Madayaw Davao: Countryside Tour

We woke up early to make the most out of our last day in Davao. As foodies, we searched for breakfast nooks around the city last night. We haven't even finished dinner yet and we were already talking about breakfast. Typical us.

We settled for Taps which is known as the Breakfast Capital of Davao. Luckily, there's one pretty close to our inn. We ordered Tapsilog (duh), Tocilog, Bangsilog, and even a combination of other silogs. I think they have everything you can pair up with silog. The food was okay. Nothing special whatsoever. [ Side note: We ate the macarons we bought from Lachi's last night for dessert. I must say, my favorite was the orange-y chocolatey one which reminded me of Chokies. Soooo nostalgic! ]

After breakfast, we met up with today's driver, Kuya Jimber. Not sure about the spelling but it kind of sounded like that. First stop: Philippine Eagle Center. It was a pretty long drive from the city but it was worth it. Some of the girls slept all the way through while Faye and I sang our hearts out. Even Kuya Jimber couldn't help but belt out a few notes.

The Philippine Eagle Center

Upon arriving at Philippine Eagle Center, we paid the Php 50 entrance fee and started looking around. Honestly, I didn't expect much from this place except to see a few Philippine Eagles from afar. But boy, was I wrong. Not only did we see eagles from afar, we got to see them up close too! And even out of their cages thanks to Kuya Europe (K.E. from now on just because it's easier to type). Yes, you read it right. We found Europe in Davao. Haha

Madayaw Davao: Sunburn

Off to Samal Island!

A trip to Davao wouldn't be complete without dropping by Samal Island. As beach lovers, we dedicated an entire day for that. We even woke up at 5 AM just so we can make the most out of our beach trip. This time, Kuya Jovan was our driver. To get to Samal Island, you have to ride a barge that takes you from the city to the island, similar to the RORO - only smaller. I think the entire ride lasted for only 15-20 minutes, we didn't even have to get out of the van except to take pictures.

Madayaw Davao: Kadayawan and More

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!

Getting There

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!

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. ;)

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.

Loooong Weekend

Upon hearing the good news yesterday, we excitedly searched for candidate destinations and talked about them over lunch. Sure, Quezon City Day falling on a weekend was a downer but God indeed has better plans for us. Hello, 4-day weekend! Obviously, we didn't want to pass up this chance to go on vacation without having to file vacation leaves. But with a tight budget in mind (because of our South Korea trip in November), it was quite challenging to plan our little getaway.