Roaming Around Pacland: Featuring General Santos City and Sarangani Province

At last, at long long last, I had a peek of General Santos City. So let me share about my 12 day trip in this small town in Cotabato.

How to Get There:

It’s time to fly. After 1 hour and 45 mins, we arrived at General Santos Airport. Hmmm.. Amoy Tuna! 🙂 The airport is quite small, of course, incomparable to that we have here in Manila but big eneough to welcome some number of passengers (since both PAL & Cebu Pacific offers one flight a day only, vice versa)

at General Santos City Airport… yehey!!! at last Im here!

Roaming Around Pacland. General Santos City has been known as the Tuna Capital of the Philippines. Aside from that, we have been hearing a lot about General Santos since Manny Pacquiao showcased his undisputed skills in boxing worldwide. Admit it, GenSan has been tagged along the name of Manny, quite luck for a small city, right?

Must-Sees!
House of Manny Pacquiao in Lagao. Promise this will be the first question you can’t wait to be answered immediately once you get to GenSan. “Saan yung bahay ni Manny Pacquiao dito?” I was not able to take a pic of his house, takot ako, marami body guards si Congressman! 😛

KCC Mall of GenSan.
Hehe okay, there are only 3 malls in General santos City – KCC, Gaisano, and the newly built Robinsons. Of these three, KCC Mall is the most famous and most patronized by the locals. Of course, the structure itself is not comparable to Eastwood, Trinoma, Greenbelt or Glorietta. But if you really want to feel the life of GenSan people, then visit their favorite mall. Anyways, the best part of traveling is living like the locals right?

Antipolo Barbeque Station
You can find a huge selection of carinderias just along the road of Lagao.Would you believe that the barbeque costs P5.00 only? Yeah, you heard it right, FIVE PESOS, F-I-V-E, LIMANG PISO, P5.00 only for a well-cooked yummy bbq (which costs in Manila around P12-P20.00).

Inihaw na Chicken Skin is also a must-try! Kaya lang mahal siya P7.00 isa.

Rice is P5.00/cup. Nice oh! Wrapped in Banana Leaf. Very Filipino.

The ambiance is quite okay; very filipino in style. Just like your usual carinderia or beer garden type. F.Y.I. They do not have spoon and fork, you have to, yes, YOU HAVE TO do it the Filipino style – “Kamayan”. Burp!

Simut-Sarap! Busog na busog naman masyado ang itsura ko! Tsk!

I was so amazed how cheap the bbq is, that I did not notice that I already consumed 15 sticks of barbeque. Oops!

I Love BBQ!!!

BBQ is so cheap here. Oh No! Promise, I didn’t eat bbq everyday in GenSan.
No! Please believe me. 😀 Best dipped in GenSan’s Sukang Sinamak 🙂

Piyesta!
Do a favor for yourself. Please, Please try Piyesta’s Sisig. I promise you it is the best sisig ever!!!!

Komprahan
“Kompra” means to buy/bargain.There’s this komprahan in the main road of General Santos. It is not a tourist spot or whatever, it is just a small store with various collection of goodies. But what makes it a must-visit? All the goodies here are unbelievably cheap! Fancy earrings that usually costs P10-P50 per pair, is just around P1.00-P2.00 here. It is also a haven for those who love beads and accesories.

Notredame of Dadiangas
I think this is the biggest school in General Santos City. I have heard this is the only private university in the town. How did I get in? Hehe I pretended that I am half bisaya who was planning to transfer here. I walked down the Admission’s Office in their Guidance Center then head off to their soccer field. Have the students here realized how lucky they are?

I just love the view here. So surreal.

Gumasa
Gumasa has been considered as the Boracay of the South. Well, it is a good beach. But I think it’s never fair enough to call it as such. It is Gumasa – no more, no less.

Maasim Beach
Going westward of Gensan, lies the beach row of Maitum. We decided to spent our afternoon in 4ML Resort. It is a very secluded public beach, as I may put it. Very ironic right? Hehe Public in a sense since entrance fee will only be P10/pax. There’s even no rooms or the usual type of resort with accommodations. Secluded since, well, look…
There is also no resto here. So make sure to bring your own food. But if in case of hunger, you can ask the kids playing at the beach to get you some coconut (buko). Labor fee will be P12/piece. 🙂Mmmm… Wow! Fresh Buko Juice! Anyways, whenever I ask someone to get some buko for me, it is always being followed with this phrase, in the most amiable but demanding tone, “Kuya, yung mauhog ah!” (Translation:”Hey Dude! I want the coconut with slimy sweet transparent coconut meat!… Please?) 😛
If you feel going to the beach alone, no worries, it’s okay. If you get bored, a dog will approach you and talk to you.

Kaka, every dog’s bestfriend. Maasim version. 😛

Lake Sebu
It is part of our itinerary to see the beauty of Lake Sebu. During that time when we planned about going here, it is not that popular yet. It has not been featured in any of travel shows or travel mags yet. We are so determined to discover the undiscovered. However, when we were about to visit the place, a lot of killings were reported the week before. So, maybe we will just visit it next time. It’s really a must-visit.

To be continued…
Lion’s Beach
Isla Parilla/Isla Jardin
White Water Tubing at Maitum