I've been wanting to go to Davao ever since I had my first taste of Mangosteen. It's love at first taste I tell you. Thanks to Tiger Airways' seat sale, my dream of visiting Davao during Kadayawan Festival came true!
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| Kadayawan, here we come! |
I woke up at 2 AM to get ready for our 5:30 AM flight. Oh the things I do for travel! It's my first time to fly via SEAir* and it's been a while since my last domestic flight so I wanted to get to the airport early. We arrived at
Manila Domestic Airport (aka
NAIA Terminal 4) around 3:30 AM. After checking in our toiletries and paying for the terminal fee**, we proceeded to the departure area. I still find it funny whenever they ask sandals and flip-flops to be removed and placed on the scanner. I guess not much has changed with the domestic airport but this time, their WiFi was actually working! Yay!
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| It's more fun in the Philippines! |
The flight was delayed for a few minutes but we didn't mind because our plane was so cute! It has "It's more fun in the Philippines" printed across its body. I even overheard one REALLY loud passenger say that our flight was only the second flight ever of Tiger Airways via SEAir. I don't know if that's true but it's pretty cool.
In fairness, we still arrived in Davao on time. We were greeted by flowers and TV reporters upon arrival at
Davao Internaional Airport. Or rather, our plane was greeted by flowers and TV reporters. Haha I don't know if it's part of the Kadayawan celebration or because it was one of the first flights of our plane. From then on, I had a feeling this trip will be unforgettable. And that actually marked the start of the special treatments we received during our entire stay. ;)
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| Spot the tourists |
While walking towards the baggage claim area, we heard gong-like sounds and it made us sprint towards the lobby where a cultural performance was waiting for us. We were already amused by this and it's not even the main event yet! This was enough to put us in a festive mood and get even more excited for the float parade.
Pamulak Kadayawan
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| Small floats category |
After taking pictures, we met up with Kuya Ronald. By this time, we started worrying that we might miss the parade so we asked him to take us to the parade fast. I'm not sure what street it was but there was a
Country Fried Chicken branch at the street corner. The parade was currently on its 3rd float when we got there. We missed two but as it turns out, there are 96 participating floats this year! And these were only the small ones!
Nakakaloka! The sun was so high and we were sweating like crazy. It's been raining in Manila for a few weeks now so it was good to be out in the sun for a change but the heat was just too much for me.
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| More baby floats. Elbi reprezent! |
As we were walking down the street, we somehow managed to get inside the barricades and watched the parade up close. Vanie and I moved even closer to get a better view. Before we know it, we were standing next to the policemen supervising the area. I'm usually scared of policemen but they were quite friendly so it was like having personal bodyguards. Haha
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| Pretty majorettes |
The floats were really cute and the kids were adorable! They would even pose for you if they catch you trying to take pictures of them. Cool! We even saw an Elbi float and introduced ourselves as UPLB grads. They invited us to join them but we politely declined as we wanted to see the rest of the floats.
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| Old and new friends |
The street was lined up with street vendors and having low EQs, we bought bananacues, camotecues and turon for only Php 7 per stick! Aah~ so cheap and so yummy! And upon seeing a dirty icecream cart, we couldn't help but buy some since it was so freakin' hot! For only Php 10, we were able to cool ourselves off a bit before the big floats arrived.
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| Big floats category |
The big floats were indeed a sight to see and most of them had celebrities with them. Us tourists were there for the floats but unfortunately, it seemed like most locals were there for the celebrities so it became chaotic when the celebrities started coming in. I understand that they were excited to see these celebrities as they rarely see them but it was disappointing for me. No need to shove other people just to get closer to your idols, you know.
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| Celebrities galore! James Reid is our favorite though. ♥ |
Some of the celebrities that we were able to see were Jake Cuenca, Jessy Mendiola, Coca-Cola's President of Happiness, Richard Guetierrez, Sweet, Mark Girl, Sarah Lahbati, John Lloyd Cruz, Angelica Panganiban, Maja Salvador, James Reid, Melissa Ricks, Coco Martin, Cory Vidanes, etc.
City Tour and a Little Bit of Food Trip
By 10:30 AM, we decided to give up and just head to our next destinations:
Pasalubong Center and
Davao Trade & Convention Center for the
Great Kadayawan Trade Fair and Bazaar. Here, I had my first taste of Durian Yema and as expected, I didn't like it. That drastically changed by the end of the day though.
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| BBQ heaven at Flyover Ihaw-Ihaw |
Since we were all exhausted from the parade, we decided to have an early lunch. We wanted to try Lachi's right away but they were closed so we asked Kuya Ronald to take us to a restaurant that serves good food at affordable prices which can only be found in Davao. He took us to
Flyover Ihaw-Ihaw at Matina. Weird name, right? But their Chicken BBQ is divine and they serve unlimited rice! For under Php 100 each, we were stuffed by the end of lunch. This is definitely a restaurant worth going back to.
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| Super yummy! |
After our hearty lunch, Kuya Ronald brought us to
Lola Abon's Durian Candy Factory. Right then and there, I fell in love with their goodies including the Durian-flavored ones! I couldn't get enough of their free taste so I bought several bags of Mangosteen Candy, Durian Candy, Mango Yema, and Langka Sticks as omiyage while Jeng, Erin and I finished off Faye's Durian icecream which she didn't like at all.
We were so full after that stop that we decided to check in to our inn first and take a nap before proceeding with the city tour. Check-in time was supposed to be at 12:00 NN but we arrived at
Aveflor Inn around 12:40 PM. Unfortunately, our rooms were still not ready by that time. Ugh. So us sleepyheads had no choice but to settle for their sala. Define
probinsya mode! See, I have this theory that provinces have a certain vibe that makes tourists extremely sleepy. Must be the fresh air or the locals' chill attitude. Whatever it is, I love it and I look forward to that feeling whenever I go on vacation.
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| People's Park |
Before 2 PM, Kuya Ronald texted us that we have to get going since the tour only lasts until 3:30 PM and not 5 PM as we thought! So we hurriedly fixed ourselves and headed straight to
People's Park. The place was jam-packed with families and
barkadas enjoying the holiday. We kept on looking at whatever it is the locals are looking at but we just don't get whatever it is they're waiting or looking for. So we just walked around the park and kept on looking for the famous Rainbow Drive. We were so
bangag, we realized that it was just right after the entrance when we were already on our way out! Haha
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| Can anybody say Art Attack? |
Next stop:
Ponce Suites Gallery Hotel. Now this one's not in our itinerary but Kuya Ronald took us there anyway. And we're glad he did! It's definitely one of the highlights of our trip! For only Php 20 as entrance fee, you get to see 4 or 5 floors of absolutely breathtaking art in every form and medium you can think of. Not only are the interior and exterior walls filled with the artist's masterpieces but the ceiling as well! Amazing. Words aren't enough to describe this one-of-a-kind hotel. You have to be there to get that art experience that moves the soul. It kind of freaked me out though because the place seemed familiar. It reminded me of the hole-in-a-wall art cafe I had a dream about. Yep, I'm weird like that. If you have extra money to splurge, I recommend checking in to this hotel when you visit Davao.
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| WIFI!!! Hala, kanya-kanyang check-in! |
To end our city tour, we wanted to eat merienda at Lachi's so we tried our luck once more. Still no good though. I guess they're closed for the holiday. :( So we asked Kuya Ronald to drop us off at
Bo's Coffee Club instead since they serve Durian-flavored coffee. Yes, we (except for Faye) became Durian lovers in less than a day! We ordered Tuna Melt sandwiches, Durian Brazo de Mercedes, Durian Cream Freeze, Durian Coffee Froccino, Hot White Chocolate Mocha, and Vanilla Freeze. We all thought the Durian taste in Durian Cream Freeze was too strong while the Durian Coffee Froccino was tolerable. But the Durian Brazo de Mercedes was to die for!
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| Why take 2 cabs when you can fit 6 people in 1 trike? |
After lounging around, we decided to go to
Aldevinco for pasalubong shopping. We excitedly hailed a tricycle and told the driver to take us to Aldevinco. Surprise, surprise! He couldn't take us there since it's not part of his route. but since we really wanted to try their version of the tricycle, we asked him to just drop us at the nearest drop off point and we'll just walk from there. Sounds easy right? Davao seems like a peaceful city but we still had a little misadventure in crossing its streets. And by little, I mean literally running for our lives just because we followed the crazy locals in front of us. Come to think of it, they might be tourists like us too. :)) We had to cross three pedestrian lanes by running like madmen (or madwomen?). We only noticed that Erin got left behind while we were crossing (more like sprinting) the second pedestrian lane. But that didn't stop us! We kept on running towards the "safe zone" while screaming "
Si Uber! Si Uber!" Haha Define true friends! Good thing, Kuya HOTtie came to Erin's rescue! Ayikee~♥
luma-lovelife
pa rin even in Davao!
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| They found love in a hopeless place. Chos! |
After a little misadventure, we finally arrived at Aldevinco only to discover that the stores close at 5 PM! Thank goodness, some of the store owners were kind enough to let us finish our shopping before closing. Bless you, kind souls.
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| Aldevinco Shopping Center |
Satisfied with our bargains, we decided to go back to
People's Park for the
Dancing Fountain. We changed our minds though upon getting there. The line was craaaaaazy! So we headed towards
Banoks instead and decided to have dinner. Haha This trip definitely turned out to be more like a food trip rather than a vacation. Not that I'm complaining though.
We ordered two sets of their Sutukil (Sugba, Tula, Kilaw) group meal (good for 3 persons) which consisted of three kinds of tuna dishes and unlimited rice for less than Php 100 each. I swear, it's impossible to go hungry in Davao!
After filling our stomachs yet again, we decided to just walk from
Banoks to
Aveflor Inn so we can burn a few calories. But on our way home, we passed by several food stalls that left us wanting to try them out. Not that night though but maybe next time.
Kwek-kwek with
pipino and
pako,
puso,
isaw, BBQ, and sauce-less pizza, we're definitely coming back for you!
That concludes our Day 1. It was absolutely fun but we crashed early in preparation for tomorrow's water activities. I've only seen the city but I can say as early as now that I'm in love with Davao. What more when I see the sun, sand and sea tomorrow?
♫ Let's go to the beach, each! Let's go get away! ♫
P.S. Before going to bed, the rain poured heavily as expected. Vanie and I were still chatting about our exciting day while Erin was in the bathroom freshening up. The lights started to flicker and being the true friends that we are, we were so ready to get out of the room if ever the lights go out. Haha Sorry, Uber! #scaredycatfolyfe
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