Binondo with the girls

Welcome to the shortest entry I could possibly publish in here. The narrative of my Binondo trip with the girls last weekend! As we are all familiar with, Binondo or Manila's Chinatown is especially famous during the month long celebration of Chinese New Year with all its dancing dragons and moon cake and tikoy going on. This happens every February and to be honest I've already planned on going this year to witness it during the festivities but sad to say I failed! So what better plan than to get the girls and lure them with endless siomai and hakaw. Sure enough, they responded positively and the plan was set!

We gathered at 8am in Illumina last Saturday. Left at around 9 since almost everybody was late *coughs* we used the way Marianne knows which is ride a jeepney with the DIVISORIA RECTO signboard, get off at ABAD SANTOS (tell kuya to drop you off in case you don't exactly know where it is) then take the overpass and walk towards the street going to your left. Upon going down, board a jeepney heading to LAWTON and then you'll see the old building of Metrobank from a distance, that will be your entry point to Chinatown or Binondo! Easy breezy? Don't bring a lot of burloloys or gadgets or anything that could basically be taken away from you that is expensive since it's almost anything like Divisoria. We don't want to judge but it's not wrong to take precautions as well.

 DISCLAIMER: Don't expect much from my photos since I've only got a handful and I'm not exactly proud of them. I WAS HUNGRY OKAY. And was afraid to begin with now that's a better excuse haha

Anyway, we just strolled around and since we were all hungry we bought fried siopao along the way. It's tasty and good. They say the best fried siopao/s can be found at SHANGHAI FRIED SIOPAO, can't tell you the exact location but you don't really have to know it anyway! Just feel the Binondo vibe, walk and get tired, have your most-ignored exercise, look around and you'll find your way to it eventually. Crazy as it sounds but you don't have to ride a pedicab to take you to the places. Walk and enjoy!

© Eds Villa

Shortly after we bought fried siopao, we saw Wai Ying and decided to have early lunch. The oink in me won over so I had beef wanton (P120), japanese siomai (P80), hakaw (P80), plain rice (P30), and siomai (P70). I was nearly begging my friends to finish it after I got done with a quarter of the wanton and siomai! They have big servings so better keep in mind when you order that it's to-share. You can go to a friend and order everything the both of you likes as you can get a bit of everything and it's a lot better and faster to shove down your throat!

That's my beef wanton's before and after shot haha
that's how I eat noodles. I slurp on the soup and eat everything after! :)

Marianne and Eds both ordered the spare ribs for P130 and Corina had the chicken-something. Missed out on the pictures yet again. Told ya I only have a handful! Except from the hakaw having too much of the wrapper, all of it tasted good and exceptional. Legit Chinese food indeed. We were so full after that we weren't even able to go to other restaurants anymore. Talk about 'food trip' haha

After Wai Ying we decided to walk around a bit to scout for jewelries since it's also a popular attraction in Binondo. They have commercial jewelries sold way down the usual price so if you want to burn at least some of the calories (and money haha) you previously acquired then this is one of the perfect ways to do it. We got milk tea shortly after, dropped by at Eng Bee Tin so we can get pasalubongs and headed back home!

There's one thing I learned in this trip though, go to Wai Ying order with a friend and don't make yourself too full so you can still try the dumplings at Dong Bei and egg tarts at Lord Stow's! Scout and buy jewelry so you can burn those calories but don't carry the money with you. Have your ATM card and withdraw it when you've decided just like what Marianne did.

Any crazy experiences in Binondo? Share it below!

Happy travels!

Love,

Faye

SUMMARY: Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon

Hello there! First of all, I want to greet you all a happy Sunday! I have always loved Saturdays more than Sundays but these past few weeks I've been really blessed and was able to enjoy a lot of family time during the 7th day of the week so I'm starting to love it a lot. Although I'm still a Saturday person! Possibly forever and always lol

Anyway!!! As promised I am back to share with you our itinerary and rough list of expenses for day 3 and day 4 as well of my Northern Mindanao adventure. To give you a heads up though, since we availed the package solely from Red Rafts I won't have it divided anymore. So sorry, I already forgot and pretty much didn't ask how much is everything if done independently from a package.

DAY 3: SAMPLE ITINERARY

• 07:00am to 08:00am - Pick up from hotel / travel time to drop-off point for river rafting / orientation or briefing
• 08:00am to 12:00nn - White water river rafting 
• 12:00nn to 12:45pm - Lunch / shower and dress up
• 12:45pm - Departure to Bukidnon
• 02:30pm - Expected time of arrival at Dahilayan Adventure Park
• 05:00pm - Departure to Cagayan de Oro
• 07:00pm - ETA at hotel
• 07:00pm to 08:00pm - Rest / wash up
• 08:00pm - Dinner / socials / beer night
• 10:00pm - ETA back at the hotel

DAY 3: ROUGH LIST OF EXPENSES

(Please note that this is individually quoted and based on the number of persons who traveled which is in our case 4)

• Breakfast in McDonald's - P100 (because I'm legit matakaw)
• Packaged tour from Red Rafts - P2,300 per pax (transportation to drop-off point for white water rafting, Dahilayan Adventure Park in Bukidnon, and back to hotel, white water rafting advance intermediate course, Dahilayan Adventure Park Zip Zones - longest dual, 150m, and 350m, lunch)
• Pictures during our white water rafting adventure - P50
• Snacks - P50
• Dinner - P200 (again because I'm legit matakaw)

TOTAL: 2,700/PERSON

DAY 4: SAMPLE ITINERARY

(This day was supposed to be for our Tinago Falls Day Tour but since we weren't able to come then I'll be writing only what we were able to do)

• 09:00am - Wake up / breakfast from hotel
• 10:00am - Leave for Vjandep Bakeshop
• 10:30am - Arrival at Vjandep
• 11:30am - Departure to Gaisano Mall for SLERS
• 12:00nn - Arrival at Gaisano
• 12:30pm - Lunch at Ayala Mall Cagayan de Oro
• 01:30pm - ETA back at hotel / rest / dress up
• 02:30pm - Departure from hotel to Laguindingan International Airport
• 04:00pm - ETA at Laguindingan Internation Airport

DAY 4: ROUGH LIST OF EXPENSES

(Please note that this is individually quoted and based on the number of persons who traveled which is in our case 4)

• Breakfast from hotel - P150
• Tricycle from hotel to terminal of jeepneys going to Vjandep - P10
• Jeep from terminal to Vjandep Bakeshop - P13
• Pasalubongs from Vjandep (we're all heavy pasalubong buyers we take it seriously, must warn you ahead of time haha) - P800 to P1,000
• Jeep from Vjandep Bakeshop to Gaisano Mall - P13
• Pasalubongs from SLERS - P300 to P500
• Lunch at Ayala Mall - P200
• Tricycle back to hotel - P10
• Cab from hotel to airport - P200
• Airport terminal fee - P200

TOTAL: 1,896 to 2,296/PERSON

I repeat these are rough estimates and solely based on how I budget my money when traveling which is not high maintenance but not strict either. You can still maximize or minimize this according to how you prefer.

PLACES OR ACTIVITIES YOU SHOULDN'T MISS

1. White Water Rafting
2. Dahilayan Adventure Park
3. Go to Iligan if you still have a lot of time and spend a day or two!

TIPS-slash-NOTES:

• Book your stay at the city center! A lot of places are cheap (250-300 per night kind of cheap) and you are not away from the commercialized part of CDO where everything is basically around you.
• Get Red Rafts for your white water rafting activity. The river guides are funny and friendly. No regrets! You can always avail the white water rafting separate from Dahilayan if you'd want it that way.
• During the white water rafting, wear a rash guard and strapped slippers or aqua shoes because this is nothing else other than an activity involving a lot of water so don't expect your rubber shoes to be dry if you're wearing them!
• It would help if you shower and eat fast so you can leave early for Bukidnon. Travel time takes almost two hours.
• Bring an estimate of P1,500-2,000 for all the activities in Dahilayan in case you won't be availing the packaged tour. If you will, then a good P1,000 for the other activities will be good!
• Make sure you don't forget your jacket for Dahilayan since it's located in the mountains. Pretty cold!
• If you want a hassle-free and private transportation to the airport, you can avail services from Kuya Along our very mabait and honest driver! +639174607499
• Don't forget to bring SLERS Chicharon and Vjandep Pastel for pasalubong!
• Get the latest flight back to Manila so you can still do a half day at Tinago Falls in Iligan.
• ALL-IN-ALL WE SPENT P9,013.50. All trips were packaged and private tours.

Have other tips? Share it on the comment box below and help other people who also plan on doing a Northern Mindanao tour!

Love,

Faye

Riding Rapids in Cagayan de Oro & Superhero Feels in Bukidnon

As we all know my trip to Northern Mindanao in Camiguin and CDO is one of my favorite travel experiences! It's the perfect mixture of fun, gorgeous and breathtaking places, and rich culture. No doubt I will always say yes to an opportunity of coming back ..after I finish all the local tourist destinations of course! I have already told you my first two days of the trip which mainly consists of Camiguin and it's just about the right time to talk about day three!

Since I am a no-backpacker type of person who basically just travels the place freelance type (apart from Cebu --it's an exception) and so are my friends (well most of them coz they, Eds and Mar, might not agree lol), we avail scheduled tours most of the time. First because a trip with a scheduled tour saves you from a lot of hassle and second you can customize it the way you want it 90% of the time! Plus this is the bomb, most of the scheduled tours that we get are private and cheap which means you don't have to worry about thinking of other people and your group still gets a hold of time in all ways possible.

Going back to my supposed narrative of day 3 ..we woke up at around 6, well not really, supposed to be 6 but we woke up at around 6:45 in the morning to prep and get dressed to be picked up at 7! Exactly 7 because we'd have to pick up other people who also availed the white water rafting package. We rode a *coughs* not to mention, a very cool red jeepney with all those red stuff since we availed the package from Red Rafts obviously haha if you want to avail a scheduled white water rafting package from them as well, you can visit their facebook page or contact Kuya Rex (+639178556983 / +639355998908). They have super funny tour guides and I seriously loved them for the hassle free and very maalaga way they treated us! Hello they have to carry you back to the raft whenever you go swimming in the river! Considering how thin I am... too much effort was put in. lol

Before you start, you would have about 10-15 minutes briefing. Really really short just to orient you of the do's and don't/s while riding the rapids and instructions on what you're going to do in case the boat capsizes. At first I was too nervous since being the imaginative person that I am I was expecting that the boat would capsize and I'll be the person who slides on the rocks etc etc but listening carefully will give you an advantage so make sure you remember every single word kuya says!

Then you start your 4-hour ride along the Cagayan de Oro river! I actually thought it's gonna be long but since the whole activity is too fun you won't even notice the time running by. You'll be going through 21 rapids, depending on the course you'll take. Since ours is advance intermediate, we had 21 rapids along the way. Halfway through, you'll also be permitted to swim in the river so make the most out of it! Plunge in and enjoy the cool green water!

The journey would be quite hot you would be developing life-vest-tan-lines lol so spread a bit of sunscreen and if your skin happens to be a little sensitive than usual, wearing a rash guard might help a lot too! PS Don't be hard on the paddle assigned to you, one of our group mates broke it and there weren't a lot of extras so one of us always had to have a sort of downtime to give everyone else a chance of paddling. Take it seriously but go easy, boy!

In case you're wondering how we got our *coughs* beautiful photos, on the way there our river guide asked us if we wanted to avail the CD with all the photos only for P200 so we grabbed the chance and got it! Nothing to regret anyway since all of it are gorgeous and we get to keep a lifetime (KESO) of our memories in the Cagayan de Oro river forever.

Lunch was also included in the scheduled tour that we availed from Red Rafts. Near our exit point was a mini-resort with a pool, eatery, and comfort room where you can eventually freshen up and change clothes. It's not the buffet kind of lunch but it was good nonetheless. We were too hungry to take pictures though but you can trust me when I say that the food is actually good both in terms of aesthetics and taste haha

Shortly after we hopped in our rented cab (still part of our Red Rafts scheduled tour) and made our way to Dahilayan Adventure Park in Bukidnon. The ride from the exit point to Dahilayan took almost two hours. It's a long ride so make sure you eat fast and get there quick since most of the park attractions close at 3.

We were able to avail the Asia's Longest Dual Zipline and 350m + 150m dual zipline also paid in advance aka included in our packaged tour! See? As promised, hassle free!

It can be pretty cold here as it is located in the mountains and judging from the pine trees everywhere obviously you'd survive better with a jacket. So tag along a comfy hoodie or a scarf or anything just to minimize the low temperature going on. They still have other attractions to see, unfortunately for us since it rained they opted to close some of it ahead of time. Definitely another reason to come back ..and maybe even stay in their Baguio-like hotel inside the adventure park as well!

Kuya Along, our very honest and mabait driver, waited for us 'til we finished and escorted us back to the hotel. He also assisted us in our pineapple field stopover and took gorgeous pictures! Tourist guides and locals are SLR oriented people, techie if I must say and can really take good photos!  If you want to hire a cab service in CDO you can also contact him at +639174607499.

Upon reaching the hotel, we all decided to rest for a bit. We originally planned to experience the CDO culture by meeting new people and having drinks for the night but since Eds had fever and Marianne took care of her, dinner outside was left for Jamie and I. We went to the resto-bar just across our hotel and pigged out from the grill stuff! lol were we hungry! Plus it was pretty cheap too! If I'm not mistaken we only spent P200 each considering we both ordered a lot haha

We planned on doing a Tinago-Falls-tour the next day so we decided to go back right after dinner to sleep and get our beauty rest! Unfortunately, upon realizing we might not make it for our flight at 6pm and we woke up late too, we were not able to carry out our plan for day 4! But we all agreed to do an Iligan Trip next time :D ohh don't worry I'll be posting a sample itinerary and expenses list on my next entry since this is too long already!

Any fun experiences while you were in CDO and Bukidnon? Feel free to share it on the comment  box below!

Happy travels!

Love,

Faye

SUMMARY: Camiguin

To make travel-opolis; city of travel more helpful for readers, my friend Jamie have recently thought about having a sort of point-by-point summary of each place I've been to. Like providing a list of must-see's, notes, and other important stuff to remember in order to guide you further. We'll start with Camiguin today but I will prepare follow-up articles in Palawan and Cebu as well, hopefully after I finish my Northern Mindanao related entries.

PLACES YOU SHOULDN'T MISS!

1. Katibawasan Falls
2. Walkway to Old Vulcan
3. Sto Nino Cold Spring
4. Sunken Cemetery
5. Ardent Hot Spring
6. White Sandbar
7. Mantigue Island
8. Kibila Giant Clam Conservation and Ocean Nursery

TIPS-slash-NOTES:

• When riding a ferry from Balingoan Port to Benoni Port and vice versa, be there an hour before your targeted schedule of trip.
• For customized and hassle-free accommodation and tour, you can contact Paguia's 0917-5446311 or 0917-5391622.
• There are a lot of inexpensive eateries around Camiguin, you can eat with only P50 in your wallet.
• Not sure if there were ATMs available so it's better if you withdraw prior to prevent being short.
• Bring your swimwear with you in Katibawasan Falls, there's a big chance you'd want to take a dip!
• Make sure to bring your own or rented snorkel gear for the island hopping since it would be expensive to rent from the area itself.
• Don't miss out on the chance (like me!) to see the underwater life in Mantigue Island and Kibila Conservation and Ocean Nursery.
• Bring your positive self and keep the good vibes coming. It's a gorgeous place to fill in with negativity!

If you have other tips, feel free to write it on the comment box below! Do you have more places in mind that we might have missed out and suggestions that we'd also learn from? :)

Love,

Faye

Discovering the Islands of Camiguin

A cab-bus-ferry ride away from Cagayan de Oro is Camiguin which I have mentioned in my previous entry as one of the heavenliest destinations there is in the Philippines. It is also next to Batanes as the second-smallest province in the country both in population and land area. It only has a total of 81,293 inhabitants and the province consists primarily of Camiguin Island and two surrounding minor islets which you will know about as this entry goes on. Every October, they have a week-long festival for the fruit that they are most known for, lanzones. Actually, the festival was just about to happen in a week when we went there! Too bad we missed it! Yay that's another reason to come back! lol

Anyway, sit back, relax, and enjoy as I tell you our second day in one of my most favorite travel destinations (from the ones I had so far!) - Camiguin.

We woke up at around 6am for our island hopping tour scheduled that day. If you have read my previous entry, you will know that we have availed a customized tour from Paguia's Cottages Camiguin and what we did was we dedicated our whole second day discovering the islands and beaches. A whole day is not enough as I think about it now but because of the limited vacation leave... It's best if we take it from there lol

Since the White Island Sandbar is just a 15-minute boat ride away from our accommodation, that was our first destination. I knew it was gonna be good since the first time I saw it on a travel blog but I didn't expect it was that GOOD. Oh boy, it's a beauty. You can stay there the whole day just looking at the stunning Mt. Hibok Hibok and Mt. Vulcan as it matches coherently with the white sand and the contrasting light and dark colors of the sea.

5 minutes walk away from our cottages is our drop-off point :D

Such a sight even from afar!

Mt Hibok Hibok and Mt Vulcan facing the sandbar

Since it can be really hot in the area esp during summer, a few kuyas from the baranggay who monitors the sandbar also provides colorful umbrellas (fourth picture) and tarp-like banigs to lie on (in case you forgot to bring a scarf or a malong with you!) for rental. The umbrellas are worth a hundred peso and the banigs are for P200. Both of it is pretty big because the four of us fit in there considering the three of us were big boned lol

If you also look closely in the fourth photo, behind the kuyas is another small sandbar. You can swim to go there but make sure you bring a life jacket if you don't know how, you might panic if you happen to pass thru a few deep parts. If you get bored (which will be unlikely haha), you can also try snorkeling on the other side of the sandbar, read a book while you wait for sunset, schedule a diving trip with your friends (YES, there is a diving site near the sandbar), or you can make yourself full with the sea urchins that the locals from the baranggay are also selling apart from the umbrella rentals!

We went back to Paguia's at around 10am to get our things and wait for our service, since we'd have to travel by road to get to our next entry point to Mantigue Island. It's a good 20 to 30 minutes multicab ride then another 30 minutes ride via small outrigger boat.

Even from afar, you can already see the trees and gorgeous white sand surrounding Mantigue. They have a marine sanctuary on the right side facing the island but before you go there, you'd have to register inside and pay for the entrance fee (P50) and the unlimited snorkeling fee of P100. Make sure to bring your own snorkel gear or rent from your chosen accommodation since it's pretty expensive in the area (P150). 

We were supposed to have snorkeling first then go back inside to eat our lunch but since we had a bit of miscommunication with our boatmen we ended up going back to our entry point after snorkeling! lol but it was a satisfying 45 minutes stay nonetheless. By this time I have already learned how to swim but upon seeing how dark the water were to get to the snorkeling area, I opted to stay beside the boat and look at the few fishes and sea urchins while my friends went to see the giant clams and more.

Since the miscommunication happened, we went back earlier than expected at our previous entry point but we figured it was just right since we had to catch the latest scheduled ferry back to Balingoan Port at 4pm. 

Shortly after our service arrived from lunch we went to the opposite side of the island for the Kibila Giant Clam Conservation and Ocean Nursery which was our last destination in Camiguin. It is an area where they cultivate different species of clams and they had this ocean nursery where you can check out the clams from the smallest to the biggest! It's worth P200 but my friends (Eds and Mar) since they're the only ones who tried it said it was definitely worth it we should've come! The pictures were in Jamie's waterproof camera so unfortunately I won't be able to share it with you but make sure you don't miss out on this as well when you visit Camiguin!

Aside from that, they also served us delicious food from lunch which you can buy from one of the houses nearby. The hut is worth P50, entrance fee is P25, and the food that we ordered amounted to a total of almost P1,000 I think. I was too hungry I forgot to take pictures but it was really good! If you don't feel like checking out the clams, you can also dip in the clear waters while you wait for your food.

We hurriedly went to Benoni Port after eating lunch. Jamie and I were able to take a shower but we left our clothes in the service and was too lazy to go back for it so we changed our clothes on the way to the port instead! Hmm hmm yes! On the way there! lol that's some traveling skills we've proudly acquired haha and since the ferry for 3pm was delayed for an hour we had the cutest blessing in disguise! Mind you, it was priceless!

It was one of the sweetest moments of our trip. I loved how the colors went from bright, to yellow, to purple-ish pink. We were all in awe of the magnificent view in front of us. We took countless pictures. It was really beautiful.

We got back in Balingoan Port at around 5 or 6 in the evening. Apparently it was difficult to get a bus back to the city proper since it's not really the terminal so we waited for about 45 minutes to be able to finally ride one! And that's not even a smooth process haha you'd have to push and shove! Oh for the love of traveling.

Since we can't move on yet from our extra rice disappointment, we agreed to eat at Jollibee for dinner! All I can say is, after that dinner I loved my friends more for being themselves. PERIOD. Upon arriving at our hotel Rich Manor Pension House, they had made an incorrect booking so we had to wait for a while before they find another room that can accommodate us. We were supposed to be in just one room but we ended up in two different rooms. It was still a good experience though! I loved how the room was clean and the bed was soft and how everything is within a short distance. Our oldies vibe sunk in as soon as we arrived so we all opted to sleep already.

Overall, Day 2 was a beautiful experience as Camiguin! Couldn't wait to share our third day with you guys! Meanwhile, here is our sample itinerary and expenses list.

DAY 2: SAMPLE ITINERARY

• 06:00am - Freshen up/prepare things/breakfast
• 07:00am - Go to White Island Sandbar to swim, snorkel, and chill
• 09:30am - Go back to Paguia's; service on the way to the entry point for Mantigue Island
• 10:00am - Arrival at the entry point; leave for Mantigue
• 10:30am - ETA at Mantigue Island
• 10:30am to 11:30 - Snorkel at the marine sanctuary; buy food for lunch
• 12:30pm - Lunch
• 1:00pm - Depart from Mantigue Island
• 1:45pm - ETA at Kibila Giant Clam Conservation and Ocean Nursery
• 1:45pm to 2:45pm - Snorkel and swim
• 2:45pm - Wash up
• 3:00pm - Departure from Kibila Giant Clam Conservation and Ocean Nursery
• 3:15pm - ETA at Benoni Port; buy tickets and pasalubong
• 4:00pm - Departure from Benoni
• 5:00pm - Arrival at Balingoan Port; ride bus going to city proper
• 8:30pm - ETA at Agora Market and dinner
• 9:30pm - Go to hotel/socials/beer night

DAY 2: ROUGH LIST OF EXPENSES

(Please note that this is individually quoted and based on the number of persons who traveled which is in our case 4)

• Island Hopping Tour from Paguia's Cottages (includes boat and multicab transfers, environmental fees, and the other fees except entrance fee to Mantigue Island, snorkeling fee, and hut rentals, accommodation w breakfast) - P1,350
• Umbrella and banig rental from White Island Sandbar - P75
• Entrance fee and snorkeling fee at Mantigue Island - P150
• Lunch at Kibila Giant Clam Conservation and Ocean Nursery - P250
• Snorkeling with the clams - P200
• Hut and entrance fee - P37.50
• Ferry from Benoni Port to Balingoan - P130
• Bus from Balingoan to Agora Market (air-conditioned) - P130
• Dinner - P150
• Cab to Rich Manor Pension House - P50
• Accommodation (1 night) - 350

TOTAL: 2,872.50/PERSON

Again, these are only rough estimates and this is purely based on how I budget my money when traveling (notice the allotted money for lunch and dinner lol) so you can still minimize this or maximize according to how you prefer.

Happy travels!

Love,

Faye

Awe-filling Northern Mindanao

The "City of Golden Friendship" as it is described by many. Home of the friendliest locals, who without a doubt embodies their city's brand. Cagayan de Oro is one of the provinces of Misamis Oriental in Mindanao and it is one of the highly urbanized cities there is located down the archipelago. It serves as a regional center and business hubs for Northern Mindanao. The place is most famous for their whitewater rafting as well as kayaking adventures along the Cagayan de Oro river. Apart from this, it can also be a gateway to one of the heavenliest places there is in the Philippines - Camiguin! Goodness cow, these two places when combined can give you a hell of a good time! It's surely one of my trips to remember!

Good news is I have planned this with my friends beforehand! Which means... there will be an itinerary waiting for you at the end of this lol and a budget! I hate to call it budget since I'm not a heavy budget person but it is what it is. Or maybe I should call it out-of-the-ordinary expenses list. Hmm hmm, let's see! 

I have also decided that to shorten my entries (ahem* since most of my readers are working or studying) I will be blogging about places one day at a time! Should I explain this further? Day 1, Day 2, etc, etc... Going back! We arrived at Laguindingan International Airport at around 6 or past six in the morning. Yes because we took the earliest flight at around 4:40 or 5am, I think. It's a breeze when you arrive earlier honestly, since you have the luxury to walk in pace, especially if you were like us who dedicated half of their day on the way to an island 5 hours away from the airport. You might be thinking right now 'WHY THE HECK DID SHE SPEND HER TIME DESCRIBING CAGAYAN DE ORO WHEN SHE ACTUALLY WENT TO CAMIGUIN FIRST' lol pretty much because it's were we landed! Hashtag writer problems, sorry

Anyway, so we rode a cab to Agora Market where the bus going to Balingoan were all located. Travel time takes approximately an hour, rate ranges from P180-P200. From there, you ride a bus going to Balingoan Port (P130). Be sure to pick a comfy place for you to sit on since it'll take more than 2 hours - almost 3 if I remember it correctly. From the drop-off point of the bus, you can either walk going to the terminal which will take about 5-10 minutes or take a tric (like all of us lazy people) for P10 per person. From there you'll see a ferry which leaves every hour, earliest from Balingoan Port (CDO) to Benoni Port (Camiguin) is at 4:30am and the latest is at 2:45pm and fare is at P130/person. IMPORTANT REMINDER: Be there an hour before - you'd be asked to pay some stuff and have your baggage checked so no last minute wrap ups! Ferry ride takes an hour even if you can already see Camiguin from a distance lol something I would never understand.

We have made prior arrangements with Paguia's Cottages Camiguin for the tours. One reason we picked them is because you can customize the whole thing from deciding what will be the places for day 1/day 2 and they have affordable rates, a decent place to stay in, and your private multicab with the most upbeat songs! We basically forgot about our phones and just went through their music lol

See? Camiguin from a distance!

© Marianne Matic

Shall we begin with Day 1? After that long and tiring introduction lol we started off with lunch before we head on to our first destination which is Katibawasan Falls. Just a little bit of segway, food is cheap in Camiguin you can actually eat with P50 on your wallet depending on how #baboy you are. In my case, I prefer it within the P100 range.

Katibawasan Falls

The falls, even in its simplest form, is a sight. The green trees surrounding the cold water, the sound of the birds that go perfect with your ears, and the serenity that would make you want to stay for hours either swimming or just sitting there thinking nothing more than how some places can be this amazing - no matter how simple and plain it is. Too bad, we left our swimsuits inside our bags but we had a dip if that changes anything lol

Shortly after Katibawasan, we headed to Sto. Nino Cold Spring. But we made a quick stop as we passed by the landmark of Camiguin's Old Volcano. You'll know why when you finally get there! The view is gorgeous, as usual. I bet it's a natural thing for Camiguin having all these gorgeous places.

Camiguin's Old Volcano

The way the sun beams and reflects on the water is such a magnificent view. I actually like how Camiguin is surrounded everywhere with water. There's a sea on the side for every road you pass on. It glistens along with the radiating sun. Ugh I love this place I can be here for weeks!

Anyhow going back... So we went to Sto. Nino Cold Spring which is by the way as natural as the beauty of Camiguin. Everything here is effortless and pretty natural lol it's a great place to relax and chill from the long day that you just had. Pair it up with a buko juice and you're good to go!

Sto Nino Cold Spring

After our relaxing swim at the cold spring, we hurriedly proceeded to the Sunken Cemetery before Mr. Sun totally says goodbye. I don't know why but the huge marker cross on its own is already a sight to see. We weren't able to ride the small paddle boats anymore to go to the cross but we surely had magnificent pictures stored in our minds. I am in awe of how Camiguin was built into this really amazing location with nothing but breathtaking scenery.

Sunken Cemetery

We spent around 5-10 minutes just looking at the view and taking pictures. After that, we passed by at the restaurant where we'll have dinner before going to another relaxing swim at Ardent Hot Spring. The first step we had at the water, it was so relaxing we forgot to take pictures lol missed on the food for dinner too! But we ordered mostly grilled stuff like chicken and pork, it's actually good. However, the one thing that disappointed us the most is when we asked for another cup of rice their reply surprised us with rage. "Naubusan po kami ng kanin" and we were all like WHO DOES THAT? SERIOUSLY! lol you don't mess with hungry people in all ways more than one. We waited for a good 30 minutes because they said they would try to look for rice but ended up cancelling the order since they obviously didn't address the problem at all.

Anyway, we had beer night to cap off our first day! That is to celebrate on how amazing the place is ..and to lament on how the eatery we'd gone for dinner didn't have an extra serving of rice lol

DAY 1: ITINERARY

• 06:45am - Arrival at Laguindingan International Airport
• 07:45am - Agora Market - board the bus going to Balingoan Port
• 07:45am to 08:30am - Waiting time for bus to board passengers
• 08:30am - Departure from Agora Market Bus Terminal
• 11:30am - ETA Balingoan Port - ride ferry going to Benoni Port
• 12:30pm - ETA at Benoni Port
• 12:30pm to 1:30pm - Lunch
• 1:30pm to 8:00pm - Camiguin Tour: Katibawasan Falls, Sto Nino Cold Spring, Old Volcano, Sunken Cemetery, Ardent Hot Spring
• 08:30pm - Dinner
• 09:00pm - Socials/Beer Night

DAY 1: ROUGH LIST OF EXPENSES

(Please note that this is individually quoted and based on the number of persons who traveled which is on our case, 4)

• Cab from Laguindingan International Airport to Camiguin - P50
• Bus from Agora Market to Balingoan Port - P130
• Ferry from Balingoan Port to Camiguin - P130
• Half Day Tour from Paguia's Cottages (an estimate only since we had a customized tour on our whole stay; includes a multicab rental, going around the city and entrance fees that you'd have to pay) - P600
• Lunch - P100
• Dinner - P100
• Beer for socials (2 bottles) - P60
• Accommodation (1 night) - P375

TOTAL: 1,545/PERSON

I repeat these are rough estimates and based on how I budget my money when traveling which is not high maintenance but not strict either. If you're just like me, this is good to go.

Happy travels!

Love,

Faye

And I'm back!

I am very sorry for not updating my blog for the past 4 weeks as my laptop went through a hell of a time but I'm back now with a new posting device which is apparently my phone! But it's a long story so... we better change the topic.

Anyway, this will be more of a warm up since I don't think I already have the right words for my next entry yet which will be about Cagayan de Oro and Camiguin. It's a really great place to write about so it better be close to perfect! Some of the readers were asking for a few changes on the posts, say including a budget or providing them with a sample itinerary, which of course I will be glad to write about. The previous trips were all non-itinerary based aka more of yolo decisions which my friends and I are very good about (Cebu) and some of it I'm with my Mom and friends so I pretty much go by as to what they deem fit (Anawangin and Palawan). I should prolly sort my trips to those categories - yolo, planned, and hmm... oldies? Lol but kidding aside, don't you worry, I'll have the entries sort out nice and quick so you'll get to browse easier and will provide more of itineraries and budget estimates! You should know prior though that I'm not exactly the super 'backpacker' type but not one of a high maintenance traveler too. Somewhere in the middle should be great!

Here are a few eye candy pictures from CDO and Camiguin to keep you company while I prepare my next entry.

Katibawasan Falls

Sto. Nino Cold Spring

Sunken Cemetery

White Sandbar

Mantigue Island

Camiguin: View from the ferry

White Water Rafting

Pineapple Fields, Bukidnon

Cagayan de Oro City

It's a gorgeous place and the locals are one of the friendliest I've met! Will get back to you once I have redeemed (?) my words.

Happy travels!

Love,

Faye