We stayed overnight in Pearl Farm and we decided to take the last ferry ride (4:00 PM) back to Davao Marina from Pearl Farm on our third day so we still have almost the whole afternoon to spend more time at the beach.

We left our cottage around 9 AM and called for shuttle service going to the restaurant for our buffet breakfast (which is included in the package when I booked our hotel accommodation thru Asia Travel). After breakfast, we decided to checked out Malipano Island (owned by Pearl Farm also and where Dawn Zulueta’s Private Villa is located) and is a three minutes ferry ride from the Main Island. Ferry ride is free and it leaves every thirty minutes to take guests to Malipano Island from Pearl Farm and vice versa. We stayed here for an hour since we enjoyed swimming at the beach and Bela enjoyed playing with her new playmate, Jocobo Zulueta Lagdameo.
We went back to the main island around 11:30 AM. Since we are still so full after our heavy breakfast, we decided to have a late lunch and enjoy the infinity pool for the last time.

We ate lunch around 1 PM. My sister and I initially wants to have an a la carte lunch instead of the buffet since we are still so full but upon seeing the desserts station, we decided to have buffet lunch instead.
After lunch, it is time to go back to our rooms to prepare for our 4 PM departure since they only gave us one room for late check out (which is 3 PM). It is already 3:30 PM when I checked out from our room and the boat going back to Davao Marina is now ready for boarding.

When we reached Davao Marina, we left our things there and we were picked up by our cab driver again since we wanted to do some more shopping at Aldevinco and we also bought Durian candies and Pomelo from the fruits stores near Aldevinco. Then we just had take out dinner from Mc Donalds since we have to go back to the Marina since they scheduled our free shuttle service going to airport at 7 PM for our 8:30 PM flight.

The flight was I think 15 minutes delayed but all in all we never really had any major problems with Cebu Pacific.

You can view more pictures of our Day 2 in Davao here.

I will post our Day 3 adventure in Davao (Pearl Farm) a little later. I just like to make a post about how I find our stay at Pearl Farm Resort.

If you will ask me, I still prefer the resorts of Bohol than Pearl Farm. Bohol is more quite and more relaxing since there are not much people going on day tours at the private resorts in Bohol. At Pearl Farm, when the first trip of the ferry arrived, the resort was a little crowded for me especially since all day tour guests can just stay at the open cabanas near the Infinity Pool.

Plus the sand in Bohol is finer and the water is clearer compared to Davao. Bela doesn’t even want to walk barefooted at first since she finds the sand yucky because of the small shells and rocks that mixed with the sand and it is not that fine as compared to the sand in Bohol. The beach front is also shorter compared to the long stretch in Bohol or Boracay. Plus Pearl Farm is even more expensive than the resorts in Bohol.

These made me do some research for our next holiday vacation and that is when I came across some information about Carribean all inclusive family vacation. I am sure we can’t afford this vacation anytime soon but reading about it makes me feel excited and I will definitely find a resort here that offers the same relaxing experience. Imagine you will really be pampered by hotel staffs and you will get to stay at secluded white-sand beaches on the Mexican Riviera Maya. That would really be one relaxing and stress free-vacation.

But over all, our stay at Pearl is just okay. The rooms are clean and well maintained and the staffs and even the general manager are really friendly and they attend to our request very quickly.

The first ferry going to Pearl Farm Resort leaves at 8 Am and we should be there 30 minutes before departure to reserve a seat. We woke up early and by 7 AM we are already checking out of Marco Polo hotel.

We were picked up by the same cab driver that took us to the Philippine Eagle Center on our first day. Since it is still early, there was no traffic and we reached Davao Marina around 7:30 AM. At the Marina, they already have a front desk where they processed our accommodations and tickets for the ferry ride.
The ferry left a little after 8 AM and after 45 minutes; we are already at Pearl Farm Resort. We were greeted by their courteous staff who gave us welcome drinks and the key to our rooms. After listening to the short orientation, we called for a shuttle to take us to the other side of the island where our rooms are located. We are staying at two Mandaya Houses (Mandaya 3 and 4). The room was really big and we really love it. As soon as we got settled in our room, we immediately changed to our swimming attire and we tried the beach which is right outside our room and the pool just near our houses.

By 12 nn, we called for shuttle service to take us to the Maranao Restaurant (the only restaurant in Pearl Farm). We checked out the menu for their buffet and we all decided to have lunch buffet. We were so full after eating lunch. My sister and I inquired at their Ylang Ylang Spa and we deiced to avail of their East-West Massage. Our schedule is not until 3:30 PM and so while waiting, we tried the beach in the main island.
By 3:30, my sister and I are already having a relaxing massage at the spa. It was so good that I fell asleep while I am having my massage. When we’re done with our massage we all went back to our room to change and get ready for dinner.

Every Friday was a theme night (Pirate Night) and you are required to avail of a dinner buffet if you want to dine it at the restaurant. Price for the buffet was P800 per person and it is really worth it as there are I think 6 buffet stations each serving a different set of meals. There was even a Trivia game and we won a Pearl Farm cap (I was asked what hotel group manages Pearl Farm) and my sister won the Parrot stuffed toy (she was asked for the name of the official bird mascot of Pearl Farm). We went back to our rooms after dinner.
Howell and my dad availed of the room service massage of the Ylang Ylang Spa too. It is only 9 PM when the masseuse came to our room for Howell’s massage but I was so sleepy already. Right after Howell’s massage, we are all sleeping like a log.

You can view more pictures here.

The traditional way of looking for seasoned insurance providers or swanky insurance companies have been abated with the advent of modern technologies especially with the explosive growth of internet world. The internet has become the visual oasis, seamlessly efficient and accessible that provides a benchmark breaking performance designed that perfectly suit the demanding need of insurance subscribers trying to look for impeccable insurance quotes in the vast insurance network, whether it pertains to life, property, car, or whatever is the preference. In just a sleight of hand there’s a wealth of information that provides invigorating insights to help pick which quotes is better from the rest. It is something that really gladdens my heart as one of insurance customers.

The harmony of insurance online quotes is a luxury that intuits the sophistication of the insurance business industry that takes great pride to present insurance subscribers the smartest, fastest, easiest ways to get through the daily minutiae of the insurance world that give plenty of time for the hammock and help orchestrate well with my bargaining negotiations. It is something that always caused to pique my interest because everything can be done within my comfort zone, be it in the office or while resting in our home.

I find the system very interesting, easy and convenient. It really gave me ample time to select the best among the best before finally signing the insurance policy. I knew I have the right people on my side enough to give me the peace of mind.

I was checking out for pictures on our hard disk as I need to free up some space because it is almost full when I spotted this picture of my husband with the famous bowler, Paeng Nepomuceno.

This picture was taken during the championship game of the bowling tournament in my husband’s office. My husband is really a passionate bowler and he would really want to bring his team to victory but sad to say, he has a hand injury during the championship game. But good thing he uses kinesio tape for his hand injury. Kinesio tapes are very thin athletic tape that allows full motion so it really helped my husband feel comfortable bowling even if he has a hand injury and he was able to hit some strikes.

They did not win first place though. They only got the second runner up but my husband and his teammates are still very happy with their accomplishment and they really had a great time and that is what is more important.

This picture was taken when we went to Singapore Zoo last July 2008.

I was so scared to even approach the kangaroo, but not Bela. She eagerly poses with the kangaroo and she even played with them. I think I was the one who is scared for my daughter.

Bela really loves animals. She is not scared to get near a dog, a cat, birds or any other pet. I think the only animal that she doesn’t like are the spiders. I remember when Howell set up one of those spider traps at home; Bela was so scared when she saw a spider trap in it. I guess Bela is scared of those kinds of animals with tentacles or hairy legs like the spider.

This picture was taken when we went to Bohol last January 2008.

We were showing her the star fish but she doesn’t want to touch it when she saw the moving legs of the starfish. But during our last trip in Davao, we tried to show her a star fish and asked her to touch it. She got scared at first, but when she saw Wayne (a five year old boy that we met there) touching the star fish, she tried holding it also and she didn’t get scared after that. She doesn’t even want to let go of the star fish and she even wants to take it home with us. Look at her now.


I am glad she has overcome her fear for those kinds of animals and she won’t grow up to be like her mom who is scared of almost any kind of living things. LOL.

I was so happy when I opened my Inbox when I went back to work this morning since I read that they are converting our remaining leave credits for this fiscal year and convert it to cash. Every year, I always avail of this option. Who would say no to extra cash, right? And since by April we will get another 15 vacation leaves, I need not worry if I convert all my remaining leave balances to cash.

But then, when I got to the last paragraph of the email, it was stated there that only those who has leave credits exceeding 37.5 hours can avail of this option. And when I checked I only have 23 hours left.

Too bad, I would have converted my remaining 23 hours to cash. That would give me extra cash. But like what Howell said, that is just okay since I used all my leaves for travel or to be with Bela on all her school activities (in fact I did not miss any of Bela’s school activities). So there is nothing to regret about if I use up almost all my leaves.

I will just save my remaining 23 hours for more travel this year. LOL.

I am still on leave today as I scheduled a trial class for Bela at Mind Specialist School. So while Bela is taking a nap, I was able to take this opportunity to start with my Davao Adventure story.

We took the 7:55 AM flight via Cebu Pacific last January 15. The flight was again on time. The only problem that we had was the seats given to us by the one who checked us in were far apart from each other even though I specifically requested for it. But since the flight is not full, we were able to find seats that are seated beside each other.

It was drizzling when we reached Davao airport. The Marco Polo shuttle service picked us up at the airport (I thought it was free with my reservations but it turns out, I have to pay P600++ for the transportation when we checked out). We arrived at the hotel around 11 AM and they were able to give us a room right away even though check in time is 2 PM. We booked two superior rooms and we love our room. Even Bela love it. She doesn’t even want to go out of our room and she just wants to lie down there and sleep.
Since it is raining when we reached the hotel we decided to just stay inside the hotel and rest until lunch time. Come lunch time, we just decided to go to SM since it is near Marco Polo. We initially plan to go to Jack’s Ridge but since it is raining anyways, we just decided to settle for Yellow Cab at SM.
Our cab driver offered to drive us to Philippine Eagle Center after lunch for P1800. The Center is located inside Malagos Park. There is an entrance fee of P5 for the park and P50 for the Philippine Eagle Center. There is really nothing much to see at the Philippine Eagle Center (or maybe it is just raining when we went there so we didn’t really explore the center). Pag-asa, the Philippine eagle is inside a cage together with the other Philippine eagles and we just saw owls and a crocodile.
It stopped raining while we are at the Philippine Eagle Center so we initially plan to go to Eden Park after. But it started to rain again when we went out of the Philippine Eagle Center and there is nothing you can do at Eden Park when it is raining so we just decided to go back to the hotel.

Aldevinco souvenir shop is just across Marco Polo hotel and since Bela is sleeping like a log, we (me, my mom, my sister and hubby) went to the shop and left Bela with her lolo. We were able to buy a lot of batik clothes and pearl earrings at a very affordable price.
We finished shopping by 7:00 PM, and we asked our cab driver (who became our official tour guide) to pick us up at the hotel and he took us to a seafood restaurant at the back of Victoria Plaza Mall (oldest mall in Davao). The food is still not comparable to the cooking style of Dampa but my dad is happy as he was able to satisfy his seafood craving and the price is just ok.

After dinner, we went back to Marco Polo and called it a day. You can view more pictures of our Day 1 in Davao here. I promise to post pictures and stories of our second and third day in Davao soon. I just have to look for Lexington personal injury lawyer first as I promise my aunt that I will find give her the information that she needs today.

Have you seen my hubby’s collection?

These are just a few of the numerous stuffs that he collects. He is really a collector of all kinds of stuff. He collects anything from NBA action figure, to DVDs, to baseball caps, to old coins and bills and even sports magazine. But he is now starting to realize that he can already buy a second hand car if he saved all the money that he used to buy all his collections.

But since he is really a collector at heart, he would still not give up his love for collecting but now he is smarter when it comes to investing for his collections. Hubby just discovered about rare gold coins and he is starting to consider it as his new collection. He stumbled upon the site of Monaco Rare Coin Company where he got a lot of information about rare coins for collectors like him.

Hard assets is really a good investment and so hubby is really keen on investing on rare coins through the help of Monaco’s team of experts who can help him get the best offer in the market.

I am really for this kind of collection as it is also a good investment. I am sure hubby will not go wrong if ever he push through with his plans in buying rare gold coins.

This will be my mantra for tomorrow. It is still very busy at the office. I still have a lot of things line up for me to do and I am not even sure if I will be able to go home early tomorrow. Hopefully we won’t have unplanned overtime work tomorrow as I need to go home early as I want to get my nails done and I still need to pack my things. (Gosh, just thinking about all the things that I need to do tomorrow make me feel tired already).

This morning, we woke up late because hubby and I were both really tired since we both are busy at work these past few weeks. Good thing we still were able to make it on time for work.

So one more day and we’re off to the beautiful island of Samal and I can’t wait to have a dip at the relaxing pool and nice beach at Pearl Farm. We will be in Davao until January 17 only but I will be on leave until the 20th. I will definitely go to the spa at Pearl Farm for a relaxing massage. I really can’t wait….

I posted here last week that I wanted to go to Tagaytay during the weekend. But Howell was really tired after his photo shoot last Saturday that we decided to just go to Robinsons instead. But my dad was game for our initial plan to do some shopping at the Outlet Store at Paseo de Sta. Rosa and then go to Tagaytay after.

Since we woke up late, we left the house around 1 PM and we arrived at Paseo de Sta. Rosa around 2 PM (thank God there is no traffic). We checked out almost all the stores and I was able to buy a swimsuit at Speedo at 50% off, a swimsuit for Bela at 20% off and my mom, my sister and my dad was able to buy swimwear too at discounted prices. Howell was not up to buying swim wear at Speedo but he was able to buy running shoes at Adidas at discounted price also. We also check out the Havaianas outlet store but they still don’t have the glow in the dark slippers that my sister wants and they don’t have the available designs that I want for Bela.

By the time we were finish shopping, it is already 5 PM and hubby and my dad said that it is already too late to go to Tagaytay. So instead of going to Tagaytay, we just went to Amici at Tomas Morato for merienda then we went to church after that.