Poracay, Pampanga

TRAVEL DATES:  November 3 - 4, 2012

Part II: "The Unplanned Trip" Escapade

"The loooong holiday is coming!"

This was the idea that troubled our minds again. Together with my university colleagues, we yearly plan our "unplanned trip" and just enjoy life and what it has to offer.

Well, the mechanics of the trip? Here it was:

1.) Gather a day before at G.A. Towers, on my colleagues' condo unit.
2.) Bring your own laptop or WiFi-enabled mobile phones
3.) Suggest a place / resort to go.
4.) Defend your proposal.
5.) Choose a place and find some resources on how to go there.
6.) Plan for food, budget, itinerary.
7.) All-set!

This year 2012, we chose the province of Pampanga as our next "unplanned trip" escapade. Poracay Resort was the name of the place and as the resort's name suggested, it's located in Porac, Pampanga.

Call time was 8am and we boarded the 9am Victory Liner Bus trip from Cubao to Marquee Mall, Pampanga. Well, the fare is around PHP 130 and a travel time of roughly 1.5 hours. Though it was a holiday, good thing there was no traffic.

Upon arriving Marquee Mall, the first thing we did was taking pictures! Cool, right?!

We decided to have lunch there, and bought some grocery for the foods and drinks to bring. The nice thing about Poracay Resort was that it has a refrigerator to which you can keep your frozen foods and drinks.

TRAVEL TIP: From Marquee Mall, we rode the jeepney going to Genre Mall and then rode a tricycle to Poracay Resort. The place was quite far though and rough road so make sure to bring your sunglasses, hanky and other accessories that you can use to cover your face.The fare was around PHP 50 per person.

Poracay Resort was more than we expected. The place was very nice and has a lot of swimming pools to choose from. You'd never think that a cool resort is located at this place. Another thing good about this place was its colorful cabanas and rooms.

Magnificent jumpshot collections to satisfy your eyes:

 

We stayed overnight on one of their cabanas that cost PHP 3,000 pesos per night. The room included a common area, one bedroom, gas stove for cooking, and refrigerator for storing foods and drinks.

We definitely had fun and it was a perfect time to unwind and get out from the busy streets and stressful life of Metro Manila!

'Till wee see again!

Hopefully with more university colleagues!

TRAVEL TIP: Poracay Resort is still having its continuous renovation for the improvement of the whole resort. There are still more to come...

Budget per person: appx. PHP 1,100.00 all in.

Your comments are highly appreciated!

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!