GENERAL SANTOS CITY

Hello my Nomadic Friends!

This April I have been to a lot of places, traveling here and there and then there's some unplanned ones just like this one. 

Having been born and raised in Mindanao, and traveling a lot since the tender age of 3, I have been to Luzon & Visayas. But this destination is one that I've never been to. 

Known as the TUNA CAPITAL of the PHILIPPINES, home to our "Pambansang Kamao" Manny Pacquiao and other professional boxers, and raised actors such as Gerald Anderson, Ethel Booba, Melai & more. I was so happy to have hitched on a trip to GENERAL SANTOS CITY.

Part of the SOCCSKSARGEN (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and General Santos City). Formerly known as "Central Mindanao", Cebuano dialect is widely spoken but there are also Ilonggo settlers in the city. 

I would like to thank my parents for tagging me along on this trip. They were there for the annual BCBP conference. So while they were busy doing their stuff, I was with my other relatives hanging around.

One thing that is not really good though about this trip was that I didn't get to go where I wanna go. That's the issue if you're on a trip with family. I am the adventure type traveler. I like to go to places where there is adventure. I do not travel just for leisure and going to the malls and all that stuff. But I ended up like that on this trip anyways. So I swore that I am going back to Gen.San again this August.

Anyways, I did pester my dad for us to go to Lake Sebu since we are all in Gen.San and it's not a far drive. But we were not able to go there.

HOW TO GO THERE?!?!

FLY. Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines flies directly to General Santos City. 

BUS. If coming from any point in Mindanao, it is best to travel by land. It does however take up a lot of time but road trip with friends I think will not be a problem.

CAR. Driving using your own vehicle I think is nice. Just divide the gasoline and print a road map or get your GPS going. 

Coming from CDO, it took us 7hrs to reach General Santos City via Bukidnon route using our own vehicle. It was a very long road trip. Kinda rewarding though if you are still awake once you've crossed  borders and entered North Cotabato. 

The scenery was amazing!!! Super! I was in awe. Too bad though I was not able to get a shot coz my camera was at the back seat. 

What amazed me was the rotundas they have. Probably for the entire Bangsamoro Region, I salute your rotundas. They were very beautiful. Again, no pictures were taken. What the fish?!?!

Another incredible thing was the road system, it was so wide!!! Although there were still some places where they were still doing the road. But it was really amazing and frankly awesome to have a wide road to drive on a very long trip. At least it was not so hard to overtake heavy trucks.

What I can truly say for General Santos City was that the people there were so nice and so helpful. The road system was so wide. NO RUBBISH ANYWHERE. The wet market was very clean (no rubbish littered anywhere). The people were so disciplined. And they are proud people mostly because Gen.San is the home of Pacman. 

I did get to see Pacman's mansion but didn't took any photos because we went there at night. Saw Mommy D's mansion. Went to the Fishing Port Complex REALLY LATE thus I did not get to see fishermen carrying huge Tuna's on their backs. They're really proud of their Tuna's.

Honestly, I got bored on my visit to Gen.San. Probably because it was not my kind of travel. 3 days and all we did was go to the mall. It was boring. I would've wanted to explore. But anyways, I can go back on August.

So I'd just probably leave some pictures here.

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN TO LATELY?!?!

Enjoy!!!

Much Love..

TIBIAO, ANTIQUE

Hello my Nomadic Friends!

I have been traveling a lot for the entire month of April. I have been to MNL, Tarlac (Mt. Pinatubo), Iloilo, Antique, CDO, Bukidnon, General Santos, Davao & Camiguin. Honestly, Davao, Gen.San & Camiguin was really unplanned. 

But this blog is all about my trip to Tibiao, Antique!!

I have been thinking whether to go on this trip or pursue the Northern most trip in Philippines. Anyways, I decided to pursue this trip. The Northern trip can wait till next summer. 

HOW TO GET THERE?!?!

FLY. If coming from places outside Panay Region, Philippine Airlines & Cebu Pacific flies directly to Iloilo. From there, take a van going to SM (P50) and then take a cab going to Molo Bus Terminal for a 5hrs bus ride (P170), tell the driver to drop you off at Brgy. Importante, Tibiao, Antique. 

It is important to inform your bus driver where you wish to be dropped off. Antique is very big. Or you can tell the bus driver that you wish to go to Kayak Inn. They know where to drop you.

BUS. If you wish to do a side trip, then Tibiao is only 2 hrs away from the party paradise of Boracay. Or if coming from any part of the Panay Region then it is very much accessible. 

WHERE TO STAY?!?!

THE KAYAK INN. 7km away from Tibiao's town center and way up in the mountain. P500/night. 1 bungalow good for 8-10pax. Meals are chargeable at P250/pax.

Arriving from Iloilo International Airport, we took a van going to SM (P50). Do not take any cabs from the airport, they are horrendously expensive! A cab from the airport going to SM is P500! Upon arriving at SM terminal, if you still have some time to roam around but do not wish to carry your luggage nor check-in in a hotel, you can leave your luggage to the Traveler's Lounge for a fee. You won't miss that lounge. That's the first thing you'll see once you get off the van.

From there if you wish to travel directly to Antique, hire a cab going to Molo Bus Terminal. But me & bf decided to spend the night in Iloilo so we checked-in to the nearest hotel.

The next morning we went to the bus terminal and got ourselves on a 5hrs bus ride to Tibiao, Antique. Inform the driver that you wish to go to Kayak Inn or Brgy. Importante so they can drop you off there. Once you arrive at Brgy. Importante, you will then take a 20min habal-habal ride (motorcycle | P70)  either arranged by the Inn or by yourselves. And then you'll need to pay P50/pax for registration.

Once you reach the Inn, you will be greeted by Ms. Shiela & Mr. Edwin, they are the caretakers of the Inn. They are very very nice people. Really! The hospitality they've showed us was really touching. And the generosity was overwhelming. 

We arrived there at about 1:30pm. After we got stuffs settled in the room, we straightaway went on a hike to the waterfalls (P100 for a guide). Remember that it still was summer time during our visit last mid week April so when we got there the water was not so much. Some of the river beds that we passed by were dry. An indication of a really really hot summer. More evaporation but very less condensation.

Please remember to bring water when hiking even if it was just a short distance. We forgot to bring or buy our water because we were rushing from Iloilo. 

The water was cold from the waterfall. Very refreshing. I only managed to reach the 2nd waterfall. The way going to the 2nd waterfall was really steep. 90 deg. steep! And I was running out of breath. No water to drink. And it was really hot. 

We just hang around there for about 20-30min and then we went back to the inn. 

**You need to pay P30 for the environmental fee and P100 for the guide.

Back at the inn, we just went down to the river and bath. It was really refreshing! We didn't do any kayaking or whatsoever. The water was not of a good level to do any water activities other than bathing. After that we soaked ourselves in their famous KAWA HOT BATH (P200/pax). 

The very reason why I wanna visit Antique was because of their Kawa Hot Bath. It was really really relaxing! Best to e done after your outdoor activities to calm your aching muscles.

They have quite a number of Kawa's, but we took the biggest one so we can share. It was an experience I will always remember. 

There are a lot of activities that you can do at Antique. There's the Fish Spa. Unfortunately, we just had our foot spa done the day before so fish spa was out of our list. 

One of the best thing about our cottage was that the toilet was really clean and the bed was really comfortable. Although at night there's a lot of mosquitos and other flying insects but we fell asleep peacefully. We just had to cover our heads. Maybe if they can provide an electric mosquito killer, that'll be great. Just bring insect repellent and you'll be just fine. They also provide soap, shampoo & conditioner.

For the entire trip, we forgot to withdraw some cash. We only had 2k and it was just nice. So I guess if all you want to do in Tibiao is to experience the Kawa Hot Bath and see the Bugtong-Bato Falls, 2k budget is just nice and that includes your dinner too (P250/pax).

It was my first time to experience such hospitality from Mr. Edwin & Ms. Sheila. I just have to say this. They are the most generous and hospitable hosts that I've ever encountered. Being on this trip with a very very tight budget, and having said that we won't be eating breakfast coz we don't have any sufficient fund, they still made breakfast for us. Coffee, Eggs, Tocino, Rice & Bread for free because they said that we will still be traveling for 5 long hours and they don't want us to starve. When we arrived, they sent us Spaghetti for snack free of charge. We had a chat with Mr. Edwin and their family's life story was really touching. He said that they want to share to others the kindness and generosity that they have received from someone, had it not been for his help, they wouldn't be where they are now. Really touching.

THINGS TO DO

While in Tibiao, here are some of the things that you can do.

• Trek to the Bugtong-Bato Falls 
• Swim & River trekking at Tibiao River
• Fish Spa
• Kayak
• Zipline
• Zorb
• Kawa Hot Bath

THINGS TO BRING

While in Tibao I suggest you bring the following:

• CASH (They do not have any ATM's up in the mountain)
• Insect Repellent 
• Rash Guard/Long Sleeve (The hike going to the falls is very hot)
• CAMERA (You've gotta capture those memories)
• Water
• Food
• A great companion

If you wish to visit Antique and experience the famous Kawa Hot Bath you can contact Ms. Shiela Endrico or Edwin Endrico at 09215701947/09287790776.

I really had fun in Antique. I will never forget this experience. And I highly recommend you guys to stay in Kayak Inn. I guess our visit was not really the best time had we wanted to do some kayaking. The river was drying up you see. But we still had fun. 

Till the next adventure!

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN TO LATELY?!?!

Much Love.