My First Trip to Visayas and Mindanao

I was still on my second year of college when I first saw Cebu, Surigao City, and Cagayan De Oro City. I don't exactly remember when that was but the trip gave me a good impression of my country. It's so beautiful and there's more to see beyond Cavite, Paranaque, and the malls of Las Pinas! Hahaha... talk about being a mallrat. I remember, though, that I bugged and nagged my mom for another trip to Surigao as a graduation gift. And she did give it to me! I stayed in my lola's house for more than a month, a few days after my high school graduation day! I know I got really tanned and almost looked like a "kongking" (natives who lived in the mountains - dark-skinned and curly-haired) but I didn't care! All I cared about was to be one with the ocean... and pretended I was a mermaid. I love the Mabua beach. I love it! Its shore is not sandy, it's all rocks... rocks the size of two golf balls combined. And when the waves of the ocean hit the rocky shore, it makes a unique sound of rolling rocks... ahhh.....

Flying to Cebu

I travelled with my sister and cousins going to Surigao. But first, we took a plane to Cebu, my first plane ride! We stopped over Cebu via Mactan airport for a few hours. We roamed around Colon (feels like Divisoria to me) and saw the Basilica de Sto Nino. Cebu, to me, was cleaner compared to Manila.

My First Glimpse of Mindanao

On board the Superferry, I enjoyed every minute of it. Again, it was my first ride on a ship. A real ship. I remember my mom telling me stories about her first trip to Manila. She said they used to travel for three long days from Surigao to Manila. The beds were the foldable, wooden kind. They had to bring their own food. And when it rains, they had to put up the tents provided by the shipping company. Funny, eh? But that was more than 20 years ago. Now I walk my way from my double-deck bed... to the showers... to the lobby.... to the caferia... to the salon... to the bistro.... to the roof deck, my favorite place in the ship. And I enjoy staying there to feel the wind brushing thru my whole body. I feel so free. I thought I should do this more often. It's so liberating.

My cousin said we are near our destination. Mindanao at last! I remember seeing young boys swimming towards our ship. I was so envious because they were very good swimmers! I was surprised people were throwing 1 peso coins at them. Turns out they were simply begging for money!

For the first time I saw a lot of my relatives in Surigao. I really enjoyed being with them although sometimes I missed out on some of their jokes because they were saying it in Bisaya. I asked them to translate it for me, but they said it's not the same. So, they forced me to learn their dialect and I was willing but I guess some things are just hard to learn in a matter of weeks. Still, to me, they were the best jokers in the world. I manage to laugh without knowing what they were talking about! How they express themselves in laughter was enough for me to laugh out loud... hee hee...

Cagayan De Oro - My Father's Hometown

We traveled six hours by land from Surigao City to Cagayan De Oro, my father's hometown. We hired a van and my favorite part was driving by a national road which is very near the beach. (I envy those people whose houses are just by the beach.) We passed by Agusan on our way to CDO. Finally, we arrived in Kauswagan I met a few more cousins I have never seen before. They took us to the malls (Limketkai and Ayala), to the nature-theme park where we walked through a hanging bridge, and to the Del Monte Pineapple plantation in Bukidnon. I have never seen that large a plantation before!

An Eye-opener

My first trip to Visayas and Mindanao was an eye opener to me. I realized how lucky I am to have been born Filipino. There's so much to see and so much more potential. I think people my age should start exploring the Philippines. Now, I hate it when some people ask another where someone is from, then blankly stares back at him wondering how they got into Manila. These people are the ones who haven't set foot off the city... tsk tsk... poor urban dwellers.

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