Wow Davao! Part 2: Where we ate

Davao City is huge! It is said to be one of the largest cities in the world in terms of land area at 2,443.61 square kilometers. And 4 days are not enough to truly get to know this vast city, especially if you spend 2 days at the Pearl Farm. That's why I did not write authoritatively  "Where to eat in Davao", rather where we ate, though we did not have a bad meal anywhere there except at the airport.

We arrived at around 7pm and after checking in at Ponce Suites, the nearest restaurant I wanted to go to was Ah Fat, behind the Victoria Plaza mall.  Writer and blogger Margaux Salcedo recommended it. As I wrote on my Facebook post, the place has zero ambiance but the food was delicious! Ma says it's like a Binondo Chinese restaurant. No frills, no pretensions.

Steamed crab in garlic(P350)

Wow Davao! Part 1: Pearl Farm

I am so proud to say that I have finally gone to all the major islands of my country, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao!
I chose Davao for our trip this year because I got jealous of my balikbayan uncle and cousin who lived most of their life in the US but got to Mindanao before me, a Filipino who was just an hour and 40 minutes (by plane) away from Davao. Luckily, I got half-off my plane tickets and also got discounted gift certificates at Davao's very chic Pearl Farm.

Day 5-6: Bye, El Nido ,Back To Puerto Princesa

We had to wake up early one last time to catch our 7am van to Puerto Princesa. We'll surely miss having breakfast by the beach

Day 4: Island hopping Tour C

Tour C is adventure day! We went to Hidden Beach where we saw an anemone where some clownfish live, Matinloc Shrine, a deserted beach for lunch, Secret Beach and Helicopter island where the waves were unusually strong but Pa and the family enjoyed facing the crashing waves

Day 3: Island hopping Tour A

Above: The tranquil beach of Corong-corong.

Tour A consists of a trip to Miniloc Island's Small Lagoon, Big Lagoon, Shimizu Island, Secret Lagoon and 7 Commandos beach. We paid Aling Pacing P500 per person for this group tour(Lunch and water provided). Also note that you also have to pay an environment fee(whatever that means) of P100 each, which is valid for 10 days. P200 each if you're a foreigner.

Day 2: El Nido town

I always thought El Nido was too far, too inaccessible and far too expensive for us. But I was wrong. El Nido can be affordable if you do your research. One of the most important tips I got from the net is that you can go to El Nido town by bus(P300 per person) or aircon van(P600 per person ) via the Fort Wally terminal. Get a trike to take you there (P150 for maximum 5 passengers)

Day 1: Puerto Princesa

April 22, 2010. Day one of our Puerto Princesa-El Nido adventure

Coron music video

Here's a short clip of our Coron adventure in 2009

coron part 3

Day 3 in Coron was just spent going around the small town looking for souvenirs. We bought some shirts and necklaces and cashew brittle (P50 a pack) Lunch at Seadive's resto. Menu for the day: Steamed lobster and Chili lobster (P400 per 200 grams) Tip: You won't find lobster in the nearby market as the restos have cornered them.

For merienda, we decided to fill up on carbs for energy as we would be climbing Mt. Tapyas so off we headed to Bistro Coron again, this time for their famous pizza.

This huge pizza only costs P389 but it was soooo good. The fresh tomatoes, the cheese, the foccacia crust...This gets my vote for the best meal in Coron. It was as big as a cafeteria tray! I thought we wouldn't be able to finish it...But just a few minutes later...it was that good! Then it was time to go to Mt. Tapyas. There were huge helpful signs on how to get there but be prepared for a 700+step climb! We were still feeling our calves ache a day or two later!

By sunset, we had to go down as a thunderstorm was approaching. Luckily, it only rained after we got down.

Here's Twinx doing a sun dance from the movie "a very special love" to no avail. But it was fine. It was like getting a free shower right after a workout.

On our last day, Ma surprised us with a giant lapu-lapu fish (2 kilos for P300) for breakfast which she had cooked at Aling Trining Bacsa's resto. This is a good place for budget meals. A whole meal for 5 people would usually cost P500 or less. The only trouble was that the fish was so huge, it took a lot of time to cook so we had it split into two. We had the tail part steamed with soy sauce , scallions and chili and brought home the head for dinner.

coron part 2

We went to one of the wrecks and fed some fish while snorkelling...

This is a short video of me trying to feed the fish while shooting. Wait till the timer reaches the one minute mark. Fish aren't the brightest creatures in the ocean. It took a while for them to realize the shiny white thing was bread.

Then it was off to the twin lagoons where you have to swim through a small hole to get to the small, secluded lagoon which Twinx voted as her favorite place for its romantic possibilites.

This is a video of me in the lagoon and I had no idea all sorts of fish were swimming beneath me! Next stop was Kayangan Lake but before you get there, you have to climb some 10-15 minutes but the view from the top is postcard-perfect! They say this is where the soap "Dyesebel" was shot.This is a cave we chose not to explore because Kayangan Lake was beckoning.It's the country's cleanest lake and it's not hard to see why. It's crystal clear and you can see the bottom no matter how deep it is.And it is very deep! Jon accidentally dropped my snorkel here and we couldn't get it till a small Tagbanua kid dove down and got it for us.

I like the fact that there is no moss on any stone though I can't figure out why. There are tiny long-nosed fish and snails that live in the lake and also some shrimp who like to tickle my Papa's toes!

As a final treat, here's Twinx showing us Kayangan Lake while singing the theme from "Dyesebel"

Note: Kayangan Lake is open until 4 PM only so get there early to get the most of your P200!

Coron: jewel of palawan

View from Seadive

Seadive resto

Palawan is indeed the last frontier and going there is like setting foot on another country-- far,far away from the travails of city life. If you want to go to Coron but don't want to spend too much, you can join blogger Owen Ferrer's DIY groups or you can just browse the net for tips and make your own trip/schedule like we did.
My sis took these pics below especially for my blog.

Hallway leading to our roomsRelaxing on the hammocks on the 2nd floor verandah.Our fan room and below, bath and toilet. We reserved 2 fan rooms (P700 each room/night) at SeaDive in Coron town and just rested the whole afternoon. The rooms are a bit stuffy on hot days. The seabreeze can't seem to get through. There are no TVs in the rooms so I'm glad we brought some books and my portable dvd player. I'm glad to report that Seadive has plenty of clean water, a strong shower and free-flowing coffee all day.They also have a water dispenser so we didn't have to buy a lot of water like we had to in Bohol. I even joked that we should be called the Sulit family because we had coffee ,tea and water by the restaurant almost 3 times a day. There's also free wi-fi, too bad we didn't have a laptop. But then, why bring your laptop on your vacation, right? Excellent value for money. The only thing that would make this place better is if they had a pool on the 3rd floor as the water surrounding Seadive is not good for swimming.

Then, we went to Makinit Hot Springs at 6pm. The salt water temperature can reach 40 degrees celsius so it's better to go there at night lest you get broiled!

We had dinner at Bistro Coron, which Lonely Planet recommends and we were treated to a truly unforgettable meal!

Tarragon chicken, P165

Chicken cordon bleu, P175

Calamares, P120

Pa's favorite meal on the island: Beef tenderloin with pepper sauce, P280

Fish in herb and butter, P170

Day 2 was our Coron island tour courtesy of our tricycle driver/tour guide Anthony. We bought lapu-lapu (P180 a kilo) , crabs, rice and mangoes for our picnic lunch before riding a small boat to Beach 91 The beaches on Coron island are really small but pristine. Partly because of the hefty P100/person entrance fee but also because the people here know that eco-tourism is their major source of income so they have to keep it clean. Naturally, it became a perfect setting for a photoshoot! Suck in those stomachs!

I love this shot. Wish I was in that pic.




But this is ok, too. Check out our camera case which lets Twinx shoot underwater!

I swear, being on a small island without a TV or newspaper totally made our worries seem so small and insignificant.

Can't decide which one to use for my wallpaper...

More pix coming soon!