Davao

My vacation spree continued in Davao city where I went with another set of my good-looking friends. We spent most of the first day sleeping (hehe) in between places of interest due mainly to our red eye flight. We went to Eden Nature Park and Philippine Eagle sanctuary, home to Pag-asa, the first Philippine eagle to be bred in captivity.

We spent the next day in the picturesque Pearl Farm resort. The day tour costs 1500 pesos and it was really worth it - we had our own beachfront villa, we devoured a sumptuous buffet, and we even got to visit another island of the resort. Although the beach is not as great as Boracay (but still great), the breathtaking scenery and great food/facilities of the resort made it world-class. Here are some pics:

Bohol

Last weekend, I and some of my good-looking friends went to the picturesque province of Bohol. Not only does it have a great pristine beach that rivals Boracay, it also has the world-renowned Chocolate hills. We had lots of fun that not even an overnight blackout in the hotel or a busted boat in the middle of the ocean (at dusk, no less!) could thwart us from having a great time.

Here is the hotel where we stayed at called Isis. We settled for this one since Bohol Beach club was supposedly fully booked. It was a nice hotel but could have been better if it has a generator:






After a few hours rest, we snorkeled and later on, went to Bohol Beach club, which actually had 5 available rooms!




I've never seen anything like this before:



We started the next day at 5:30 AM for dolphin-watching. The sunrise is breathtaking.





Now, the following picture really does not give justice to what we experienced while watching the dolphins. There were hundreds of dolphines, I swear. Here's one:



We spent the rest of the day touring the city. We went to the historical blood-compact site, Baclayon church (2nd oldest church in the country) and a snake sanctuary (where I touched a really long python which is good as dead), among others.

Here's Loboc river where we ate lunch at a cruise. The food is good, the music is better, and the scene is great.





Here's a man-made forest which was started a decade ago to stop ersosion:




Here's a hanging bridge we passed through:




The trip would not be complete without seeing a tarsier, the smallest type of monkey in the world. I really don't fancy monkeys (I almost got attacked by several monkeys in Batu caves at Kuala Lumpur). But tarsiers are different. Not only are they helpless, they are actually cute.



Of course, we saved the best for last - the Chocolate Hills.





Here are some more pics:

Bryce & Arches

It is almost 2 months since that last time I updated this blog. I've been back in Manila since the last week of November and I have not had the chance to update it until now. Before I move on to talking about my life back here in Manila, I am going to post some pics first from my last gimiks in SLC.

My last two weekends in SLC were spent on long drives to 2 great national parks in Utah - Bryce Canyon and Arches. It was my first time to visit Bryce Canyon and it would not be the last time. The vast landscape is just beautiful.









Arches National Park is where you can find the unbelievably breathtaking and possibly the world's most famous arch - Delicate arch. It was my 3rd time to go to this park and it still did not fail to impress me.

New York

I finally got to visit New York last weekend. It is everything I expected it to be and more. It was nice to be in all these places and landmarks which until then I was only able to see in countless movies and television. I saw the grand statue of Liberty, the fall colors of scenic Central Park, and all the famous buildings - Empire State, Chrysler, and oddly-shaped Flatiron. Here are some pics.

This is Time Square where Tom Cruise ran at the beginning of Vanilla Sky.






This is the ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center where Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack finally met at the movie Serendipity.



Here's the newly restored Grand Central station:




Here's Central Park:








This is what is left of World Trade Center. The message below is posted in the visitor center.




This is Battery Park where we boarded the ship for Liberty Island.




Here's the Statue of Liberty:








Here are some pics taken during the harbor cruise where in we pass by the Liberty Island and the Brooklyn bridge:








These were taken at the top of Empire State Building:




These ones are from the top of the Rock (short for Rockefeller building). The Rock is where the NBC studio is located.




Here are some pics taken during the freezing night tour where we rode this open deck bus for more than 2 hours!!!