Part 2 of our Philippines trip is our time in Davao. After Manila, we took a short flight to Davao City to see more family. We only had a few days here but we did some fun things.
The flight from Manila to Davao was only 2 hours long. Mum booked all our domestic flights within the Philippines and we flew Philippine Airlines. Davao is located on the southern island of Mindanao.
From the plane, Davao looks so much greener than Manila. It is known for being the ‘fruit basket of the Philippines’ and it is where my Dad’s family is from originally. He grew up in Davao and his side of the family is from here. We used to visit once a year when I was younger. My first ever plane ride was to Davao, I think I was 4 years old. One of mum’s brothers also lives in Davao so we got to see him and his side of the family too.
We got to Davao mid-afternoon. We checked into our accommodation (more on this later), had a little rest then met up with Dad’s side of the family. We had dinner at Yellow Fin Seafood Restaurant. Dad has 4 brothers. One of his brothers live in Canada but we got to see the other 3. They all look similar! We got to see our cousins too and of course we did that over lots of food.
We then came back to one of their houses, we got to meet their dogs and just chatted until we got tired. It’s been a long day.
Now back to our accommodation…..
For this part of our trip, I didn’t book our accommodation. I let my parents handle it since it was their idea to stop by Davao and our family member knew someone that had an Airbnb near the city. It was pretty cheap and I didn’t think much about it. Unfortunately upon check-in, we realised that the apartment wasn’t going to work for us. It was a 2 bedroom unit but it was too small especially for Joan and I as it had tiny bunk beds and the place wasn’t clean. Joan was starting to struggle with her eczema due to the heat and humidity, we were tired from travelling and we wanted to have a more relaxing space.
On our way back from our uncle’s house, I told our parents I was thinking of booking a hotel room instead. I was already searching for hotel options earlier as I’d rather pay more to be comfortable. Around midnight, we stopped by Blue Lotus hotel and asked if they had rooms available. I’m so glad they did so Joan and I booked a room right then and there! My parents decided to stay in the other accommodation as they already unpacked their stuff. They’ll there for one night and they’ll join us the next day.
Joan and I picked our bags up and checked-in. It was way past midnight when we got to our room but it was the best decision we made during this trip. We shared a room and the bed was comfy, the bathroom was nice and it was what we needed.
Our hotel stay also came with buffet breakfast which was great. So that morning, I got up and had breakfast.
The hotel restaurant was up on the rooftop, it had a great view and a good selection of food. I love Filipino breakfast!
Afterwards, we headed out to the cemetery to visit our lola (dad’s mum). We then went back to the hotel, had lunch at their restaurant and my parents were able to check into their room. Our parents were also upgraded to a suite when they checked in. Their room was massive and had a huge bathroom. I think their suite was bigger than the original apartment unit we booked. It all worked out in the end.
At night, we met up with mum’s brother’s family for dinner.
We went to Gerry’s Grill and had so much food then gelato afterwards. This side of our family is tall. I was the oldest cousin yet I was the shortest. Lol.
They also gave us heaps of fruits. We missed ripe mangoes so much that Joan and I ate it crouched down over the hotel room rubbish bin and ate it with our hands as we didn’t have a knife. It was delicious. They also gave us mangosteen and lanzones.
The next day was our ‘touristy’ day. Dad spent time with his family and mum, Joan and I spent time with our uncle (mum’s brother). We drove to the Philippine Eagle Centre.
The Philippine Eagle Centre is a conservation and breeding facility for the Philippine Eagle, the national bird of the Philippines and is critically endangered. It was fascinating learning about the Philippine eagle. They are a massive bird, one of the largest eagles.
The place also had more animals. We saw other birds and Philippine long-tailed macaques.
Afterwards, it started raining and we ended up at Malagos Garden Resort. We started with lunch while it was raining then thankfully the sun came out so we can explore the place.
This place was huge and had different areas. You can also stay here as they have accommodation. Our first stop was the butterfly sanctuary.
It was so hot and humid on this day. It felt like we were in a tropical forest.
We were glad to find the Malagos Chocolate Museum next as it was airconditioned.
Outside of the museum were actual cacao trees. I’ve never seen or touched the fruit before so that was cool. Inside was also interesting and it smelled like chocolate. They make the chocolate there and they also have workshops.
Afterwards, we walked towards the aviary which was our favourite part of that day.
The aviary had so many birds and they just came up to us! They came to mum first. They were so cute.
The first one landed on mum’s shoulder and then we paid extra to be able to feed them.
That’s when the feeding frenzy started and we got so many cute birds on us! They were so cute and so colourful too.
This was so much fun! We loved it there. This was a fun day out.
Afterwards, we went back to our hotel to rest. At night time, we went to our uncle’s house for dad’s family reunion/gathering.
Dad’s side of the family is huge. There were so many people there and I didn’t even know most of them nor have I met them before. We spent most of the night playing games with our cousins inside while the oldies chatted and drank outside. The roles were reversed this night as we had to tell our parents that it was time to go home as we were tired and sleepy. We came back to the hotel and crashed.
We also ate mangosteen and rambutan on this day. They’re delicious fruits that we can’t get in NZ. The fruits in Davao were so nice and juicy!
On our last full day in Davao, I didn’t take many photos as nothing went to plan.
I went up to the restaurant to have breakfast and when Joan eventually joined me she said her back was sore and she could barely get out of bed. I made a joke as siblings do then all of a sudden she was crying at the table. I didn’t realise how bad it was.
So on this day, Joan broke her back. Our parents then started calling our cousin who is in med-school on what to do and where to go. They advised to go to the nearby mall where there is a medical clinic so she can get checked. Off we went to SM. Joan and mum lined up to get seen by a doctor while I took my cousin and I shopping. We also had lunch there and dad met with his family again.
This day was chaotic but Joan had an x-ray for her back and they advised to get it checked once we were back home in NZ. For dinner, I took my uncle’s family (mum’s brother) out. I think Joan stayed in the room to sleep and rest and my parents were with dad’s friends. We had Italian food because I’ve had too much rice and Filipino food on this trip so far and needed a little break. Lol.
This day didn’t go to plan but it was still nice we got to spend some time with family. I really enjoyed shopping for makeup for my cousin. We basically raided SM’s beauty section especially BLK and Happy Skin. She only asked me for makeup advice but I turned it into a shopping spree and explained how to use the products. She is the only girl in her family so she doesn’t have an an ‘ate’ (older sister) to ask for beauty advice.
The next day we had to check out and head to the airport. Our stay in Blue Lotus Hotel was awesome. I’m so glad we ended up staying here. The staff were great and it made our time in Davao much better than if we we stayed in our original accommodation.
Our time in Davao was short and had some challenges but it was still nice we got to see family there.
At the airport, we got some Davao treats like Durian lollies and we started our long travel day. We had two flights on this day. The first one was to Cebu then we had another flight to Caticlan. Both of our flights were delayed. Waiting at the airport was long and boring. Joan’s back wasn’t great either and Philippine Airlines service was disappointing to say the least.
Anyway, that’s all for our Davao trip. Our next destination is even more exciting and it really was the ‘holiday’ part of this trip. Overall, Davao was still pretty good despite everything that happened. Hospital trips are not in anyone’s travel plans and we’ve had two so far already. Mum had to get checked in Laguna because she developed a somewhat allergic reaction to most likely the heat and humidity then Joan screwed her back in Davao.
Regardless, I’m grateful that we got to see family, I got to see and hang out with our cousins and eat delicious food especially the fruits. My favourite part was the birds at the Malagos Garden Resort aviary too.
Philippines 2023 Trip blog links:
A Style Collector 
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