MARILOG DISTRICT, Davao City (MindaNews / 18 February) – I don’t know about your idea of a date. But for us, it’s best when it’s just the two of us, spending time together in our chosen venue sans the crowd.
When travelling, especially on a long drive, the journey is as exciting as the destination.
This is what we did for our Valentine getaway — to drive to a place far far away, in a place not teeming with tourists. Our destination: Alice Log House in Marilog, 77 kilometers from Davao City Hall or about an hour and 40 minute drive.
Watching the sunset from the balcony in our room at Alice Log House. 15 February 2024. MindaNews photo by BOBBY TIMONERA
The first time I stayed in this place was with my running buddies during the Datu Salumay trail run in late 2018.
The place is accessible as it is just along the highway. They serve delicious food, passable coffee (I leave my coffee snobbery at home when I travel, hehe), good sikwate (hot chocolate), and these come with a beautiful view of the mountains and a glorious sunset. The rooms are clean and modestly furnished.
Situated in the mountains of Davao City in its boundary with Arakan in North Cotabato, and just a few kilometers away from the Bukidnon boundary, it is 1,130 meters above sea level where the climate is just perfect. Early morning temperature in February hovers somewhere between 14 and 18 degrees Celsius, and the rest of the day between 20 and 26, even on a sunny day. Yep, that’s my definition of perfect climate.
After the Datu Salumay trail run, I vowed to come back and bring my wife.
That was five long years ago, seemingly shortened by the pandemic years.
So for Valentine’s, I booked a room. We availed of the special Valentine dinner. A total of 7,500 pesos for a two night’s stay, the dinner included.
We originally planned to be there by 4 or 5 o’clock in the afternoon, when the sun is still up. Google Maps says it’s maybe a seven-hour drive for the 330-kilometer distance from home. So we left around 9:30, with allowance for meals and coffee.
But then the route via Talakag and Lantapan in Bukidnon is such a beautiful place. We just had to stop every now and then to take pictures — of the scenery, the people, and of course, selfies.
The view of the bridge and the faint mountains in the far background beckoned. Stop, pose, click click click. That lone tree in the grassland with the Kitanglad range in the background looked like a savanna. Stop! Backup backup backup! Tripod please. Pose, and click click click. That house in the mountain with a farm around it and the fog covering Mt. Kitanglad in the background. Long lens please! Click click click. The farmer was giving water to his cow through a hose! Click click click. Musuan Peak in the golden hour, just gorgeous! Make a U-turn, and click click click. Wow, the setting sun in the sugarcane farm looked so huge! Telephoto lens please! And when I ran towards the middle of the farm road, beep beep! Argh! A bus full of workers was passing through, and so I stepped aside, and started shooting when it left. But the sun already dipped behind the mountains and I only got the last glimpse before it totally disappeared in a matter of seconds.
On the way to Marilog, the view of the Kalatungan Mountain Range from Café sa Bukid in Lantapan, Bukidnon is breathtaking. 14 February 2024. MindaNews photo by BOBBY TIMONERA
We bought drive-through food in Cagayan de Oro, and in the lonely highway, we parked in a spot under the shade of a tree and ate our lunch. We resumed our driving and looked forward to coffee at Café sa Bukid in Kibangay in Lantapan. The al fresco coffee shop, with naturally aircondition-cool climate, offers a view of the Kalatungan mountain range, one of the country’s highest, and a wide expanse of vegetable farm in the foreground. The Kitanglad Mountain Range, which hosts the second-highest peak, is right behind us, although not visible from the coffee spot.
Back on the road again, we spent most of the hours of February 14, driving and either taking pictures of the scenery or of ourselves, or talking.
We talked about anything under the sun—from journalism and medical ethics, the debates about A.I., food, art, the movies we’ve watched, how we raised our kids, etc. etc. Don’t tell my wife but I saved some of our chat time in the car recorded in the dashcam, because I enjoy listening to our conversation.
It was already a little past seven when we arrived at our destination. We were shown to our room and the Alice Log House Valentine’s special started to roll.
Our room had cool lighting, with canopy over the bed. A long-stemmed red rose was in the middle of the bed, with rose petals strewn around it shaped like a heart.
We had a candle-lit dinner right on the balcony of our room, while a Cheshire moon and twinkling stars lit the night sky. We were served thick creamy corn soup, Greek salad, medium rare rib eye steak with rosemary and red wine. For dessert, we had Durian pie. As a final touch, they served large marshmallows for roasting on a mini fire pit with rose petals.
Special Valentine dinner for two at Alice Log House. 14 February 2024. MindaNews photo by BOBBY TIMONERA
We watched an old movie on my Mac before going to sleep. No aircon needed, of course. It must have been 20 degrees that night.
We originally planned an early morning walk but when we woke up, it was 18 degrees Celsius. We had breakfast instead and moved the walking exercise to later in the afternoon.
The room comes with free breakfast. We had beef tapa and longanisa with eggs (skipped the rice), and black coffee. For dessert, we had the suman moron and sikwate combo.
Back to our room, we set up a quick photo shoot on the balcony and posted the picture on FB. Our friends found it sweet and funny.
By then it was lunch time and we decided to explore the surrounding area.
The view from the balcony of our room at Alice Log House during the day. 15 February 2024. MindaNews photo by BOBBY TIMONERA
We drove along the highway, looking at plants for sale, enjoying the scenery and taking note of the restaurants.
More than 20 years ago, when we first drove past this place on the way to Davao City, there was only one place to dine and to stay, Seagull Mountain Resort. On my first visit in 2018, there were only a few dining places along the highway although there were already a number of camping areas and log cabin-like accommodations scattered around.
Now, there are cafes and restaurants. Right beside Alice Log House is Kubz Café, and there’s Tree House Coffee on the other side, just a stone’s throw away. Around 3.5 kilometers north, there are several restaurants offering various cuisine.
There’s Sebastian’s, a “Filipino home kitchen.” Then there’s Pilgrim, which my friend and fellow home roaster Manman said is known for its coffee. Hmmm… And if you’re a pizza guy, said my colleague Carol, you should try Campfire Pizza.
Right across are Kaizen, a Japanese restaurant, and beside it, Mojicans, which offers Mexican cuisine.
Miriam said we’ll do Japanese for lunch, Pilgrim for coffee, then pizza for dinner. Maybe Mexican if we still have time the next day.
I ordered seafood ramen and Miriam had Kaizen special. I’m not a foodie, but let me just say, we both enjoyed our lunch so much.
Our ramen orders at Kaizen, Marilog District. 15 February 2024. MindaNews photo by BOBBY TIMONERA
We were about to board our car to go to a coffee place but the car won’t start. I noticed the switch for the hazard light was depressed. Uh-oh … I left the hazard light on, for more than an hour. Moral of the story: bring a spare battery during long drives, especially to remote places. Meanwhile, where does one buy a car battery or have the battery charged here?
Luckily, Saint Valentine must have been watching over us. One of the waiters said a sari-sari store across the street charges batteries for a small fee. And so I ran to the store and the old lady there said her son offers this service. I ran back to the car, popped the hood open, and plucked out the battery. I’m just glad that despite the sun at high noon, I didn’t sweat at all, thanks to cool climate.
It will take an hour to charge the battery. While waiting, we had coffee at Kaizen.
Café Americano is of course the usual offering, the only option for black coffee on the menu — even though I see French presses and Bialetti moka pots on display—and pastries. I can’t complain about the coffee, but wondered why it took them so long to bring us the pastries. Our coffee was getting cold. We were informed that their oven needed some 30 minutes to warm the pastries. We asked them to bring the pastries and skip the oven heating.
Later in the afternoon, we went for a walk. Weather at 4 p.m. was pleasant even if the sun was still out. The five-kilometer walk was nice, again enjoying the scenery, the plants, watching the locals plant strawberries in plastic bags.
I’m a pizza guy, so yeah, we decided on Campfire Pizza for dinner!
We got there around 7 o’clock, perfect time for dinner, noh? “I’m sorry, but we close at six,” said a guy sitting outside. They open at 10, he added. Whoa! We thought campfires were lit in the evening.
The sunset in Marilog District, Davao City, as viewed from the viewing deck of Alice Log House, 15 February 2024. MindaNews photo by BOBBY TIMONERA
We crossed the street and settled for Mojicans. “Hola!” said the girl who met us at the door. We like the ambiance, so Mexican, of course, although I’m not sure if the long-haired white guy at the counter is. We ordered tacos and beef burrito. “Can we just split the burrito please?” we asked the waitress. “You sure, Sir? It’s good for one person, unless you really eat little, then maybe it’s enough.” “Yes, we eat little.”
Like lunch, we enjoyed dinner. We had a hard time consuming all the tacos, and Miriam couldn’t take in all of her half burrito anymore so I ate half of her half. And we were so full. Can’t have no dessert no more, amiga.
We decided to sleep early so I could have an early run, freezing or not.
My alarm went off at 5:30. It was again18 degrees Celsius. Brrrr! I know I’d feel the cold only at the start; it should disappear once I start moving. I just waited for the sun to show up a little, and hit the road by 6:15. I did my usual “photorun,” running slow in this rolling terrain, and taking pictures of the scenery with my point-and-shoot camera, and some video clips with my phone.
I passed by the resto areas of Sebastian’s & Co., past Janeth’s Café & Resto, La Maria Hardin, the giant eagle statue welcoming everyone to Barangay Baganihan, to the Viva Majestic Inland Resort, the Datu Salumay Elementary School where we toed the line for the November 2018 trail race, past the Baganihan Recreation Center.
I turned around when my GPS watch said 6 kms to end the run at 12K.
The Tree House in Marilog. 16 February 2024. MindaNews photo by BOBBY TIMONERA
One thing to be careful when running in this area: ALWAYS stay on the outermost lane facing traffic, because there are a lot of 10-wheeler cargo trucks passing by. Unlike ordinary vehicles, these trucks can’t easily stop, more so if going downhill.
After eating breakfast of corned beef and eggs at our usual spot with a view of the mountains, we opted to have coffee next door, at Kubz Café. I’ve tried having coffee there a few times during my drives to Davao for work, but I wanted Miriam, who admires paintings, to see the place. This coffee shop is owned by renowned Davao artist Kublai Milan, a prolific painter and sculptor. On display on the café’s walls are his paintings.
Paintings on the wall and a view of the beautiful Marilog landscape at Kubz Cafè in Marilog. 16 February 2024. MindaNews photo by BOBBY TIMONERA
We opted to sit at the table with a wall of paintings as backdrop. As the waiter was serving coffee and cake, I noticed the sun ray hitting him and the table, and I quickly took a picture. Beautiful! And of course I asked him to take our picture, too.
We left Alice Log House on February 16, feeling so refreshed. A breather, indeed, from all the work load the past weeks. We vowed to do this more often.
On our drive back home, we chose Sayre Highway via Malaybalay City. For lunch, we stopped by the Roadhouse Café in Valencia City, a favorite of more than 20 years. It did not disappoint. Although steak is its specialty, we instead chose a bowl of Goto and a dish called Seafoods in a basket. The latter is like creamy Chopsuey with fresh seafoods. The “basket” was crunchy and just salty enough, rather like crispy noodles. We gave this dish 5 stars!
We decided to have coffee elsewhere, and stopped at the newly opened Cowboy Town Resto by the highway in Impasugong an hour later. We split a slice of moist chocolate cake.
We’re just glad the pandemic is over and we can now travel safely again. But we know COVID-19 is still lurking somewhere, so we still make it a point to wear masks when riding public transport and in enclosed spaces, and choose restaurants and cafés with al fresco dining. Fortunately, there are a lot of them along the way. (Bobby Timonera / MindaNews)
