Mindanaoan has always been very curious of Iloilo City, the largest province in Panay Island. We’ve all heard the many stories about this beautiful city – just how malambing Ilonggos are, just how fascinating the tourist sites are, just how delicious their delicacies are, just how booming their business sector is and just how warm and friendly the people in Iloilo are.
So when I recently got the chance to travel to this beautiful city located at the Western Visayas Region, I no longer had second thoughts. Off I went to the city formerly called “Irong-Irong.”
From Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao, I took an airplane ride going to Cebu City (roughly 30 minute ride). From there, I took another flight, this time from Cebu to Iloilo (roughly 50 minute flying time). If you’re in a bit of a hurry, taking plane rides is the best and easiest way for you to travel from Mindanao to Iloilo. Of course, it may be a bit more expensive than taking the RORO ship or a bus.
When my plane finally landed on Iloilo soil, this welcomed me:
LikeWith Valentine’s Day just around the corner, have you fellow Mindanaoans thought of what to give your special someone in order to make February 14 extra special? Make this day of hearts special by rewarding yourself and your partner with a pair of fun and colorful Havaianas!
Because, really, there’s nothing more fun and more romantic than dressing up to match your partner.
This Valentine’s Day, gear up for your date by bringing out your shared sense of style. Match the colorful worlds at your feet with select styles of Havaianas, and add more happiness and romance to your relationship.
So whether your little rendezvous will happen in the city or out-of-town, here are some chic style suggestions to make your Valentine’s Day extra special.
Take Me to the Beach
Most couples head to the beach for a little rest and recreation on V-Day. And why not! The beach has always been a good place to walk around in style. This love month, bring out the flowing sundresses for the women and the comfortable linen for the men and match it with their favorite Havaianas flip-flops. For the beach bums, choose bright colors such as the yellow Havaianas Brasil Logo for men and the yellow Havaianas Slim Jelly for women. Havaianas Batik for men and burnt orange Havaianas Fit for women is an equally bright combination.
Mindanaoan will again be on a very-proud-sister-mode. My professional photographer-brother Bon, along with fellow photographer Onat Neri, was invited to be one of the official sponsoring photographers of Miss Liceo Emerald, a pageant held at Liceo de Cagayan University, one of the bigger colleges in Northern Mindanao. The Miss Liceo Emerald pageant is only held every five (5) years so yes, it’s pretty much a big deal.
Speaking of SPONSORS — my brother Bon and I were treated shabbily and, I daresay, rather rudely, in a recent event. More about this in the succeeding days. Stay tuned.
Here are some of the photos taken of the Miss Liceo Emerald 2010 candidates:
More photos after the jump.
In the meantime, if you need a Filipino photographer for weddings, portraits, events etc, please don’t hesitate to CONTACT ME or call/text (+63) 9192386575 / (+63) 9229347198. You can also send your inquiry via email to mindanaoan (at) gmail (dot) com
Mexican themed restaurant Mooon Cafe is one of my favorite eating places in Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao. Apart from the yummy food, the prices are reasonable and the ambience is pretty laid back. Whenever there’s a chance, I also see to it that I bring my mom and brothers to the said restaurant in CDO and we all share fun, family bonding over hearty meals at Mooon Cafe CDO.
Mooon Cafe (yes, it has three “O’s”!) Cagayan de Oro branch, located at the first floor of Robinsons CDO, is the establishment’s first franchised branch outside of Cebu City where they have outlets in I.T. Park and Ayala Terraces, among others.
What I usually order (and what I can therefore recommend to all of you) are: for starters – quesadilla uno, campesinos (see the photo in this entry – these are good!), campesino jalapeno (for those who love the chilli version) and chicken flautas.
You may also want to try their signature beef taco and burrito pescado.
For barkadas or families, you can share the nacho de salsa or nacho spinners.
For the main course, I like the house specialty Mooon steak and the fish mozarella melt. When my brothers and I are really hungry though and are therefore in the mood to eat, we order the super delish Mexican baby back ribs or tenderloin steak. Really, really good!
And all of these meals are relatively cheap! The baby back ribs meal, for instance, is priced below P200.00 Not bad, right?
Mooon Cafe also has fish meals — blue marlin tangigue steak (my mom’s fave), tuna belly and breaded fish fillet.
Here’s a photo I took of the blue marlin tangigue steak:
Hello fellow Mindanawans! Planning a trip to CDO soon? Here’s a budget hotel in Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao that you might be interested in.
Lamar Inn, located at the corner of JR Borja and Velez Streets (just a few blocks away from Divisoria, the heart of the city), is a downtown hotel that offers value for money. Conveniently located at the central business district of the City of Golden Friendship and owned and operated by VIP Hotel (which is located just right across the street), Lamar Inn CDO offers reasonably priced rooms and good amenities.
They have 14 tourist type rooms (P750.00 per night), 8 business type rooms (P850.00 per night) and two suites (P1,300.00 per night).
The business type room that we stayed in recently was air conditioned, had cable television, had a telephone and a hot beverage utility set.
Hence, it was easy for us to prepare coffee even in the middle of the night and early in the morning.
Our room also had hot and cold shower and a clean bathroom. We had clean towels and two bars of soap. No free shampoo but you can easily buy sachets from the reception desk. Bottled mineral water can also be bought at the reception area, by the way.
What I also liked about the business type room was the FREE wireless internet connection! On our first night of stay in Lamar Inn Cagayan de Oro, my wi-fi capable phone caught two wifi signals – Lamar’s and CGC (I reckon this stands for Canoy Group of Companies, the owners of Lamar Inn and yes, of VIP Hotel). I just asked for the security keys from the front desk and I was browsing the web in no time.
The hotel staff members were friendly, by the way, and they made sure that they kept our luggage safe (we had to leave our things for a few hours).
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