A Look Back as the Summer Season Ends

With the recent downpour of heavy rains in selected areas of the metro, hot afternoons and humid nights seemed to have ended.

Summer Ends
Summer Ends

I believe that the Philippine summer season of March to May has ended. In fact the government weather agency is already expecting two typhoons within the month of June.

Looking back, I would say that this is the best summer I ever had. It was the summer where I had the most number of trips and tours around the Philippines. I also went to a number of new places I haven’t been to.

Tagayatay Foodtrip

Although Tagaytay is very much accessible from the metropolis, I don’t frequent the place for some reason or another. So I was very glad to do a road trip with friends which turned into a tummy-filling restaurant-hopping. It was a welcome unhurried respite from my usually busy schedule.

Laguna’s Enchanted Kingdom Waterpark

Water activities is never missing in the summer of a tropical country like the Philippines. And this is what amusement park Enchanted Kingdom had in mind when they opened the EK Biki Waterworld. They invited us over and gave us free water park coupons to try out their new facility.

Cebu

Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort
Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort

Mactan Island in the Visayas was always just a transition island for me from the airport going to Cebu City. But last March 2010, I got to experience the welcoming hospitality of Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort in Mactan.

Moreover, I had been to north Cebu’s Bantayan and Malapascua Islands a few years ago, and I am glad to complete the puzzle recently by having a religious-themed road trip downwards south culminating at Sumilon Island’s Sumilon Bluwater Island Resort.

Sumilon Bluewater Beach Resort Accommodations
Sumilon Bluewater Beach Resort Accommodations

Iloilo

This is my first time in Iloilo and it was my first local trip by myself. Aside from my have-yet-to-be-blogged series of unfortunate events in my last day of stay, my story of Iloilo City is generally good and made more special with new found friends. I also learned that Cebu Pacific sometimes do implement strictly that passengers should be at the airport 45 minutes before flight schedule if you don’t want to have two more extra days of unplanned and cash-strapped stay.

Davao

Davao City Aerial View
Davao City Aerial View

Finally, the year-long wait for the annual Davao Food Appreciation Tour (DFAT) came to pass. It was my last major trip for the summer and it was a blast – thanks to the Avatar Media Group composed of Mindanao bloggers who organized the food tour and made it extra special for bloggers from different parts of the Philippines.

Calaguas Island
Calaguas Island

It was also good that I won a 50% hotel discount coupon from an online contest for Microtel Hotels which has a presence in Davao. Unfortunately, I found out later on that the hotel was located quite far away from our activities. I hope to use it some other time .

My major trips mentioned above involved plane rides. If I had a car, airport parking discounts would truly come in handy for savings. 🙂

Calaguas, Daet and Quezon

My travels in the last month of the season didn’t require flights, however. It was all by bus, including the 12-hour bus trip to Camarines Norte followed by a 2-hour boat ride to the virgin islands of Calaguas. We also made a side trip to Daet for surfing and witnessed a festival in Lucban Quezon two weeks after.

Pahoyas Festival in Lucban Quezon
Pahiyas Festival in Lucban Quezon

A virgin island, a new province, a waterpark, resorts, surfing, food trips and a festival — that’s pretty much the swift summary of my travels this adventurous summer of 2010.

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