I knew nothing but Pacquiao and Tuna. It’s becoming
a habit. Booking for an airline seat sale and leaving on that day not knowing
what to expect. So we were there at the boarding gate waiting for our plane still
searching online on where to stay and what to do. With five days to explore
SOCCSKSARGEN Region in Mindanao, we arrived at General Santos City with a
concrete plan developed in one hour. It could work.
The early evening wind brushed against my face as
we emerged at the arrival area. Taxi drivers offering their services came to us
and moved away as we politely declined. Nobody bothered us again.
We walked toward the parking area where we spotted
a multicab going to downtown (which is almost 40 kilometers away from the
airport), we paid P50 each and enjoyed the almost one-hour ride.
I felt something wrong when I realized that we were
the only ones who were left inside the multicab. The driver then asked us of
our destination and softly uttered that we missed our stop. He was so gracious
enough to go back and drop us near our intended place.
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| Streets in GenSan are spotless! |
Our trip coincided with the annual Kalilangan
Festival which brightened up the whole city. This is a Non-Smoking City
tarps were scattered on every corner, people were politely obliging. Streets
were closed to cars and the parks were packed with people and whatever
activities there were. It was festive, in a very peaceful manner.
With our backpacks in tow, we searched for this
certain grilled chicken restaurant (which we heard was the best in town) before we head to our guesthouse.
Chicken Hauz Restaurant is located at laurel East in downtown GenSan.
It was dinnertime and the restaurant was almost packed with hungry diners.
Skimming at the menu I knew that our budget would suffice and hopefully with
happy tummies.
I ordered Chicken
Barbecue with achara and rice (P70) while my buddy got some Two-piece Garlic Chicken with rice (P65)
and Pork Lumpia Shanghai (P55). We
were so absorbed with the TV commercials that feature local stuff when our food
arrived. It was faster than two episodes of a telenovela.
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| Garlic Chicken |
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| Pork Lumpiang Shanghai |
The aroma from the grilled chicken was tempting. I
dunk my fork into it and juices were oozing from the chicken. I grabbed a bite
and tasted the delectable marinade and when I got into the succulent meat, I was saddened. It was bland and flavorless.
I snatched some soy, chili and lime and pepped it up a bit. The garlic fried
chicken on the other hand was juicy and tasty up to the bones. It was sad that
it was the fried chicken and not the grilled one that was a hit.
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| Chicken Barbecue |
We paced back at the oval plaza and went to our
guesthouse.
We weren’t staying in GenSan for long so we opted
to stay at Residencia Heneral, a budget hotel along Pioneer Avenue. At P250 per
room per night, we had a basic room with bed and fan. There was also a shared
toilet and bath. Nothing fancy, just a place to sleep near the city’s sights.
We planned on exploring the party scene that night
but ended on a 10-hour uninterrupted like we had bucketsful of beer kinda
sleep. I woke up, surprised that it was morning and dashed out to satisfy my
caffeine cravings.
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| Residencia Heneral, our simple guesthouse in GenSan |
I sat on a bench at a waiting shed and bought a
12-peso coffee from a peddler. Tricycle?
Day?, I politely declined the trike driver’s offer and continued with my
morning ritual.
Street sweepers marched on the street while some
trike drivers were playing checkers on a paved sidewalk. Smokers burning their
lungs before the policemen come around. I sat there longer than expected, people-watching.
We looked out for a brekkie place before we leave
the town and found an interesting cafeteria near a beach. People then were
telling us to check out a public beach along P. Acharon Boulevard. The Bula
Beach at seven in the morning was packed with locals who were enjoying the early
morning sun.
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| A port at the end of Bula Beach |
We went back to our guesthouse, packed our things
(totally forgetting about taking a shower, eek) and went to Bulaong Bus
Terminal (P10 each) and went to our next destination, Lake Sebu.
We had almost three days in Lake Sebu and went back
to GenSan and boarded a van going to Glan in Saranggani. After spending two days
there, we went back to GenSan.
We planned on sampling the famous balbacua but we had no time. After arriving,
we searched for the multicab that would take us to the airport in which nobody
knew where to find it. And then a kind tricycle driver pointed us to Uhaw in GenSan. He said that we could
take a tricycle to that place and from there take another one to the airport
than taking a cab for around P300-P500.
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| People in GenSan are super helpful. |
And so we did. Before we could even think where to
find the terminal, another tricycle driver was filling up his trike and looked
at me asking if I was heading to Uhaw,
what a coincidence. We then hopped on and asked the other passengers if they’d
know where to drop off if we’re going to the airport. They told the driver that
we would alight somewhere at the main road and then take another trike from
there.
The 30-minute ride was smooth. It was amazing how
the driver dropped everyone to their respective houses. The driver wanted to
take us to the airport but we told him that we wanted to find something to eat.
He then drove to a roadside eatery and wanted to wait for us to bring us to the
airport, but we told him that we’d be okay there. He was too sweet. And as we
handed our 20-peso fare, he instructed for us to just wait for another tricycle
alongside the road.
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| Quick food stop before heading to the airport |
We then had a hearty meal of beef noodles and tunasilog (tuna tapa). The tuna tapa
was flavorful that you’d think it was pork or something. We then asked the
owner on how to get to the airport. She didn’t say a word, went out and hailed a
tricycle and instructed the driver of our destination. She then told us to pay
P10 each for the ride. We thanked her sweet gesture and said our goodbyes.
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| Tunasilog and Beef Mami |
The 5-minute ride was breezy. We were at the gate
of the airport in no time. We handed our fare and considered our options on
riding a cab all the way to the terminal (P50) or a multicab (P10 each) or just
hike to the terminal. We chose to ride a multicab and were at the departure
gate right away.
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| 30-peso tricycle ride from downtown to the airport |
What I loved most about GenSan are the people. They
are so kind and caring that they’ll go to any length just to help which is
totally amazing. But who’s General Santos again? Go Google it. Haha .
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