DDD Habitat Survival Guide
- Short walk to DDD Habitat
- Inside the house and its surroundings
- The Mobile Network
- The Food, the Drinks and the Stores
- The Night
- Going around Lorega
- DDD Habitat Contact Numbers
- How to get there
- How to get out of there
- Would I recommend it?
DDD Habitat Inc. at Lorega, Kitaotao, Bukidnon
This is the first part of my 2 part write-up about DDD Habitat Inc. Please wait for the second part as I’m still writing it.
The goal of this travel was to escape from the stress of work and social responsibilities and to simply relax and just get disconnected. And DDD Habitat Inc. in Lorega, Kitaotao, Bukidnon, the coolness of the place and being close to nature was just the ambience on our trip last May 30-June 2, 2014.
So after 17 hours and 35 minutes of travel from Iligan City to Cagayan de Oro City (where we had to stop for the night) then to Lorega we were finally there at 9:02 AM. This part of our travel will be discussed in detail on another post.
Note: On this post when the word ‘quarantine’ is used, it means a bus stop where vehicles are checked to prevent the spread of diseases on livestocks. So please do not panic when you read that we are in a quarantine area. We were not detained. We were happily relaxing there. 🙂
We were supposed to arrive at Lorega Quarantine at around 1:00 AM of May 31, 2014 but decided to stay a night at Cagayan de Oro due to strong rains and tiredness. The real reason why we did not continue is that we do not know how to get from Lorega Quarantine to DDD Habitat. Do we have to ride a habal-habal or should we walk? For how long? What if it was raining… hard?
The truth was we weren’t really well researched around the place.
Lorega Quarantine. All Rural Transit Buses stops here to drop off and pick up passengers, and to give them time to discharge bodily fluids.
When we got to Lorega Quarantine, we met Kuya Nori (the caretaker) at one of the stores there. He was friendly and we were glad that it was him that we were meeting with. We asked where DDD Habitat was and he just pointed somewhere at the back of the store and he said that it was just a short walk. And after a quick picture taking of the Lorega Quarantine and a short pit stop at the Comfort Room (CR) for 3 Pesos/person we were all set to go.
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And after a 6 minute slow-pace walk we were finally at DDD Habitat. All in all I think we walked around 200 meters.
The walk could just be 3 minutes but we had to stop by some stores for some supplies.
We walked to the end of these stores and onto an unpaved road.
We then turn right again and walked to this path pathway.
There’s DDD Habitat.
DDD Habitat Inc. Sign
DDD Habitat and it’s surroundings
When we got to the house we asked Kuya Nori where we will be staying. They have multiple rooms and each one can be rented for 1,200 Pesos/room/night. But since we were the only guests that day we could pick whichever room we please so we took the one in the second floor with a terrace, Malaybalay Room.
By the way, they only have a common CR/Bathroom. There are no CR’s inside the rooms.
Here’s a tour of the house.
The house from the road.
The house a little closer to the gate.
The house inside the gate.
The steep stairs to the second floor.
Malaybalay Room
Kuya Nori guiding us to where the terrace is.
Panoramic shot of the terrace.
Panoramic view from the terrace.
There’s only this electric socket in the room. So don’t forget to bring your triple cube adapter. 220 volts.
There was no electric fan or air-conditioner inside the room but it was okay because the weather is cool in Bukidnon as we were in high altitude and there were still a lot of trees, which I really liked.
The sala downstairs with a small TV.
The veranda where we usually have our meals (i.e. breakfast, lunch & dinner).
The view from the veranda of their garden.
Panoramic View from outside the gate.
Lorega Elementary School nearby. Just the right amount of distance from DDD Habitat for you to feel alone and not alone at the same time.
Fog coming in.
My friends encouraged me to bring my laptop so that we could watch videos. Though we did watch some videos I didn’t think bringing my laptop was worth it. Remember I was trying to disconnect?
Yes, the laptop was heavy. Yes, I had a hard time walking around with it. Yes, I had a hard time having it on my lap during bus transit. Yes, it added worries during my travel especially when it’s raining. Yes, this paragraph was created to let the 2 of them feel guilty conscience. But the big chunk of responsibility really falls down to me. Why did I even say yes?
Since I had my laptop and I’m a bit of a workaholic, the call of work was really tempting that it made me check the quality of the mobile network.
Sorry about my screen protector.
The left signal is Globe (has HSPA). The right signal is Smart. I’m not sure how the Smart internet signal is in terms of speed since I the slot where my Smart sim is does not have an internet capability.
Note my phone is not good in getting signal compared to other phones.
The Food, the Drinks and the Stores
DDD Habitat does provide the following for everyone who will be staying there.
- Spoon and Fork
- Plates and Bowls
- Pots and Pans
- Electric Stove
- Chopping Knife
- Electric Water Boiler5
- Water Dispenser
- Refrigerator
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The problem is where to find and buy ingredients, food and drinks. I sometimes think of the situation as a proof to DDD Habitat being an off-the-beaten path accommodation.
In the kitchen with the Refrigerator, Water dispenser and electric water boiler.
Ricecooker
There was a 5 Gallon dispenser that heats up the water but does not provide cold water. The problem was the water that was there was not distilled water but faucet water. Since we’re in the mountain I’m quite sure the water from the faucet is safe to drink but may not be conducive if you’ve been used to drinking distilled water.
We asked where could we buy the water and Kuya Nori said that we could buy a 5 Gallon container from the stores at the quarantine for about 120 Pesos per refill. We were reluctant at first but thinking of walking back to the quarantine area everytime our water supply runs out and paying for 30 Pesos/(1L bottle) was not a really good deal compared to buying once for only 120 Pesos for a 5 Gallon water refill (18.9270589 liters).
So we decided to buy the 5 Gallon water.
The problem was quarantine was about 200 meters walk from DDD Habitat. Though I can carry a 5 Gallon water before, due to my sedentary lifestyle, I do not think I could carry that much weight for 200 meters. So we asked Kuya Nori if he could do it. Luckily he said yes and he did carry the 5 Gallon water up to DDD Habitat.
Note to self: Go back to an active moving lifestyle!!!
There were pans and an electric stove. There were laddle (sandok) and a knife. The problem was the ingredients. Luckily there were some stores nearby that we bought canned goods, onions, tomatoes, some vegetables, red rice, fresh eggs and mangoes.
One of the stores nearby.
With all those listed we cooked this for our breakfast on June 1, 2014.
Mangoes, red rice, coffee, sauteed canned tuna, scrambled eggs with onion and tomato and instant coffee.
But I still wanted to do some real cooking so we looked for fresh chicken on the stores unfortunately, they do not have them. They told us that the nearest place that we can get dressed chicken was actually in Brgy. Tawas which was about 15 minutes away by habal-habal ride from the quarantine area. Since we were going around we decided to have out driver to pass by there and we were able to buy a whole dressed chicken for 140 Pesos/kilogram.
Dressed Chicken seller in Brgy. Tawas.
They also sell hotdogs, beef and other parts of the chicken.
The problem here was that they do not sell in small parts of the chicken, therefore we had to buy a whole dressed chicken. Luckily for us there was a chicken exactly 1 kilogram.
Thus, in the night of June 1 we had home-cooked chicken adobo.
Cooking chicken adobo.
Yes, we have washed the dishes afterwards.
A note on the washing of dishes, we’ve tried looking for a liquid dishwashing soap but we could not find one in any of the stores so we settled for a bar of laundry soap. If you’re very particular about this better bring your liquid dishwashing soap before you leave Cagayan de Oro or Davao.
Note again, on our way going back to DDD Habitat from Brgy. Tawas there were side road stalls that sell fresh lettuce! We should have brought Caesar’s Salad Dressing!
Most of the time we were not really into cooking, so we went back to the quarantine area where there are a lot of stores. There’s a store there that offers ready cooked viands and rice. When we were there a viand costs (35 Pesos/order) and red rice (10 Pesos/cup). C2 500mL was 35 Pesos/bottle.
The store at night. They said they close at around 9PM.
The readily cooked viands.
Inside the store.
My meal for the night.
The meal we had before the habal-habal ride. Lunch time. June 1, 2014
Here in the Philippines we call these types of stores as Karinderya or Turo-Turo. I don’t know if they have a different name for this on different dialects of the country.
If you’re looking for something in the line of a coffee shop which serves good coffee other than those in 3-in-1 packs you can walk around 500 meters walk in the direction of going to Davao from the quarantine, there’s Sea Gull Coffee Shop. I’m not sure what time they open but they close around 7:00 PM as what the lady at the cash register told us. They also serve meals.
Phoenix Gas Station 500 meters away from the quarantine.
Seagull Coffee Shop
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Peppermint Coffee (131 Pesos), Suman (35 Pesos) & Clubhouse Sandwich (95 Pesos)
Upon further research around the internet I found out that there’s also a Nowhere Diner & Cafe located nearby. But I’m not sure how nearby is ‘nearby’.
When we were heading to the quarantine area for dinner, the path that we had to go back to was lightless. It was a good thing that all of us had a flashlight on our cellphone so we could walk going there. So if you’re going here be sure to bring something to light your way at night.
During our walk to the store near the quarantine area for dinner.
The house at night.
The vendors at the Quarantine area. Most of them are open 24 hours.
Quarantine Area at 3:00 AM.
Playing around with the low shutter speed of the camera while going back to the house.
Wait for my Part 2: DDD Habitat in Lorega, Kitaotao, Bukidnon.
Nahiya naman ako sa sobrang detalye nito! Gusto ko yung laid back set-up of DDD Habitat, and I would not mind staying there longer. Sorry ulit that we had to ask you to bring your laptop! Ahahahahaha..
No problem on the laptop. It was my decision naman to bring it. 🙂
Me too! I wouldn’t mind staying longer at DDD Habitat dahil sa laidback setup niya. Mostly now I know there’s a trail we could walk around and another quaint restaurant that we could visit. Maybe after a Davao adventure.