Hey guys! It has been a while since I have posted something on my blog.
Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I went to the Philippine Eagle Center in Malagos, Calinan District to interview one of the keepers of the Philippine Eagles, Manong Eddie. [Read his story here]
I was supposed to interview another source at the center but unfortunately he was not available that time. Instead of spending the whole morning at the center, I was left with a lot of time.
Having no breakfast, I decided to have lunch at the Malagos Garden Resort.
When I arrived at the resort, the guard told me I need to pay the day tour fee of P250 to be able to get in the resort and have lunch. Since the fee also allows you to roam around the resort and enjoy what it has to offer, like the Aviary Dome and the Chocolate Museum, I paid for it.
I have a couple of hours to enjoy the Malagos Garden Resort before I have to return to the office by 1 p.m.; so I just went on and chose to visit the attractions at the resort that I really want to visit.
I started off with the petting zoo. There were some chickens, rabbits, and goats. There were also some horses and an albino Kalabaw in the pens. Nothing much to enjoy there when I visited the attraction.
Then, I visited the Aviary Dome. When I went in, a staff approached me and said that I could feed them at P10 per bird seed packet.
After I bought a packet of bird seeds, the staff took me to an area in the aviary and started calling for the birds.
To my surprise a pretty big flock of birds, which included parakeets and lovebirds, went to her location. She instructed me to put the bird seeds on the palm of my hand. Seconds later brids started perching on my palm and started satisfying their cravings. The feeling of their beaks and feet on my hand was very ticklish.
I was also given a private tour by two African Lovebirds — one perched on my shoulder and the other on my hand. 😉
After a few more minutes at the Aviary Dome, I made my way to the Chocolate Museum. Here you are able to see the history of chocolates, how it is made, the science of it, and Malagos Chocolate and its products.
At the end of the tour, you have the option to make your own chocolates. The activity is pegged at P450 for 200grams of chocolate. You can also choose the fillings you want for your chocolate; choose from dried fruits, herbs, nuts, spices, among others. I opted for chili flakes, dried mangoes, sea salt, and walnuts for my chocolates.
After you pour the chocolate and put the fillings into the mold, you have to wait for at least 15 minutes for it to harden.
While waiting, I had merienda at the cafe at the museum. I ordered their tsokolate (hot chocolate) and suman (sticky rice), both were quite good. They had cinnamon and coconut sugar at the condiments area of the cafe and I added those to both my suman and tsokolate.
Fifteen minutes later, I got my box of chocolates and made my way to the resort’s Viewdeck Cafe.
I just love how airy the restaurant is with its big windows, giving you a view of the lush garden of the resort.
The food on the menu all sounded delicious. For my lunch here I chose the Pork Humba with Malagos Chocolate, which is simmered pork belly in vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, and local spices with Malagos 65% Dark Chocolate.
The humba has got to be one of the best tasting humba I have ever had. The pork was very tender and the dish was bursting with flavors. While it was delicious, I did not taste much of the chocolate. I think the vinegar and soy sauce overpowered the chocolate but it was still a damn good dish that I would order again.
For my dessert I had the Flourless Tablea Cake with their homemade Vanilla Ice Cream on the side. At first bite, you really get that bittersweet flavor of the tablea. However, I love that it is served with an ice cream on the side as it balances out the bitterness of the tablea cake. Overall, it was a great dessert.
Before leaving the Malagos Garden Resort, I dropped by at the lounge area to try their homemade ice cream. There were a couple of flavors available but I selected the ube flavor. It tasted good and the sweetness was just right. However, I wished I could get more of that earthy flavor of ube.
The unplanned sidetrip to the Malagos Garden Resort was fun despite being only for a few hours. There are a lot of things you can do here and I think the P250 day tour fee was really worth it.
LOCATION and OTHER DETAILS
Location: Malagos, Calinan, Davao City.
Park Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
For inquiries and reservations: (082) 224-7438 or (082) 221-1545.
Website: www.malagos.com