Huwaw Davao! :)

I am a traveller. I love going to different places and experience their culture.

This year, I wished to go to Vietnam to celebrate my birthday but I changed my mind and thought of travelling locally instead. I wished of going to place in Mindanao since that's the only major island group that I haven't been to. We really get what we wish for. A week before my birthday, my council and I flew to Davao for a council meeting and at the same time bond with our Davao teammates. :)

I love Davao! It was love at first sight. Davao has a charm of calmness, openness and serenity. As we cruised our way to the hotel from the airport on Levi's car, I felt how the city welcomed me into it. :) What made our stay in Davao more enjoyable was the company of the loving Davao 49ers. We bonded like we were old friends and shared stories like there was no tomorrow. Here are some of the photos: 

DAY 1

 Hello Davao! :)

 Logging in hours for the Bar Review. 

 At Francisco Bangoy (Davao)  International Airport

 A welcome treat at the airport

Lunch. 

 K Steak serves buffet for only 170.00 Php with at least 5 choice of viands 

and unlimited grilled pork, beef, chicken and fish. Rating: 8 

 Powerful Voice with the Davao LEAPers. :)

 I love taking photos of vehicles in a particular locale. Here's one. 

DAY 2

Day 2 was fun day. We went to Outland Adventure, The Repentor in Ma-a to go zipline. It was my first time to go ziplining. Wooohooo! :)  

All geared up! :)

After the first 600m. Wooh! That was awesome!

Part of travelling is experiencing the local food as well. We were so blessed to have friends who treated us so well. Tito Jon and Anot cooked food for us. 

Instant Favorite: Kinilaw na Tuna!

Steamed Sea Bass

Sinigang na Sugpo sa Calamansi at Sabaw ng Gulay

No oil Fried Chicken

      

Anot's Chicken Salad

 Grilled Pork Chop. Favorite.

Crusted Cream Dory with Tomato Sauce

My Davao Experience will not be complete without having anything with Durian. Levi and the rest of the Davao LEAPers invited us to have Durian Halo-halo at Aling Foping's.  Durian halo-halo is a mixture of Durian Jam, Nata de Coco, Pinipig and Durian Ice cream topped with crushed ice and laced with fresh milk. Yuuum!

Daghang Salamat Dabaw! :) I hope to go back to you soon. :) 

take me back to coron

Before the everything starts to be stressful, my law school friends and I went to a trip which will forever etch good memories in our lives. Off we went to Coron, Palawan. :) Although, I initially hesitated to join this trip, am now so happy I changed my mind. Everything was perfect (except for a mishap that almost took my life. hahaha!).

Clear waters. Fine sand. Bright Sun. Fresh food. Chilled beer. Vodka Kurant. Good friends. Much laughter. Good times.

Coron, for now we have to part ways. But I promise to be back.

My summer is now over, but has been perfectly defined.

de-stressed

Sembreak is ticking out. Soon, I will be romancing with law books all over again. My four-week break (I didn't realize it was that long) was sooo good. I was able get lots of sleep and good food (oh, i did earned some pounds, hay) . I met up with old friends. I was able to finish Grey's Anatomy Season 3 (I love Preston Burke and I see myself in Cristina Yang.) I also started with House (that is, literally started: Episode 1.) I've read a lot of non-law books. And I also went to... BICOL.

Mayon Volcano at 10am on our way to Tabaco, Albay.
The view was better at 6 am, no clouds then.
But the view from the hotel isn't very good for photo taking.

This Bicol trip is supposed to be a business trip but at the same time I took the opportunity to commune with nature. The trip was tiringly long. Ten hours by land. I've slept all that I can sleep. I even tried reading on a moving vehicle (which I know isn't right or I'll continue ruining my eyes.) But I loved the stillness of the greens we are passing by on the road. Nothing like the city that I have grown accustomed with. I needed a breather and thank God I had it.

I've been to several places in the Bicolandia--Daet (in Camarines Norte) , Naga and Pili (in Camarines Sur), Legaspi, Daraga and Tabako (in Albay). For the first time, I have seen the magnificent Mayon Volcano. As the locals would say, if you have seen it's glory without any clouds covering it at least at the moment you came, the volcano is welcoming you to the place. I am welcomed.ü The food was excellent! We had our servings of Lato (seaweeds), Bicol Express, and Pangat (Laing).

Stress, I have learned is a word that is originally used in engineering. It pertains to the maximum weight that a steel can take. And now we use that to describe the pressures of human beings. I have realized that city life stressed me much and good thing my Bicol experience softened me a bit. This sembreak de-stressed me. And it is good. Very good. I had my good friends with me in the Bicol trip too, which spiced the whole thing. Plus the extra money on our pockets.ü

Juris, Faith and Dee as we arrived in Naga City.

Am ready for another sem closer to the bar.

Hong Kong

My HK trip last 04-06 March, was a blast! We opted not to join the guided tour and it was definitely a totally different experience! We are actually left to oursleves to go around, ride the MTR, walk around the city and find our way to the various destinations we wanted to see.

Ernest's familiarity of the city helped a lot, but the thrill of using the map and figuring out which train station to take is definitely something I enjoyed. I am a traveller. Travelling is definitely a thrill, so what we had for those three days was really some I loved.

We went to Ocean Park, Victoria Peak, Disneyland and A LOT of stores! HK is famous for shopping and we did a lot of that. Sale is sale and I spent some dollars on that. The food was great too. Authentically Chinese...hehe!
More than anything, I did enjoy the company of the people I was with--Pinky, Ernest, Iona, Tina and Ellen.

Till next trip, guys!