After visiting Alorro Beach, I rushed to my home for the night, La Vida Hostel. This is owned by a dear friend from our Toastmasters community. A few weeks prior to this backpacking, I learned that one of the Toastmasters I know, who's holding one of the biggest roles in our District, owns a hostel in Samal. We were close enough for me to inquire about the rates in his hostel and he even gave me a discount.
To my surprise, La Vida Hostel is far from the usual backpacking hostels and I will walk you through what made this place special. Let's start with the front desk. I've been to countless hostels and inns in my backpacking around the Philippines but this is one of my favorites. The front desk told so much about how my friend loves art.
You can love art but not be good at it but my friend was blessed with the dexterity to create art from scratch. The ~60sqm front desk and guest holding area was turned into an art gallery filled with paintings created by my Toastmaster friend and other seasoned Toastmasters whom I've heard so many stories about. I haven't met them but looking at their paintings gave me ideas of their personalities. Below are some of the paintings displayed in the art gallery.
There was no unifying theme for the paintings; there's nature, portraits, landscape, etc. But I noticed that they were grouped accordingly or displayed next to a painting with similar theme. I heard from my friend that these are not all the paintings he made, some are in exhibitions in mainland Davao and neighboring towns and cities. He's also open for commissioned works.
More paintings below:
Pizza and chika
After checking in, I went to see Toastmaster Nino and Toastmaster Judy, who were busy making pizza from scratch. I joined them but was a little too late in the party. I wasn't able to experience making the dough myself.
At this point, my stomach was still aching but if I had the choice, I would've spent the hour in bed. Well, I did have a choice; I could've told them I wasn't feeling my best and they'd understand for sure, but I chose to show up for them. It's not always I'd find myself making pizza with these two busy people. We shared the freshly made thin-crust pizza over a long discussion of life stories, plans and just anything under the sun really. I figured, my diarrhea can wait.
A quick room tour!
After our chika over pizza, I made my way to my room. La Vida Hostel felt like home in all of its corners. It is spacious; the buildings occupied probably just 25% of the total land area of the hostel's premise.
My room was located on the 2nd floor of the main hostel and the view from the small balcony was heavenly. The surrounding was filled with well-mainted bermuda grass and lush plants and trees such as coconut tree, jackfruit tree and other vegetation. It was nice to look at from the ground but it was more beautiful from above.
As expected from any hostel, the room is simple yet clean and smells fresh. I'm more of a backpacker and I consider accommodations as a mere place to sleep at night. I got everything I needed, a clean mattress, blanket and pillow; at the end of the day, safety and security is all that matters not the amenities. My room can accommodate 4 pax, it was very spacious. Even inside the room, artworks abound. I have no idea how much time is required to finish such a massive painting. They're beautiful and instantly became the center of attention.
I rested for an hour or so and later in the afternoon, Toastmaster Judy and I walked towards the beach. Unfortunately, it wasn't the nicest beach in Samal, still, we enjoyed a relaxing time as we waited for the sun to set. I was so tired and in pain and decided to skip dinner. I spent most of my night in pain and agony, my diarrhea worsened over the next few hours. Glady, I was able to sleep and the following morning, I got a
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