This year was a special treat. Our nephew Peter, who is currently a 4th Marine Engineer, was home on his vacation. It was also special since on October 23rd was his 26th birthday. To celebrate his birthday, besides dinner and cake, that next Sunday the whole family spent the day on Samal Island at the Blue Jazz Beach Resort.

In the past, we have gone to two other beach resorts but nothing like what Blue Jazz offers. From the moment you arrive by boat, you see the upper scale facilities. The main beach area is shorter than the others are, but you see the two free pool areas. They have a lower semi-circular pool at beach level, which is fed by a horizon edge pool above. Around the upper pool are umbrella covered tables and little nipa huts that are for rent.

As we walked past a beautiful round covered bar area, we saw the covered seating areas. There are pavers and clean sand areas as you approached these tables. We all sat down and in Filipino tradition, a grill was started and food was prepared for our early lunch.

Well this time the family went overboard on food. The grilled pork ribs and small tuna. There was also shrimp, chicken, kinilaw, salad, tortillas, and of course rice. We relaxed while all was prepared and then the feast commenced.

During our lunch, two girls dressed as a mime and clown stopped by to invite us to their Sunday family activities at one of the pavilions. Later they came back with someone in a Tweety Bird costume.

Later a few of us walked up to their water slide and pool. Along the way, we passed the overnight rental units that looked very neat and accommodating.

The water slide pool is only 80 pesos per person and the first use of a floatation tube is free. I have never used a water slide, and at first was hesitant to try. However, with a little prompting from the attendants and Elena, I grabbed a tube and climbed the hill and steps to the top. As I sat on the tube and laid back for the ride, the attendant pushed me off with the words “Super Fast”.

Well I shot down the slide going almost vertical up the sides of the turns and then felt my butt bump as the dips on the straightaway towards the bottom. Next was the splash into the pool. Wow, what a ride that was. After some laughs and jokes, Elena and I went back up to ride the double tube together. Again, as we were pushed off, the attendant pushed us off, he called “Super Doper Fast” and with the added weight, we were flying.

This time on the curves, we slide up the banked side so high I thought we would fall out, but with the centripetal force, we stayed on the raft. Then once the straightaway started, our momentum kept us going back and forth up the sides until the last part and the butt bumping drops started. Gee, that was so much fun and I cannot believe I had never ridden a water slide before.

After a while we walked back to our table, some went to shower, and change clothes before our trip back. We needed to watch the time since the last boat leaves at 5pm and if you miss it, you will need to spend the night. Therefore, by about 4:30 we packed up and headed for the pier to get the boat ride back to Davao. The ride back was also a thrill, the normal calm Davao Gulf was choppy and they had to slow the boat to keep everyone in their seats.

This is now the third beach resort I have visited on Samal and to me it is the best so far, my hats off the man who designed this wonderful place to relax and enjoy.

Oneof the members, Chris has a large ocean front lot and house which he uses on weekends. The plan was we would have the services of a jeepneys owned by one of the members brother-in-law. We were to meet at 6:30 in the morning at the parking lot at Victoria Mall and ride the jeepneys.

On Saturday I received a text from Ian, the leader of the organization, that he sent me an email and would appreciate my assistance with the trip. Well I was working, so I text back that I would look at it when I got home. The email stated that we were not going to get the jeepney and also Ian was in the provinces with his family and would probably not be able to be there. He said we could take a bus to Samal or ride the Ferry over and once there get jeepneys to Chris’s house. Chris’s engineer would meet us at the terminal on the Samal side.

Sunday morning, Elena, our 3 nieces and I got in my little Kia Rio and drove to the mall. Since I try to be at appointments on time or a little early, we arrived at 6:30.

At the mall, the parking lot was chained. Elena asked what time they open and then mentioned we were to meet people. The guard let us in. In the parking lot there were people jogging, a group of “Jazzercise” type exercising and others in different forms of exercise.

By 7:15 nobody showed up, so after texting and receiving a reply from Ian that he did not know who was coming, we decided to go ourselves.

We drove to Sasa where the Ferry, or better know as the barge or RoRo (roll on Roll off).
We had to wait only about 15 minutes for the Ferry to arrive and then had a short cruise to the island.

One there we meet up with the Engineer, Engineer Nido. He had driven a motorcycle to the terminal, but would ride with us to Chris’s house. He mentioned the road was bad in spots since there had been some rain storms lately. He said the house is about 30 KM, or approximately 19 miles.

At first the roads were fine. Most of the roads so far were concrete but even when dirt it was graded and smooth. Then as we went further there were potholes and ruts. We finally hit a stretch of road which was a mess, rocks and loose sandy surface. We took it slow. The grade was easy and at times I had to downshift because the grade gradually increased without being obvious.

We finally came upon a hill that was steep and a mess. Half way up I had trouble advancing. The car would stall and it was getting difficult to get going since I have a standard transmission. Both sides of the road had drop-offs so there was no place to angle the car across the hill. Finally I rolled back down the hill until I could turn around. We then drove to a gas station and we called Chris to come get us.

When we finally arrived at the house about 10AM, what a nice change. Chris has a large lot with a new house and 3 nipa hut type gazebos. These are made from bamboo and there was even a 2 story hut. Plus there were shade trees, banana trees and wonderful view of the Bay. Chris also has 2 pump boats which are like a long canoe with outriggers and a motor. He has another boat too. He offered to take us by boat a short distance where there is a sandy beach instead of the the coral covered beach at his house.

Down near the water there was a big tree with a bench and table built around the tree. We sat and relaxed for a while. The girls were at the tree, Elena and Chris’s wife RC were at one hut, their son was in the house with friends and Chris and I sat in another.

This was nice since I have never had a chance to get to know Chris. He had a very interesting life. He was born in Hawaii and is ½ Hawaiian. He spent 24 years in the Army and then worked for a government contractor which gave him the opportunity to visit many countries all over the world.

While we were talking the Engineer and a caretaker started a grill to cook some of the foods. Once lunch was ready we moved to a hut with benches and a table. My, there was so much food. There was the chicken we brought, kinilaw, which is raw fish and vegetables in a vinegar sauce to cure the fish. There was also grilled beef and the Pièce de résistance was bar-b-que pulled pork. It was so good I had to have 2 sandwiches. There was so much food that they never grilled hamburgers they had also.

After lunch most went down to the water and either swam or waded in the cooling water.

Chris also gave me a tour of the house which is in the finishing stage. There is also an interesting setup. Because the well water is not so good, they have a storage tank where the rainwater fills it from the house gutters.

It was getting towards mid afternoon and with the drive and ferry back we decided to leave. We all packed up and rode with Chris back to my car and then followed them to the Ferry terminal.

Since Chris and family showed is such wonderful hospitality we invited them to come to our house for dinner. As usual Elena out did her self with he delicious pasta in a butter and garlic sauce with chicken. Everyone had 2 helpings.

Finally we were all tired and Chris and family decided to head home, but invited us to there house in Torril next Sunday.

Chris if you read this, Thank you again for a wonderful day. We all really enjoyed it.

Samal Island is actually called The Island Garden City of Samal. It is just a short boat ride from Davao.

On Samal there are many resorts; one of the most famous is the Pearl Farms resort. We were just going to Paradise Island.

Even though Paradise Island has cottages for rent, we were just making a day trip.
We arrived early at the Paradise Island Pier. Once Louis and family arrived we walked to the beach where the boats come in.

The boats are nice and seat only 20 people. They have outriggers for safety and reminded me of the Polynesian boats seen in all the old movies. The boats pull in to the beach and they drop a gang plank from the front.

The boat ride is only 12 pesos (29 cents US). The ride is only about 15 minutes. Once we reached the resort, we paid our fee, 80 pesos per person (1.93 US) and then found a table.

There is a long covered area along the beachfront with tables and chairs. There are places to buy food but both families brought food to share. We purchased beverages there since they charge a corkage fee. That is they charge you for beverages brought.
For cooking they have grills available too.

Once seated and organized we preceded to eat an early lunch. After lunch the younger members of our group went swimming. The tide was low so they had to walk out to reach deep enough water to wade and swim.

I joined Louis, his father-in-law and nephew to show my lack of billiards skills, but it was fun.
We brought my backgammon set and playing cards so we spent the afternoon playing. Louis taught me a Filipino game similar to 500 rummy.

Later on Louis, Venice, Elena and I took a walk to their small bird sanctuary and zoo. Then the girls used the seesaw and swings. By the time we got back it was time to pack up and take the boat back to Davao. The last boat leaves at 5pm.

I thank Louis for inviting us to a nice day of relaxation, fun and companionship.