JMC: Destination Davao

My third and (probably) my last JMC provincial ended last Thursday as I came home from Davao. We were there from Tuesday. We arrived in Davao around 7am and got back to Manila around midnight. I actually didn't think I'd be able to go to any provincial trips for JMC this time, since I was already in 4th year, but thankfully this trip came during the start of our sembreak. Didn't really feel like I was on sembreak though, because I was still finishing a paper this week. Anyway, let's not delve into that, this post is about my three day trip to Davao.

at Stella Maris Davao

I was there for JMC work. We went to 12 high schools to market UA&P. We did 5 talks, while the rest were drop offs. I was with Ila Perez, Mimi Diola, and Gino Bonifacio. Gino paid for his ticket and lodging since he just came out of boredom, haha. And also, Ila's lola came along with us. Random group, but pretty fun.

Gino, me, and Ila just arriving in Davao. Taken by Mimi

We stayed at this place called the Lispher Inn. I regret not being able to take a picture of the interior, because it was pretty sweet. The outside did not look very attractive, haha... The inn/hotel only had five floors, and one small elevator than only went up to the 4th floor, haha. I only got to take one picture from it though, showing the... deceny of the inn, haha.

at the front desk of Lispher Inn, sorry instant spouses!

All in all, I liked where we stayed. We had a good room. I wouldn't know the price, because the school payed for it. But the inn's restaurant was very affordable... Cheap even, and there was free wifi available. But you'll have to stay in the ground floor if you want a really good signal, haha.

Didn't get to totally go around since we were there for work, and we only had three days. But we got to visit a few sweet places, such as...

outside of the Kangaroo

The Kangaroo, where we got to try their Durian coffee. Let's just say it's not for me, but hey, there's always a first time hahaha. So here's what I ordered..

the infamous Durian coffee

shared an Amaya pasta (if I'm not corrected) with Ila.  The serving is just right for one person though. But since Ila and I weren't very hungry, this was okay for us. Nothing great about the pasta, just some anchovies and olive oil I think.

 I really liked their chocolate mint cookies

During our second night, we had dinner at Jack's Ridge. Unfortunately, my camera ran out of battery that night, so I didn't get to take any photos of that place, except for Mimi... I'm actually using some of her photos here, since she has better shots of the places, haha.


On our third day, we had lunch at Cafe Laguna in Abreeza. This cafe can be found in Cebu, Davao, Dumagete, but nowhere in Manila, nor in Laguna, hahaha. It has no branch in the whole of Luzon! Very good food, and very affordable. To quote Mimi, "it's cheaper than it looks".

inside Cafe Laguna

crispy kangkong, grilled bangus with ginataan, and plain rice

I took a photo of what I ordered. The crispy kangkong was a lot though. Definitely for sharing, haha. I think the grilled bangus with ginataan is good for one. It doesn't come with rice though, so I had to order rice. From what I remember, I spent around 400pesos for the whole thing. Then we had a group order for dessert, and it came with four cups of refillable pandan tea. I'm really not giving the exact names of the food, so I apologize for that, haha. So below... you can see how Mimi and I accidentally took each others picture, haha. How amusing. We both just wanted a photo of the food (left photo by Mimi, right photo by me).

And then there's Chicco Di Caffe found in the NCC mall.We went there by accident, since Mimi and I had to work, we were looking for a good coffee shop to stay in, and we found this. They had free wifi, and their cold coffee drinks were pretty big for the price. I remember paying 140pesos for my cookies and cream frappe.

I'd also like to give recognition to Davao's Philippine Science high school. Very impressive looking campus. We did our talk in their brand new air-conditioned auditorium.

Phil Sci Auditorium. Photo by Mimi

So those are the few stops we did in my three-day Davao trip. Oh, and cheers to the city where smoking is not allowed.

at Kangaroo