The sun was still sleeping while the roosters are not yet ready for their cock-a-doodle-doo when we left bound for an exciting trip. The day was set for another fun-filled adventure but this time with some foreign allies. We have colleagues from China who were having company orientation here in the Philippines and one way of making them feel comfortable in our place is to treat them to an island tour in the Island Garden City of Samal.
While on our way, we did some getting-to-know-more chitchats while laughing along with the exchanging of Filipino-Mandarin words. It's so nice that we were learning new words from each other. It's also quite challenging for both parties since we we tried using those words when we converse. Though Mandarin is a bit tongue twisting for us Pinoys, we also realized that our Chinese friends were also having hard time in memorizing and enunciating basic Filipino words such as "magandang umaga" and the like. So I can say that we were born equal. And here's the bonus part. Betty, one of our Chinese friends, gave me a Chinese name! She gave me "Ai Sheng" which means a lover of success. Cool isn't it? In return, we also gave them Filipino names. For Betty, we called her "Inday Betty". For John, we gave him "Toto John" while for Jason, it's "Dodoy Jason". T'was pretty obvious that we all love our new names!
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| Dodoy Jason getting ready for the island tour |
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| Toto John can't hide his excitement as we were sailing |
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| Inday Betty with all smiles all throughout the trip |
When we reached Sta. Ana Pier, we hurriedly went to our assigned boat. It's a big boat with a maximum capacity of twenty (20). We were only (9) then so the boat is so spacious. We can even conduct a community dance there.
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| Getting ready for action, fun and adventure at Sta. Ana Pier |
The boatman begun with a small detail of the trip and off we went. We booked for the Round Talikud Island package. We passed by the Wishing Island, Pearl Farm Resort and its nearby resorts. Our Chinese friends were so amazed with this kind of tour because they don't usually see beaches like these in their place. They usually have river cruises. That's why they were excited when they learned that we have prepared island tour for them.
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| Wishing Island quick look |
Our next destination was really a hit because we enjoyed the beauty of the coral reef via snorkeling in the Coral Garden. With the colorful gears prepared for us, we were like little kids floating in the crystal clear water.
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| Snorkeling session at Coral Garden |
Lunch time came and we had a stop over at Babu Santa Beach Resort. We enjoyed the scrumptious lunch prepared for us. And for dessert, nothing beat the fresh buko juice from the coconut trees of the resort as specially requested by our guests.
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| The cast enjoying the lunch at Babu Santa Beach Resort |
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| Buko fest anyone? |
Our last stop was in Angel's Cove for another round of snorkeling. We really appreciated the underwater beauty in there. We even tried feeding the colorful fishes there with our stick breads. They're so many. In different sizes and shapes.
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| Another round of snorkeling session at Angel's Cove |
The time came when the boatman have to turn the boat on for our homeward bound. With so much delight, all of us happily hopped inside the boat and we're all smiling for this very memorable trip we had.We all appreciated the beauty of nature. It's Philippines. It's Mindanao. It's Davao!
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| The Casts (from topmost right counterclockwise): Kaye, Jowel, Alner, Aethan, Dona, Jason, Betty & John plus Maia (the daughter of Alner) |
Despite of the differences in terms of nationality, it is so heart warming to share precious time with our Chinese friends. Regardless of the language barrier, we had mutually understood the beauty of nature as well as the beauty of better friendship. We never talked about the current tension between the two nations. For us, it doesn't matter. So long as there is respect, the brotherhood will foster and it will take us all to more exciting miles of adventure.
There should be next time. Who knows? They might give us a chance to tour in their equally beautiful place one of these days. *wink*