I Am Blogie

In April and May of this year, we were alerted to despicable crimes against marine flora and fauna, and the illegal trade that perpetrates these atrocities. Are we just going to sit back and allow the rape of the ocean go unpunished? Will we let the plundering of our natural resources go unimpeached? Not us [...]

About half an hour’s ride by speedboat from Davao City is a charming beach resort that can melt your worries and bring you much-needed rest & relaxation. Leticia by the Sea on Talikud Island, Samal, is one of the many beach resorts now dotting the Samal coastlines, but it’s one of the better resorts in its class. In terms of location and amenities, Leticia by the Sea tops the others of its class.

Recently, the owners of the resort — who, by the way, also operate Casa Leticia, Tsuru Japanese Restaurant and Hanoi Vietnamese Cuisine — hosted a group of bloggers and photographers to an overnight stay, which all of us thought was close to an enchanted experience. (Disclosure: I am related to the resort owners.)

Leticia by the Sea markets itself as an exclusive resort, which groups can “own for a day,” so to speak. Their most popular package is for groups of 20 who stay for a night or two and they get to have the run of the place exclusively.

I will let the following photos tell you more about the resort:

The idea is to get your friends or your family (or your organization) to own the island resort while you’re all there, with no strangers except for the resort attendants who are there to keep you reasonably comfortable. There are modern amenities that you might expect from a resort, such as clean running water in the bathrooms, privacy when needed, air-conditioning. There’s no wi-fi (yet), but I’m happy to report that all the mobile carriers do reach the resort and broadcast 3G Internet signals.

Aside from lounging and enjoying the idyllic ambiance of Leticia by the Sea, there are plenty of other activities for everyone on the resort. There are kayaks, jet ski, thrilling inflatable rides, snorkeling gear, and even an aquatic trampoline. But the best marine pursuit for me at the resort is scuba diving.

Just in front of the resort is a vibrant undersea ecosystem. Again, I will let the photos below do the talking. The first set are photos by resort proprietor, Ray de la Paz.

This next set is by one of Davao’s best photographers, Bing Peña.

(For even more awe-inspiring photography of undersea life in Davao’s waters, you must check out Steve de Neef’s account of the recently-concluded Philippine Seafari – Davao edition. He has a breathtaking collection of macro shots that will make you want to take up scuba diving and spend all your weekends underwater!)

That day we went diving, the sun was ablaze and visibility was excellent, which made for great photography and hours’ worth of underwater wonderment. It was pure pleasure observing delightful sea creatures and schools of varicolored tropical fish. (What I’d like to be able to do next is dive at night, when the undersea environment is bound to be drastically different and mysterious.)

The resort does not have its own scuba diving facilities. However, it’s very easy to engage the services of dive shops in Davao City. The Leticia by the Sea staff can arrange this for your group if you indicate that you’d like to go diving while at the resort.

One other activity that I vigorously recommend is their Sunset Cruise. You and your pals are taken by speedboat to the mouth of Samal Strait to view the sun as it sets behind Mt. Apo, with drinks and eats and soothing music on board.

To get to this tropical paradise, you have two options: go in style by speedboat, or by commercial ferry (which takes a little more than an hour). Either way, you will have to book in advance, because the resort does not allow walk-ins. Call +63(82)224-0501 or visit the beach resort’s website for more information.

They also offer day trips… But that’s not a good idea, because once you’re on the island, you’re definitely going to want to stay!

Here are other blog posts about Leticia by the Sea Beach Resort:

• BYAHILO: Ito ang trip ko!
• Life Online
• Dabaw Pinoy
• lost… in Davao!
• Shuttered Identity
• JuanDerPul PINOY

Since about a month ago, the city has been abuzz with fast-paced developments at the Abreeza Ayala Mall, which is scheduled to have its soft opening on the 12th of May. Thanks to my good friend Moe Ordoña (who’s part of the team that’s doing Jersy Studio’s interiors), I was able to see the premises last night. Tenants, construction workers, suppliers, mall supervisors, security personnel, etc., were all busy and intent on making the deadline. When I left just before midnight, there was still a lot of people inside the new Ayala mall.

You see, tenants have been offered a rather hard-to-resist deal: those that open and begin operations on 12 May 2011 get to pay only 50% of their rent for all of 6 months. By the looks of it, I think some shops won’t make it to the deadline. And the mall itself doesn’t look to be quite finished yet, with only a couple of days to go. Still, as what Dr. Neil Oropeza said when I saw him at Abreeza yesterday, a deadline has to be imposed to get people to do their darnedest best to finish. Doc Neil is opening an OroDerm clinic there, and he is confident he’ll be opening his doors to the public this Thursday.

Here are some pictures of the soon-to-open mall, taken last night. I tried to take photos of the establishments rushing to meet the deadline, but I couldn’t get them all. I was hoping to bump into my cousins, Raymond & Christian de la Paz, who’re going to open Tsuru Japanese Restaurant and Hanoi Vietnamese Cuisine at the ground floor. But I felt like I was getting in the way already, so I left after two rounds of the mall.

Will Abreeza be ready to do the soft launch this Thursday? By the looks of it, maybe not. But judging by the hive of activity at the premises, the purpose with which everyone moved, it seems they just might make a photo finish of it!

Kudos to the successful joint venture between Ayala Land and Damosa Land! Dabawenyos will certainly be proud of Abreeza and its beautiful space.

On my last bloggers conference, I got my biggest surprise yet when the organizers handed out a Samsung Galaxy Tab to each invited participant (there were about 16 of us). It’s my first Android-powered gadget, so I’m pretty stoked about it. The operating system is clearly designed for mobile in all kinds of awesome. But, the graphics resolution of the Tab’s screen, while it’s much bigger than my old iPod touch, leaves a lot to be desired when compared to the latter. Still, I’m happy with it because (1) it’s a new toy that’s proving to be quite useful, and (2) I didn’t have to pay for it.

And here are my de rigeur unboxing photos:

I’ve received quite a few gadgets since I started blogging in earnest, which was around 2007, either directly (gifts, prizes) or indirectly (acquired through blog-related earnings). There was a series of Nokia phones and a Bluetooth headphone, each of which I got to use for about a month — and my all-time favorite was the N82, which I got to keep. I won an HP mini at a press launch of HP’s new line of computers. Except for that and my very first laptop, my notebooks (as well as two iPods) were all bought with earnings from ad placements on my blogs. Same goes for my Lumix LX3, the quintessential blogger’s camera.

What I really would like to be given is a Sony Bloggie. A handy pocket videocam perfect for interviews and such, don’t you think? Of course there’s the Flip Mino and similar cameras of other brands, but I believe the Bloggie is for me. It’s nearly identical in spelling and pronunciation to my own nickname, for crying out loud!

It’s fun and it’s fulfilling in a way to receive gadgets. After all, these devices are tools of the blogger’s trade. But it shouldn’t be an end, it shouldn’t be the objective for blogging. It’s disturbing to see some people taking up blogging because of a desire to get hold of material things. More often than not, so-called bloggers of this ilk fail to appreciate the raison d’être of blogs: quality and meaningful content. But that’s an entirely different topic which I’ll leave for another day.

In the meantime, I’m finally going to be able to play Angry Birds on a bigger screen. Oh yeah, keep my Google Apps calendar and contacts beautifully synchronized as well, of course, that too. Now I’m in a quandary as to whether I should dispose of my old iPod touch 3G or not…

The 1st Malaysia-ASEAN Regional Bloggers Conference had its culminating event last week at Kuala Lumpur’s posh Intercontinental Hotel, and was participated in by Malaysian bloggers and journalists, as well as by invited bloggers from 7 ASEAN countries. The latter group had held a session to discuss the conference’s desired output — the Kuala Lumpur Consensus [...]

Thanks to the Department of Tourism-Region 11 (DOT-11), led by energetic and forward-thinking regional director Art Boncato, I was able to see and experience several upcoming tourist destinations in the province of Davao del Sur recently. Davao del Sur lies directly south of Davao City and its capital is Digos City. (There are four places with the name “Davao”: Davao City, which is not part of any province; Davao del Norte; Davao del Sur; and, Davao Oriental.)

Last week, DOT-11 brought a group of local, national and international media people to the municipality of Sta. Cruz to witness the kick-off of the town’s 1st International Mt. Apo Boulder Face Challenge. This race has been held four times since 2008, but this year saw international participants from Indonesia and Australia.

Teams of two racers had to mountain-bike almost to the peak of Mt. Apo, climb to the top, proceed to a river and ride rubber tubes down the mountain (a.k.a. white-water tubing), then run all the way back to Sta. Cruz — all within 24 hours in order to finish. I forgot! The teams also had to plant a tree at a tribal village along the way. The first prize, awarded to the team from Carmen, Davao del Norte, was ₱150,000 cash. The second prize was a hundred grand, and the third seventy-five thousand pesos. Not bad, eh? However, I think the purse has to be made more attractive, if we are to expect more foreign participants next year.

According to Sta. Cruz municipal mayor Joel Ray Lopez, eco-adventure is one of the thrusts of his administration’s tourism master plan. To accomplish this, the town is working closely with DOT-11 to design exciting tour packages and more activities such as the Mt. Apo challenge.

It should be worthy to note that Davao del Sur is also working closely with the Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) in order to maintain the ecological balance of the province. Mt. Apo is a protected site, and tourism should promote awareness of nature conservation, rather than cause its destruction.

The view of Mt. Apo in the picture above can be seen from Camp Sabros, a mountain getaway with one of the longest zip lines in the country. The group had a chance to talk with the owner, Edwin Sacdalan, who has installed several zip lines all over the country. The sprawling camp used to be a private resort but has since been developed by the Sacdalan brothers (hence “Sabros”) for the adventurous public. There are two lines, one being 820 meters long!

See more information about Camp Sabros on Multiply or on Facebook. They may also be contacted on the following numbers: +63(920)875-0015, (927)331-5844, (82)301-8056, (82)303-6091.

Businessman Sonny Dizon, the self-proclaimed environmentalist who gave Dabawenyos the crocodile park and white-water rafting (among other things), is building an inland resort in Kapatagan, Digos, called Camp@Tagan. The resort is still being completed as I write this, but there are some cottages and Coleman® tents (with mattresses and pillows!) that can already be used. The DOT-11 group spent a nippy night there, but warmed by a couple of bonfires.

Camp@Tagan also has man-made ponds and a lake, fed by spring water, and a mirror pool that reflects Mt. Apo. I can’t wait to see the place again when it’s finally finished!

There are a number of other tourist spots in Davao del Sur that adventurers, backpackers and nature-lovers will surely appreciate. There’s an islet called Passig, a 5-minute banca ride away from Digos, where families can go for a day trip. One of the places I got to like very much was the mangrove forest in Digos City. The provincial government, in cooperation with the Digos City government, is doing its best to protect the mangrove trees and its surrounding habitat. I do hope they continue the effort, and provide the local residents with enough information to apprise them of the urgency in preserving these trees, which are the ecological basis for the survival of the region’s marine life.

To culminate the media tour of the province, Gov. Douglas Cagas and his wife — after welcoming us with a sumptuous feast at the Digos baywalk restaurant — brought us to their pride and joy: the Davao del Sur Astrodome. What a sight it was! In the middle of rural Davao, there it is, an impressive and high-tech arena for sports and entertainment. The main structure, which will have a seating capacity of 5,000, is nearly finished, and is expected to host national (and why not international?) sporting events this year. There will also be more basketball courts in the adjacent area, plus an Olympic-size swimming pool. Truly, the astrodome is a major accomplishment in the Davao Region. I sure wish we had something like that in Davao City!

Sports, eco-adventure, leisure-tripping… all to be had in Davao del Sur. And with its proximity to Davao City for the latter’s more modern accommodations, this southern province is indeed a great destination for nature lovers!

For more information, please contact:

Department of Tourism – Region 11
Room 512, 5th floor, Landco Corporate Centre
J.P. Laurel Avenue, Davao City
T: +63(82)221-0070, 221-6955
F: +63(82)225-1940
W: www.discoverdavao.com