Sharing my story on Davao's organized sail pass for foreign sailors set to join Sail Morotai in Indonesia ...

Foreign sailors pick Samal Island as starting point for 2012 Sail 

Morotai in Indonesia 

ISLAND GARDEN CITY OF SMALL, Davao del Norte, Sept. 7 (PNA) --Eleven yachts manned by 

sailors from several countries took off Thursday here towards Indonesia for the 2012 Sail Morotai, 

highlighting the island of Morotai in North Maluku which is site of the World War II battle waged 

under Allied Commander General Douglas MacArthur on September 1944. 

The yachters have chosen this island city in the Davao Region as their starting point for Sail Morotai 

when the 11 sailboats made the traditional sail pass as sailors bade good bye to Dabawenyos who 

sent them off Thursday morning for a safe journey. Dabawenyos waved Philippine flaglets as a horn 

blared signalling a safe and fun sailing. 

  

The private sector activity was held at the Ocean View marina owned by the Holiday Island Garden 

Development Corporation of the Bangayan's family. 



Participants were Australians Michael and Rosemary Lewis (S.V. Expiditus, 36-foot monohull); Daryl 

Nelson (S.V. Metana 2, 38-ft. monohull); Bruno Hammerler (S.V. Freiheit, 38-ft. monohull); 

Christopher and Daun Morris (S.V. More Magic, 43-ft. monohull); Trevor Burridge (S.V. Gadfly, 44-

ft. monohull); Heinrich and Rosita Hetzel (S.V. Ela, 43-ft. catamaran); and Alan Chalk and Marife S. 

Banez (S.V. Break-Away, 43-ft. catamaran). 

Other nationalities were Dutchmen Johannes A.M. Van Run and Maria Helma Verdonk (S.V. Alk, 39-ft. 

monohull); Americans Walter and Jane LeCompte (S.V. Calixto, 46-ft. monohull); Paul and Robyn 

Carpenter of New Zealand (S.V. Shiralee, 35-ft. catamaran); and Belgians Luc Callebaut and Jackie 

Lee (S.V. Sloepmouche, 46-ft. trimaran). 

Gene Bangayan, who is also president of the Davao Tourism Association (DATA), said that through 

social networking and after several exchanges of messages, the group came to Davao and docked their 

sailboats at the marina for some maintenance check in time for their journey to Indonesia. 

The group arrived here middle of August and had the chance to visit places and learned Davao's 

culture, crafts and tradition. "Although they stay in their boats, they go around and experience what our 

city can offer," she said. 

Bangayan said the sailors were issued a special visa by the Indonesian government with no registration 

fee which would allow them to stay in Indonesia for two to six months. She said the Indonesian 

government spearheads the annual sailing activity to promote their different island destinations 

including Talaud which is the nearest point to Talikud Island of Samal. 

On Sept. 15, 1944, allied forces from the United States and Australia under Supreme Commander 

General Douglas MacArthur landed on Morotai and defeated small Japanese troop remaining stationed 

there. Morotai became the air and naval base of the Allied Forces in the South West Pacific that helped 

free the Philippines from Japanese occupation. 

More than 120 yachts are expected to participate in the 2012 Sail Morotai from various countries 

including Australia, Philippines and Malaysia. It will take the yachters some eight days to sail from 

Samal Island to Morotai or arrive about September 15 to 17. 

Bangayan said they are now working on Davao's regular participation on leisure sailing aiming to 

launch the Sail Philippines in 2013 where sailboat owners can participate for fun. 

"We thought of expanding and sustaining our linkage with them (sailors) in order for them to come back 

and bring more participants by initiating events in Mindanao," she said. 

Department of Tourism (DOT) regional director Art Boncato said considering that participation will 

be from different countries, "we will elevate it to national scale and mark it as an identifying event for 

Sail Philippines." 

He said this requires lot of interventions but DOT will take the lead in getting inter-agency support like 

the Customs Immigration Quarantine Security (CIQS) task force. 

"But in the future perhaps we can have our own sailing brand as the island is full of eco-adventure, 

eco-tourism," he said. 

Boncato said the sailors that just left Davao have their own blogs where they can talk about their 

experiences here, a good exposure on what Davao offers which can draw interests from around the 

world. (PNA) LAM/PrixDignaDBanzon/LDP/UTB

Sail Morotai of Indonesia

Sail Morotai of Indonesia set their voyage with a sail pass where Dabawenyos sent them off Thursday morning (Sept. 6, 2012) at the Samal Island to start for a safe journey. Eleven sailboats made the traditional sail pass as sailors bade good bye and Dabawenyos wished them safe trip, waved Philippine flaglets and horn blown signalling a safe and fun sailing. The activity was private sector initiated held at the Ocean View marina owned by the Holiday Island Garden Development Corporation of the Bangayan's Family. (PNA photo courtesy of Davao Bureau) prix d banzon FFC/gsc

From mails to trains ...

Reviewing the memory cards of my camera, I came across 
with this photo of the United States Post Office in New York
City and when I zoomed the photo, the signage says ... 
"The Future Home of Moynihan Station" ...

The post office building was constructed in 1908-1913 and 
thereafter were several expansions in its location of 8 acres 
at 421 St., 8th Avenue, NY.  The post office is open to the 
public 24/7 each week. 

The Future Moynihan Station is a planned station that 
would expand the Penn Station to the office building which 
had its groundbreaking in 2010 and expected to be complete 
by 2016. Known as the busiest train station of the country, 
its passengers accounted to over 550,000 daily.

Once operational four years from now, all mail processing 
operations will be relocated to the Morgan Processing 
and Distribution Center, which is one block away from 
there.  The US General Post Office was designated a 
landmark by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission 
in 1966.

Super thankful I had this photo, taken in October 2011, 
before it becomes a train station in 2016 in NYC.
  
However, I'm just wondering with an advance IT 
country like the US and NYC for that matter, people still 
send mails through the post office.  

On my recollection I had my last mail/package sent at the 
Davao City Post Office way back in 2005.  What with email, 
Facebook, Yahoo Messenger, Skype, etc. which is easier 
and fast. 

But then I still got mails with two of my latest were from 
the bank that I need to acknowledge it personally 
because it was a registered mail that contains, a summary 
among others of withholding tax and more taxes.  

We used to receive also through mails from 
Ateneo de Manila University furnishing us the report card 
of our son Jose III for us to know the performance of our 
child in school.

Well, despite connectivity, post mail is still 
important. Accessibility like the soon to be 
Moynihan Station is an equally important infrastructure !

My Travel ...

I travel 

because I want to see places

the road

the sky

the sites

the beauty

the people

the trees

the flowers

the animals

the birds

and most importantly

the experience

and

the memories

that i gonna write about  

or capture them in pictures

so that my loved ones, including you,

help me appreciate the beauty 

that travel brings 

and never will my winged feet

stop me from seeing places

around me and elsewhere ... 

how grateful I am to have enjoyed

the opportunity given by travel 

...

just being grateful ...

Grand Canyon ...

The Grand Canyon Visit ... while you are 
there, one could not help but say all praises to 
the beautiful creation of the Almighty ... 
by bus we travelled to the state of Arizona 
from Las Vegas... not minding the long 
travel because reaching the place was 
indeed rewarding.

On tour were people of different nationalities 
with only one purpose to marvel the beauty 
of the mountain, the shapes, the curves that 
were formed as the water passes through.  
So amazing that everyone of us 
just want to be silent and bring home 
the splendor and the grandiose site in 
this world.

Awesome should I say seeing grasses 
clinging to the rocks, the stones sitting 
at the deepest ground, the branches 
of trees reaching out to the other end of the 
line and the sky beautifully adding color 
to this wonderful world of nature. 

I salute those who labored for making 
this park as pretty as it could be, 
a place where man could reach out 
to nature and hopefully be motivated 
with this nature's park of participating 
and at the same time embracing the call of 
protecting the environment. 

If given the chance, I would love to travel 
to the canyon again and again, 
the Grand Canyon ... perfectly amazing !

Travelling by train is more than fun ....

Travelling by train is an experience and a lot more fun ...

Twas my first train ride actually in a foreign land and it 

was a long ride of 18 hours from Orlando, Florida to Washington, DC ...

Since it was a long trip, we checked in our luggage and 

with me in the coach was my hand carry bag with 

some personal effects, cookies and bottled water.

I didn't know it was cold inside but other passengers 

who were regular train riders were prepared for the 

long trip coz they brought with them blankets 

and even pillows.

What I was excited about were the sites that 

this long wheeled train passes through. 

So I made sure my camera was with me all the time. 

I chose the window seat so everything was within my sight ...

After four hours of our travel that started late 

afternoon, it was already night and the cold became so 

intense that I had to move to the cafeteria for some

hot coffee until it was daybreak. After freshening 

up I went back to my coach and there again I started 

clicking my camera ...

I forgot all about the cold discomfort because nature's 

beauty amazed me.

How could one resist what this wonderful world that has

to offer with scenes I captured despite the fast moving 

vechile I was into ... like this monument 

"The Pencil" towering from afar

Nonetheless, all I can say is that never should man 

ever spoil the beautiful creation of God ...

I could only be thankful of the many blessings around 

me ! ... Thanks for this wonderful experience as I 

was able to share some photos I took during that 

one train ride ... with an interesting partner, hubby.

Pretty City in Southern Davao

This city, very near to the city where I reside, is Tagum City. It is an hour travel ride by land to Davao City where I live.

My first local trip early January this year was to this neighboring city for a job related event of covering the inauguration of the first Mindanao Cancer Center there. And to my surprise, Tagum has become an interesting city.

Nearing the place, I was surprised with what I saw - the four lanes road well paved and guarded by tall palm trees lined up perfectly in the highway.

At the downtown area I saw several low rise structures, new establishments, commercial buildings, malls and even coffee shops.

And having the chance  to interview several times before and now the city's chief executive, Mayor Rey Uy is bent on changing the landscape of the city into one that is progessive and developed, building landmarks that will attract visitors and tourists both domestic and foreign.

Of the latest is the ongoing construction of the City Hall and its Ampitheater. The group was toured to the construction site and were briefed on the project.

The designs are sort of futuristic, handled by an architect who hails from Tagum and now resides and works in Australia.

Leaving the site and when I looked back I saw this wide entrance that would lead to the City Hall. With several lamp posts around, I think this is a pretty place with more green space and at night when all the lights are on.

There are other buildings too, like this office and the newest hotel.

Just like in the city that I visited lately, government places are frequented by tourists because the structures are captive and inviting, a landmark which is a must visit place, just like the Capitol and the White House in Washington, DC where tourists come to have their photographs taken. Sharing my photos with the landmarks there.

I think Mayor Uy was inspired by what he observed in his travel to the US as well, where he saw the streets perhaps in downtown Hollywood, Los Angeles, California where tall palms trees lined up on both sides of the road as shown in the four photos below that I myself took during my visit there.

The above photos are really amazing but Tagum City is one to be closely watched where all on going constructions will soon be up even as new ones keep coming. 

And yes the highway road in Tagum City (please see photo below) with the palms on both sides is comparable to LA's well maintained roads and trees. Pretty City !