A DAY OF STROLLING AND ESCAPADES!!!

It is indeed a very cold Saturday morning when my alarm clock wakes me up. It’s time to get up from bed and face the battle against ------the cold and freezing water. I really thought that I was the only one who woke up at that hour but I was surprise that my cottage mate, Raima, is also awake and is ready to bath. We had a little chitchat and come to a realization that she will also attend the said field trip.
After I groom, I first ready my gadgets: digicam, cellphone and flashlight. Digital cam for the documentation, cellular phone for communication and flashlight for the caving because it’s pretty dark inside the cave especially in Initao. So, with my backpack on, extra shirts and extra shoes, I left our room and headed to the annex where our service is waiting.

As I arrive in the clock tower in CHS, I saw some of my classmates who were early enough and has been waiting for others to arrive in the departure area. I thought I was kind of late because the hour hand in my watch already strikes 6:15 am. To my relief, the jeepney which will be our service for this trip is immobile. Subsequently, I with the rest of the students, waited for others to arrive in the vicinity. Thirty minutes had past and little by little fellow excursionists appeared. And so our chaperone announced that we will be leaving the area for Cagayan de Oro City. Furthermore, they (the chaperones) also told us that we should group ourselves by four. The four of us will be each other’s travel companion during the field trip! Whoa! What a good way to meet new pal.


ROAD SPREE!!!

As we depart from MSU-Main Campus at around seven in the morning, I and my jeep mate Ate Heide, who also happened to be my senior in the department, end up talking about our course and any topic under the sun to loosen our boredom. Our conversation indeed is a good boredom reliever because we never imagine that we are already in Iligan City in just an hour of chatting. Ma’am Garinggo waited in Jollibee, Iligan chatting with Ate Heidz mother who was also waiting for us to arrive in the city. After for about ten minutes, we headed for Cagayan de Oro City, our first destination. We will be exploring the Makahambus Cave located in the upper vicinity of Cagayan de Oro City. So, we buckle up again and enjoy the trip to CDO!

LOOKING AROUND MACAHAMBUS CAVE!!!

After two hours of road trip we finally reach our first target, Macahambus Cave. A thru cave, which means it can be entered at one end and exited at the other with a total length of 57.0 m. The cave indeed provides a great view of the Cagayan de Oro River. According to history, these has been the hide-out and exit of Kagay-anon soldiers and their families in the Battle of Macahambus Hill which marked the first victory of the Filipinos against the Americans in the entire Phil-American War in this country last 1900. Well, so much for history!

As I was saying, these is my first time in Macahambus Cave and I could not believe that CDO has this kind of attraction knowing that the latter once encounter a tragic crisis couple of months ago. Macahambus Cave is located in the higher region of Cagayan de Oro along the Macahambus Hill and Macahambus Gorge.

Upon entering the cave, we already checked our flashlights, digital camera and ourselves as we come in the historical cave. Like most of the caves, Macahambus Cave is one we Filipinos should be proud of because nature has given us a sight to foresee. Is the phrase to attractive? For me, it is a simple cave because one does not have to crawl just to have an exit of the cave. As we had our exit, the Cagayan de Oro River welcomed us. And again, it is a vista to behold! Moreover, because we are in an elevated area, we clearly saw the view of the Cagayan de Oro River where it is famous for the reason that these is the site of the white water rafting which is famous in CDO.

Local people sell knick-knacks for students like us. These includes: key chains, bracelets and accessories with “Macahambus Cave, Cagayan de Oro City” written on it. So without further ado almost all of us but something to remind us in going in Macahambus Cave.




Standing outside the exit of the cave


stone of history


d Cagayan de Oro River famous for its white river rafting adventure...



with my partner Hasmine


KAAMULAN FESTIVAL SETS ITS CLAWS IN SM CAGAYAN!!!

It’s already 12 noon and we are starving, not just hungry but starving. After for about an hour in Macahambus cave exploration we took a break from the ultraviolet rays outside and took our lunch at SM Cagayan.

We were looking for a resto or a food chain in the mall when a somewhat commotion captured us. There are young people performing at the center of the mall with audiences including foreigners watched their performance. What festival are they representing? The cloth with eight big letters printed answered our question, it’s the performers from Bukidnon and they represent the Kaamulan Festival. Kaamulan festival is a week long celebration of the native inhabitants of Bukidnon. And they celebrate it annually every February. This is one of the most celebrated festivals in the country like the Panagbenga, Sinulog and Ati-atihan. The tale in the said play is how the datu/sultan of the village was punished by the unknowns because the environment was ruined. And the tale also showed the negative things that happened because humans less cared of the environment.

I really love how the actors perform, the costumes and also the musicality which fairly represents the culture of the natives in Bukidnon. There are also items displayed every corner in the makeshift stage to endorsed the said festival not just to the foreign viewers but also to everyone.

Here are some pix from the show in SM Cagayan...






49rs @ CHOWKING!!!

After watching a little scene in the Kaamulan festival performers, we come across Chowking and without any violent reactions just order a 49rs meal because it is so affordable and swak in our budget. I ordered lumpiang shanghai which is my favorite and after reciting a small prayer of thanksgiving eat our lunch.


IT’S TECHY & PASALUBONG TIME!!!

As we finished our lunch, I and Ate Heidz decided to go to the third floor and surf the net. I’m not that updated to the outside world so surfing the net for me is an instant job in connecting to the outside world. Goodness I surf the net because I read the headline in inquirer.net that Pacman is already a Doctor of Humanities. I cannot believe it but the evidence are all there and totally accurate. Well, enough of my reaction because we cannot do about it anymore. I just sighed!

After 30 minutes of surfing the net, we go to the arcade station. It’s nice to feel like an eight year old again. Who says arcades are only for boys? Because both I and Ate Heidz are fun of playing arcade games, we decided to buy tokens and play the crane machine. This is a box full of stuff toys and one should be able to grasp a stuff toy and bring it to the empty box. And indeed I’m lucky to win a stuff toy, a bunny. The game is indeed enjoyable and because of that game I and Ate Heidz had an instant bonding.

So much with the arcade fever and let’s continue my moment of reminiscing the past. After enjoying the crane machine, we go to National Book Store and I buy three novels from my favorite writers. Subsequent to that, we stop at Watsons to buy pasalubong and personal stuff because it is convenient in that area. Moreover, we come to think that we have so many things we want to do but so little time. So it’s time to bid goodbye to SM Cagayan.

My very own Paula which I won from the crane machine!!!




SEE THE SIGHTS IN INITAO!!!

After traveling for an hour from Cagayan de Oro, we finally arrive at “Initao-Libertad Protected Landscape and Seascape” or “LASANG”. We had the chance of exploring two caves in the area. The frst cave is the Swiftlet Cave and the next is the Liza Cave through the help of the guides in the area.

Swiftlet Cave derived its name from the swiflet, a bird that uses its saliva in building nest and settling it in domes of the caves and churches. FYI: The nest cost thousands of bucks for this is a special ingredient in soups. I once remember we had these kinds of nest in my mother’s classroom which we harvested from Siquijor. That was last summer. However, local people in Initao choose to preserve and conserved the birds’ natural habitat. It is such a good choice from the town people of Initao.

pix taken in Swiftlet Cave including the swiftlet nest...


swiftlet nest


height matter, as long as I can stand...hehehe


cave dome


sitting pretty???


the hole we just crawled up for our exit

The next cave we entered is the Liza Cave. It was name as Liza as an honor to the latter who was able to discover the said cave. Compared to the first cave, this is much tricky and we enjoy the exploration more and more. It is also a cave situated under the ground. Stalactites and stalagmites are situated inside the cave and there are also fossils which are preserved in the said cave.

With our sweated shirts, dirty jeans and grubby hands, we all poise for a picture outside the Liza Cave.

And so we thought that our adventure already ended, the guide lead us to the hanging bridge positioned seventy feet above the ground.

some pix taken while we venture the Liza Cave


outside the cave


mah group


inside the cave


anthro pipz


inside Liza Cave


HANGING BRIDGE ROUGHLY TOWERING THE GREENLANDIA!!!

It was our last quest for that day. I, Ate Heidz, Hasmine, Jessa, Marj and Kristine try the hanging bridge.

The hanging bridge which is elevated from the ground has a very stunning stepladder because it twirls or somewhat like that. The stepladder has more or less seventy steps from the ground up to the hanging suspension bridge. It has two suspension bridges on its opposite position.

As we try the canopy walk, it’s not that scary anymore because I’ve been to a lot of hanging bridge but the excitement part is the breath taking scenery above. Because it is almost towering the forest, I can vividly see the whole terra firma from our line of sight. We were given at least ten minutes to pass each bridge. Whoa!!! This is really an experience of a lifetime. So much for a day!!!

Hey!Look at in the sky, not a bird, not a plane...'coz I'm flying, I'm flying, I'm flying, I'm flying!!!







SAYONARA!!!

It’s about time to bid farewell to the birds and the nature. No matter how short the time we spent in this excursion, it really satisfies all of us in the trip.

As we rode our way home, we stop over at stalls selling bibingka and grabbed one set for a bite.

All the way to MSU I silently thank God for the opportunity of making the excursion come true at last and for thanking Him for the blessings and the safe trip He has given to us.