What's up, Hive!
I hope you are all doing well. It's almost the end of the year, and the holiday season is here. It's the best time to look back on the year and choose your highlights. My 2022 has been a year full of travel, and one of the most memorable ones was when I went to Cagayan de Oro City. I wrote a whole travel blog series about it, and this collection will summarize all of it in case you want to check out a personal travel experience to CDO and have an idea of where to go and what to do if you're in the city.
Getting there
I took a boat going to CDO from Cebu City because I was bringing some items that were not allowed on planes. I booked my boat ticket on the 2GO Travel website. The experience was quite surreal. That was my time to ride a massive passenger boat, and the inside of the ship was impressive. I felt like I was on a mini cruise ship. The trip lasted for about 9 hours.
Where to eat
Since I was staying in Divisoria, I was able to go to the restaurants right at the heart of the city. The first restaurant I went to was Crumbcoat. It was a hip restaurant made for students who liked chicken wings, Korean and Japanese food, and milk tea.
For my first dinner, I went to Beaks & Brews, a newly opened restaurant on the ground floor of my hotel. It had a beautiful interior, but the menu was strangely also Korean and Japanese food. I went there a second time for lunch and was amused by how they served their food.
I had the chance to go to Chingketea, the city's most popular milk tea place. This restaurant had a dark, cozy, old Filipino house vibe. They had dried plants as decorations. They had no WiFi because they encouraged talking. I ordered their Chicken Pops with spicy Korean sauce; it was so good!
Still in Divisoria, I went to this cheap Samgyupsal restaurant that served only two kinds of pork cuts. The place was called DARA Korean Samgyupsal Grill. It had a maximalist interior despite not having a lot of space. For a price of P275, I'd say the food was worth it.
On my last day, I went to Missy Bon Bon, a posh restaurant outside Limketkai Center, a shopping mall in CDO. I had lasagna and pancakes for brunch there. They also sold some baked goods and sweets. The place had a beautiful, well-lit interior.
Places to see
Cagayan de Oro has a number of restaurants with overlooking views of the city. I went to Camhills Cafe and had a dose of the beautiful city and seascape. The restaurant is just a few-minute drive from the city center. They serve meals and snacks.
The next province from CDO is Bukidnon. I took a motorcycle and drove through the arresting landscapes of Libona and the endless pineapple plantations of Manolo Fortich.
My destination in Bukidnon was Dahilayan Adventure Park, a mountain resort and park located in the highlands of Bukidnon. Fog welcomed me when I arrived at the resort. I didn't have a lot of time to spend there, so I only went on one ride, the Razorback Mountain Coaster.
After spending time at the park, I went to this lovely garden coffee shop nearby called Antonio's Cafe. The place was teeming with colorful plants and flowers. I had coffee before racing toward my next destination.
Going back to CDO from Dahilayan, I decided to stop by a sunflower farm called Kinawe Blooming Farm. It was sunset by the time I arrived at the farm, but I was still able to see the sunflowers in their full bloom.
On my last night, I went to High Ridge, another overlooking restaurant in CDO. I had a good view of the cityscape at night. The place also had some historical information about the city from the photographs of the hallway. I had my dinner there by myself and enjoyed it with a fantastic view of the city.
That's it! This is me finally getting closure from my trip to CDO. I hope I got you interested in the place and what it offers. I'm excited to write my next travel blog and make another collection just like this.
See you at the next one. Cheers!
Edit: This is my first collection post, and I messed it up, so it's just a regular post. 😅
