JUANIBAN Island... Escapade! with the Philnabankers

May 7, 2011 was the exact date when I first set foot on this grand beauty of Nature at its best.... with my fellow Philnabankers of PNB Mati Branch... where we've enjoyed each others company during our yearly SUMMER OUTING!

MATI road trip every weekends

The first time I visited Mati was during my high school days, when I happen to be one of the student journalist to represent our province in a campus journalism competition. My event that time was Editorial Cartooning. I could still remember the time when we travelled to Mati, upon passing the Badas road, all our bags went up and down as our bus trailed the long and winding road curves approaching the town of Mati. I thought of Mati that time as very quiet and peaceful town. I happen to pass by PNB building along its highway.

Recently, I was transfered to Mati. As my work required me to relocate myself to this quiet and peaceful place - now called: The City of Mati. This is actually my first permanent job assignment in a place far away from my hometown. In my entire lifetime, It will be my first time to live separately from my parents and be far away from friends and relatives. To live all by myself is very difficult, finding a place to live is the first thing I did. A week before my official transfer I went to Mati to check the place and look for a place where I'll be staying not just for weeks but for months or years ahead. 

The Food

When I arrived in Mati, I recalled from a friend that empanadas and lumpia are some of the delicacies that Mati is proud to have. Pomelos are abundant too. What I did was, I went to the place where empanadas are made. 

So I went to Seaside Restaurant located just a few meters away from the city hall. Where they serve the popular fried and fresh lumpia and empanada. They also serve mouth-watering grilled tunas paired with kinilaw, shrimp in chili sauce, camaron rebosado, grilled pusit and tinolang isda is just heavenly and satisfying. After tasting the empanadas, I bought a box filled with empanadas as my pasalubong.

After tasting the food, I continued searching for the place where I could stay. Its very difficult to find a place. After circling the town looking for the right place, I ended starving again and went to check on the popular food chain Jollibee for a quick lunch. My search never ended there, as I texted some friends hoping to get some contacts.  God indeed is very good that He sent me an angel, none other than bro. rommel baya, a kumpare of mine and a true SFC brother. He texted me that there's a vacant room in the place where he is residing.

The Place

Hahaha... Suppose to be dapat first to mention ang place, but Food was the first thing na nasa isip ko. Well, Mati City is a nice place. Recently, Its cityhood was finally restored. It is the capital of Davao Oriental province. Mati is best known and is very blessed with wonderful beaches and natural environment.

The road going to Mati is very much well paved and concrete, although there are still some few kilometers that are still unpaved. When you go to Mati City, you will pass by my hometown the City of Tagum. Your route will take you to the municpalities of Maco, Mabini and Pantukan of Compostela Valley province. Upon reaching the province of Davao Oriental, you will pass through the municipalities of Banaybanay and Lupon and finally Mati City. 

Approaching Mati City, passing through the zigzag road of badas, you will be amazed at the wonders of mother nature and on how creative our God is by creating a beautiful scenery. You will be enticed to shout and scream to your loudest to wake up the SLEEPING DINAUSOR.

Tourism in Mati

Davao Oriental's selling advantage lies in its natural and exotic sites with the Department of Tourism's banner program of “From Islands to Highlands”.

Davao Oriental prides itself with the abundance of diverse natural spots such as cascading waterfalls, pristine lakes and rivers, idyllic white sand beaches, exotic islands, lush forest and a bonsai forest. There are also cultural and historical sites to which I would love to visit someday. 

Local tourists thrive in the province mostly coming from neighboring provinces and cities. The “balikbayans”, visitors of some locales, participants to conferences and seminars hosted by the province, like what I attended during my high school days. Although there are some foreign visitors brought home by locales who either worked abroad or who married foreigners.

Overall, Mati's ambiance in general is rustic and in some places you will experience nature at its best.

SKIMBOARDING in Dahican, Mati City

Skimboarding (or skimming) as wikipedia describes it - is a boardsport in which a skimboard (a smaller counterpart to a surfboard) is used to glide across the water's surface. Unlike surfing, skimboarding begins on the beach, it starts with the dropping of the board onto the thin wash of previous waves. Skimboarders may use their momentum to 'skim' out to breaking waves, which they then catch back into shore in a manner similar to surfing. Another aspect of skimboarding is 'flatland', which involves performing tricks derived from skateboarding such as ollies and shove-its on the wash of waves without catching shore breaks. Skimboarding originated in Southern california when lifeguards wanted an easy way to get across the beaches of Laguna. From here skimboarding went as a way to travel down beaches to extreme riding into big shorebreak 

The waves of Dahican, Mati, Davao Oriental is perfect for skimboarding. skimming attracts beach goers to try and master the sport. Dahican beach is facing the Pacific Ocean and during surfing seasons, waves can get as high as 10 feet, thats why this place is a mecca for surfers and skimboarders. I would love to try it, but I have to find a tough board to match my equally heavy built. hehehehe


There are more Exciting Places to visit... here are some of the places....

Pusan Point - Located at the    easternmost part of the   Philippines, Pusan Point  in Caraga is where the “First Sunrise of the Millennium” occurred. This is where the sun shines first.

Masao Beach - Situated along the shoreline of the Pujada Bay in the City of Mati, Accessible by land and sea.

Aliwagwag Falls - Located in the middle of a forest in Brgy. Aliwagwag in Cateel, Aliwagwag Falls is reputed to be one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the country. It has a series of 84 cascading falls.

Caraga Church - Considered as one of the oldest churches in Mindanao, the Caraga Church is located in the town proper of Caraga.   It houses the 1802 Church    Bell brought by the friars from Spain.

Langyawan Cave - Langyawan Cave is one of the 42 caves in Cateel. The meeting of stalagmites and stalactites is an indication that the cave was in existence centuries ago.

Till the next update, God bless us all and may we all have the most enjoyable summer of the year.

Great Sights of MATI

This is MATI, a city blessed with a beautiful seascape.... Herewith are some awesome shots made by Freddy Alan Uy, a local of Mati City, Davao Oriental, Here are his best shots:

SURFING in MATI, DAVAO ORIENTAL

Welcome to the City of Mati, a part of the prosperous and peaceful Davao region. Bounded in the east by the great Pacific Ocean, scenic Mati embraces the majestic Pujada Bay. . . 

Mati is a town in the province of Davao Oriental, Philippines. It is the capital of the said province. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 105,908 people in 21,293 households. Residents of Mati are called Matinians.

Looking for a place to SURF along white sandy beaches? Where else to go? but GO SOUTH to Mati City, Province of Davao Oriental. It is a blessing for me to experience nature at its best, as I am heading to this wonderful tourist destination... MATI.

History

On 1942, the Japanese Occupation forces was landed in the town of Mati, Eastern Davao. On 1945, the liberation in the town of Mati, Eastern Davao was accompanied by the Allied Philippine Commonwealth troops of the 6th, 101st, 102nd, 103rd, 104th, 106th, 107th and 110th Infantry Division of the Philippine Commonwealth Army, 10th Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary and the Davaoeño guerrilla units against the Japanese Imperial forces until the end of World War II. The town of Mati, Davao Oriental was founded in 1903. It celebrated its' centennial in 2003.

Tourism

Dahican is one of the most popular destinations in Mati with clear waters and a 17-kilometer pure and fine white sand shore. Indeed, Mati is the best-kept secret of Davao Region. [www.kanakbai.com]. Masao is also very known.Tourists from Finland, Australia, USA, Japan and Korea have enjoyed the resort. Also, local tourists from Surigao and Davao abound in Mati to experience the totally different aura of Masao. There are a lot of places in Mati that are truly haven: Camp Jericho; Tourism Complex; Waniban Island; the sleeping dinosaur; the Pujada Island and a lot more. Pujada Bay has also been considered as among the richest bays in the South East Asia. There are 15,700 species of sea creatures that can be found in the Pujada Bay. Lobsters, Sea Cow or locally known as Dugong, hammerhead shark, blue whale, manta ray, and different kinds of turtles are just among the many sea animals that can be found in Mati. Scuba diving is also experienced here.

Nowadays,skimming and surfing is one of the most favorite sports to Matinians because of the lovely wave in Dahican. Many tourits also got to Dahican Beach just to skim. The LUKOT also is known in Mati. It's from a sea creature and it taste good. Mati has a good road also, where others called it as BAGUIO ROAD because of its zigzag shape. So, come now to Mati and experience a lot of things which you never experinced before.

It will be my HOME away from home... this is just a taste of my great adventure in Mati, Davao Oriental...

SFC ICON side trip eXperience

Last February I'm so blessed that I was able to attend our 18th International Conference for the Singles for Christ. Our venue was located at the Provincial capitol  grounds of Camarines Sur in the Municipality of Pili. 

Every year we SFCs gather in a BIG conference, last year's ICON, over 3,000 delegates went to Davao City. And this year, all 6,000 delegates attended this years edition of the SFC Icon, celebrating 18 years of community life for the single men and women. To give you a glimpse of the host province, I will bring you to its capital city... Naga. 

Naga City is known as the Heart Of Bicol because of its centralized location in the Bicol Region of the Philippines. Naga City residents are known as Naguenos and speak the Native dialect of Bicolano. Naga City is located about 380 kilometers southeast of Manila on the Southern Part of Luzon. It is located in the middle of the Camarines Sur Province.

Naga City was named from the abundance of Narra Trees, Naga in Bikol. In the mid 1500's, Naga was a flourishing village along the banks of the Naga River. For hundeds of years Naga City has been known for its history of trade, education, and strong catholic culture. Traslacion happens every 2nd Friday of September and this is the trasfer of image of Divino Rostro and Penafrancia which is called "Mahal na Ina". This shows the culture and the strong belief of the devotee especially the Naguenos and the Bicolanos.

One of the prides of the Naguenos located at the Provincial Capitol Complex. It is a man made body of water designed for the riders of wake boarder and wake skater. It has plenty of room to perform different tricks on perfectly smooth water at which have a cable at about 700 m long. There you can see a small island built in the middle of the lake, as well as smooth, sand beaches on all sides. CWC is extremely cool because it offers complete accommodation such as the restaurant, a bar, hotels with AC and WIFI ready, bungalows, huge swimming pool, pro shop, beach volleyball area, souvenir store, massage spa, convention center, and many other recreational facilities all designed to grow CWC and the entire region into a welcoming resort destination for visitors from all over the world.

This years International Conference theme: I STAND gathered thousands of SFC soldiers ready to charge for a fresh battle. The theme itself was the message of God for me. The experiences that I am enduring right now in my work, and in many aspects of my life, My God is telling me to STAND with Him.


I'm so blessed that God allowed me to experience this once in a lifetime event of my life. He provided me with people who shared and helped. I thanked God for the gift of having the CFC Singles for Christ community.


Next years ICON will be in Bohol. God willing, next year's background scenery will be Chocolate Hills. but before that, we have to take charge of our respective battlegrounds, and allow others to experience Christ among ourselves. God bless everyone. 


This year, my Travel Bag brought a lot of unforgettable memories from CamSur. Next month, my TRAVEL BAG will once again be filled and packed as I head for my new job  assignment in Mati, Davao Oriental. Madayaw Mati!