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| Welcoming Arch: Lake Sebu |
It was a post celebration of my father’s birthday when we took a side trip to Lake Sebu while heading back home. Rumor has it that it homes to an exquisite cultured fish widely known as “tilapia” which indeed yummy! I haven’t tried other cultured tilapia yet or I was unaware of consuming one but as of the moment, nothing seems to beat the taste of tilapia from Lake Sebu. It's actually our second visit . The name “7 Falls” has become so popular that it reaches our ears from a hundred kilometers away, probably the reason why we're so interested to go to Lake Sebu (it's actually a town). There’s a story that it was under the domain of NPA (New People's Army) a long time ago the reason why it was open to the public just recently. As we enter the welcoming arch of Lake Sebu it took us about an hour before we reached our destination since we have to inquire the locals of what direction should we be heading. As we’re getting closer the terrain got more difficult and at the same time suspicious that we asked ourselves “are we heading the right way?” it feels like we’d get ambushed stop on until we crossed path a vehicle which we believe to have came from the said resort and behind us were motorists that were also heading to 7 Falls resort as well.
Touchdown!
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| weird they don't put anything that can be easily recognized that it's the 7 Falls at the their entrance gate |
As we descend from the slopy curve we saw many vehicles parked outside the 7 Falls Resort, this is it! The entrance fee is cheap and the staff have this different dialect but the communication is easy as they understand Bisaya or Tagalog. Lake Sebu is a municipality in the province of South Cotabato, for some time now I am familiar to the province and I’ve observed that the majority of people are Muslim and Ilonggo which leads me to understand little by little of their mother tongue (I’m just around the corner of this province for 5 years if accumulated). Aside from the two major tribes there are still indigenous people who dwells within the province, in the case of Lake Sebu the T’Boli tribe is very known to the locals. If I heard it clearly, the staff wasn’t talking in Muslim or Ilonggo but taking a wild guess it must be the mother tongue of T’Boli. Nevertheless, there are staff that can’t communicate well like when I used the toilet, this guy outside didn’t instructed me to wear the slippers and drop an amount in the donation box or so to say payment for the service. Until a lady told me that I should've wear the slippers designated for toilet use, the poor guy was lectured for once. Well, my bad. But it’s a fair trade I guess, I cleaned up my mess anyway.
View: Falls
The name itself, 7 Falls, if I try to imagine, it would look like a seven separated falls in one panoramic view. Not being a spoiler but it isn’t. It bears a resemblance to that like of stairs and each has this orderly description such as Falls #1, #2, up to #7. I can’t prove there exist another falls aside from Falls #1 and #2 which I’ve actually seen unless the tourist guide didn’t mention, so.
Expectation: Swimming
The previous resort we’re at (the long time ago) tourists are allowed to swim on the lake, with of course life guards on the watch. Contrary to the 7 Falls, I don’t think they impose such part of tourist “satisfaction” or it’s only me who think it is since I haven’t explored much of the place namely Falls #3 to #7. But the very spot where tourist make the entrance to the place is between Falls #1 and #2, and I haven’t seen anything relevant to like “you are allowed to swim” thing. Well, swimming isn’t that ideal if I may have to say, it isn’t like the lake which water stays stationary. 7 Falls, on the other hand, isn’t an ordinary one, like I mentioned above it resembles like of a stairs, it’d be like falling from the topmost staircase down to the ground floor.
Experience: Zipline
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| Falls #2 |
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| me, father, and bro, aaand the falls #1 |
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| behind the scene |
I was hopeful to experience the very first ziplining of my life that I’ll be called a zipliner because I just tried the zipline. Ok. They say if you start ziplining from Falls #1 (the only starting point DUH!) then it will end at Falls #5 and it’s either you walk your way back until you break your legs that you’d wish there’s a fairy godmother somewhere near to make a chariot out of the pumpkin or hire a motorcycle on your way up. Sadly, I wasn’t able to try the zipline because we’d run out of time. You see, it was unorganized. However, there’s this “zipline photo booth” at the bridge, if aside from ziplining experience you’d also want your friends be in subtle awe by showing a picture of you on that zipline harness, then that would be the perfect spot. It’ll cost you P50.00 per person for about 5 minutes of picture taking (anyone would love a perfect shot right?) and you can have a discount (*calculating*) of 33% or to make it simple P100.00 for 3 person.
Foods: Chicharong Tilapia
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| to the resto |
We have chicharong bulaklak, chicharong gulay (marty's), chicharong baboy, and other crunchy thing to be categorized as chicharon. But I've never tried such chicharong tilapia. One of the main reasons why we paid a visit to Lake Sebu is because of the tipalia. Unfortunately, we’re not too familiar on the resort and the staff were too far from us, we’re tired and hungry and all. So, craving for it must be considered to be out of the list, “there’s still next time” my father said. Perhaps, the foods we brought in could make our tummy to have had enough at that moment. It was late by then that I learned there is a restaurant at the other side of the river when I came passed the bridge to explore more of the place. But like my father said, “there’s still next time.”
Souvenirs
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| the souvenir shop |
The souvenir shop sells affordable merchandises, from clothing printed, of course, that of related to the 7 Falls Resort (the “I was there” thing) and other ethnic stuff like blings and musical instruments. I bought a sando and a musical instrument that produces a sound similar to a certain bird. There’s a variety of products that you can choose from and they all come in cheap prices.
All in all, it’s a magnificent place. It’s perfect for family bonding and nature activities, I forgot to mention that they have this tree top adventure and cycling on a thin wire suspended on a hundred feet high. The atmosphere is calm and nippy. It really makes you appreciate the sublime beauty of nature that inspite of our modern civilization: concrete structures, cutting edge technologies, virtual social life—there’s still a place that we can surrender to mother nature. I’d love to go back on that place in the future with high hopes that I’d get chance to experience that zipline and the chicharong tilapia. *fingerscrossed*
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| souvenir shopping |
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