Our City Fiesta festivities this year may have been cut back due to damages suffered from Yolanda (Typhoon Haiyan) and the city is still recovering from it but, nevertheless, we continued to show resilience in line with this year's theme: "We prayed, We survived, One city, Moving on."


Thus, the 1st Lake Danao Festival was materialized. We have been waiting for this moment because as an Ormocanon, I feel proud that we have this beautiful lake that we can take our guests and visitors to. I mean, why not bring them here instead of other places? Shouldn't this be our #1 tourist spot when they come over? Unfortunately, politics and other factors have been playing tug of war for the longest time so projects for the lake have always been put aside (if not totally ignored), but now thanks to the private sector, headed by the Ormoc City Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the Ormoc LGU and the DENR's  Protected Area Management Board, the 1st Lake Danao Festival turned out a successful event.


Friends and visitors from different parts of the Philippines came to participate in the events, namely, the Half-Marathon, Mountain Bike Challenge, 6K Trail Run, Kayak Race, and Stand Up Paddle. There were more participants than anticipated actually but there could have been more if the event was advertised earlier. Some already registered to other races happening at nearby towns. But for a beginning event, the 1st Lake Danao Festival was already very good. And that didn't come from just me but many participants said it themselves.

Half-Marathon

MTB Challenge

6K Trail Run

Kayak Race

Stand Up Paddle

Congratulations to the winners as well as all the finishers! It was a really cool sportsfest where sports enthusiasts as well as nature lovers came to celebrate the 1st Lake Danao Festival. Thank you everyone for joining us. We hope to see you all next year for a bigger and better 2nd Lake Danao Festival!




About Lake Danao:
Lake Danao is a guitar-shaped lake on the island of Leyte, Philippines in the province of Leyte.

The lake is covering an area of 148 hectares (370 acres). It is situated in the 2,193 hectares (5,420 acres) Lake Danao National Park, which also includes the Amandiwin mountain range. The lake is 18 kilometres (11 mi) northeast of Ormoc City, half an hour drive along the San Pablo - Tongonan and Milagro - Lake Danao roads.

It was originally named "Lake Imelda" and was declared a national park on June 2, 1972 by virtue of presidential memorandum issued by then President Ferdinand Marcos. Later it was renamed and declared as Lake Danao National Park on February 3, 1998 through Proclamation No. 1155 and is now protected by Republic Act No. 7586 otherwise known as the National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) Act of 1992.[1] The lake supplies potable water to at least seven towns in Eastern Leyte including Tacloban City[2] as well as the source of irrigation for ricelands in some municipalities like Dagami, Burauen, Pastrana and Tabon-tabon.

At 650 metres (2,130 ft) above sea level, Lake Danao lies on an altitude similar to Tagaytay, making the area cooler than the average Philippine temperature.

(info taken from Wiki)



If you remember back in 2010, Noodle Boy and I went on a trip to Lake Danao to take some pics and just marvel at nature. You can read that post HERE.

And now here's my VLOG about the event as well as interviews of the winners. Please watch it below or visit my YouTube channel at http://youtu.be/7tVhZp4NiYI.





This photo was taken 5 hours after I put on my #FOTD and my #makeup has not budged a bit! ✨ I used @shuuemuraph OB UV Under Base brightening mousse and @benefitbeautyph porefessional pro balm under my MAC studio fix powder plus foundation. Also used Benefit Hoola for contouring. My face is, however, dewy (not shiny) after 5 hrs from doing documentation for today's 1st Lake Danao Festival but I'm happy it held up until 8 hours later when I finally had to retouch my T-zone since we've been running all over the place covering the different sports events. Even my brows drawn and filled in with @anastasiabeverlyhills dipbrow in blonde stayed put for 12 hours! 👍👍 But more on that in a blog post soon! 



 

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We know that since the hostage taking crisis that happened, the Philippines has suffered quite a loss in the tourism industry/department. Lots of resorts and hotels are having promotions and discounts already. But all hope is not lost... Why? Because I am an optimist (or so I'd like to think) and I believe that the Philippines is still the next best thing to paradise. Third-world paradise maybe but still... paradise!!! You'll see why.

But first, let me ask you guys a simple favor... Be a FAN of Philippines Travel Guide in Facebook and please take a look at the photo I posted in HERE or click this link: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5653890&id=313312957396&ref=fbx_album to see why I believe in Philippine tourism. This photo was taken in Sabins Resort in Ormoc City.

My description of that photo goes like this: Anywhere in the Philippines, anyone can watch a glorious sunset and Ormoc Bay definitely boasts one of the prettiest sunsets in the country. We are blessed to live a country created by a wonderful God that created and designed it to be naturally beautiful, rich in resources, and one step closer to paradise. Sunsets in our country are indeed sights to behold. The fact that it's a fleeting moment makes it a unique thing. All the islands in the Philippines are no less than each other. You only need to be at the right place and the right time to experience such beauty.



Agree? Yes. I thought so.

If you believe in the same thing as I do, please "LIKE" my photo. I think Ormoc City is a great place to promote as far as Philippine tourism is concerned. We have the glorious Lake Danao to be proud of for one plus a really beautiful golf course, too! But that's not just it... there are still so many wonders that Ormoc City can offer. It may be a small town but in spite of everything else, I think that it is a really beautiful place and I am proud to call it my "home".

Again, please do vote for my photo. If I win this, I smell another blog giveaway cooking! *wink* Thanks so much in advance, guys!




xoxo,
 

Honestly, I haven't been to the lake for 8 freaking years! So it's been a really looooong time. T_T

We missed the turn and almost ended up farther up (in Gaas?) but good thing we figured we were heading to no man's land so we turned back and eventually found our way back to the other side of the lake... Whew! The woods can be tricky sometimes...

Take nothing but pictures.
Leave nothing but footprints.
Kill nothing but time.

RameNoodles invade Lake Danao!!! ♥
Lots of pictures to tell the story. Wait for them to load.

Note: Due to Facebook changing photo URLS all the time, embedded links are broken. Instead, Please view the album -- HERE.

All in all a good trip... Indeed good things come to those who wait. :)


xoxo,