Last March 1 was my eldest son’s 10th birthday and much to our luck (which turned out to be the opposite), it was the same day for Baguio’s Panagbenga Festival. From Pangasinan where my husband had a previous engagement, we packed our things on Feb 28 and went straight to Baguio. Our first stop was Mine’s View because I was hoping I could get some Ube Jam at Good Shepherd and eat my favorite grilled corn. And because the traffic was terrible, my husband was forced to just park the car elsewhere thus we ended up walking up hill. Next stop was Camp John Hay. We did a lot of shopping there and finally had our dinner. Have we thought of accommodations? Yes, we were planning to get one after a few more shopping at Camp John Hay. Finally, we left the place and started looking for a hotel. One by one, we went to all the hotels that Baguio has to offer. And one by one they refused to accommodate us because they were already fully booked for the upcoming festival. Being pregnant and all, I felt what it was like when Mary and Joseph were looking for a place that could accommodate them for the night. With my stomach bulging and my husband at my back, I was asking each receptionist if they have available rooms where we could spend the night. Getting all negative answers, we finally gave up and decided to just leave Baguio and go back to Pangasinan (at Gary’s family house) where we could spend the night instead. Frustrating and tiring it may seem, we still did enjoy the trip and hopefully next time we could get an early hotel booking.

Dumaguete is known as “The City of Gentle people.” True enough, I have enjoyed working with Dumagueteños in SNGPF (Southern Negros Geothermal Production Field) the most, compared to all the other geothermal sites. Yes there were ‘difficult’ auditees (by nature), but most of them were not.

But wait, if I loved their people, I loved their food even more! Haha! Let me enumerate my favorites (why am I so excited to do this?);

• Why Not – really, why not try their quatro pizza, salad bar, large servings of steak or lobster combinations. Oh! And who will forget that Tom Yum soup? (Mahilig ba kayo sa Thai food… heheh). After that, have a Café Americano and mango pudding to complete the feast.
• Ma Mia’s – have a taste of their lamb chops, iced tea and banana / mango crepe.
• Hayahay / Lab-as – seafoods galore! (plus enjoy their famous reggae band)
• La Residencia Al Mar – I’ve enjoyed eating their Japanese food and oh that Tuna sandwich melting with cheese! They also have one of the best served iced tea.
• Bethel Guest House – siomai, halo-halo and their crispy danguit.
• Coco Amigos – authentic Mexican cuisine
• Sans Rival – you will definitely enjoy their cakes and pastries (Don’t forget to bring home silvanas!)

Yummy!

How about their tourist destinations? Do spelunking in Mabinay cave and dolphin watching near Manjuyod White Sand Bar sounds exciting to you? It better be because it really was!

I remember I was almost 6 months pregnant with Zach when my ‘kumare’ and I went to Bais for dolphin watching. It was April 3 (Sunday). Who would ever forget that day, dang! it was our anniversary and yet I cannot go home to spend it with my husband because of audit work. Anyway, after a couple of minutes land travel from Al Mar Hotel to Bais, we arrived at the warf where the boat crew was already waiting. These fisher folks are natural experts of whale and dolphin spotting. Unfortunately, there were no whales that day but at least the dolphins obliged. Finally, we had our lunch in the sand bar. I definitely took pleasure in its breath taking view and even took a dip at its cold and clear water. You wouldn’t want to see me swimming with my stomach bulging, so here’s the picture of the location instead (thanks weng!).

If I am going to write about the places I’ve been, I should have started blogging one to two years ago when I had my most number of travels. Thanks to my audit stints, I have been to different destinations in the Philippines (Wow Phils!). Anyway, I will try my best to remember the places I’ve enjoyed visiting, definitely not in my ‘katandaan’ moments aka memory gap.

Let me start with Davao. Being the largest city in the Philippines, it hosts numerous tourist destinations namely the Philippine Eagle Center, Crocodile farm, Eden Nature park, Campo Agua… to name a few. But to complete the whole Davao experience, one would definitely aspire to have the time (and budget) to visit Pearl Farm Resort. It offers breath-taking views of Parola Warf, Ylang Ylang Spa, villas and suites. Unfortunately, every little detail counts (for cost).

But do not fret, if what you are looking for is just pristine waters, powdery white sand and clean surroundings, Paradise Island is the place to be (not Cindys… haha!). Nestled on the quiet side of Samal Island, it is a mere 7-minute boat ride from the jump off point located near the old airport in the Lanang area. Imagine, you only need 70 pesos to get there (boat ride is 10 pesos and entrance 60). From a point of view of a beach lover, Paradise Island should definitely be on your check list.