Destination Davao: Ready, Steady, GO!!! (Part 3 of ?)

After the convention, it was time for some unwinding and sightseeing. It’s funny since after reviewing the massive amount of pictures we got, it looked like the point of going to Davao was about the sightseeing and the convention as a side trip, hehe. This is not in any chronological order, by the way.

People’s Park

This is where we went after the arrival dinner at Penongs. It was P’s idea—well, actually, I learned that way afterwards because at the time, I was just going along wherever everyone’s going. This park is soooo pretty. It’s big, there’s a lot to see, it’s clean and for it’s ambiance, it’s amazingly free-of-entrance-charge! Photo ops everywhere and while it’s not jam-packed, there were a lot of park-goers, combine that with how big the place was, it was a little scary to get separated from your groupies.

Speaking of separations, there were some lessons learned here, too. Like when you’re in a big place like this and you need to go to the rest room, always remember to do the next appropriate thing afterwards (I mean, right after washing your hands), and that is to at least know, and not just assume, where the rest of your groupies are. Next, in retrospect, PMS can be used as a moderating variable in testing relationships and cognitions—you just need to orchestrate the proper context. Finally, synchronized fountains and pretty lights can be mesmerizing and can be addicting to photograph, with possible dire consequences.

Speaking of fountains and lights, see how pretty they are! *___*

And from a different angle…pweeetttyyyy!!!

Before heading back to Bahay Alumni, we decided to take a group shot of whoever we we’re with at the time. See in the first panel, we’re just experimenting and all until we got the hang of it. Then with poses ready, we stood still and SMILE! *snap shots*

Yes, we were smiling while taking pictures of our shadows. Go figure.

Jack’s Ridge

We went here after the convention, right after dinner. It was highly recommended so we thought might as well give it a try. The road to Jack’s Ridge, was quite long. We took a cab and it was a pretty smooth ride, if only there were street lights along the way, it would’ve been less creepy at times. But I bet it would have a different feel when one drives in the morning. I can’t help comparing it to Makiling, maybe it can have street racing potential ^_^. Anyway, reviews say it’s like a cross between Eastwood and Tagaytay.

Well, okay, I’m speaking for myself but I was really looking forward to the sceneries—lights overlooking the city, but there was something about the landscaping that either made the lights-overlooking-the-city photo ops to be difficult or limited. The place was really spacious and you get to really burn some calories going to one place to another. There was an amphitheatre, which was, just that, an empty space that I didn't even bother to take a picture of (hehehe, the school’s mini amphitheatre is more picture-friendly). There was a potential lights-overlooking-the-city spot near the amphitheatre—I thought it was nice, how there were aligned so well; P thought it was some kind of a race track…only later on to be confirmed by T that it was…a cemetery. (Okay…my imagination can get into overdrive so I just had to delete the picture I took of that spot, LOL! The pic above, I'm sure that's cityscape : )

There were nice displays though, and the fact that this elevated area was submerged underwater in the past was fascinating. There were some resto-bars (which I suppose if you’re purpose for going to Jack’s Ridge is for this varied context of a night life, instead of lights-overlooking-the-city-and-other-photo-ops, then it could be a good place) on the area and some coffee shops. We went to Karlo’s Coffee Station to cap the night off. The strawberry short cake and rocky road drink thing I had were great!

This time, Carlo, er, Docta Carlo, tagged along with us ^_~. His appetite never cease to amaze me—had another round of sweets just to accommodate eating with us, awwww. He was such a sport for sticking it through the Jack’s Ridge rendezvous even if the terrain wasn’t exactly Carlo-friendly (if you know him, you’ll know why) and couldn’t join in some of the photo ops (which was fine, IMO, since he didn’t miss much—he just had to wait…SORRY!).

Gap Farm

In lieu of the Philippine Eagle place (WAAAHHHH! I wanted to see the really big birds T_T…enough, jennai—move on…), we went here after the adventure from Eden Nature Park (different post). Another huge place, a park that would probably be a venue for grade school field trips. Beside R is Z, who went with us during the whole day nature trip.

It’s not really an amazing place. Like I said, it’s a big park—the Bayani, Tribo and Animal busts/statues displays are at most mediocre-looking. The place was bare (well, it was past 4PM and it closes by 5) so we have the whole place to ourselves. It could might as well look like there’s practically nothing to do—but no, there was time to squeeze some fun out of posing with the resident inhabitants of Gap Farm. So yup, if you’re looking for a place to test your posing abilities in a seemingly neutral environment, try Gap Farm and see how good you can be.

Banoks and Dampa

This was dinner at Banoks after a day of nature tripping. Banoks is the counterpart of Penongs as they are both barbecue restaurants. Some new characters are in the Banoks picture, beside Z is mC, followed by T2. I honestly don’t remember much of the conversation that went around here but I’m sure mC and T2 had their share of listening to how our nature tripping went. I guess I was too tired by then. ^^;

The picture on the right was taken after our island hopping adventure (different post). We ate at this restaurant near the beach, where you order fresh seafood and they cook it for you. R’s friend B joined us, with her niece, Sop. B was the one who helped out plan the island hopping adventure and recommended the place for dinner. Food was good. (t’hell…? That rhymes!)

Blu Gre

Last major stop of the trip. After the dampa dinner, it’s coffee time and B brought us here. Not bad though, their cakes were good (courtesy of S, yay!). It’s been a long weekend and we’re gearing up for pack up for departure the next day.

Next posts will be about the highlight trips of the Davao get-away—nature tripping and island hopping! Stay tuned.

To Be Continued.