Adventures at White Island, CDO and Bukidnon

The next day, we woke up before 5:30 in the morning to go to White Island. We ride a boat to get there which costs Php 400 for the 4 us, already included in the Php 3900 that I paid Teddy. We also bought breakfast from Teddy's sister, consisting of longganisa, ham, dried squid, sunny side up egg and rice, for Php 100 each. We brought that to the island to have our breakfast there. 

 The White Island is literally just a small island of white sand. Not as fine as Boracay's sand, but fine and white enough. Connected to it is a sand bar, which disappears when the tide becomes high. We tried to stay there to have some exclusivity, but the water rises quickly and we had to go back to the main island after eating our breakfast. The water was clear and cool, but there were so many small stones and remnants of corals on the sea floor that it's hard to walk. So we just swim, even if the water is too shallow. The water is not deep even if you're already far from the shore. We saw some small fishes, and one of the tourist said he also saw some jellyfish and star fish. We were surprised when J told us that a snake swam through his leg. We got scared so we decided to go back to our cottage since it's already time to leave Camiguin. Continue reading here.

White Island Camiguin

 

CDO-Camiguin Tour

This is my first time traveling to Mindanao, and first stop would be in Cagayan de Oro. It was Piso Fare offer in Cebu Pacific that got us to travel to CDO, booked way back February of last year?? Together with all the surcharges and taxes, our fare just came down to almost Php 600 per person.  A few weeks before our trip, we were supposed to just hire a travel  agency to book everything for us, but the practical side of me took over and decided to try to book the tours and accommodations. Being so busy with work, I decided to just POAT on Pinoy Exchange Forum on CDO thread asking for itinerary. Luckily, Noel Greene responded to me. I'm not sure, but I think he is the owner, or co-owner, of Manage TravelTours in CDO. It's a little bit complicated as Noel resides in Ireland, while his brother-in-law resides here. They provide the transportation service/tour within CDO and to places nearby such as Bukidnon and to port going to Camiguin. Noel also booked me in Victoria Suite Hotel, a cheap hotel in CDO, and gave me contact to book our Camiguin Tour. They've also arrange our White Water Rafting and tour Dahilayan Park in Bukidnon.

Finally all was set and our day of departure finally came. We met up about an hour and a half before our flight leaves, since we were hungry, we decided to eat first. We felt relax that we just went to the boarding area about 40 minutes before our boarding. The crew told us to wait first as she was going to check if we can still be boarded. WTF? All of us were speechless for a moment there, and when the crew let us pass through, we were so relieved and found it hilarious at the same. We didn't know what to do if the plane left us. About 1 1/2 hour later, at almost 5 in the afternoon, we finally arrived at CDO.

Emero, Noel's brother-in-law, picked us up in the airport and drove us to Victoria Suite Hotel. The hotel was nice enough for sleeping and taking a bath, it's clean  but small. For just Php 900 for twin sharing, one can't expect a lot from it. Emero was kind enough to drove us around the area to see where we could hang out. Since it was late in the afternoon, we really don't have time to do anything much, so when we saw a cute small bakery, Missy Bon Bon, we decided to hang there to eat. It was a chic bakeshop, with different cakes and breads, plus gelatos and some other dishes. Must try is their Macaroons and Pistachio Gelato. Although, it's a little bit pricier than the other flavors, at Php 100 per scoop, it's the best pistachio gelato I have tasted so far. Continue reading here.

Strawberry Short Cake from Missy Bon Bon