I just had the best weekend with my family in Dahican, Mati Davao Oriental. It’s actually my first time to visit the city and admittedly, I was beyond excited! It was a long 4-hour drive from Davao to Mati but with my mom and sisters with me in the car, good music and chips (say yes to chips on road trips!) it was bound to be a fun journey. Plus, we were on a convoy with my aunts and cousin. We were trailing behind their vehicle, or tried so hard to! Now that’s how you do an all-girl road trip! Anyway, our first stopover was in the Davao Oriental Welcome Park to get a few snacks and do our business so we could get on the road without anymore interruptions, if you know what I mean. (Yes, peeing in a decent public bathroom is actual business to me!)
Being in the welcome park meant that we were already halfway to our destination. Aside from the park, one of the things we looked forward to seeing was the island that resembled a “sleeping dinosaur” which people never usually miss taking a photo of, or with (from afar that is). And after a hundred or more songs playing in the car, we finally saw it! We all stepped out for a bit and became all giddy because it definitely was a sight!
With the sleeping dinosaur off our list of things to see, we went on our way to Dahican, and on the way there, it was hard not to notice the big white building with beautiful bricked grounds. It was an unplanned but a worthwhile stopover at Davao Oriental’s Subangan Provincial Museum which opened its doors to the public in 2014.
The place was so beautiful, I knew I couldn’t miss an #OOTD moment with my road trip outfit! So here it was!
I later learned that “Subangan” means “east” or where the sun rises, being that Davao Oriental is the place that enjoys the first rays of sunlight in the whole country. To me, that is such a wonderful thing to behold.
Subangan’s main attraction are the bones of a 53-feet sperm whale. They named it DavOr after Davao Oriental. The sperm whale was found dead along the shores of Governor Generoso and San Isidro municipalities. When I first laid my eyes on it, I couldn’t help but be amazed. Never have I felt so tiny in my whole life! And what makes me really proud is that it’s the first whale exhibit in the country and the 7th largest whale exhibit in the world. My photos are an understatement to how great it really is. Which is why you must go and see it!
After getting over my separation anxiety from Davor the whale, I moved on to the other exhibits in the Subangan museum. So far, these were my favorites:
All our stopovers were really enriching. I can’t wait to share to you the rest of it. Until my next blog post!
Love,
Tori
