Long Weekend in Davao

It was a 4-day weekend last August 18-21. A lot of people were either out of town or out of the country....including me!:)

It was my first time in Davao...and actually in Mindanao. But if only my bestfriend won't be there for work during the Kadayawan Festival, I won't push through with spending the long weekend there.  And I think it was also a sign to go when exactly a week before the long weekend, Tiger Airways by SEAIR offered a seat sale! I was able to convince my graduate school classmates to join us in Davao too. We got our roundtrip tickets for only Php1894!

Highlights of the trip:

Day 1 (Aug. 18, Saturday)

• Lunch at Liza's - it's a grill place by the beach and they serve yummy food (wasn't able to take a photo 'coz my tummy wasn't so good that time)

we weren't able to catch the parade due to my delayed flight

• Dinner at Toryano's (known for their native chicken)

• BluGre - We tried the Durian Cheesecake, Durian Coffee and Durian Frappucino haha! We also tried other cakes. They're all yummy!

• We ended the night at Starr Club. Because it's Kadayawan, the usual liquor ban of 2am was moved to 6am

 with my Davao-based friend

tequila shots!

Day 2 (Aug. 19, Sunday)

• Lunch at Chikaan Abreeza Mall
• Shopping at the Power Mac Center
• Milk Tea in SM Davao

 tired and sleepy

my BFF bought herself an iPod Nano while I got her a cute watch band for her birthday

Day 3 (Aug. 20, Monday)

• Mcdonald's breakfast in front of our hotel
• Isla Reta in Talicud Island behind Samal Island w/ my graduate school friends (1st and only trip of boat from Sta. Ana wharf that goes straight to Isla Reta is at 9am. But if you're late, there is another boat that leaves at 10am but just drops off passengers at Isla Reta. The same boat leaves Isla Reta back to the city at 3pm. Travel time is about an hour. The place was supposed to be paradise-ish but since it's a holiday, there were so many tourists at the island that time.)
• Buffet dinner at Let's Crab Eat (Buffet at Php 400/head)
• Drinks at Q Bar (just beside Microtel Inn)

I was so scared 'coz the life vests were still wrapped in plastic!

There's Isla Reta!

Welcome to the island!:)

Lunch! The worst part was waiting for our food for 1.5hrs. Better bring your own food.

got a nice view of the beach :)

back to the mainland (I was the 2nd to the youngest in this group haha PROUD!)

act like a lady, think like a man...and eat like a monster! LOL!

 graduate school classmates turned travel buddies turned friends!

 we're so full!

 Day 4 (Aug. 21, Tuesday)

• Buffet breakfast at the hotel
• Late lunch / Early dinner in Sushi Dito (Yummy and affordable Japanese food)
• Bought pasalubong at Gaisano Mall
• Drinks at The Deck (Pool Lounge) of Marco Polo (Really relaxing! We loved the food and drinks there!)
• Bought pomelo at a nearby stall (Kinda pricey at Php100/kilo and one piece of pomelo is more or less 1 Kilo also)

 our last day in Davao

 Japanese food will always be my favorite

 saying goodbye to my Davao-based friend

 very relaxing...

 haha vanity!:))))

 mozzarella sticks and sardines dip! yummy!

 Tuna Kinilaw! yum yum!

with friends from Tribal DDB...saying goodbye to Davao City

Here's my travel experience ratings:

Flight: 4 stars - SEAIR's plane is really new. Minus the delayed flight and the non-stop crying baby in the plane.

Hotel: 4 stars - Microtel Inn got good service. They made up our room almost everyday. Plus who wouldn't love the 2 queen-sized beds in our room? Although, their TV wasn't a flat screen! haha!
Food: 4 stars - Liza's, Toryano's, BluGre, Let's Crab Eat, SushiDito (Just some of the food places you gotta try)
Transportation: 5 stars - They got really kind cab drivers, plus not as expensive as that of Manila's. If there's something I liked the most the, it's their cab drivers and their cool cabs! "Maligaya" line has a TV while "Mabuhay" line has a debit card swiper.
Leisure: 4 stars - You can do ziplining, roll down a hill while in a zorb, see eagles and crocodiles, get to the beach in 15mins, go shopping, and more.
Nightlife: 3 stars - Didn't like much of the crowd, the music, the usual curfew (which I haven't experienced yet), and the boring weeknights (even if it's a holiday). Although drinks are a lot cheaper.
Overall Experience: 4 stars! It's not how nice or not a place you go to that matters the most, but the company you are with. Thank God for my BFF, graduate school friends, and some new friends who made the long weekend fun despite all the misfortunes (I need not go into detail. Just happy thoughts!)

with my BFF aka travel buddy! more adventures soon!:)

xoxo,

royciepoisie

Fun in BALER, Aurora

I have been hearing about Baler from a lot of my friends, most especially the surfer dudes. But I have not really though about going to that place anytime soon. But last long weekend, Nov.5-7, my friends who have planned a trip to Baler invited me to come with them. However, I didn't promise and I was totally undecided 'coz I really wanted to rest that weekend plus it's my grandma's birthday on the 7th.

Spent the day with the same group, and my thoughts of not joining them was overpowered by the calling for a break! Just realized I got too stressed at work and would really deserve a break. So that Saturday night (Nov. 5), we left Manila at 10:30pm and headed North. We're not really able to sleep along the way because we're too tight inside the car. We made all 6 of us fit a Toyota Vios haha!

It was really a tough journey going to Baler! The roads had no lights, and there were a lot of rough roads in between cemented roads. And unfortunately, it's raining quite hard on our way there. The worst part, we needed to go down the car every time there's an uphill rough road or high humps. We got wet and really felt cold. There were also a lot of landslides that sort of blocked the way. It took us 6.5 hours to get to Baler.

DAY 1

When we got there at around 5:30am, it was raining really hard. And since it's a beach front, there were really strong winds. Worst part, we didn't have any reservations to any hotel. All of the hotels were fully booked that time. We also got rejected in Bayler-view Hotel where we stayed for a couple of minutes to figure things out. But while my friends were resting inside the car, I went to Bahia de Baler to check if my friend who's staying there that time was able to reserve a room for us. Unfortunately, we were not booked. Come 6am, a group of surfers came to check-in. They were able to book two rooms. Luckily, they won't be using the other room, and that room was automatically given to me! So cool!:)

I called my friends up and we headed to the room. It was an economy room worth Php 1,200.00 per night, which has three beds. We made ourselves fit the beds (2 persons per bed) and took a nap before hitting the beach.

We were so tired that we woke up in time for lunch. We had lunch at Bay's Inn. Then came my friend Paula who's working for Senator Angara. She invited us to the Senator's private cove which was a 15-minute ride away. While my other friends chose to stay there and surf, I went with Paula to meet Senator and to swim and tour around his private cove in Dika. We rode a coaster then a van.

I saw such a breath-taking view of the cove! It got really clear water and an off-white sand, very far from the dark gray (almost black) sand and muddy beach in the surf area where we came from. I was able to meet Sen. Angara and had a little talk about the people we both know. He also toured us in the Artists' Village which was still under construction. After that, I was accompanied by Paula at the beach.

Sen. Angara showing us the Artists' Village

pardon my fatness...was just trying to show the lighthouse under construction :))

i seem like a castaway

After some photo ops on the huge rocks,I did a bit of swimming in the sea. Then after that quick swim, I headed to the stream which was leading to the sea. The water was very clear and cold. I dipped myself there so to avoid itching from salt water. Then we went back to the hut where other guests of Senator were staying. After some chitchats, we finally rode the van which took us to the coaster; and we rode the coaster going back to the hotel.

stream leading to the sea

that's where I swam!

After taking a shower, we headed to the Bar & Grill of Bahia de Baler. We were introduced to its manager, who's a surfer girl who recently won in the beginner's category. My classmates from graduate school who were also in Baler at that time, came to the same place for dinner. Paula had a "raisin-flavored lambanog" plus pulutan treat! The boys even had Red Horse after the lambanog, which got their worlds turning around. haha! In fact, some of them threw up secretly! It was such a fun night!

grad school classmates

DAY 2

And because we had a lot of alcohol the previous night, we woke up late. We had tapsilog worth Php 100 for brunch in Bayler-view. Super worth it. The meal even included coffee!:)  After brunch, I finally decided to learn how to surf. I got an instructor worth Php 300 for an hour. He taught me the basics for 5 minutes, and we spent the rest of the time in the water. the instructor took me quite far from the shore, but the water was still low on that spot. As we were on our way there, the coming waves hit my face every now and then, and those quick waves almost got me falling off the soft board.

So what happens is: my instructor pushes me to somewhere quite far from the shore as we go against the coming waves, then we wait for the right wave (just right speed and force), he turns me and my board around facing the shore, and when he says "ready", I position myself (hands pushed down against the board), and finally when he says, "tayo!", I push myself up and try to balance myself on the board while riding the wave! So fun! Unfortunately, not all rides were successful for me. In fact, I fell off the board in most of them. But I was so proud of myself when I was able to balance on the board while riding a wave with a long duration before reaching the shore. But I think I was able to do it twice or thrice only haha! It was so hard! It's very time consuming also to get to the right spot from the shore, and to wait for the appropriate wave. too bad, I left my camera's battery in the hotel room that's why I never had a photo while riding a wave. That would probably suggest that there's definitely a next time! Can't wait to be back in Baler and master those surfing skills haha!

Surf's Up!!!

Anyway, after surfing, we had snacks (light late lunch) in Bay's Inn resto while we were playing Monopoly Deal. There we saw a couple of friends from Manila. Super small world!:) After that, we took a shower, cleaned up the room a bit, and played Monopoly Deal while waiting for our friends whom we asked to convoy with us. After some photo ops, we finally left the hotel at around 3:30pm. I rode with my other friends who brought a bigger ride so the Vios wouldn't suffer that much anymore.

Bay's Inn Resto

Bahia de Baler

playing Monopoly Deal

We were trapped for awhile along the way as a bus got stuck in a one-way bridge. But luckily it was pulled away by another bus. After a couple of hours, we finally got to NLEX where we had dinner. Other friends went ahead so I went back to the Vios. We're back in Manila before 9pm!:)

good vibes only

since the bridge has so many humps, they had to go down the Vios :))

nice view of the Canili Dam

It was such a fun and really affordable trip. My total spending: Php 1,500.00. All worth it! plus thanks to my friend Paula who treated us for drinks and pica-pica, and who was able to connect us to people who were able to give us discounts and other free services. It's really nice to be friendly!;) 'Til the next surf trip in Baler!

Fun Halloween w/o the Costumes!:))

It was a long weekend during the Halloween! So thankful for that 4-day break from work and quality time with my friends.

I was supposed to attend the Halloween Ball in Republiq Club, but after a whole afternoon of searching for the perfect costume, I failed! So I just decided to settle at my friends' place where her sister was holding a karaoke party. But on the last minute, our girl friends texted us for a nightout. So we drove to Garage 88 at The Fort, where we sort of crashed a private halloween party.

 partying with the girls

 because of our outfits, we're the Olsen Twins lol

Then we went to Distillery Fort for another round of drinks. Had a great time people watching, dancing and singing to the beats of the 90s haha!

the gang

what's with the double tank tops? haha

The next day, I was invited to my friend Elke's birthday dinner at Conti's Katipunan Extension, then we proceeded to The Distillery Eastwood for wine. Great bonding with some of my high school friends.

 with the birthday girl (rightmost)

  w/ my besty in HS

high school relived

The next night, we had a Pink birthday party for our friend Denise. I was wearing white and a light pink scarf. When I got there, most of them were wearing hot pink! lol! That was a funny night. We played Charades girls vs boys, and Pinoy Henyo jackpot round. We just can't stop laughing at ourselves!:)))))

 addicted to card games

 they say, "tough guys wear pink", and i don't believe lol

 bully guys during the charades

 why is my pink scarf so unnoticeable? haha

oh yeah, grilling like a sidewalk vendor haha 

them...while I was busy watching teleserye inside the house lol

That was indeed a long weekend well-spent! I really look forward to lots of long weekends due to holidays!:)