We slept quite well, despite the small bed and got up early, as everyone else seemed to get up at dawn. Carlito and Heidi asked us what we wanted for breakfast and made a few suggestions. Grilled tilapia sounded good to us so we settled on that. One of the boys rode out to a nearby shop and came back with two live fish. We had a delicious meal of fish and rice - one for us and the other for the rest of the family, then went for a walk to explore the resorts. We thought we could stay another night if we found one to our liking.
We had a look at two resorts by the lake. The first had no rooms free until 5 p.m. as there was a conference going on there. The other place showed us a cottage by the water - meant for a family and a bit overpriced, and a room that didn't overlook the lake, though there were nice common areas that did. All pleasant enough, but there wouldn't be much to do apart from gaze at the lake. We noticed too that, before we could see a room, they would go in first with a spray can. Presumably there was a lot of wild life that needed to be kept down. We thought we would enjoy the area for the morning and head back to GenSan in the afternoon.
We visited a few souvenir shops and bought a "jew's harp" made of bamboo. People along the way were very friendly. One family invited us into their house for a cup of coffee. They were having renovations done at the back of the house so they would be able to sit on a back porch overlooking the lake and the carpenters were having a coffee break with them, so we just passed by at the right time.
Back at Carlito's house/shop we organised a trip to the Seven Falls about five kilometres away. We could not really bargain as it was arranged through our host, so we paid P200, which we could otherwise probably have halved. In any case it was less than $6 in Australian money. We sat on the back of a motorcycle, with me clinging to the driver and Yoong hanging onto me. The first few kilometres were easy enough, along the main road back to Surallah, but then we turned off onto a road of mud and stones through dense rainforest. Most of it was downhill so we were pressed closer and closer to the driver.
The falls were quite spectacular and well worth the trip. On the way back it started to rain so we just made it on time. Another half hour and we would have said no due to the wet weather.
We had decided to pay P300 to Carlito, based on our observation of the cost of rooms at the resort and their restaurant prices for tilapia and he was very happy to accept it, provided it was not payment for bed and breakfast but "from the heart." as a gift from a friend. That makes sense. If it's not a business transaction then no receipts, and hence tax, need come into the equation.
The jeepney to Surallah arrived soon enough and we managed to get the front seat this time. The only problem was that my window was out of order and could not be wound up, and the rain was getting heavier and heavier. Yoong gave me the old black coat that she had intended to throw away on arrival in the Philippines, once she had got away from the cold weather in Hong Kong, and I managed to avoid getting soaked while the coat ended up totally drenched. She left it behind on the next bus.
We were dropped at a bus to Marbel rather than the jeepney terminal, so we were on real buses for the rest of the trip to General Santos. When we arrived it was still raining so we didn't fight too hard with the tricycle drivers, accepting a ride from one who went down quickly from P50 to P30, though we knew it should be less. We asked to go to Magsaysay Avenue, where our old Lonely Planet indicated there were a number of hotels. We started at the Phela Grande, but thought it was too expensive and didn't bother to check any rooms. None of the other accommodation options in the area appealed to us. After walking around a bit we found an advertisement for Dolores Hotel, proclaiming special deals on rooms. It sounded like it was worth investigating.
We asked a policeman how to get there and he advised us to take a tricycle, informing us that the fare to anywhere is P6 per person. It's nice to know these things. The drivers at bus stations, of course, are counting on new arrivals being ignorant of the real cost of transport, so they try to charge more for a five minute ride than people have paid for the hour-long bus-ride that got them this far.
Dolores Hotel looked good. We checked into a nice room at just under P500, with an assurance of hot water, the only drawback being that it was on the fourth floor and the lifts were no longer working - if they ever were. The first thing we needed was a hot shower as the bathroom in Lake Sebu was strictly a cold-water throw-a-bucket-over-yourself affair, even at the "resorts" we saw. Yoong went into the bathroom first, ready for a nice hot shower and got - nothing. No water at all from the hot tap. We called down to reception, and a workman duly came up, fiddled around with the plumbing, went out to check the system somewhere else and eventually came back to assure us that there would definitely be hot water by tomorrow afternoon. Changing rooms would not help as the whole hotel was affected. The one thing we really needed right now was a hot shower, so we had no option but to move out and find another hotel, reluctantly, as we quite liked our room, and anything else was likely to cost more, probably for a less attractive room.
We had some difficulty getting our money refunded in full. They wanted to impose a cancellation charge, arguing that we had already occupied the room for about an hour, never mind the fact that this hour was spent waiting around for the promised hot water. We argued that they had assured us there would be hot water and that now we had to go to the trouble and expense of finding another place to stay. Eventually they gave us the full refund and we walked across the road to the Anchor Hotel, which I had noticed earlier when we were dropped at Dolores.
Anchor Hotel also had a promotion on rooms. They showed us a nice single at P399, but we would need another bed brought in at P150, so they showed us a twin room, which was P510, a very nice spacious room with two beds, tables, benches, hanging space, a fridge - perfect for us. The fact that it was cheaper than putting an extra bed in the standard single didn't make any sense to us, but we would be very happy to take it, provided, of course, there was hot water. This time we asked for proof of hot water - to be absolutely sure before committing ourselves. The room boy duly turned on the shower taps, assuring us there would be hot water in a few minutes. In the meantime we checked the TV. No cable channels. We had checked the one in the single room and the channels were all there, but here there were just a few local channels. We decided that it would not deter us from taking the room if all else was satisfactory. Eventually the boy came out of the bathroom to report that there appeared to be no hot water. But someone would fix the problem. Soon afterwards, we saw the same workman we had seen at Dolores Hotel in the corridor, which didn't give us much confidence. Given a vague assurance that there would eventually be hot water at an unspecified time in the future, we resigned ourselves to going back to the expensive Phela Grande Hotel, where, perhaps, we could get a hot shower.
We were down at reception explaining that we liked the room but we couldn't stay as we really needed hot water, when the room boy came running down the stairs (the lifts here didn't work either) to announce that the problem was solved. There was now hot water - and we also had cable TV! Back to the room again - and, sure enough, both problems had been sorted out. Apparently there had been some problem in the town's electrical system which had affected the hot water supply and had somehow upset the cable TV as well. No guarantee the Phela Grande would not have had the same problem. At last we paid for the night and had our long-awaited showers.
We soon realised that Hotel Anchor was under the same management as Hotel Dolores anyway, as their name was on various items around the place. Despite the initial problems we found the staff to be friendly and helpful. We were given bottles of cold water and a jug of hot water, and a number to call in case there was anything we needed.
By the time we had showered and had a rest it was dark, and still raining. We walked out to look for food and found a shop where we could buy an umbrella - a nice fake Burberry one to match Yoong's fake Burberry handbag. When we asked people where to find restaurants they told us Osmenia was the place so we took a tricycle there and found a row of the usual grilled chicken and seafood places.
There was a branch of Jo's Inato Chicken. We had enjoyed our buko halo halo at the one next to Tower Inn in Davao and had intended to go there to try their chicken so we decided to eat here. It was decidedly inferior to the Davao branch. We had their three specialties - Chicken Inato, Pancit Canton and Buko Halo Halo. We also ordered two serves of rice as they said no rice came with the dishes. In fact the chicken did come on a small bed of rice. The Pancit Canton turned out to be seafood noodles. The picture on the wall showed a rather appetising dish with big prawns, but it was a total misrepresentation. No prawns at all, just a few bits of squid and some kind of fishy balls. The chicken was a bit dry and too sweet for our liking. I asked for a beer, saying to bring it when the food came as we were told it would be a twenty-minute wait. Yoong asked for hot water. The waitress nodded yes yes, then came back shortly after with my beer and two glasses of iced water. I told her again I wanted the beer with the meal and she took the drinks away again. I could have done with some iced water though!
Eventually the food arrived and the waitress came back and asked if I wanted my beer yet. "Yes please, and some hot water." No problem. She brought a beer and two glases of iced water. Yoong decided it was not worth the trouble of trying to get hot water, and just made do with the iced one.
The halo halo was the final proof of the inferiority of this branch. Slightly cheaper than in Davao, but smaller and missing a lot of the nicest ingredients of the earlier one. It was still very nice to scrape off the delicious young coconut at the end. So, after a mediocre but adequate meal we took a tricycle back to the hotel - and cable TV. Yoong had a great time watching the tennis. Personally I'd just as soon watch paint drying as look at balls being hit back and forth, but I was pleased that she had the chance to see some of the world's top players in action.
Raymond's Travel Page
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