Zamboanga....

I'm here!!! and I can therefore conclude that it's okay to be here. At first, there were difficulties with the reservations and the type of hotels we're staying but since Friday, things got better. One problem --- the Zambo area or should I say Mindanao area is infested with scheduled brownouts. Believe it or not, we go out... at night with the company of the Branch personnel... and at markets during daytime. It's pretty safe as compared to Cotabato where military troops are present left and right.

Day 1-4.... We stayed at Jardin de La Vina... not because we wanted to but it's where our officemates resided for 3 weeks in 2008. Hayyy... The Suite room is not so "suite-y". It's a large room with a receiving area, a queen-sized bed, refrigerator and the other basic facilities. It's so huge.... the problem? blackouts. It's like you're in the middle of something then everything goes black and you have to stay frozen for 5 minutes and wait for the generator to start. Another thing, the TV reception sucks big time.

Day 5.... We got evicted at La Vina because the front desk failed to inform us of the prior reservations made at our rooms. Finding accommodation for Day 5 is quite hard because of so many live-in seminars and conventions being held which makes hotels fully-booked. Fortunately, there is Azenith Royale Hotel.

All rooms are labeled as De Luxe. By the looks of the hotel lobby, we thought that everything is gonna be fine... When we got to our rooms, WHOA! another disappointment. It's like a downgrade. Yup, they have a ref, aircon, cable tv... but the bed and bathroom is not really commendable. We just told ourselves to be a little more patient since we are about to move to a better place the next day....

Next day... we decided to have breakfast.. we ordered a chicken and an egg sandwich coupled with coffee. Expensively priced, my sandwich is like a mayo sandwich with little strands of chicken in it. and the coffee!!!!! separate sachets of Nescafe, Coffeemate and sugar. Hindi man lang brewed.

We waited for 12:00nn and when it came, we hurriedly went downstairs to check out.

Currently.... and so, here we are, at the 'best' hotel that Zamboanga City could offer... Garden Orchid Hotel. Although the establishment is quite old (but there's a new 10-floor wing being constructed), I can say that this is the hotel we are looking for... complete with the amenities (a pool, a restaurant, room service and etc.).

The Front Desk Supervisor was surprised to see our Guest Folios... with eyes wide-open, she said, "hanggang May 1 pa kayo?". Hahaha... I could just imagine them calculating the amount of money that we are going to bring in this hotel.... hahaha... so they'd better serve us well... which is something that they have been consistently doing this past couple of days.

The pictures should have to wait. I haven't really taken anything...