Fall In Love with Camiguin

Pristine forest, wonderful people, beautiful sunset, relaxing hot springs, surprising cold springs, amazing waterfalls, sumptuous food, amazing sandbars, virgin islands! How can you not fall in love with Camiguin.

I went to Camiguin somehow having the expectation of the Boracay vacation. One strip of beach, lounging around while having a sip of margarita. Nope... not in Camiguin. Unlike Boracay, Camiguin has a more urban feeling. It is not just a beach! Its an experience of an urban lifestyle.

There are so a few places to see in Camiguin that you can't just strap yourself in your resort to enjoy the beach. Go rent a habal-habal for the day and go around the different sites of Camiguin. Believe it or not, you can go around the perimeter of the island in less than a day.

There are a couple of falls that you can visit. One of them, The Katibawasan falls. I haven't seen a waterfall in a long time so when I saw it, I was in awe. Waterfalls are really majestic. They can really make you pause to admire God's creation. Somehow, you just have to believe that there's a higher being somewhere who put all these together.

Camiguin is also abundant with hot and cold springs. One place where you can unwind every night after a full day of going around the island Ardent Hot Spring. Entrance fee is P30. If you're hungry, you can also order food in that place. Don't miss the 38 Celcius natural hot spring at the far end of the pool lines. Its a bit hidden but don't miss it. Super relaxing!

For cold springs, go to Sto. Nino Cold Springs. This is not a regulated area but its worth the visit. If you're lucky there are children from around the area swimming before going to afternoon school.


I noticed too that Camiguin is so clean. According to Gie, our guide, they were taught how to segregate and recycle! And... garbage is collected often! If only we have that in Manila!!!!

On the way to Camiguin

One hour road trip and one hour ferry ride from Cagayan De Oro City is a beautiful virgin island called "Camiguin".

The journey to get to Camiguin was crazy for us. From our hotel, Casa Crystalla, we rode the jeepney to the bus station. As soon as we got off the jeep, there were men who took our bags from us and carried them towards the area where we can get a ride to the Balingoan port. It would have been very regal and prince charming-like if it was not forced because they need to be paid. We had no choice. We felt like we were being attacked by pirates! Seriously!!! One piece of advice, hold on to your bags if you don't want to be ripped off by these porters. It would be nice if they would offer to help nicely rather than just pulling your bags from your shoulders. I would have given them a bigger tip if that was the case.

The 1 hour, which turned out to be 2 hours, trip from CDO city to Balingoan was funny but excruciatingly painful in the butt. We were in a Kia Besta Van together with 14 (+4 of us) other people. Can you imagine fitting 18 people in one Besta Van?!?! Oh... that does not include, boxes, 7 huge bags, 2 sacks of rice and a rice cooker! hahaha! It was too cramped inside the van that one of the men, had to sit beside the driver while hanging on to the opened door! How unsafe and amusing!!! hahaha!!! After sometime, they realized that we can't travel that way, the man had to find a seat inside the van. Problem is, he won't be able to go in through the door since its packed with luggage. What did he do? He entered through the left window of the van!!!! It was so unbelievably funny! I felt like I was in a middle of a stint in WoW Mali! Hahaha! Check out the guy near the driver in the photo.

After reaching the Balingoan port, we ran to catch the 2 pm ferry. The ferry ride is P107/ person. My suggestion is to get the schedule of the Super Ferry from Balingoan to Benoni. Their ferries are cleaner and faster. We rode a super slow and old ferry but it was a great experience coz you're really with the locals.

As soon as we arrived at the Benoni port, the porters/ pirates were unbelievable!!!! They jumped on the ferry even before the ferry has docked. Hold on to your bags, people!

It's best to coordinate with your resorts on the time you will be picked up from the port. These pirates or some of the multicab operators will cajole you to take their services for 150% of the normal cost that the hotels or resorts will charge.

The journey to get to Camiguin maybe tough but the island is wonderfully beautiful!

Cagayan De Oro - White Water Rafting

Forward! 1, 2! 1, 2!

How can I not write about this thrilling experience we had in Cagayan De Oro? The highlight of our CDO trip is the White Water Rafting and Canopy Walk experience organized by the group of Rex Tapungot, Operations Manager of Red Rafts (www.raftingcdo.com).

It was a fantastic experience. From the levels 1 to 4 of rapids, the beautiful scenery which really makes you go WOW!, to the singing while paddling and the kulitan (friendly banters) in the raft... all these made our white water rafting adventure a really memorable one.

Red Rafts offers different packages. They have a package that includes lunch and a photo/ video coverage. I suggest that you take this. For one, they really take time out to prepare really good food. Our spread consisted of rice, chicken barbecue, steamed shrimps, fish and a bottle of coke. With 4 small, petite women, we actually finished a whole pot of rice! Can you believe that?!?! Second, the photo/ video package is something you should not miss. You would want a document of this fun experience. Rex stands in the middle of the rapids just to capture the expressions of everyone. He's great! Check out http://www.pbase.com/lysh/rafting for photos taken by Rex during our trip.

A bonus is the fun, professional staff that Red Rafts has. We were impressed by Rex' coordination with our group. He also has makulit and super fun crew members, Richard, Mau-mau and Poco! You should ask for them when you have your trip! :-) Oh, and Malou too who's training to be the first lady paddle guide.

Cagayan De Oro -- Places to Eat

FOOD!!! :-) The best part of travelling for me are 1.) meeting the locals and 2.) eating the specialty of the place. In addition to the succulent beef of Del Monte, we also tried different restaurants in the area.

Oh, before I forget, Del Monte offers refillable pineapple juice! hehehe! And order their specially bakesd bread. Its sweet and really good! You can either have that or rice.

We were still trying to find out the specialty of Cagayan De Oro when we passed this restaurant called Vienna Kaffehaus near the Divisoria area. Its an austrian restaurant. I ordered the baby back ribs and it was so good!!!! To think it was only P170. Krissy ordered the Pasta Aglio which was equally tasty. The herbed chicken was so so.



For those who are more adventurous, you can try eating in the Night Cafe. The Divisoria area is closed every Friday and Saturday nights. They have night market, ukay-ukay and there are different stalls serving sugba (ihaw). This is CDO style gimmick! Its like a street party. My friends were able to buy nice blouses ranging from P50 to P120 each. Just take note that these are second hand clothes though.



For coffee lovers and who wants to feel the ambience of home, go to Gazebo Cafe. It gives you the feeling of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf but they have better sandwiches. :-) I tried the ham and cheese in pesto spread. YUMMY! Their coffee is good too. The place gives you a homey feeling. For those who needs a feel of home/ Manila coffee house once in a while, have an hour or two in Gazebo Cafe. They offer wifi connection too. Plus for those who likes to shop around for different small items, they have a small shop beside it.

After having a big meal at the Del Monte Plantation, we headed to Sentro in the CDO city for dessert. This resto was a let down for me though. The chocolate mirror cake was a bit dry and the mango shake tasted like milk with very little mangoes. I think you can do better than going to Sentro.

There's a small diner beside Casa Crystalla called Mom's Corner. We had daing na bangus for breakfast which was only 1/4 of a bangus and was bland. For the same cost of P80, you can head to Jollibee just arround the corner from Mom's Corner and get their daing an bangus meal. The suman and mangga breakfast was good though.

Oh, the best meal for me in Cagayan De Oro was in Jo's Chicken Inato (their version of the Chicken Inasal). This resto is like a grill on the same street as Gaisano Mall, its on Corrales Ave. Ext. Don't forget to order their 3 specialties. The chicken inato, CDO's finest at only P70! Don't forget to order extra rice. They also have the pancit and buko halo-halo. The buko halo-halo is literally mixed inside the coconut. Very good dessert! Don't eat it alone though. One serving is good for 2 people.

On our last day in CDO, we had lunch at Consuelo's. They have an eat all you can buffet for P49 and P99. The P99 is worth it since there are about 10 dishes and 3 desserts. BUT!!! Watch out for their pet RAT! Seriously!!! I got freaked out by this black huge rat running around the restaurant. Its unbelievable! I won't go back to that restaurant even if the food is only P99. Who knows where the rat came from!

Our last dinner was in this quaint, cozy and yummy italian restaurant called La Tegola Cucina Italiana. The first branch is in Cebu. I think they have 4 branches there and one in CDO. I had a lasagna and it was pretty good. The tortellini in mushroom cream sauce and 4 seasons pizza are also good. The lamb, their specialty, is also a must have.

For those who are still looking for coffee shops, there's Bo's Coffe Club there too but you should really try Gazebo Cafe.

We weren't able to go for a gimmick night out since we were so tired and fell asleep but there's a new bar that opened called Fu. You guys might want to check that out.

Over all, I recommend Vienna Kaffehaus, La Tegola, Gazebo Cafe and of course, Jo's Chicken Inato!!! :-)

Stay away from Consuelo's! Huge RAT running around!

Cagayan De Oro Places to Go

On our first day, we went to Opol which is about half an hour away from CDO city. I haven't been on a jeep and a non-aircon bus for years but since this is one adventure trip, I rode on these public transport again. At first it was kind of scary since we didn't know what to do, where to ride and where to get down, but the people there were very helpful and very nice. They gave us directions and instructions on how to get there.

We went to an Ostrich Farm in Opol. To get there, we needed a jeepney ride to the bus station (West Bound) and a non-aircon bus to get to our destination. The terminal is clean and organized. I was impressed! Tell the conductor that you'll go down at Sea Breeze Restaurant. You can have lunch here too. The restaurant is on the shore with a nice view of the water and fresh salt water breeze. More on the resto later.

To get to the Ostrich Farm, you would need to ride a motorcycle they call Habal-habal behind the market area. One motorcycle can accomodate 3 passengers! :-) Don't make the mistake of wearing a skirt (which I did!) since you'll be swinging your legs to go on and off the bike. The driver will wait for you for a fee while you go around the farm.


Oh... just a note. The locals speak bisaya but they understand tagalog. They will reply to you in Bisaya though so it would be helpful to know basic words.


The habal-habal ride is about 10 to 15 minutes, rough roads included so get your buns ready. hehehe! The Ostrich Farm houses these birds of different ages. The oldest one I saw is 9 years old but I'm sure there are some more older birds around. They are so used to humans and they love taking photos with you. :-) When you're there, don't miss to buy a keychain made from ostrich skin (I know! I know I shouldn't buy but I can't help it!). It's P80 per piece. Can you believe that!!!! They have wallets also at P700. I think they wait naman for the ostrich to die before getting their skin and they don't kill the birds just to get the skin.


Our second day started with the trip to the Malasag Gardens. A jeepney ride from the city to Malasag and a habal-habal ride will bring you to this place. I wasn't very impressed with the garden but it might also be because we didn't go around the whole park. There's a small sized canopy walk that you can take for P10. Nothing great but it's something to prep you for the basic canopy walk in Macahambus Adventure Park.


From the Malasag gardens, we rode the habal-habal again to the Mapawa Park. This was more fun! You can reserve early and have a package for P995 for a minimum of 5 people. You'll have a tractor ride where you can rapell and take a tougher zip line. There are also basic zip lines. Even if its your first time, I suggest you take the levels 4 and 5. You get to zip twice. If you don't feel like zipping yet, you can take the monkey bridge/ walk at levels 1 to 2 and short zipping at level 3.



From Malasag, you can take a jeep to Bukidnon to head to the Del Monte Plantation. DON'T MISS THIS!!!! This is a pretty long ride but we didn't mind. A very juicy steak and roast beef awaits us. Other than being an enormous pineapple plantation, they also take care of a herd of cattle which they feed with pineapple remnants so you can just imagine the sweet taste of the beef.


So, we rode the jeepney that says Camp Philips and we were there in 45 minutes to 1 hour from Malasag. There are a few restaurants around. There's the Bungalow which fronts a vast pineapple plantation. Just note that this restaurant closes at 3 pm on Sundays. We went to the Cawayanon club house though. Its the oldest golf course in the Philippines.


Our group ordered tenderloin steak and their best seller, the Roast Beef. The medium sized steak is about P600 and boy, they are the biggest and juiciest steak I've tasted. No need for steak sauce! The complete meal includes soup, garden salad and fresh fruit salad dessert. Everyone was completely satisfied with the meal. Skipping lunch for this treat helped in stuffing us! :-) The clubhouse is open until 6 pm.


Other than the steak, I was amazed at how well the Del Monte company is taking care of their people. They have their own hospital and fields for recreation for their employees. The supervisors even have housing. It's nice to hear a company taking care of their people well.


To get to Cawayanon from Camp Philips, you can go to the multi cab terminal and get a P10 ride to go to the clubhouse. You would have to take the same route to the terminal to ride a colorum van that will bring you back to CDO city. Just don't leave later than 630 since the vans don't have trips later than that. You will be dropped off at Limketkai mall. It has Robinson's, Mercury Drug and other stores you can find here in Manila. You can get toiletries or groceries from here. Don't forget to drop by Orjena fruit stand for Pastel. Its a muffin with different flavored fillings but the best seller is the yema. As of this writing, a box of 6 costs about P55. You can get them in Camiguin for P50. That's where they make them.



Don't miss the Xavier Museum and chapel (used to be Ateneo). The museum is full of artifacts from the Maranaos. Entrance fee for students is P10 and for outsiders P20. The chapel is very simple and very serene. Nice and colorful glass windows.

Cagayan De Oro - From the Airport to Casa Crystalla Hotel and St. Nicholas Inn

I just came back from a one week trip to Cagayan De Oro and Camiguin. It has not only been fun but a wonderful experience. One that humbles you and makes you appreciate friends, family, new experiences, the Philippine urban life and God's creations more and more.

Let me recount my CDO experience first before I tell you more about Camiguin.

First of all, I'm so grateful to Cebu Pacific for allowing Filipinos to see the abundant beauty of our country. With the tagline "Its time everyone flies", we got the chance to take the P10 plane fare to Cagayan De Oro. I was impressed with the new and clean aircraft of Cebu Pacific. It smelled new and clean. It's so worth it with the P10 fare! That's where the whole adventure began.

While we were planning the trip, I was having second thoughts about going. Budget wise, I was still saving up for my annual out of the country trip and my close friends backed out at the last minute. Call me crazy, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I got the chance to be with 3 wonderful women (Eng, Krissy (the fearless leader) and Mia (my kikay and gimmick partner). This trip gave me the chance to get to know them better. Travelling with someone is the best way to get to know the person better. I'm so happy I have three new girl friends with whom I shared this adventure with.

The first day started on a Saturday early morning. We landed in CDO at 6 am. Tips for those who are taking a cab to their hotels, the cab drivers there don't use their meters from the airport. They would charge you from P100 to P200 from the airport to your destination. Their reason, they've been waiting there for passengers since 2 am. I got really turned off by this behaviour.

As we went out of the airport, we asked a DOT representative on which cab to take. He pointed us to the official line of cabs and told us to make sure that we take a metered taxi. However, when we were looking for a cab, one of the taxi drivers offered us P100 and no meter. Since the DOT representative said not to take a cab without meter, we said no. One driver was rammbling saying... '"Tignan nyo kung may makita kayong naka metro dyan. Di na kayo naawa. Kanina pa silang alas dos nakapila dyan." (Good luck finding a cab with a meter. Don't you feel sorry for these drivers? They've been in line since 2 am!) I was pissed! Its their job to get passengers so waiting in line since 2 am should not be a reason to take advantage of tourists. Don't jip people who just arrived and have no idea what to expect in that city. I hope that the CDO local government fixes this because it really gives a bad impression about the city. The first experience out of the airport leaves a lasting impression on your visitors.

Anyhow, we arrived at our hotel Casa Cyrstalla after around 15 - 20 minutes of travel time. The hotel is right in the middle of the city. Location wise, it's great! You are near the Divisoria and public transport is available all around the area. However, with the price of P400 a night, I don't recommend this hotel. You can get a hotel within the city at the same price but with much better service. The mattress has mites and the blanket is grayish brown. YIKES! The rooms are decent but the bathroom is not so clean. The towels that they provide are very thin and with gray brown color. DON'T USE IT ON YOUR FACE! Use facial tissues!

If you want a nice hotel at almost the same price, check out St. Nicholas Traveller's Inn. They have a great staff, nice bunk beds, good aircon, clean bathrooms and nice towels. All for P300-P400 a night. They also server meals at P80 per meal. That includes one meat dish, one vegetable dish and rice. This place is great for budget travellers who still wants a comfortable bed at night. The rooms are small but comfortable. There's one room for4 people at P1200/ night. This is good enough for those who are not maarte and just needs a place to sleep and wash up comfortably. This is where we stayed on our last night in CDO before our flight to Manila. Oh, look for Tata while you're there. She's super helpful with everything that you would need.

If you are planning a trip to CDO, read the other blogs. It might help you out in your planning. If you have questions, you can also email me at lyshiel@yahoo.com.