Boss Mon, Rhoda and Che took the 7:30 am PAL flight to Manila, so they left the Marco Polo Hotel at daybreak since they should be at the airport around 5:30 am. I was therefore alone in the room when I woke up around 6:30am.
Ted texted me at 7am to ask if I was going down for breakfast. I replied that I would be down in 30 minutes. He told me that he and Boss Dan were taking a short tour of the city.
I was at the Cafe Marco around 7:36. Didn't see anyone from PNB there so I started texting Ted, Milette and Rey. Boss Dan and Ted were still on their way back to the hotel, Milette was just leaving her room, and Rey had just woken up.
Sign that the ACI convention is over:
I walked around the lobby, then went back to Cafe Marco waiting for any of the guys show up.
The staircase landing:
Finally saw Boss Dan and Ted at the lobby and we went to Cafe Marco together for breakfast. Milette, Dennis, Mr. Ayes and his family eventually showed up and joined us.
There was talk of how the "No smoking" rule in Davao City has ruined the trip for most delegates who were smokers. The curfew didn't help either. It only heightened the difference between Davao City and Boracay - ACI's favorite convention place where the ambience is more relaxed vs. the formality of holding the convention in a hotel within a city, like Davao. I have a feeling that it will take a loong time before ACI reconsiders returning to Davao City.
Was back in my hotel room around 9:30. Having nothing to do, I decided to take pictures of the room:
According to the hotel's website, the Guest Room "average room size is 340 square feet / 32 square meters, and all rooms are designed to the requirements of today's corporate travelers."
Those requirements would be met by a television set with cable channels, a memo pad with pen, a wake up call service, a safe, lots of drawers, slippers, towels changed daily, a hair dryer, and about 10 hangers - half of them big enough for coats, the other half is the kind that has clips for trousers or skirts. No iron and ironing board though.
There is a Business center near the lobby. Which reminds me of something that happened yesterday morning while we were waiting for the bus to take us to Eden Park. Rhoda, Neil, Cezar, Steve, Henry and I were hanging around near the center of the lobby where there is a table with a computer. Cezar sat on the chair in front of the computer, grabbed the mouse, and started clicking the computer desktop. A hotel staff approached him and asked if he wanted to use the internet, since the service is available at the Business Center. Cezar replied in the negative, after which the staff politely told him that he is sitting in the hotel's Assistant Manager's desk, and could he please vacate the chair. It was so funny that I jokingly asked the staff to please repeat it so that I could capture the moment on my camera. He did not ofcourse, and we all left the desk.
Like most 5-star hotels, Marco Polo provide its guests daily with 2 sets of shampoo, lotion, bath foam, shower caps, toothbrush with toothpaste, small soap, big soap, tissue roll, and boxed tissue in the bathroom. You also get 2 sets of coffee mix along with packets of sugar, 2 bags of Lipton tea, and 2 bottles of water.
Although Rhoda and I should have a room with two beds, the hotel ran out of double occupancy rooms and we got a single occupancy room with one bed and one cot. I slept on the cot (see picture above with bed - the cot is on the right). Makes me wonder if we should get some refund for that.
The Deck looking like there was no party last night that ended early this morning with people jumping into the pool:
The view of Davao City from the hotel window:
Davao City is not attached to any province like most cities in the Philippines are. Apart from being the Philippines' largest city, it is also one of the largest cities in the world in terms of land area.
Under Mayor Duterte, Davao City has morphed into probably one of the cleanest and safest cities in the Philippines. You could say you can feel safe walking the streets at night, as long as you don't break the curfew. The threat from communist or Muslim insurgents is there ofcourse, but they tend to be active in other Mindanao cities, leaving Davao City relatively peaceful.
One thing I like here is that on every corner, you could see a pair of trash bins. It contrasts so much with Manila where one would be lucky to even find a real trash bin ... when Jon and I went to Bambang last month, I couldn't find any trash can, even in the LRT stations, that I was able to throw my trash only when we got back to Pacita. Laugh all you want. I am a Scholastican and was taught not to litter.
I thought we were supposed to leave the hotel for the airport at 10:45, which seemed ages away, so I decided to step out to take more pictures.
The Marco Polo Hotel facade:
The Marco Polo is a landmark in Davao City apart from being considered the best hotel there by most people.
The hotel is located at the corner of C.M. Recto Street and M. Roxas Avenue. There is a 24 hour police station in front along M. Roxas.
Aldevinco Shopping Center is across the hotel on the C.M. Recto side. This commercial center is well known for Davao souvenirs, especially ethnic ones, and has been around since the 1960s.
Since Aldevinco attracts foreign and local tourists, you will find hawkers outside the building selling fake sunglasses, watches, and the like. There is also the occasional beggar. The beggars won't bother you. It's the hawkers that won't leave you alone, especially if they noticed that you came from the Marco Polo.
Near Aldevinco, and also along C.M. Recto, is the Ateneo de Davao University. The school opened in 1948 initially offering grade school and high school education. It started offering college courses in 1951. It became a university in 1977.
Typical of Jesuit run schools in the Philippines, ADDU offers excellent education and graduates from its College of Law have been landing in the top ten of the bar exams.
I was outside taking the above pictures when I got a text message from Boss Mon around 9:54. He had forgotten to take home his two boxes of pomelo and requested if we could bring them to Manila. He added that we don't have to bring them if it would mean being charged for excess luggage. At about the same time, Boss Dan and Milette were looking for me, since the shuttle to the airport was leaving earlier than expected. As I was rushing back to the hotel (at this point, it's starting to sound like the Hong Kong trip), I texted to them Boss Mon's request, including the number of the pomelo boxes' claim tags. The two of them got the boxes from the concierge and told me they would bring them since they each have only one luggage. Texted that to Boss Mon who then asked what time we would be arriving at the Manila airport so he could meet us and get the boxes. All these was going on while I was going up to my hotel room, bringing down my luggage, and checking out of the hotel. I was finished by the time the shuttle showed up.
We were at the Davao airport just before 12:00 noon. After checking in our luggage, Dan and Milette decided to browse through the souvenir shops since they didn't have time to buy enough "pasalubongs" for their families.
We saw Philippine actor Gabby Concepcion and took some pictures:
The kid is not his ofcourse, nor Milette's. Another fan was having her photo taken with him and asked him to hold her baby.
We resumed browsing through the shops after that. I ended up buying some dried seafood like squid, danggit and the little fish (fingerlings) called palad. Also bought pork chicharon. What really got my interest were the fish chicharon. Bought two just so me and my folk could taste them.
Danny and Milette were hungry and went into a small restaurant to order lunch. I was still full so I just bought a bottle of juice. A trader from another bank joined them and they talked about Boss Mon instigating the jumping in the pool early that morning.
I checked my cellphone and realized I got a text message from Julpha which she sent at 11:28. It was already 12:31. She told me that the pomelos were newly harvested and would be good to eat only after 3 to 5 days.
After eating, the four of us got into the airport proper where the three of them immediately headed to the smoking lounge. I waited for them at gate 6, where we would board our 1:45 PAL flight to Manila.
We boarded the plane on time. We were on the same row, but Dan and Milette took the seats near the window, I was seated in the middle column but near the aisle. Thought I had no seatmate but he showed up just before the plane closed its doors and prepared for flight.
He was fair with sandy blonde hair that Milette thought he was a foreigner and wouldn't understand Tagalog. I had my doubts since he wasn't tall ... I thought he looked more like a Spanish mestizo. He made the sign of the cross when the plane started to move, and I was 50% sure he was Filipino. I was right. When we landed at NAIA and waiting for the plane to stop, he started talking to me in Tagalog with a heavy Davao accent. He asked me if we were in a group of people Davao for some sort of convention because the plane was noisy. I first thought he meant the people were noisy, then I realized he meant that the space underneath the plane where the checked in luggage were was unusually noisy because of too many baggages. He then launched into stories of airplane accidents and the reason he was nervous of the rattling noise. I think he has a phobia of plane flights. When he excused himself and headed to the restroom, I told Milette he was Filipino. If I made a bet, I would have won.
I was at the NAIA luggage carousel at 3:30pm, which meant we landed ahead of time. Jon was already outside waiting for me to come out (I texted him yesterday requesting him to fetch me at the airport today). Taxis are not allowed at the arrival area so we had to walk towards the departure area to get a taxi.
I had wanted to stop by the Ayala Mall and watch Iron Man, but with 3 bags and a box of pomelos, entering the cinema or eating at a restaurant would be bothersome, so we just headed to the BBL station and rode the bus for home.
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