February 24, 2010
Announcements, Arts, Compostela Valley, Features, Festivals, Fiesta, Mindanaoan Update, Tourism, Travel
With the theme “Compostela Valley Province: Shining at 12. Promising now and beyond…!,” Compostela Valley Province, Mindanao will celebrate its 12th founding anniversary on March 3 to 8, 2010 via the renowned Bulawan Festival. Bulawan means gold in the local dialect.
Here are the activities that will be held during the 5-day celebration:
March 3, 2010
- Motorcade
- Opening Program (Guest speakers are Senators Loren Legarda and Juan Miguel Zubiri)
- Trade Fair, Barangayanihan, Techno Demo and LGU Night
March 4, 2010
- Social Services
- Volunteers’ Day (Guest speakers are Senator Manuel Villar and senatorial bet Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. Nacionalista Party senatorial bet and spokesperson Atty. Adel Tamano will also be there)
- Lanog sa Kapitolyo
- Concert for Peace (featuring AFP/PNP band, Pusong Juan Band)
March 5, 2010
- Peacekeepers’ Assembly (Guest speaker is Senator Mar Roxas)
- Dep-Ed Cartoon Nitework
March 6, 2010
- Bulawanong Kabatan-onan (Guest speakers: Presidential aspirant Gilbert Teodoro, senatorial bet Ramon Juico and Sec. Celia Capadocia-Yangco)
- Hudyaka featuring Vice Ganda, Marissa Sanchez and Ogie Diaz
LikeMy first night in Iloilo City was spent in Highway 21. Classified as a pension house, I actually thought that this nice place located right in the heart of Iloilo City was more of a hotel. The perfect choice for budget conscious tourists, Highway 21 Iloilo City is located along the busy General Luna Street.
Highway 21 is actually right beside the Sarrabia Manor, a well-known hotel in Iloilo. Compared to Sarrabia, though, Highway 21’s rates are way cheaper.
I stayed at the new wing of Highway 21. The rooms found at the new wing are slightly higher than those found on the annex area but I thought the added expense was worth it. The new wing had an elevator while the annex didn’t have one. Plus all the rooms at the new wing had free, fast wireless Internet connection. That was important.
The room that I got was fully air-conditioned, equipped with cable TV, hot and cold shower, private bath and telephone. I actually didn’t expect a good looking room since I only paid P850.00 for my stay (single occupancy) but I got a pretty neat one. My room also had a good view of the bustling city.
Yes, I had wireless web connection so I was able to work for a bit before I hit the sack that night.
The staff members were friendly and helpful. The lobby, albeit small, was nicely decorated. The small cafe in the lobby area (where guests can also have heavy meals) was okay. The restaurant staff members were courteous and even helped me decide what to eat for dinner. They recommended these – calamares and grilled porkchop. Yum!
Now for photos of my room, check them out after the jump.
February 23, 2010
Beauty, Cagayan de Oro City, Flights, Leisure, Mindanao, Mindanaoan Update, Musings, Personal, Tourism, Travel
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:
February 8, 2010
Business, Cagayan de Oro City, Consumer, Features, Food, Mindanaoan Update, Musings, Personal, Reviews, Society, Style, Tourism, northern mindanao
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:
February 7, 2010
Business, Cagayan de Oro City, Hotels, Mindanaoan Update, Reviews, Tourism, Travel, misamis oriental
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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