my out-of-town long weekend...bitin!

As you dear readers know, I went to Davao, Malaybalay, and Cagayan de Oro this weekend. For this entry, I'd like to share a few favorites of mine from all the pictures I took this long weekend.

DAVAO

Lunch by the beach. After a very long interview that morning, Ma'am Carmen (the field supervisor), Ma'am Ofel (our contact in Davao) and I had lunch at a Dampa type of restaurant somewhere in Davao...seaside! :) Lovely view while eating, don't you think?

There's something enchanting about this tree...I took this shot while waiting for the interviewers to screen one of the possible respondents (unfortunately, she wasn't qualified for the interview :|). Mind you, this was at a slum type of area. Back to the tree...the branches are all green and bare, with just a few that still had their leaves. This tree brightens up the place a bit.

After my very tiring afternoon doing fieldwork, I went to the Davao Convention Center to check out the Christmas bazaar. There really wasn't anything spectacular about it, except that I was in a bazaar in Davao. Hahaha! I was able to buy something for my family which I thought was worth the excess baggage fee I had to pay at the airport--organic products from Kablon Farms in South Cotabato. I bought tablea, wild honey, and passion fruit-pineapple marmalade (soooo good!) for my lola. And yes, I bought lots of suha for my officemates and friends. And durian candies.

EN ROUTE TO MALAYBALAY
I asked the guy sitting behind me to take my picture on the bus before the bus got full. You see, it was my first time EVER to ride a bus alone. Considering the trip was 5 hours long, it really was a milestone sort of thing for me. I just had to document it. And yeah, I have really bad posture...need to work on that.

Really happy to be on a bus. Haha! I got lucky...buses in the terminal in Davao City left every 30 minutes so when my bus left, I didn't have a seatmate yet :) I was enjoying the view, actually.

Our first stop was the Provincial Sanitation Checkpoint, where we all had to get off the bus and walk on the floor that was doused with water mixed with meds...to avoid foot and mouth disease (the bacteria usually latches on to the body through the feet/shoes).

Wonderful view once I got off the bus :)

Pretty flowers at the checkpoint. I don't even think they were selling these.

Okay, I'll continue this post later because I have other entries I need to work on...as in delayed ones like the last installment of my Ilocos trip, and a new one about my trip yesterday to San Pablo, Laguna. SORRY!!!! I tend to forget about making certain entries or I procrastinate. Haha!