Davao Trip

October 12-15, 2012.

Destination: DAVAO CITY

Mountainous Terrain of Mindanao Welcoming Me :)

My very first trip to Mindanao. Thanks to Charm for booking this vacation as our, with Aina, birthday treat to ourselves, we celebrated our birth month in this adventurous city of Davao.

Day 1.

We arrived at Davao International Airport around 8AM and headed to our temporary home for 2 days - Casa Leticia.

After having our breakfast, we started with our itinerary.

First stop: Philippine Eagle Center

At Davao International Airport

Philippine Eagle Center breeds and protects our nearly extinct Philippine Eagle a.k.a. Monkey-Eating Eagle. This happens to be the biggest bird I ever saw. They look so grand and majestic most especially when it spread its gigantic wings.

After meeting the Philippine's National Eagle, we decided to have our lunch in Penong's which is half-an-hour ride from the center, It was already past 2pm then. Unfortunately, Penong's is open from lunch time and dinner time only. The store is close at 2-5PM. We just had our lunch at Chowking.

Right after having lunch, we headed to EDEN's Garden Resort which is actually in the mountains. We went there via habal-habal or the single motorcycle. It was my first time to ride a motorcycle but I enjoyed it. With the cool mountain breeze and spectacular view. The ride was long though, but yeah, i had fun with the whole ride.

Habal Habal Ride

At the Bird Walk

Eden's Garden Resort Playground

Pathway

For some reason, or some lack of luck, the resort doesn't have a scheduled tour that day. So I would advise for those who planned to visit the resort, check first the available tour. The resort is so huge you cannot go around it by foot. So without the car they use for their tour, we strolled around a portion of the resort. We saw different species of birds and butterflies. They do have the 'indiana jones' activity area where one can enjoy the 'rope ride' and of course there is a playground that bring us back to our childhood.

After the Eden Garden Resort Tour we went back to our hotel which is like another hour ride.

Day 2:

Water Rafting Day.

We spent almost the whole day water rafting.

IT WAS FUN. 

I admit, I am afraid of the waters but the staffs made an assurance that all there is, is FUN!.

And yeah I loved it.

The Davao Wildwater Adventure's office is in the Crocodile Park, so we had the chance to see the crocodile breeding center. Near the center, there were other activity areas like zip-line and Zorv. :)

We had our dinner in Jack's Ridge and bought pasalubong's at Aldevinco.

Day 3:

Chilling at Pearl Farm Beach Resort.

Boy, the pineapple juice is a knock-out! The best pineapple juice I ever tasted.

We had day tour in this resort just chilling and relaxing.

Then we had our dinner in Toryano's which is known for their native chicken meal.

Day 4:

Chema's by the sea.

I can't say much of this resort but I commend it's beautiful casitas.

We checked out at lunch time and we then had our lunch and sumptuous desserts at Lachi's restaurant.

The last stop for the trip is the Bankerohan Market where we bought Pomelos and Mangosteens.

Well. This is a tiring trip actually but all-in-all it has been awesome!

James Morrison in Manila

Couple of months back when I heard that James Morrison will have an AsiaTour for his album "Awakening". Sad to say, The Philippines was not included on the said tour. The last stop of the tour was in Singapore on October 2.

I wanted to go to SG to see the concert but I can't afford to have too many VLs from the office. So I thought there will be no chance to hear my favorite songs being played live.

Then there was a campaign in twitter asking James Morrison and the producers to have the Asia Tour extended and include Manila.

After weeks of tweeting and retweeting, the good news finally came.

James Morrison will be performing in Manila as the last stop of the Asia Tour on October 9.

I did not waste time and bought a ticket, luckily my friend Mavic wants to see the show too. So we two bought a ticket. We wanted to sit on the very front but those were already taken. The best available seat was actually 8 rows from the front, near the center aisle.

Once again, I have experienced the melody and the poetry of one of the great musician today. Well, he's one of my favorites. 

I am a fan.

Though he didn't include "You make it Real" and "Undiscovered" in the concert. I still had a blast.

Sorry for the poor pictures. IDK but my camera phone seems to suck.

Anyways, I'll be uploading the Broken Strings video I took.

Too bad, I forgot to bring my extra battery, I wasn't able to get a video of the "You Give Me Something" and "Wonderful World". He did a very awesome number.

Front Act: Moonstar 88

A Letter to the Younger Me

Hi 15-year old Lek!

Today marks your 30th.

I remember your exercise in school way way back. You wrote about me on a sheet of paper, perceiving me, perceiving you at 30. Well, I'm finally here and I've got news for you, but take a good grip I might blew you away because of this. And as you've always  known, some news are good and some are bad.

I remember your imaginings of the 30 year old you with a wife and a child. Strolling at the park and being the best dad that you can be. Hold tight younger Lek, that time haven't arrived. Yes, you are 30 now but without someone to have and to hold, wifeless, childless and the excruciating fact is - loveless.

But it's okay younger Lek, I am thinking, maybe sooner we'll see that this can still be done. Perhaps with some delays but hell yeah, I believe we can settle this part.

Did I just drop the bomb? Sorry younger Lek, but let me tell you what happened after you wrote that piece. Well, you graduated from high school, (you were the 2nd highest achiever in your section), torn with the course you wanted to take. You thought you can study arts and engineering at the same time, but you just cannot make it. I think that was the first grown-up decision you have made. You've weighed your chances  on making it big in life. But you were almost fell heartbroken when you received the letter from the university saying that you were on a waiting list. They gave you the option but you did not consider any. Should you have waited, it might have been a different story. But then again, you believed you knew better. You forgot about the arts and took engineering. It's okay younger Lek, it's one thing I've learned from you, when you have decided there's no point of looking back but to make the most out of it. 

Your college life has been awesome in a sense of collegiate fulfillment and in a sense of growing up. Growing up towards maturity with the people you have met there and became your best buddies up to now. You have fell in and out of love a number of times but you really were focused to making it big. You were so afraid of responsibilities, of relationships, of bearing the changes they could bring. A cowardly teener you were. All you knew was how to have fun, day in and day out. You've graduated college, maybe just like any ordinary student but you were able to maintain your spot in the top class. You attended review school after that and there were a lot of these-and-thats happened in between review school and getting your license as a Certified Electronics and Communications Engineer.

Your license and your college life does not prepare you of the harshness of the real world, my dear. 

I remember you in your sit 15-yr old Lek, thinking that you can be paid big time because of your creative ideas. You looked around your classroom wall and see some of your works there. But the sour truth is, your first pay comes from pressing the buttons, recording the idle/dead air time, making computations for a broadcasting company. You did not liked any of it. You then transferred to an electronics company in the nearby province. Yes, you were able to apply what you have studied and your license as well but still you were not satisfied.

Then, you had a health scare. You knew you are not that well but you did not bother to look after yourself and took good care of it. And the scariest thing of all is that you were not allowed to work for a time. You've been busy since you have started schooling until that time. And just for a blink of an eye, you need to have rest and regain your strength. Then you have a lot of time with yourself. You thought you've figured it out. And I am glad to tell you that you were very satisfied with the industry you were now in. It was not an easy decision to have a career transfer but you were able to pulled it through.

I also remember you younger Lek writing about having your own place in an upscale town and driving your own luxury car. Those, are yet to come. Yes little Lek, you don't have any. Well to make it easier for you to take in, I can promise you this will come true sooner. Maybe not in the most upscale town in the metro and unfortunately not a luxury car, but just a car. 

You have lost your appetite for arts for a time, one sad truth. The only connection between you and the arts are your fiction books. You have a roster of your favorite writers, painting the stories inside your head. That was your escape. But now, you are back, you have now the time to take your pens and just sketch. You are now have the extra to buy tickets for live performances. And at times, you managed it to be seated right in the very front. I was able to serve you on this kind of hunger. 

I also remember you looking at the world map. Thinking of flying from Rome to Romania, walking every streets in Madrid and Barcelona. Passing through the Silk Road, climbing the mountains of Peru, biking around the eiffel tower and just sitting idly in the shores of Santorini.  You've never been into those places. But you were able to travel places inside your country. You always loved the beach and you were able to swim and explore the best beaches here. Younger Lek, If I could just tell you that what makes your trips memorable isn't the place. It is really the people you are with. I can prove you that.

Well, these are some of what happened. I am sorry I have failed you. You did not become the hotshot you wanted to be or you have perceived yourself to be at 30. You did not grow up like that bachelors in the front page of the magazine. You do have abs but your fat protection program really takes care of it. They're doing a good job in fact. None of your imaginations of me fifteen years back did come true. But I can tell you that it is not because it is your fate. It was because of the choices you have made. The years are worthwhile, younger Lek. The years made you stronger. Each day of your life, you've become smarter. You learned to adapt to your surroundings. Making the very best out of it. Life isn't perfect younger Lek, it is just beautiful and you just have to live it right. 

There's one thing we still have in common, we both are dreamers.

But this time, I dream with my eyes opened. The dream that comes at night were my inspiration. The dreams that we have dreamed will always be a snippet of me. I know I need not to dream what we've dreamed of. I think I finally found the keys that will open the doors to the dreamland. And at the moment I'll close that door, it would be our reality.

Lovelots,

Lek