Tomorrow I need to get up early. A friend I made through this site is arriving from America. His plane is scheduled to land early. His Filipina girlfriend, her sister and their mother are planning to meet at the airport too. Since the city will be in a closed condition and since I made his reservation at an Apartelle I know, I promised to pick them up at the airport and drive them to his accommodations.

It will be nice to meet in person someone I have only known through this site. This is a kind of opposite story of how he found this site. His Filipina girlfriend was a reader and then contacted me for advice about their online relationship and to assist in any thoughts I had about their meeting and future. I am not a psychologist or relationship counselor but with my time here, my experience and all the contacts I made, I explained to them things they need to understand with the different cultures and respect.

One time this American asked Elena and I to do shopping for a birthday gift for his girlfriend and her twin sister. We were happy to assist and Elena did the shopping. One-day the girlfriend’s mother and sister came to Davao to meet with us and collect the gifts. We had coffee and talked for a while. I was amazed how the mother discussed with me about some of the more controversial articles I wrote and being a Filipina told me my understanding of the people and culture was correct.

It is nice, meeting people who have followed my site and have asked for advice and then want to meet me when they visit. As many know, there is a more popular site about live here in the Philippines and the owner of the site has become a kind of celebrity being noticed in public and someone visitors want to meet.

A few times, I have been out and someone will come up to me and say “you are American in Davao.” After I get over the shock, I reply with a smile, “well there are many Americans in Davao” where they then smile and say they recognized me from this site.

With my plan to move back to the states, I set May because in April there will be three different visitors to come to Davao and have asked to meet with me and assist them in different things. One visitor has even offered to hire me for 2 days as a driver to take them to some of the local tourist spots.

I will write about these meetings, as long as the visitor gives me permission to do so and I will also report about this year’s Good Friday.

At this point, if you want to continue your stay you must leave the country and return. At that point, your passport will show an exit stamp and a new entry stamp and you can stay again 16 or 24 months. Cost varies for each extension but it is somewhere around 3000 pesos ($65 USD). At the six-month extension, there is a higher fee and then if you plan to leave the country and return, you need to get an exit visa.

Accommodations:
There are many choices of stay in Davao and the rest of the bigger cities in the Philippines. I can only talk about Davao because I have not spent much time out of the city.

For a visitor to the city the available accommodations vary in quality and cost. One of the cheapest is a boarding house. These places are small and have little in what a foreigner would find desirable. The rooms are small and most times shared. A room for four would have two bunk beds. There is usually only one CR for the house and consist of a non-flushing toilet and a faucet to fill a pail of water to bucket shower.

Next is a Pension House. The amenities vary, some have air conditioners and some do not. Most have a shared CR. Prices range from around 695 pesos a night ($15 USD). I have never seen the insides but they cleanliness will probably vary with price.

There are many hotels here from the basic to the high end, 5 stars. The prices vary too and many times, you can get a discount from some of the booking sites. Since prices vary, I am not going to list them. Many of the hotels offer free wifi in the rooms, some charge.

There are also many Apartelles here, which are small rooms. They are clean and come furnished with hot water showers, TV’s, wifi. Some come with small kitchens. One I know of even has a pool and a small restaurant/bar if you do not want to travel and do not want to cook. These places cost around 1000 pesos ($22 USD) a day and for extended stay of over a month will give some discounted rates.

For longer stays, there are furnished and unfurnished houses and apartments available.

Restaurants:
Lately there have been more restaurants opening with a more international choice of foods. Again, prices vary. For a visitor, most of these higher end restaurants have cheap prices. Those on a budget can still find decent foods. If you want to be more native, there are little roadside Caranderias. At these places, you can get a meal for as little as 20 pesos ($0.50).

For high-end cuisines, you can eat for 1500 pesos ($30 USD) including a Black Angus steak. However, there are many restaurants where you can eat well for a third of the price.

There are many restaurants in Davao I enjoy that are not high priced and some higher end restaurants I do not frequent because of cost. My favorites are:
Boyd’s Pizza/pasta house on Palma Hill, Obrero,
Red Knight Gardens, in Guadalupe Village, Lanang
Coco’s on F. Torres, Bajada
Bigby’s Grill on Jacinto Ext., corner of F. Torres, Bajada

Transportation:
The basic transportation here is the Jeepney. It looks like an extended jeep that can sit approximately 18 passengers. It is open-air vehicle with vinyl windows that will be rolled down during rainstorms. This is to the Filipinos as a local bus in the States. An average ride costs 8 pesos ($0.17 USD). That is to cover a trip not more than 4 kilometers. After 4 KM, there is an additional 1-peso fare per KM. On the sides of the Jeepney their route is painted, which streets they travel and areas they travel too. For someone that does not know the city, it might be best to take a taxi.

Here in Davao most taxis are air-conditioned. There are still some non-aircon taxis but they are slowly being eliminated. The taxis are metered; the meter starts at 30 pesos for aircon and 26 peso for non-aircon.  Then the charge is 2.50 pesos per KM. Usually you can get to most places in town for around 100 pesos.

For short distances or in areas not covered by Jeepneys there are various types of vehicles powered by a motorcycle welded to a sidecar or a little van type size which can seat approx 8 passengers. There are also little 2-4 seat sidecar powered by a bicycle.

Budget:
It is hard to explain a budget since some live large and some are conservative. Then you have to look at how much you will travel around town, if you are going to the beach resorts on Samal or how you will spend your time and with who.

Some of the things you need to discuss with your girlfriend before you visit is who will be joining you for meals or activities or if you will be visiting her family. Many times a Filipina will ask to invite a friend or relative to join them. Other times I have seen foreign visitors at a restaurant with 10 Filipinos at the table.

Even if you explain to your girlfriend your limited budget for your visit, in many Filipinos mind foreign men are rich and can afford their every whim. You need to discuss this before you travel here and set your boundaries. I know we all want to impress and to treat our lady well, but you need limits.

If you are coming with no lady in mind to visit and just play the field, you will need more money. A date usually includes their transportation fees to meet you and their return trip, of course by taxi, meals, drinks and going to Karaoke or clubs. If you bring one of these ladies you meet to go back to your hotel, most will expect a monetary gift. I am not saying they all are prostitutes or whores, but many Filipinas use private time with a foreigner as a way to earn money.

In future articles I will try to discuss courting and visiting “The Family”

I encourage comments from past visitors experiences and questions from future visitors.

Originally, we played on Wednesday from about 10:30 am until about 2:30pm. We would break for lunch. The location we play is an apartment complex with a restaurant. We use one table to play and then move to another table for lunch. Now we are usually playing on Wednesday and Saturday and at times play to 5:30 pm.

As I stated, in Bridge, you are part of a team and you bid for the contract. A bid is a code, but a code everyone knows. You cannot make up secret codes only known to your partner. Not as in Spades where each player gets a point for each trick won, in Bridge only the team takes wins the contract counts tricks. The bidding tells your partner and the other team approximately how many points you have in your hand and which suit you want for trump. There is also a No-trump bid where there will be not trump. A bid means you will win 6 plus the number you bid, so One Spade means you will win seven tricks. In addition, the different suits have higher value than the others for bidding. A Club is the lowest, and then comes Diamonds, Hearts, Spades and then No-Trump. Spades and Diamonds are major suits and Diamonds and Clubs are minor suits.  If you bid one Club, then next player can bid one Diamond. After one No-Trump the next higher bid is two Clubs. As I stated a bid of One means you will need to win seven tricks and a bid of two means you will need to win eight tricks to complete contract.

The bidding convention, or rules and meanings of the bidding terms have changes over the years. Now most play “Modern Standard American” bridge. In this version, to open a bid you need a

That is the easy part, the confusing thing is some bids do not mean as they sound. First, after you look at your cards you need to value your hand. To do that you count high card points, an Ace = 4, a King = 3, a Queen = 2 and a Jack = 1. To open, or the first of your team to bid and not pass, you need a minimum of 13 points in your hand in most cases. If you have a long suit of 7 or more in that suit and have 5-9 points, you can open the bidding for your team.

Once you open, when the bidding comes to your partner, he can do a response bid to let you know if he has any points, the approximate points and if he likes your suit, or wants to let you know if he prefers a different suit. This is all accomplished with a bid. For instance, I have 13 points and five cards in a major suit or 4 cards in a minor suit I can bid one of that suit. Now if my partner has 3 or more cards in the suit I bid, he should reply with a two bid in that suit unless he has opening points and wants to let me know he has a different suit he wants the contract.

If this all sounds confusing, it is a first. Over time and playing a lot, you get to remember and understand the bidding. It takes time, but it is fun and an enjoyable hobby. For me it is almost an addiction. I downloaded Bridge tutorials and then bought Hoyle’s Card Game, which has Bridge. Now I can sit for hours at home playing Bridge.

Gene is an American from North Hollywood, California. He met his lovely wife while visiting Manila in 1996 and they were married in 2003 when he retired and relocated here to the Philippines. They donate their free time to their local Barangay Police. In this little travelogue, Gene tells about the nicer life of Angeles City. Maybe after Gene sees his byline here, he might decide to be a regular contributor.

Angeles Tidbits
by: Gene Davis

Ready, Set, Angeles…

Mabuhay and Greetings from Angeles City, Philippines. I’m a retired American living close to Angeles City in the Philippine Islands. Bruce of “American In Davao” asked me to write a bit about our area and life on the largest of the Philippines 7,107 islands. Most of what I write here comes from others with far more information than I can provide from just my own personal experiences.  Whether traveling the world in search of the perfect vacation spot, or like me, finding a warm place in the sun to enjoy my retirement years; the Philippines is a place of beauty and a relaxed lifestyle that would be hard to find anywhere else. Following is an article about our area of Angeles City. Things to do, how to get here and the like. As time goes by I will try to write a note or two on Bruce’s  site with thoughts about life here as well as personal experiences. If you have never been to the Philippines before or even if you have lived here for years, remember this is a third world country with wonderful but very poor people. Use caution and good common sense when traveling in the country at all times. And remember the old saying, “if it sounds too good to be true—it usually is.”

Angeles is a city mirroring two images; that of the beauty of nature and that of the glitter and glamor of city life. If you’re bound for the Philippines, then it is one city that you should visit.

Location:
The city is located in Region III, north of Manila / NCR (National Capitol Region), Philippines. It is more or less 80 kilometers from the Capital.

Access:
From the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), one can take an airport taxi to nearby bus stations (Victory Liner, Rabbit, Dagupan Bus lines most buses going up north pass by Dau the entry point to Angeles City.) The Victory Liner is the most comfortable, based on the author’s experience. Only the Rabbit Bus lines however, have a station inside the city. For the other buses, a stopover is usually done at Dau which is a jeepney- ride away from Angeles. There are ordinary buses and air con buses which offer affordable prices.

Private cars could be rented and taxis from the airport could bring you directly to Angeles, but it would be more expensive than the bus fares.

If you decide to take the bus until Dau, then you could ride a jeepney from Dau to Angeles. You have to walk though, the short distance from the bus station to the jeepney stop. If you’re totally new to the city, a taxi ride from the NAIA Airport provided by legitimate and certified airport taxis should be utilized.

The Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) is situated also inside Clark Freeport, (which was previously the US Clark Air Base.) Travelers from different entry points could now land directly at the airport. Flights from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Inchon Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand are quite affordable.

For first time-travelers, it is not advisable to hail a taxi outside of the airport for these are no longer covered by airport rules and may not be guaranteed for your personal safety. Accidents can happen in any part of the world no matter what safety precautions are in place if you don’t travel wisely. One could easily be lost in the crowded, metropolitan mazes.

Within Angeles city, jeepneys and tricycles are readily available.

Recommended places to visit:
If you’re a nature enthusiast, the remains of Mt. Pinatubo would be a good place to go. The remains of the eruption in 1991 are still indelibly etched on the landscape. The oldest house-Pamintuan’s residence found at Sto. Rosario St. could be a treat for you. The intricate designs of the house reflect the influence of the Spanish occupation. The Clark Special Economic Zone could be a peaceful place to visit, just to see how the former – US Clark Air Base – looked like. It occupies a large area in the outskirt of the city. There are also several duty-free shops. Taxis can be hired at the gates of Clark or at taxi stops outside SM Clark (a leading Filipino Mall, found just near the gates of Clark).

Several popular hotels are also within Clark’s perimeter: Mimosa and Holiday Inn to name some. Mount Arayat stands majestic in the center of Pampanga and is less than an hour’s ride from the city proper. It is the only mountain found in the heart of the province. Mother Nature abounds and local folks usually spent some respite there during the summer months. A guided tour would be advisable if you want to include it in your list. It would be wise not to venture without a competent, local guide. Balibago – one ride from the city proper is where most tourists stay. There are several hotels in this area, Swagman, Oasis, etc. which are frequented by tourists. Night life is also spectacular. There are several bars and bistros (some are opened 24 hours), which cater to foreigners who prefer the night life.

Whatever places you decide to visit while in Angeles City, you should be a wise traveler. Always have a map of the city with you, bring only valuables that you need when going out. For maximum enjoyment, stay in groups and avail yourself of the services of legitimate local guides.

My personal favorite place in Angels for a quick and affordable meal is the VFW post.  Good Mexican tacos, great sandwiches, and the best cup of coffee this side of Los Angeles Calif.

That’s all for this time, my sweet wife, Viol, is calling me in to surprise me with yet another delicious Filipino snack of some kind. Gosh, I have a hard life…

Thanks Ken, I appreciate your gift.

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Palawan? – by John Ray Arquisola

Last May 26, 2009 was my 10th year of residency here in Palawan. Originally, I am from Cebu City. It is there I spent the 14 years of my life. The first two years of my life was spent in Mindanao. Basically, you could say, I have been traveling for quite a while. But any way, I as I said, it’s my 10th year here in Palawan and I have been a witness to many good and some not so good things of this place. I have decided long ago that I will probably die in this place someday. That is of course if nothing comes up in the near future.

When I decided to finish my secondary studies here 10 years ago, I never thought I would be able to get this far. Originally, my plan was to go back to Cebu and finish tertiary education there. I spent most of my life in the city and it was even unthinkable back then to see myself living in a barrio. I thought I would go insane.

However, my first months turned out to be anything aside from boring. My uncle, a pastor, and some of the people I know taught me to fish, dig for crabs in a nearby island, open up sea shells and eat sea urchins. It was also here that I experienced swimming while numerous fish swam around me. Before, I only get to see these happen in television. Now I don’t have to watch television to know how it feels, I have lived it. So as the months moved on, my love for the place also grew. Thus four years ago, I finished my tertiary education at Palawan State University and three years ago I decided to marry my long time friend and college classmate. My love for Palawan has evolved from just mere admiration and adventure. It may not be perfect place. There are many what if’s and could have’s in this place. Things are not yet quite mature (even most of the politicians are not). But Palawan is still starting to progress and with technology becoming more available to the masses, progress is not far to achieve.
*SO WHERE IS PALAWAN?*

Nine years ago on a summer, I told my former classmates where I now live and described to them the beauty of this place. They just stared blankly at me and said, “Ah, so where is Palawan?” I was taken aback by the question. Why on earth were they clueless about Palawan considering that they live in the Philippines? I realized that back then; Palawan did not receive much media attention. Yes, Puerto Princesa city was the cleanness and greenness city in all of the Philippines, but despite this prestige many remained clueless about the island.

That was ten years ago. Now, whenever I get to meet people in the internet and I tell them where I live, they get so excited about Palawan. I believe that the media attention and the affordability of communication have widened the knowledge of most people. Though Palawan is still considered the last frontier in the Philippines, I think today, it is most of the time the prioritized destination for tourist.

So where exactly is Palawan? Here is a textbook answer for those who do not have any clue.
Palawan is an island which is (1990 pop. 528 287) 4, 550 sq mi (11 785 sq km) and is the 5th largest in the Philippines. It is north of Borneo and between the Sulu Archipelago and the South China Sea.

*WHAT MAKES PALAWAN FAMOUS*

Basically, Palawan is most famous for its white sand beaches. I have been to beaches in Puerto Princesa City, here in my hometown-Roxas -San Vicente and EL Nido. Most of Palawan’s famous resorts can be found in Puerto Princesa city, El Nido and Coron. There are other famous resorts in some of the other municipalities but the majority is found in the places mentioned above. I have not been in those five star resorts because the cost per night ranges from 4,000 to 15,000. The most expensive resort in Palawan, Amanpulo, is near the island of Cuyo. A night in Amanpulo costs around Php. 47,000 + per night. According to one of my friend who once worked there, they had many guests who were Hollywood actors and actresses.

My favorite beaches can be found in El Nido. My wife grew up there and their family owns a beach.  One thing I love about El Nido is that I do not have to pay a fortune to experience the bounty of nature.

Aside from beaches, Palawan is also rich many forms of natural resources. Palawan boasts of many different kinds of animals and plants. Mineral resources also abound.  Two of the Philippine’s world heritage site can be found here in Palawan—the Tubbataha reef and the Puerto Princesa subterranean river. There are also offshore gas natural deposits.
*WILL YOU VISIT PALAWAN?*

I invite you to visit Palawan someday. If you live here in the Philippines or live abroad, do make it a point to visit Palawan. I am sure you will enjoy it.

*WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU WANT TO KNOW?*

I cannot cover everything in this short post, but if there is anything you would like to know about Palawan, please leave a comment. I will try to cover it in my next post here or in my blog, Palawan Anecdotes.

There are many festivals and fiestas in Davao. From the neighborhood or barangay to the larger citywide festivals. The biggest festival is the Kadayawan (Ka-da-ya-wan) Festival. This is the 24^th year of this celebration. Officially it is runs from August 18 through the 24^th but there are activities all week.

Kadayawan history:

KADAYAWAN is a festival of thanksgiving for bountiful harvest and tribute to its colorful tribes in Exotic Mindanao.

A celebration that interfaces the three aspects; tribal, industrial and arts and entertainment. The festivities will be highlighted by the floral float, street-dancing competitions and exhibits showcasing the island’s tourism products and services.

Madayaw! – is the warm and friendly greeting derived from the Dabawenyo word “dayaw” that means good. It is also used to describe anything that is valuable, superior or beautiful. Such is “Kadayawan,” a celebration of life, a thanksgiving for the gifts of nature, the wealth of culture, the bounties of harvest and the serenity of living.

The thanksgiving festival was institutionalized in 1986 to unite the Dabawenyos after the turbulent Martial Law years. It was then called Apo Duwaling, a contraction of the famous icons of the city, the Mt. Apo, durian and waling-waling. Two years later, it was renamed Kadayawan to better reflect the merry spirit and indigenous theme of the celebration.

However, today, Kadayawan has metamorphosed into a festival, the mother of many other festivals in the region as it honors Davao’s heritage, its past personified by the ancestral lumads as they celebration on the streets, and its floral industry as they parade in full regalia in thanksgiving for the blessings bestowed.

Through 18 Kadayawan years, Davao City has nurtured a culture of peace in harmony with nature and with great respect to indigenous traditions. It has become the gateway to the arts and culture of Mindanao. All these are found in Kadayawan. Sun.Star Davao

The Festival consists of many activities. Some of the cultural exhibits show the different Lumad (indigenous people) in their native dress and dances. There is also a two parades, one where there are many dance teams in their bright costumes. The next day there is a parade of floats sponsored my businesses and clubs. Last year, after the parade, many of the floats go on display in the parking lot of SM Mall in Ecoland.

For a full schedule of events and more information,visit the Official Kadayawan Website.

]]> http://americanindavao.com/blog/2009/08/it%e2%80%99s-kadayawan-festival-time-again/feed/ 12 http://americanindavao.com/blog/2009/07/american-feast-in-davao/ http://americanindavao.com/blog/2009/07/american-feast-in-davao/#comments Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:01:06 +0000 Bruce http://americanindavao.com/blog/?p=938 Last week, for my anniversary, Elena told me we would go to the Marco Polo Hotel for our celebration dinner. Since we have the privilege membership at the hotel, we get one free meal at their restaurants.

Elena checked her email to see if they were having one of the cuisine specials this month and they did. This month they are having “Wild Wild West” American Buffet at the Café Marco.

We also have a couple we are friends with and the husband only likes to eat American style foods, so we invited them to join us. So we met them at the hotel that evening.

Both we Kanos (Americans) eyes lit up when we saw the buffet table. There was a huge Prime Rib of beef, a large turkey and a leg of lamb.

Since I love the soups they have there, I started with a small bowl of sweet corn and salmon soup, which was delicious as their soups usually are.

After the soup I headed to the meat table. I got a slice of rare Prime Rib, a few slices of turkey breast and some leg of lamb. They even had mint jelly to compliment the lamb. I then got some roasted potatoes to compliment my plate.

All the meats were cooked and seasoned perfectly and if you did not know better you would think you were at one of the fine dining in America.

If you follow this site and hear me talk about foods and eating here, I am a big proponent of having fresh vegetables with my dinner, but that night was different. I ignored everything else. I skipped the vegetables, sushi, sashimi, rice and all the other wonderful items and just thought about the beef, turkey and lamb.

After I finished my first servings, I got up for round 2. Again I got Prime Rib, Turkey and Leg of Lamb with more mint jelly. I did get a few more potatoes but less this trip. By the buffet table was one of the Chefs supervising and I had to compliment him for his food and told him he could compete with some of the better chefs in American restaurants.

Both our American friend and I were in heaven. The taste was just like back home. I decided, even though I try to eat until no longer hunger and not until full was being put away for this evening and after my second helping, I got up for my third. I did cut back, I skipped the turkey this trip.

After finishing the third plate I went out on the balcony to relax a bit and settle my stomach with a cigarette. After this I went to the dessert table and took a selection of their delicious desserts. They have little parfait type desserts in shot glasses and there was also cream Brule, chocolate soufflé, napoleons and other treats. After I enjoyed my small plate, and being the glutton I was that night, I went back for some of the others I missed on the first trip.

As we were relaxing and chatting over a coffee and dessert, I was still thinking of going back for more beef, but I kept myself in control. Control, ok, maybe that is the wrong word for this evening.

Even though eating at the Café Marco at the Marco Polo is expensive, even with one meal free, it is always an experience. The foods, the staff, the ambiance is always wonderful. If you live or plan to visit Davao, and have the time and budget for an evening of good foods, do not forget the Marco Polo. If you have a larger budget, I hope you will invite me and Elena to join you.

Well about a month ago one close friend introduced me to one of his friends from outside either groups. I had heard of him when my friend spoke of him and he sounded interesting. Well about a month ago, my close friend invited me to lunch to meet this other man.

This person is from the UK and is older than me, which most expats are. He speaks well and I learned he was a marathon runner and an international concert pianist. He speaks or understands about 17 languages and has played the piano in concerts all over the world and has also been the teacher of some concert pianists out today.

With all this, his knowledge is vast and also well rounded. I love comedy and he knows of my favorites form the past and more modern times.

One day he mentioned Bridge to me. I told him I play Hearts and Spades and have even played Whist but in the States any body I knew who played Bridge, when asked to teach me said “Buy a book and learn, I have no patience to teach.”

When I told him this, he laughed and said he would like to teach me and once I learned to join his Bridge Group. He also mentioned at our second lesson that one of his friends who is an experienced player offered to play with his wife, my friend and I to gain experience.

Well today is my 3rd lesson. The playing of the cards is similar to Hearts and Spades except the team that wins the bid, one of the plays puts his cards down for all to see and his partner plays both hands in their turn.

You start by bidding what suit you would like to be trump and if you win the bid, either you get it and get the points or you lose them. The difficult part is the bidding. All of the bids are just codes to tell your partner how strong or weak your hand is, but the codes are standard s the other team knows whaat you mean too.  You would not say, “Partner, I have a lot of strong cards and my main suit is spades” you would say “One Spade.” If your bids something else and you want to let him know you really are strong in Spades your next bid could be “Two Spades” not “Partner, I have a lot of high spades”

There is a bid to tell your partner, and the other players you have a garbage hand.

The bidding, and the codes are the hardest part of the game, but I was told at first I can have a little code sheet.

Well today is my 3rd lesson, wish me luck.

Evelyn had a whole day planned for us and wanted us to arrive by 8 am. I set the alarm on my cell phone for 4 am, but for some reason it never went off. So Elena woke me at 4:50 and we rushed to get done and get on the road. We hit the road about 6 am and started our drive south.
This was my first experience driving to General Santos City and enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way. I saw open fields, rice paddies, Mountains in the distance and clean open areas of green.

Traffic was not too bad and we arrived in GenSan about 8:30. I sent a text to Evelyn and she told us were to meet her. About 10 minutes later Evelyn, her friend Glynda, her daughter-in-law Elke, and a new friend for us to meet, Gilda.

One of the things that caught my eye there was their tricycles. They were so much smaller than the ones you see in Davao. There were mainly 2 styles, one where the passenger compartment roof is lower than the drivers head with a little seating area and a newer style where the driver is under the roof of the compartment.

We followed them in our car to the other side of GenSan to a place called Sarangani Highlands. The location overlooks Sarangani Bay, which is a beautiful site with the glistening blue waters and the view of Sarangani Bay. Their flowers and plants are arraigned around the property with paths to different covered seating areas. We met the owner and I apologize for forgetting his name. He was a nice man and told us about how he acquired the location and how it started out as a garden. Then they developed it into the current restaurant. The views of the gardens and the bay in the distance are just amazing. We dined on mushroom soup, a Shrimp, pamalo and mango salad, steamed pompano with rice and behon noodles. It was a nice and relaxing breakfast where we could talk and get to know each other.

From there we drove to the General Santos City Fish Port Complex. General Santos, which is known as the “Tuna Capital of the Philippines” has a large complex where many fishing boats can dock to unload and sell their catch.

First we went to the Administration Building and met Mike Lambarte, the facility manager. He was very informative and gracious to allow us into his office where we talked about the facility and the fishing industry. He then walked out with us and called one of the security personnel to escort us to the different wharfs where to boats are unloaded and sold to the different vendors.

Because of the over fishing, most of the ships have to travel 15 days to the fishing grounds in International Waters near Indonesia. Even though there were many boats still docked, we were too late to see the large Tuna being unloaded and prepared. We did see smaller tunas and other fish processed there.

After our visit to the Fish Complex we got back into our cars and we followed Evelyn and her crew to the Dole Pineapple Farm to have lunch at their golf course County Club. The farm is huge, 10,000 hectares and we drove for a while through miles, or should I say kilometers of pineapple fields. We finally arrived at the country club after stopping at a Guard post to give our names. The Country Club had a nice open air restaurant overlooking beautiful green landscape. We took some photos of 2 cute statues of a pineapple and banana and then sat down for a steak lunch. On the table were 2 pitchers of their “4 Seasons” juice which is a mixture of pineapple, mango, orange and guava juices.

After we left Dole, we went on a tour of downtown General Santos City. After over a year in Davao and trip to Kidapawan last Christmas, I was pleasantly surprised of the wide 4 and 6 lane roads separated with nice clean greenways separating thetraffic in opposite directions, the clean and orderly stores and the modern buildings and malls. The only traffic congestion was when we came to an area of 2 shopping malls and there were many tricycles there to pick up and discharge passengers. At many intersections and traffic circles there were nice parks.

As we drove around town out in the more residential areas you would see open land, farms and just green open spaces. Also everywhere there was a view of Mount Matutum, a majestic mountain that is also a dormant volcano.

There is a new mall being built too. Unfortunately with only Elena with me in the car and Evelyn and her friends in their big pickup truck, I was unable to get the names of the places we passed.

We also passed a beach area where there is plenty of room from the fence to the water and concession stands to buy food and drinks.

We then were told we had one more stop to make and to just follow them. We drove for a little while and then noticed an overhead sign stating we were entering Sarangani Provence. We passed the Capital building and then arrived at Isla Parilla Resort. As we drove in we saw many lakes set up as a Bangus Farm. Bangus is a favorite fish here in the Philippines, also known as Milk Fish. Then we saw pretty little cottages on concrete stilts with walkways from the main building. We parked and walked around a little to see the lakes and the views.
Then we all sat at their restaurant for cappuccinos and some more jokes and talks about our day. It was then getting late and we needed to start back. As we were walking to our cars Evelyn told us we had to make one more stop at the Provincial Capital to take a few more photos.

As we left the Capital, we followed their vehicle until they brought us to where we were able to get on the road to head back home. As the light was getting dim with evening approaching a light rain started. By the time we reached the winding road over the mountains it very dark with a constant rain. This slowed our trip but we kept on. By the time we passed Digos the rain stopped and the roads were dry. With the slower traffic it took us about 3 ½ hours to get home. Once we arrived we went right to bed for a much needed rest.

I have to tell Evelyn, thank you so very much for a wonderful day and her gracious friendship and showing us the city she loves so much. Elena and I am Blessed with her kindness and it is another proof of the kindness of the Filipino people. I am amazed such a friendship has become from a lady who one day found my site, left a few comments and then wanted to meet me when she came home for her 2 month vacation before she returns to California to resumes her position as a Caregiver. From her sweet personality and caring and kind ways I know the man she is employed by is truly blessed having her in his home to take care of her.

We have many photos, too many to place on view in this article, so please look at the slide show video.

Also visit Evelyn’s site “Ferns thoughts” where she is a new blogger. http://www.coolfern.blogspot.com/

Also you can see Evelyn’s Photos clicking here