Travel

Why are Streets Renamed? {4}

Why are Streets Renamed?

Mar 9, 2014

I mentioned before about the lack of addresses here in the Philippines. That can make it difficult to locate places, especially those that are on streets that cover some distance. Another factor is that many of the streets’ names change.

I notice this more in the downtown area than elsewhere, but I can think of several right off the top of my head that have changed. How recently, I’m not sure. You see both names are still commonly used, and street signs (when you can find them) seem to indicate either the new or the old. I don’t see a system. Jeepneys will also use either name on their placards and route directions.
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By Category: Cultural Adjustment, Davao, Travel Tags: ,

Samal Island Hopping {0}

Samal Island Hopping

Jan 11, 2014

One of the more popular activities on and around Samal Island has to be what is known as “island hopping.” Once upon a time most people gathered up the clan and spent the day on the beach at Paradise Island Beach Resort or later on at a place like BlueJaz with its many water activities. These days it seems island hopping is what everyone wants to do.

The term itself is a bit misleading, at least to those of use that grew up on a different version of English. You don’t “hop” to very many islands, in fact in the trips I’ve been on we’ve only stopped at Samal Island and once at Wishing Island. For the most part you “hop” around the gulf, around Talikud Island and/or Samal Island.
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By Category: Samal Island, Tourist Attractions, Travel Tags: , ,

Mindanao Maps {5}

Mindanao Maps

Oct 19, 2013

Given that I have a number of visitors that come to my site searching for Mindanao Maps, and the fact that Mindanao has been in the news so much recently, both locally and internationally, I thought I’d share some of the more useful and interesting maps of Mindanao that I’ve collected.

I don’t own any of these, of course. I’ve gotten them all from the internet. In a couple of cases you can go to the site indicated on the maps themselves and find larger versions. I put up what I thought were large enough files for them to be of use and to not overload the server too much.
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By Category: Mindanao, Travel Tags: ,

Checking Out GenSan {8}

Checking Out GenSan

Jul 19, 2013

I got to take another short trip this month. This time I went to a city I’d passed through before but not had time to stop and visit. General Santos City, or GenSan as it is most commonly called, is in the Soccsksargen region of central Mindanao. It is the southernmost city in the Philippines, with a population of 538,086 according to 2010 census.

On my previous pass through, I had noticed that the streets were mostly occupied by tricycles and jeepneys, not so many taxis and cars. That appealed to me, as Davao is getting more congested by the week. I’m not sure what it’s going to be like in a few years, but I’ve gotten glimpses of what I suspect, and that doesn’t appeal to me. So I’m looking to see if there might be an option down the road that would be more appealing.
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By Category: Transportation, Travel Tags: , , , , , , ,

Taking the Bus From Davao to Cagayan de Oro {17}

Taking the Bus From Davao to Cagayan de Oro

Jun 23, 2013

One of the things I wanted to do when I retired and moved to the Philippines was to travel and visit more of the country. I had been to the Philippines many times before moving here, but my trips had been limited to just a few areas. I had seen the Manila area, Davao/Samal and a few small towns outside of those. My intention was to spend some of my free time exploring other parts of Mindanao, in particular, since that is where I live.

Since moving I have had the opportunity to go to Cebu on a few occasions. That was nice, in that Cebu is a very busy and modern city. There are plenty of foreigners there, in particular Koreans. As much as I enjoyed those visits, I still had the urge to explore more of the areas around me. I had targeted Cagayan de Oro (CDO) as likely first trip to make on my own, as there are nice buses headed that way on a regular basis going right through the heart of Bukidnon. That’s an area I have a lot of interest in.
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By Category: Davao, Mindanao, Tourist Attractions, Transportation, Travel Tags: , , , , , ,