Breaking News! 5.2 magnitude recorded 53 km southeast of Mati, Davao Oriental

BREAKING: 5.2 magnitude recorded 53 km southeast of Mati, Davao Oriental
Source: Tectonic 
Depth: 44 km

via Phivolcs 

Updates to follow.

source: Phivolcs via GMA NEWS

Just hours before our flight to Davao tonight >__< kinda scary to push travelling but I've asked some locals around and they think it is safe to travel and that everything's fine in the area.. 

Oh dear God please keep them safe and please keep us safe as well on our trip. I pray that you'll let us enjoy and be amazed by the beauty of your works..the nature..the people/davaoweños...

Thank you God for I believe that you will bless this trip! In Jesus name..I pray..Amen!

Kanip-aw Lodge ~ We Survived Sagada!

See the beauty of Sagada right from your window. Hear the tweeting of the birds and the hissing of the fresh escaping air as they seranade your weary ears. Drink our brewed coffee while letting the warm rays of the sun gently lay on your face. ~ This is what Kanip-aw Pines View lodge offers!

I recommend this lodge to all types of travellers, whether you are a couple/family/friends/barkada/etc  ^__^
But ofcourse I haven't stayed at the other lodge/inns in Sagada so I cannot give my personal comparison but you can always make a research on the web and you'll see that kanip-aw is really one of the best place to stay in Sagada. And because I can only speak for myself, here are some of the reasons why i recommend the place:

-The owner is very kind. They will help assist you with anything you need. They treat their guest very well.
-Rate is affordable/reasonable: 300/person/night.
-They have a very nice view of the EchoValley!
-The rooms are clean, as well as the linens, pillows, towels, everything is clean :D
-Each person is provided with clean towels.
-each room has its own bathroom (unlike the other lodges that offers common bathrooms/comfort rooms)
-They have hot shower (this is a must in Sagada or else you'll freeze yourself to death or not take a bath at all)
-They have kitchen with complete utensils and if you need something else you can ask the owner for help, plus the use of kitchen is already included in the 300/person/night rate.
-Free Wifi
-Free purified drinking water (hot and cold), we even refilled our water bottles from it every time we go out the lodge
-they have vendo machine for coffee lovers for only 5php per cup, the vendo machine also offers hot choco
-Rooms have tissue
-it is very near the lemon pie house and other resto in sagada

Here are some of the photos of the beautiful view from our room!

Below is a photo of the terrace/veranda in our room:

If you wish to stay at Kanip-aw Pines View Lodge, you can make a resevation by sending SMS or calling them at 09282847507

Related Articles:
The itinerary ~ We Survived Sagada!
Off we go! 1st Stop: Rice Terraces! ~We Survived Sagada!

Off we go! 1st Stop: Rice Terraces! ~We Survived Sagada!

...and so the adventure began!

Enjoying hot balut from one of our stop overs going to Sagada!

The fog is all over the place when we arrived at the Banaue Rice Terraces view point, but we are still blessed because after few minutes the fog gave way and we were able to see the magnificent view of Banaue Rice Terraces!

The Banaue Rice Terraces (Filipino: Hagdan-hagdang Palayan ng Banawe) are 2,000-year-old terraces that were carved into the mountains of Ifugao in the Philippines by ancestors of the indigenous people. The Rice Terraces are commonly referred to by Filipinos as the "Eighth Wonder of the World". It is commonly thought that the terraces were built with minimal equipment, largely by hand.

On the view point, there is no entrance fee but there is a local/manang who will ask you for donations, some of us gave her 20php, some 50php but it actually doesn't matter since it is a "donation" you can give any amount you wish.

There is also an eatery in the view point where you can have your breakfast, price range from 100-150php. The choices are tapsilog/tocilog/etc, they also serve coffee and cup noodles and they use their local brown rice for their menus.



Going to Sagada, you will pass by a lot of rice terraces and one of them is the Bontoc Rice Terraces (photo shown below)

Related article:

The itinerary ~ We Survived Sagada!

The itinerary ~ We Survived Sagada!

I've always been wanting to visit Sagada and finally! finally! finally I was able to visit this wonderful place!
Travel time to Sagada is approximately 12 hours, very long trip but it's all worth it! Plus, the view on road going to Sagada is really scenic so if you are seated beside the window of your vehicle then you'll have a good view and will really enjoy the ride :) I really love Sagada and I will definitely visit this place again <3

As usual, I love DIY trips so here's the itinerary that I've created for our Sagada adventure!
(I'll be posting more about our sagada experience on the next parts of this blog ^__^, but for now, here's our itinerary)


***Notes***
 It is really great to visit Sagada with your friends, also, you'll save more on your budget since the expenses will be divided among the group. We went there with a group of 8, so most of the expenses are divided by 8.
 If you want to enjoy the orange picking experience, go there when it is in season (October-December) or to make sure, you can contact the orange orchard and ask if the oranges are ready for picking.

 To save money, our group prepared some of our meals since we have our own kitchen in Kanip-aw Lodge, it is complete with utensils/kitchenwares, but ofcourse we still dine-out on some of the must try restos in Sagada :)

We rented a van for the whole trip (since we are a group of 8, the van rental is affordable) but you can also use public transportation if you are not a big group. Renting a van is advisable for big group. Our van driver is kuya manny, he is reliable, friendly, good driver. His contact # is 09062431743

We stayed at Kanip-aw lodge and I really recommend this lodge. The rooms that we occupied are clean, spacious, we have our own bathrooms w/hot shower, we have our own kitchen, own terrace with a nice view of Echo Valley! The owner is very kind. Free hot&cold distilled water (we even refill our water bottles here before going out for a trip). They also have coffee vendomachine for only 5php per cup of coffee. No aircon ofcourse because the weather in sagada does not require you to have airconditioners... rate is 300php/person/night. Contact # 09282847507

Our tour guides, Kuya C2 and Nestea, are from Saggas. They are friendly and with sense of humor, unfortunately I lost their contact # :( but you can go to SAGGAS website to ask for tour guides.

For more information about sagada you may visit SAGGAS

Related Article/s:

Off we go! 1st Stop: Rice Terraces! ~We Survived Sagada!

Liliw Laguna and Arabella Cafe ~ Laguna Escapade Part 4

Since we are already in Laguna area, we took the opportunity to visit the land of the slippers, Liliw! And ofcourse we made sure that we'll get a taste of the very famous Arabella Restaurant!

Land of Slippers it is! Stores of slippers in every street, next to each others...the competition here must be very tight!

Here you'll find various slippers at various prices, ranging from 50php to 350php or 500php depending on designs and materials used.

This are some of the cute designs that I found ('coz I love pink!). The slippers that I'm holding are 350php each pair and I think you can haggle it down to 320php or 300php, depending on how good you are ;)

We had our lunch at Arabella's Restaurant. If you take a jeepney to Liliw, just tell the driver to drop you off at Arabella Restaurant and they know where it is. Arabella is really famous here in Liliw!

The place is small but very cozy, good thing is that we went there on weekday so there is not much guest that time.

This is Jed checking out the menu...the price are all reasonable and ranges from 150php ~ 250php

They will serve you water with lemon, very refreshing and good coz with lemon it adds antioxidant...

(but Jed doesn't prefer water with lemon coz for him it taste like the dishwashing liquid "Joy, Lemon", Im not sure if its bcoz he tried tasting the dishwashing liquid before hahahah peace out Jed ^__^)

Jed's order, Chicken Parmigiana at 200php, with pasta in tomato sauce and pretzel on the side

My order! Sirloin Steak with buttered veggies and mashed potatoes, 170php

I soo love this...veggies cooked just right and the steak is soo tender and tasty!

They use Frank's red hot sauce and it is so good...

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake with mint, 95php.. sooo yummy!!!

cute decorations on their counter tops

they also sell other pastries for take out...

sweet tooth section! cakes! cakes! cakes!

Jed is a sweet tooth... he bought one each of almost all the flavors of brownies >__<

arabella from the outside..very simple and homey type..

These are "pako"as the locals call it.. they use these for salads...

talangka!

local berries...

snails!

our huge slippers!

our huge slippers!

For details on how to get to Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery and details of our complete itinerary of Laguna Escapade, kindly read our post: The Plan Laguna escapade.

Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery ~ Laguna Escapade Part 3

The Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery Historical Landmark is a fine example of Spanish colonial architecture. Built by the Franciscan Friar Vicente Velloc in 1845, its octagonal grounds are enclosed by a wall decorated with wrought-iron grills and stonework meant to look like drapery.

View from Gate/Entrance ~ no entrance fee for this place, but you need to register as a guest.

Some of the apartment type tombs outside.

Some of the apartment type tombs outside.

This crypt was used as a secret meeting place of the revolutionary leaders of Laguna in 1890s

Stairs going to the crypt...

On our way down to the crypt.... this is soooo creepy

The crypt..

Emotera sa Crypt...

Entrance fee : none!

For details on how to get to Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery and details of our complete itinerary of Laguna Escapade, kindly read our post: The Plan Laguna escapade.

Related post:

Lake Pandin & Lake Yambo ~ Laguna Escapade Part 2

The Plan ~ Laguna Escapade Part 1

Lake Pandin & Lake Yambo ~ Laguna Escapade Part 2

Pandin and Yambo are twin crater lakes separated by a narrow strip of land. They are part of the Seven Lakes system in San Pablo. The lakes can be found in Brgy. San Lorenzo, San Pablo City, Laguna, Philippines.
Lake Pandin is said to be "the most pristine" of the seven lakes of San Pablo.

Start of the short trek to lake pandin!

As you can see from the photo above, the trail is not cemented, good thing it is not raining when we went there or else it can get really muddy!

This place is truly Laguna's hidden gem and I hope the place remain as clean as when we were there...I believe they are really taking care of the place,as you can see they even have those reminders posted (as seen on the photo above, right) about keeping the place clean.

This is the view that will welcome you after the trek! Really breath taking!

Lake watcher/guard paddling around lake pandin...

The beautiful Lake Pandin...

Another view of Lake pandin...going to Lake yambo... I asked the lady paddler why the water is green, and she said that this is because the lake is surrounded by trees, it is the chlorophyll from the surrounding trees that makes the water green..But when you look at it closely, the water is really clean and clear! 

Trail, assault, going to Lake Yambo...

View of Lake yambo after a very short assault trek from Lake Pandin

 

Free, fresh buko juice!

Some of the cool things that you can do while in Lake Pandin ~ swing on a tree branch!

Some of the cool things that you can do while in Lake Pandin ~ paddle your raft!

Some of the cool things that you can do while in Lake Pandin ~ swim on the lake! The water is really clear and clean! but don't forget to wear your life jacket, anyway, the lady paddlers will not allow you to swim without the life jacket. They said that the lake is 40ft deep!

This is "Budoy"! He is very entertaining and he will eat any food you give him, even chips!

Fresh mountain water...they use this for drinking, so we also try drinking from there and the water is so cool as if it came from the refrigerator.

beautiful scenery in Lake Pandin... 

beautiful view of Lake Yambo...

Lake pandin fee: 200/head for approx 2hours rafting around lake pandin and short trip to lake yambo or you can choose to pay for the 400/head fee & they will serve you lunch while rafting at the lake!

For reservation you can contact Aling Siony at 0929.9789565.

How to get there? 

From Alabang, take a bus bound to Batangas/Lucena,ask the conductor to drop you off at San Pablo 7-11 highway (80php fare, ordinary).

Walk to manggahan jeepney terminal, look for jeepneys with "Ilog" in their sign board (ask the locals for directions on how to go to manggahan 7/11 jeepney terminal, this is walking distance, no need to ride tricycle). Ride the jeepney bound to "Ilog" and ask the driver to drop you off at jump off point to Lake Yambo (15php fare)

For our complete itinerary of Laguna Escapade, kindly read our post: The Plan ~ Laguna Escapade Part1