2010 Lakaw sa Davao (1 of 3): City Tour

Backposting my trip to Davao City: This was my 3rd out-of-Manila post-busy season trip in 2010 with my office tropa, following our Pagsanjan, Taal and Tagaytay trips on May that same year.

It was my first (and only) trip to this part of Mindanao, though I’m a Mindanaoan myself hehehe! Anyway, we’ve booked our flight to Davao just for the sake of not letting the chance of getting a promo ticket pass us by (biglaang pagbu-book ulit! ehehe!) . We had a travel agent who arranged our itinerary and accommodation, but I wouldn’t want to recommend that agency—kase maraming aberya! :D

It was a 3D2N trip and below was our itinerary for this trip:

At eto na naman ang mga nakasama ko sa trip! :)

And on to our Day 1 adventure!!! :)

Lon Wa Buddhist Temple

Right after a short trip to our hotel, just to put our things down, we immediately went to our first stop.

The Longhua Temple, also known as the Lon Wa Buddhist Temple is one of the biggest Buddhist temples in the Philippines and the biggest in the island of Mindanao. It is located in the Agdao District, 3-4 kilometers northeast of the center of Davao City at Cabagiuo Avenue. The Lon Wa Buddhist Temple walls are laden with Italian marble slabs that make for nice contrast to an otherwise stark décor. Walking through the end of a long hall with high ceilings, you will see a huge magnificent replica of Buddha. You’d also see a resplendent gold Kuan Yin and ornamentations featuring the life of Buddha carved in wood. You would also enjoy the serene atmosphere created by the lily ponds filled with carps. — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Wa_Buddhist_Temple

After visiting the temple, we headed to the Museo Dabawenyo.

Museo Dabawenyo

The Museo Dabawenyo is one of the Divisions under the City Mayor’s Office of the City Government of Davao established through City Ordinance No. 0266-06 Series of 2006. It is being run in collaboration with the private sector. It is a “people’s museum” and its programs are geared towards better historical and cultural awareness, understanding and integration. — http://www.davaocity.gov.ph/museo/about.aspx

The Museum showcases the rich and dynamic history and culture of the Dabawenyo through miniatures and other artworks. We were accompanied by one of the museum’s personnel which also gave a short lecture on Davao’s culture.

For more information, you may visit http://www.davaocity.gov.ph/museo/

Davao Crocodile Park

There’s a schedule for feeding the crocs at this park, so while waiting, we roamed around the place and took some pics of the animals.

The Davao Crocodile Park is a tourist destination in Davao that showcases a ‘state of the art’ crocodile farming system in the Philippines, equipped with modern facilities and equipment. Apart from crocodiles, other exotic animal species such as raptors, monkeys, bearcats, snakes, birds, and various reptiles can be found in the park. — http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Davao_Crocodile_Park

When it was time for feeding the crocs, Kuya Allan, the “feeder” went inside the cage, where the biggest croc’s located. Kuya Allan brought a pig’s head and tossed it inside the croc’s mouth. Accordingly, it’s not yet the croc’s full meal, meryenda pa lang daw yun! ehehe! :)

The small crocs in other cages were also fed by Kuya Allan, with little pieces of meat placed in a pail. These little reptiles really move fast, kame yung natatakot para kay Kuya Allan eh! ehehe! Any moment, kagatin sya ng mga gutom na buwaya! :D But gladly, that didn’t happen hehe! :)

Actually, ziplining was supposed to be part of the Day 1 itinerary, right after visiting the Crocodile Park. But then, when we reached Hilltop, the person-in-charge informed us that there’s no zipline activity that time (’cause we were the only customers!!! hassle!). We were advised to come back the next day or 2. A bit disappointed, we re-scheduled ziplining to Day 3, after the rafting adventure.

But before heading home, we passed by Jack’s Ridge.

Jack’s Ridge

The land on which Jack’s Ridge now stands once formed part of the headquarters of the retreating Japanese forces towards the end of the World War II. Today, more than half a century later, Jack’s Ridge is filled with reminders of its historic past. Caves dug by the Japanese pockmark the area, and once in a while people still find bullets and other war materials in the rocky soil. — http://www.jacksridgedavao.com/

We didn’t go inside Jack’s Ridge Resort/restaurant; we just had our photo taken outside of the resort hehehe! If you want to have more details about the place, you may click here.

It was already past sunset when we left Jack’s Ridge and went back to the hotel. After resting for a while, we decided to go out and have dinner at Kuya Ed’s Buffet (House? Restaurant?). It was just suggested by my companion’s friend–foodtrip kung foodtrip! :D

Kuya Ed’s

Kuya Ed’s located at Rizal Promenade at downtown Davao City. This Php99-buffet is open during lunch from 11am to 2pm and 5pm to 9pm. The menu is by rotation, having five to six kinds of appetizers, 10 main dishes and about five kinds of desserts including fruit platters. Regulars on the buffet table are Kuhol sa Gata, Steamed Crabs, Tahong and Laing which Kuya Ed learned during his stay in Bicol and cooked his way to perfection. Another one of his specialty is the Pork Humba. — http://eattoyourheartscontent.blogspot.com/2011/01/kuya-eds-davao-citys-affordable-buffet.html

Lutong-bahay ang trip! We capped Day 1 with super-filled tummies!!! :D

After dinner, we were supposed to have a short i-session, pero ewan ko ba, wala lang sa mood uminom… So we decided to just sleep early in prep for the Pearl Farm Visit the next day. …But what we actually did for the rest of the night was to immediately upload our Day 1 pics in FB!!! haha! updated! :)

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