A long overdue blog about Davao City. I thought of myself as both a "local" and a tourist in the biggest city of the Philippines. I'm a frequent traveller to this city. Home of indigenous tribes and a melting pot of other locals. A vibrant city, spectacular landscape, as I pass through J.P. Laurel Avenue going to Victoria Plaza, on a clear day, the mountains are visible. The mountain side is visible on a clear day also from Paradise Island Resort in Samal Island and also from Times Beach in Matina. How do you feel like a "local' here? The people [View Full Entry]

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A time to mourn. I arrived in Zamboanga City on a sunday morning to attend the funeral of my father's uncle who had passed away thursday night. Just last thursday noon I was in Davao City to attend the memorial service of my father's aunt. My father was sick at this time so I was sent as a representative of our family. I was picked up at the airport by my dad's cousins. I have not been here since 1990. I don't remember much of the place since my dad didn't tour me around the city when we visited in the [View Full Entry]

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Lakbay Laguna-Quezon 2007, Day by Day Christian Mnistries. On a friday, we set out for the towns of San Pablo, Laguna and Tiaong, Quezon. Our Lakbay Ministry organized a Lakbay Kulinarya Tagala (Culinary of Southern Tagalog). We also visited the home (cum workshop) of local artists in the region. Most of us who joined have travelled to these places. I'm curious to what's new in these places since I have not been travelling here for quite sometime. Times have changed, there are a lot of things to see and do here. They have an organization which promotes tourism for this southern [View Full Entry]

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Lakbay Batanes, May19-22, 2007. Just got back last Tuesday from Batanes. I joined our church (Day by Day Christian Ministries) tour to Batanes this May. There were only 10 participants for this trip. Most of us on this trip also went to Palawan last April. We get to know each other a little more on this trip. Batanes has breath taking views of the hills, sea, stone houses. The people are gentle and friendly. Words are not enough to describe the place. All I can say is you must visit this place. What you see in travel magazines about this [View Full Entry]

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Day By Day Christian Ministries: Lakbay Palawan April 24-28, 2007. I'm back travelling with churchmates. I'm thankful that our church has a heritage ministry where it educates us about our culture, tradition and history. Lakbay (Travel) tours are organized throughout the year within our country (Philippines), as the saying goes, "Huwag maging dayuhan sa sariling bayan." (Don't be a foreigner in your own land). I like to travel but there are times when I don't have someone to go with me or my friends are not travelling. The Lakbay tours of our church offers us an organized tour on budget. [View Full Entry]

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Looking Back: Bohol - Aug. 2006 Bohol. This is one place that I would want to visit time and again. I went here this time with my two cousins from Cebu. We boarded the fast ferry craft, Oceanjet bound for Tagbilaran. There were no more seats available in the air-conditioned section of the cabin so we seated on the second floor open-air section of the craft. This time I had a digital camera and i started taking pictures of the pier in Cebu. As the ferry sailed, I noticed that my digicam stopped functioning. I was getting upset because eight [View Full Entry]

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I'm back in Homonhon Island. I took the land trip again with Lina and her daughter this time. Emie's niece is getting married after the town fiesta. I'm glad to be back. My first stop is Habag town in Homonhon and afterward I'm going to Bitaugan to stay with Emie and her family. I walk around town with Lynie (Lina's daughter) and Liza, her cousin who lives there. I was able to visit Little Habag, a few minutes walk from the plaza (my point of reference; it's where the basketball court is located). We visited Mana Naning and her family. I [View Full Entry]

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May is the time of most festivities in the Philippines. "Fiesta". Many people from the cities would usually take time off to attend their town fiestas in the provinces. I went to visit a friend (whose only daughter is also my godchild). My friend Emie's cousin, Lina was also going home to Homonhon Island for the May fiesta. I took the land trip with her, with her son Nathan, and nephew Rigel. We took the Eagle Bus Transport. I almost backed out of the trip because the bus was "fully loaded" on the aisle. Passengers had a lot of things, boxes [View Full Entry]

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Looking Back: Bantayan Island - Dec. 1996. After Christmas of 1996, my friends and I planned an out of town trip. This was to be the first of the many trips we'll be having. Our first stop was Cebu City, we stayed at my uncle's place. My cousins were our tour guide. the first few days we visited, the Taoist Temple in Beverly Hills; Magellan's Cross across the Sto. Nino Shrine; a beach in Mactan. The food is inexpensive and local cuisine was superb. We took a fast ferry, Oceanjet 2 of Socor Shipping Lines to Sta. Fe, Bantayan. It [View Full Entry]

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Looking Back: Boracay - Jan. 1993. The first time I went to Boracay was after I met Margrit in Bangkok. She is from Hungary and has travelled a lot. I also learned about the Lonely Planet guides from her. At the airport in Bangkok, I bought several Lonely Planet guides, of course, I got a Phillipines guidebook. I travel in the Philippines but to places where I had relatives. I began to travel to Cebu in my late teens, I have an uncle whose family is based there. After my friends and I graduated from college, our first trip together [View Full Entry]

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