The Island Explorer

Ondoy destroyed some of our work in the office, and some of them were tapes brought by some of our colleagues. It was footage on an interview conducted in Aurora Province. After Ondoy, we had no choice but to reshoot. I took the lead to go to Aurora just after Pepeng struck for the first time (he went back remember). The road was relatively easy. We took the NLEX and SLEX, until we reached Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija. There we took the road to Aurora. We had to pass by Pangtabangan Dam to reach the once isolated province. I knew we we're supposed to take pictures, but I just couldn't resist. The water being released looked so magnificent, yet this was the cause of flooding in the plains of Luzon. I witnessed the release of water with awe, knowing that there was another dam like this that contributed tot he destruction of our Provident Village home. Well, moving on, the roads were unpaved already as we hit the mountains. Some parts of the road was unpassable by normal cars (sedans

I have so many backlog reports on Cebu, and am gonna try to start writing with this restaurant. Tucked in a corner of a small road in Mactan, Cebu, you really wouldn't notice the place, even though the outside has a lot of lights. You would think that MB's Tavern Restaurant and European Deli Shop is more of a beer joint, than a place that serves some nice comfort food. MB's Tavern has a simple menu, some of which include German dishes (I am assuming the owner is German). But people go here for the pizza...worth P230 only for 14 inches and good by the way (I was worried it would taste like Greenwich, but they were so generous with mozzarella cheese). But the highlight was this...something they call Pizza Sketti. Pizza Sketti is not pizza at all, but spaghetti baked on huge flat claypot. The claypot resembles the crust of a pizza as you can see. This dish was P245, big enough for 6 to 8 people. We were four that night, and we couldn't even finish half of the dish. And it

I have to admit, when Dakak gave us free tickets to Fantasyland located in the Dapitan town proper, I thought it was one of those "peryas" found in most provincial capitals. I thought it would be something like Boom na Boom. But since the tickets were free, and we wanted to do something else, we rode on a shuttle to Fantasyland in Gloria de Dapitan after a hearty buffet dinner. We were already amazed entering the gates of Gloria De Dapitan, as shown in my previous post. We were dropped off in front of the entrance of Fantasyland. This was the facade that greeted us. To our surprise, Fantasyland wasn't any come-and-go and carnival. It was more like Enchanted Kingdom. The tickets sold for P250 I think, for unlimited rides, which was a steal I thought. There was a promenade at the entrance that had several shops, even a Mac Store! There was a haunted house near the entrance that was still undergoing construction. It looked so good, I wanted to go inside. There was a stage an

Who would expect a place like this in Dapitan? Gloria de Dapitan in Zamboanga Del Norte was again another surprise. I've seen the breezy bay boulevard nearby, and the historical Rizal Shrine, but I never guessed I would find an entertainment complex right in the heart of this quaint town. There were restaurants and bars in the complex. This disco bar for example looked very much the ones we have in Manila. We came in just to have some beers, and no one was around yet. That was 10PM. When we left at around midnight, the place was already packed. Seems like the folks of Dapitan also know how to party. There was also a bowling alley, that was again full of people. At the center of the complex was a fighting cock arena, which was closed at that time. But the main attraction in this complex was something even more unexpected. Even Davao and Cebu doesn't have this. More on my next post.

As I've mentioned in my previous post, Dakak is an unexpectedly huge and well-maintained resort. There are rooms that can accommodate up to 500 people in the form of beach front villas and cottages. There is a convention center, a indoor gaming hall, a tennis court, an orchid farm, an expansive white sand beach, and even a casino. There's even a chapel that is perfect for weddings. You definitely don't have a reason to leave the resort. 2 nights is enough, but you still won't be able to do everything. We decided to explore the resort on the 2nd day. Dakak is tucked between two towering rocks, that make their landscape distinct. So, we decided to climb the highest one, where a communications tower was located. We asked around how to go up the rock, and we were told to find a sign on the road to the reception that says "Repeater". We found the sign, that marked the beginning of cemented steps that eventually led us all the way up. The climb wasn't as difficu

Do you recognize this beach? Well, if you watched Eat Bulaga when you were still a child, you would notice this landscape. Yes, this is Dakak Beach, tucked at the tip of Zamboanga del Norte in Mindanao. I never really had the urge to visit this place because it was a beach resort, and being one, I assumed it'll pretty much look the same as any other beach resort. And being one of the oldest resorts in the country, I figured that it's time has already passed. But when we made our way into Oroquieta in Misamis Occidental, I took the opportunity to stay for 3 days in Dakak. Little did I realize I was in for an unexpected treat. We decided to commute from Oroquieta to Dapitan via a public van. We were dropped off at the Rotonda in Dapitan, where I called the resort and asked if we could be picked up from there. Good thing their van was coming back to the resort from the Dapitan airport, so we didn't wait too long. I thought Dakak was just nearby where we were, but it took us al

The frozen yogurt craze is still taking Manila by storm, with the entrant of its newest international player, Golden Spoon. Popular in Southern California, Golden Spoon has something other frozen yogurt don't have - flavors. While Red Mango may be my Holy Grail of frozen yogurts, it only has the plain and green tea variants. Golden Spoon can have as much as a dozen flavors of frozen yogurts. From Chocolate Caramel, to Pistacio, Cookie Batter, Cookies and Cream, Cheesecake and the intriguing Boysenberry, Golden Spoon's wide variety has indeed captured the interest of its crowd in Shangrila Plaza Mall. It also offers the same favorite toppings, with some more new ones. They also have hot toppings, liquid toppings, that can just make you drool. The frozen yogurt may be low-fat but these toppings like Caramel and Mallow Creme aren't. I was actually surprised to see a Golden Spoon when I entered Shangrila Mall (it's beside the Starbucks at the ground level). Even before you&