June 7-12, 2006. After our Baguio-Sagada-Banaue trip, Fil and I spent only two days in Manila then flew to Davao City. I am familiar with the city (having spent my highschool in General Santos City) but my last visit here was in 1997! I didn't know what to expect ...t'was like visiting an old friend, not sure if things will still be the same.
Surprisingly, things are NOT the same...they're bEttEr! The streets of Davao are impressively clean, buildings are taller and there are more gimik places to explore. Food is great, too, I gained more than 5 pounds in 3 days after we stuffed ourselves with everything edible at Yahong, Hilltop, Jack's Ridge, Asia restaurant and all those restos that serve tuna, kilawin and ihaw-ihaw stuff. Of course, there's also buffet breakfast at Marco Polo hotel, lunch at Figueroa residence featuring the delectable home-cooked menudo prepared by Fil's mom, halo-halo at Chowking and the mini-siopaos we munched on while driving around the city. I swear, I had to buy a new swimsuit at SM after i found out that i could no longer fit in the one i bought a week before the trip! eeeeeeeekkkkkkk! hahaha...
And so...after we're done with family duties, Fil and i checked out of the hotel and escaped to the beautiful island garden of Samal. YES!!!
Samal island is just a 45-minute boat ride south of Davao City, part of an archipelago of islets that 
offer a getaway from city life and some adventure activities. The island offers fabulous sunrises and sunsets and a fascinating topography of rolling hills, white sandy beaches and dozens of caves. Its coastline has the usual coconut palms, mangrove swamps and coral reefs, together with some little fishing villages, washed by clear, clean water. Hmmm...i'm beginning to sound like a TV travel ad here..mabuhay!:-)
Anyway, we stayed at Pearl Farm Beach Resort that lies in a secluded cove - a property that was once a pearl farm where thousands of white-lipped oysters, transported from the Sulu Sea, were cultivated for their pink, white and gold pearls. Today, the resort is a marine sanctuary and a perfect place to relax.
We availed the resort's dream holiday package for a worry-free stay so the only thing that stressed me was my public appearance in a swimsuit hihihi. During the 3 days that we were there, Fil and I explored the resort, climbed to the hilltop rooms, 
checked out the game room, fed the fishes, shopped at the 'butik' (as in boutique), played chess while downing a bottle of sanmig light at the parola bar and had romantic dinners at the pool side while being serenaded by a young singing trio, first night, and a strings triplet the 2nd night. We first stayed at the Mandaya house located at the farthest end of the property and transferred to the Samal house the next day. These samal houses are nice 'coz they are patterned after the stilt houses of seafaring Samal tribes of the Sulu archipelago. During high tide, you can almost touch the waters with your feet and you can really jump from your room and swim your way to the parola bar.
We also treated ourselves to an aromatherapeutic massage offered by the resort's Ylang-Ylang spa. Ha!ha!ha! I remember the masseuse was offering us to try the "is-wis" massage and when Fil and I couldn't make sense of what she was saying, she pointed to the brochure that says "east-west" massage! Oh well, bisaya gyud...no problem, bisaya man pud mi uy! :-)
The resort also maintains 7 private villas at malipano island, just across samal, and a boat travels to it every 10 minutes so we went there and swam in its private beach. The place was so quiet and very private...ideal for honeymooners or celebrities who want to enjoy anonymity.
The secret to our enjoyable stay at the resort? Chad, the waiter! He was really, really nice. While other waiters paid attention to foreign tourists, Chad was there to attend to our needs - he took our pictures while we're being serenaded, 
suggested some must-try dishes and made sure we got the sweetest mangoes for dessert! Thanks to you Chad...wait 'til i get my own resort and i'll hire you as head waiter!
All in all we had a blast at Pearl Farm. One kodak moment? It was raining heavily on our second day but instead of staying inside and wishing for the rain to go away, Fil and i went out to play. We walked (holding hands... uuuyyy!) from the samal house to the beach infront of the mandaya houses and attacked the waters: upper half of our body being showered by cold rain, lower half soaked in warm sea water. Grabe...feels so great to be alive and inlove. How about that? :-)
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