General Santos: The Tuna Capital of the Philippines

One of the perks of my work is I am able to visit several provinces throughout the year for free, both from my previous and current work. For the second quarter and within my first week in the new job, I got to travel to Bukidnon, but since it is a work-related travel, I wasn't able to go around aside from the 4 corners of my room (aside from the fact that it is fly in, fly out trip).

So this quarter, one of my many scheduled business trip is my recent "revisitation" of General Santos City. It has been years since I first stepped on the Tuna Capital of the country, but it really had this special place in my heart. General Santos City was my first ever plane destination back in highschool for the National Students Press Conference. Good old times.


ARRIVALS
Since I am working for a big company who recently bought shares in PAL, we are sort of required to take PAL flights. Good thing for me, since I never liked how Cebu Pacific handles their flight schedules. We are all aware of the rants and irritations of our fellow air travellers.

Anyhow, upon arriving to Tambler Airport in General Santos, we are greeted by the festive atmosphere. There were dancers who performed as we waited for our baggage and thus, I wasn't able to take a video of them. As I walked out, I was offered by van drivers to take theirs for 150 pesos. This is the cheaper alternative to taxis, however, you have to wait for the van to be filled up. So I decided to take the taxi instead. As you walked to the parking area, you would see taxis all around and they have a fixed rate of 300 pesos as they drop you in front of your end destination for the day.



ACCOMMODATION
As a perk of my job, I was able to control all the details of my job and one thing that I loved the most is searching for a hotel. Two days before my trip, I looked for a decent hotel (which is in my budget and at the downtown), thus, I came across Phela Grande Hotel.

Phela Grande Hotel is one of the two Phela Grande hotels in General Santos. Phela Grande Convention Center, located in the National Highway connecting Polomolok and General Santos is a bigger lodging facility with convention amenities. Phela Grande Hotel, the one that I stayed in for 3 days, is conveniently located along Magsaysay Avenue in Dadiangas West, General Santos. I reserved a single standard room (since I was alone for this trip) and didn't not have to pay on the bank ahead of time. Instead, they charged me upon check in for the said downpayment. They currently have a promo of 976 pesos a night (for single standard room), inclusive of breakfast.

As a travel enthusiast, the first thing I did when I entered the room is to take pictures. I have this fascination of taking room pictures just in case. The room is quite big for me and my two bags. :) But I loved the homey feeling of it. They have wi-fi in the lobby and you have Internet access through LAN cords. In the lobby, you have the banquet where hotel guests take their breakfast and they have their own coffee shop. I tried the wi-fi at the lobby and it was relatively fast (I saw that it was powered by PLDT WeRoam) but I wasn't able to try the LAN since I am using my Pavizio tablet na. (Yihee! And I still owe you the review for this gadget.)

Shucks, makalat na gamit. 

Makalat pa din.

The Source of Light

Over-all, my stay in Phela Grande is probably one of the best, if not the best. I bought tuna for my dad (what more I can buy as pasalubong for my seafood loving dad when I'm in the land of tuna) and asked the hotel staff if I can have it refrigerated for the rest of the night. They gladly accepted the request. All things may have been perfect when they didn't forget my room service request for drinking water. :( called around 8pm and asked for drinking water, but nobody arrived.


GETTING AROUND GENSAN
One thing that I loved about GenSan is how their tricycles looked. They looked like mini jeeps, able to transport 6 passengers, not including the driver themselves. Getting around GenSan is quite difficult. Sometimes, drivers would choose passengers that go to one place to save up some gas. So it takes a lot of luck to find a tricycle that would transport you if you are going in a bit off of their usual ways. Fare is about 10-20 pesos per way, depending on your destination.

Aside from these tricycles, you can try the "habal-habal", a single motorcycle for maximum of 2 commuters. This is not the typical habal-habal that you will find in the rest of the Mindanao areas, since it doesn't have the plank that stretches on the side of the road, carrying 5-8 people. Fare of these habal-habal in GenSan is 20 pesos per head and they would transport you anywhere you want to go. However, I noticed that most of these habal-habal do not provide helmets but maintain a good 10-20 kph run in the highway.

For my last night in GenSan, I opted to visit KCC mall, one of the two biggest malls in GenSan, aside from Robinsons. This is their version of SM. However, on my way to KCC, I noticed the ongoing construction of SM City GenSan, which I think is bigger than our Megamall. KCC is a far from my hotel, about 10-15 minute tricycle ride. And since I am the lone passenger, I paid 20 pesos for the trip. On my way back, I managed to find a tricycle going to Magsaysay and paid only 10 pesos. However, I have to wait for 5 minutes for the tricycle to be filled before we actually go.




I spent a little time in GenSan, and without companion, I make sure I am on the safe side. Never had the time to try local food, but I plan to go back and visit GenSan again.



Links:

Phela Grande Hotel: www.phelagrandehotel.com