Travel Diary: Davao City (Part Two)

It's a Sunday. What to do on a Sunday?

We woke up really early (well, since we have been sleeping since 4:00 PM, I think) and found ourselves wondering... What to do in Davao on a Sunday?  Museums are closed plus where do we have breakfast? It was just 7:00 AM. Thank God for Google! So we hailed a cab from our hotel and asked the cab driver to take us to this "supposed" popular food place in China Town but to our surprise... It has already closed. *Scrolls down on the Trip Advisor comments* Oh yeah, they're closed. I guess we were just so hungry that we forgot to check the comments.

And so we asked the cab driver to just drop us off near the McDonald's and the church and find a place to eat from there. And so we walked... And at a turn, we saw Dimsum Diner. Okay, this will do. We had fried rice, a mushroom dish, and Hainanese Chicken.

But again, this early, what to do in Davao City?

Shopping Time at Aldevinco

We walked around for a bit until we reached the port area, It was a good walk but what to do next?

"Why don't we just go shopping at Aldevinco?," I proposed.

I've heard of Aldevinco from friends at work. Since we used to have a branch in Davao, some of my officemates frequent the city and would often rave about Aldevinco; and so I just had to go there.

He agreed (of course he will. He's more of the shopaholic between the two of us) and so we then hailed a cab and went there. Upon arriving, there are only a few shops open; but they all sell almost the same items so it doesn't really matter. I don't know how many times we checked each store and made the ever so famous "tawaran," but I guess because of our perseverance (to check each and every store) and persistence, we got good deals.

After shopping at Aldevinco, we were thinking about going back to the hotel to drop our shopping (plastic) bags. We decided to take the jeepney this time; however, the challenge  is finding out which route will take us to where we need to go. We came to the conclusion that we should be looking for the sign that says SM Lanang since our hotel is near the said SM mall; but there's only the SM Ecoland sign and we were wondering about where it was.

"Wanna try SM Ecoland?," my partner suggested.

I nodded and then we then took the jeepney going to SM Ecoland. We just needed to buy a few supplies at Watsons, then my partner bought a Xiaomi powerbank (I almost died in envy because Xiaomi powerbanks here in Manila or even in Pampanga are always out of stock), a few snacks and then we got bored and asked ourselves again, "where to next?"

'D Japanese Tunnel

We were planning on having dinner at Jack's Ridge but it was still too early to go straight there so we decided to try out 'D Japanese Tunnel which is a bit out of the way but not too far. When we got there, we were surprised how it was actually a resort. To make it more clearer, a resort was built around the tunnel! Nothing wrong with that though I was actually expecting something more... Hmm... remote or maybe like how the Callao Cave (in Cagayan) but instead of climbing up the stairs, you descend further down. I was thinking and hoping that it would, somehow, be a bit adventurous.

Anyway, it wasn't so bad. The tunnel was well-maintained and they have trained resort staff who would tour you down the tunnel and tell you some interesting facts about it and its history as well. It was a 10 or 15 minute thing which will only cost you PHP50.00 per head as its entrance fee; but after the 15-minute tour... Where to next? AGAIN.

We didn't go to places in Davao that we called, "tourist traps." We want to experience the real Davao and not the zip lining stuff which some of the places there offer. We want to see its culture and know its history so as much as we were delighted with the tunnel, we realized in the end that it's a tourist trap. No other places to go near there and they have a Japanese restaurant and a pool. Oh well.

So we hailed a cab and decided to see Matina Town Square. A friend of mine recommended the place.

When we got to Matina, we didn't (or at least I didn't) know that most of the places there won't be open until around 6 in the evening perhaps? So we just stayed and had milk tea at Jelly Ctea for a couple of hours and then left at around 5:30 in the afternoon.

My partner loves walking and it was pretty evident because we REALLY WALKED from Matina Town Square up to Jack's Ridge. If you're from Davao or have been there, you would know how far and how steep the road going to Jack's Ridge is. We made it though alive and in one piece. Thank God!

Upon getting to Jack's Ridge, we didn't immediately have dinner. We sat at a bench, overlooking the beautiful city, talking about our lives, our work, and everything else. After an hour of reflecting about life and whatnot, we finally felt the hunger sipping into our system.

"Wanna eat now?," I asked.

And nodded and stood up. Yeah, he's hungry now.

When we got to the restaurant, itself, there was already a long table waiting list. At first, I was planning on taking a table overlooking the city but since we already had our share of view prior to this, we said it'll be okay with just a regular table. It'll be faster, of course, and we're really hungry now.

We just ordered chopsuey and kare-kare. The food was good but nothing exceptional. I guess people go there for the view and not much about the food.

So after eating, I asked him, "cab or walk?" Well, of course we're taking a cab! And so we went back to the hotel and then our adventure continues the next day...