 

The next day, Samal Island was the next stop. How to get there? Hmmm, easy! Go to Ramon Magsaysay Park, along the fruit stands, then find the "Island Express City Bus" going to Samal Island and the fare is only PHP 25! 

TRAVEL TIP: Traveling by local bus is way cheaper than riding a taxi which will cost you around PHP 300 for land trip alone.

Ferry Ride to Samal Island!

Upon arriving to Samal Island, the hotel accommodation was just beside the pier. Camp Holiday Inn was the place to stay and it was huge and has a lot of rooms of different types. Since it was not peak season, there were only few tourists in there.

 Camp Holiday Inn Davao

What a better way to end the day! San Miguel Light Beer was a perfect match. Tomorrow's another day so I grabbed as much as I could!

As what they say, "Tomorrow's another day for a brighter future", and it was literally bright and hot in Samal Island. First stop was the Bluejaz Beach Resort! The place was very nice and very accommodating. They had some giant slides but too bad it was not operational and under scheduled maintenance. The pool I may note, was the highlight of the place!

 Bluejaz Giant Slides

More destinations to come but they were located on the other side of Samal Island. Riding a habal-habal or a single motorcycle was the right transportation to choose. The fare was around PHP 250 per person and the ride took about 30 - 45 minutes. Some of the place I've visited were the Hagimit Falls and of course the inevitable Maxima Aqua Fun!

 Hagimit Falls & Nature Park

 Maxima Aqua Fun with their giant heart-pounding and mind-breaking slides

Of course if there were places to visit, there were also various foods to satisfy our stomach's desire. This is always my favorite part of the trip and I don't feel any pressure when it comes to this part!

Warning again, pictures below may cause your stomach to grumble...

 Different Restaurants with various dishes to offer

 Pork Sisig, Tuna Pineapple Pizza, Binagoongang Rice, and Sizzling Gambas

All-in-all, my Davao escapade was a fun trip, but I guess I just expected more. Given the opportunity, YES, I will still go back to Davao and I want to visit the Outland Adventure Training Camp next time!

Travel Budget: PHP 8, 200.00 all in including air-fare! View my itinerary from HERE!

Leave a comment and I would highly appreciate it!

Island Cove, Cavite

TRAVEL DATE: July 6 - 7, 2012

After a hard day's work, everyone deserves some pampering and relaxation time. Thank God It's a Friday and thank God again because my colleague planned to have his post-birthday celebration during this day. Well his birth month was supposedly June but he opted to celebrate it in July.

6PM and we're off from work. Since our office was located in Ortigas, Pasig City, we rode a bus going to the Mall Of Asia and as expected, it took us around 1.5 hours to arrive, brought about by the ever epic traffic situation in Manila. The bus fare is around PHP 22.

 Flashes of Light

From Mall Of Asia, we again rode a van going to the Municipality of Kawit where our destination was situated. The fare was around PHP 50 and a ride that took about 1 hour via the newly opened Cavitex Expressway! Guess what? We still encountered the ever epic traffic situation! It must have been our lucky day!

TRAVEL TIP: Upon reaching the end of Cavitex, there's a nearby gasoline station and from there, ride again the local minibus, the Cavite way, and the fare is around PHP 10. 

At last, we arrived at the destination, Island Cove Resort!

Island Cove Hanging Bridge Entrance

Island Cove Resort is located beside Manila Bay and just around Cavitex Expressway. It's good to see that the place was full of lush trees and it surely was a breath of fresh air. 

My friend booked 2 rooms for the eight of us, so obviously we divided ourselves into 2 groups. The hotel room was nice and spacious but the air-conditioning unit was not that good.  

TRAVEL TIP: The room included a balcony outside for smoking and sound tripping but make sure to apply your anti-repellant lotion against mosquitoes!

You may check out the updated room rates of Island Cove Resort Hotel from here: http://www.islandcovephil.com/accommodations/.

We rented their videoke room and it was only around PHP 4,000 for a two-hour stay and good thing that it was consumable. Meaning that the 4,000 is worth of foods and drinks already! To satisfy your food cravings, check out the pics below:

 

Videoke and Chill-out Night

The next day, we had a buffet breakfast which was PHP 400 and we definitely enjoyed eating above all else. We stayed for quite some time and had about 3 - 4 rounds of food servings! The longganisa and omelet were good by the way.

Buffet Breakfast: Our Most Favorite Moment

Under the sun's heat, we enjoyed ourselves basking in their swimming pools. Do not forget to try their "death-defying" and "heart-pounding" water slides. Yes, it was crazy!!! If you opt for a smaller slide, they also have the inflatable one.

 

 

 

Fun under the sun!

Lunch by the sea was also great! Our friend treated us and we literally had a feast. There were some fresh seafoods and the Pinoy food Kare-Kare. The location of the cottage was situated on the water so you can really feel the ambiance while eating. Overlooking from the cottage also was the Mall of Asia!

 

 

 Kare-Kare Dish

 Foodies!

It was a day of enjoyment and fun. A day to satisfy our minds, bodies and of course our stomachs. If you consider looking for a nearby resort from Manila, make Island Cove Resort one of your options!

 

 Happy Birthday Sidney!

Leave a comment and I'll surely appreciate it!