CABADBARAN WITH LOVE :-)

CABADBARAN CITY- Who says that this newly proclaimed city of Agusan del Norte has nothing to boast? This little city might not be as progressive as Cagayan de Oro or Butuan City, but mind you, this city is on the road to the so called “improvement”. We may not have lots of bars to hit on during “fly nights”, we may not have malls for holiday shopping, not even 3-star hotels to accommodate foreign visitors, nevertheless, this city does not settle to “below adequacy” ratings. 

As time flies, scenic view also changes.This is our new Luneta Park with its attention-grabbing dancing fountain.This is indeed a total transformation from good to a better sight. Another sign of progress. :-)

A well-built hanging bridge that connects 2 barangays, specifically Brgy.6 and Brgy. Kauswagan.

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Mount Pongkay is also known as Prayer Mountain. Many locals visit this mountain during holy week. Stations of the Cross are also performed here during that season. The picture was taken at the peak of Mt.Pongkay where a giant "Holy Cross" and undeveloped chapel are located.

Gazebo resort, a famous resort in our place located in Brgy. 9. Many people from neighboring cities celebrated their outdoor conventions in the said resort.  

There are 4 swimming pools here and one of it was constructed for children. The resort is huge enough to accommodate many visitors. Cottages are even cheaper ranges from P250.00-P2000.00.

 

TO BE CONTINUED.... 

MABUA PEBBLE BEACH

Getting unhappy and uncontented with the widespread grayish sandy beaches? Want to explore some sort of rarity? Mabua offers you the best of the best pebble beach in the country. Mabua Pebble Beach is located in Brgy.Mabua, just 20minutes away from the city proper of Surigao. 

One boring day, a friend of mine invited me for another beach-party. When I asked him where, he answered Mabua since he’s curious with how this beach look like in near. He  saw these pebbles when he was on plane several times.

I never heard anything about pebble beach so I googled it out. Booms… it caught my attention in a split second. I thought Mabua is a white sand since it is really a well-known place here for beach picnics and other social gatherings. I just learned that pebble is synonymous with stone! Shame on me! Hahahah… Out of curiosity, I escaped from my job for few hours to personally see this so called “pebble beach”. 

The picture below is a closer snapshot of the giant rock situated along the shoreline. Please take a look to the picture above, it was actually the giant rock behind the boat with a blue roof.

Huge rocks are not new to me for I have been to many beautiful places with huge rocks. What truly amazed me in the said area are the pebbles. This is my first time to see white pebbles. Pebble beach to be exact! Whoa! 

Forgive me, this is the only picture I have with the closer look of the pebbles. As you can see, pebbles are of similar sizes. And just like the sandy beaches, I can walk with bare foot.

Since it was an unplanned hang-out, I was not able to bring my swimwear. And with that, I turned out to be their camera woman. 

After sea-sightseeing in the rocky shore, we hiked with all our nerves to this mountain to have a short glimpse of the wider vista of the beach as what google suggested. 

Now, we reach the peak of the mountain. I failed to count on how many steps we have taken. But for sure it’s not less than 200 steps. The funniest thing about that trip was that I wore 3 inches high heels. So I was obliged to ramble with bare foot. Carry on! :-)

LANUZA, SURIGAO DEL SUR ESCAPADE

MAGKAWAS FALLS 

AND GREEN PARADISE

If you are stress and if you wanted peace and serenity, this is a good place for you. Few people come over here probably because this is situated in remote area of Lanuza, Surigao del Sur. According to my guide, there are many nature trippers (both local and foreign) who often visit this falls not so long ago…but maybe because of the under-developed road; they lost the nerve to come back. This place is really awesome. Hearing those birds singing will make you calm. This place is far from my city life obviously. :-)

Oooppss....another 10-15 minutes walk to be able to see the beauty of the falls, feel the coldness of the water and enjoy the therapeutic massage of its current. 

Magkawas falls here I come. 

Wow...who would have thought that I'll get an instant hydro massage? The heavy drops of water falls into my back. It feels so good! oh yeah! hahah... 

MARINE SANCTUARY

Lanuza's marine sanctuary is just a walking distance from Magkawas falls. There are cottages inside. 

This is exactly what we see inside the sanctuary. Crystal clear water, it only proves that it is less polluted compared to other beaches. 

This is my first time to see preserved giant turtle. This signifies that the sea is in undisturbed state. Glad to know that the government is taking some legal actions against those people who killed endangered species. 

LANUZA BAY 
SURFING FESTIVAL AREA

If you think rafting or ziplining is just a "no sweat" adventure. Try surfing then let me know how you feel as big waves wash you out. 

It's early morning and we're now ready for surfing lesson. This little boy, Mr. Laudes,  will teach me the "basics" of surfing. He's a great surfer and even won 1st prize during surfing competition junior division few years ago.

Goodness! The waves are really unforgiving. The sea is really rocky. Huge currents or waves discourage me from time to time. 

What can you expect from a first time surfer with incomplete surfing gears? Of course, better stay along the shore and be envious to those who know how to surf. hahaha

BUTUAN'S PRIDE

Late summer 2011, my friends and I were in a rush in deciding to have some get-together since we hadn’t seen each other for way too long. We changed our course, instead of having some drinking sessions in bars, the majority decided to have some nature-trip. Since it was an unplanned reunion, most of us didn’t have enough funds.  So we think every possible for us to have it. The idea of going to Delta Discovery Park popped up into our minds. We heard a lot of convincing description about it and so we said “tangkilin ang sariling atin and let’s give it a try”. Delta Discovery Park is just minutes away from our location, thus, less expenses is expected.

The landscape is truly magnificent. This is the top view of the pool.. 

We all were able to enjoy our 100php pool entrance. The water is so cold.

ATV is only 500/head.

EXACT LOCATION:
Purok 7, Brgy. Bonbon, Butuan City, Agusan del Norte

CAGAYAN DE ORO ESCAPADE

WHITE WATER RAFTING

 CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY :-)

Tired of office works? Want to have some minute yet worth remembering escape of your busy life? Then why not try the nerve-wracking water rafting adventure? This 3-hour run with 14 breathtaking rapids is situated in Cagayan de Oro river (Mambuaya-Kabula).

Hey guys! Do not be confuse why it is called "white water rafting" when you could only see brown water. It's actually white in normal days. I mean sunny days. But due to our eagerness to that electrifying adventure, we did raft a week after the storm. So I recommend you to do rafting during summer season.

The color brown water did not stop us from enjoying the moment as seen in picture. whew!

And ohh... our rubber boat was trapped in the rock. We couldn't move despite of the heavy rapids. We almost fell from the boat. We kept paddling for us to move on the other side. Thanks God, we made it!

...smooth sailing is what we had.

Our rubber boat is about to dock. It's time for lunch. More rapids to go. We need to eat for us to gain energy. :-)

 

....so the rafting continues :-)

DIVINE MERCY SHRINE

EL SALVADOR, CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY

I was really fascinated with the view the moment I saw this giant statue on my friend’s facebook album. I even asked him if the picture was taken outside the Philippines. Knowing the fact that this sacred statue is only located 18km west of Cagayan de Oro, roughly 130km away from my hometown, my foot itches. It’s time to have some break. 

 

Oopss…I forgot the basic protocol. People are not allowed to wear shorts/sleeveless in this Holy place, not even in church. Shame on me! Anyway, clothes/veils are available in the entrance gate. You can just borrow it from them.

...back view of it :-)

500 ascending steps to get in touch with the statue. It will surely make your knees shiver, I bet! 

DAHILAYAN ADVENTURE PARK, BUKIDNON

DAHILAYAN ZIPLINE

ASIA'S LONGEST DUAL CABLE ZIPLINE

Wanna feel like a super hero? Wanna feel like flying? Do not take drugs to get high. Be realistic. Conquer your fears. Experience the best of Manolo Fortich, here we

go....the Dahilayan zipline. About 840m Asia's longest dual cable zipline.

I wish I was able o spread my hands to make it look more fantastic. But it's better than having no pictures at all. Definitely it's caught in the act and I super love it! 

Atlast!! I have conquered Asia's longest dual zipline.

Forest park ground. Anyone is allowed to have some picnics here.

For the information of everybody, wild animal's aren't real in this picture.

This ain't Baguio city. This is Bukidnon. It's so cool and refreshing to be here. Needless to say, this is also a cold place where you could inhale fresh air. :-)

I kept looking back because my time there was limited. I'm afraid...I might not have a chance to see it again. 

EXACT LOCATION:

Brgy. Dahilayan, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon

DIWATA CAVE & JURASSIC PARK

It took 1 hour murmuring and sacrificing butt-ache while riding "habal2x", it’s a kind of single motor, going to Diwata Cave. It was a wide rough road. That was my first long habal2x trip insofar as memory is concerned. Although the scenery is obviously alluring where a wild flora grows beside the rough roads, my skepticism prevails and I ended up questioning “What’s with this place? Why do people keep visiting this remote place?” I was born to be a nature-lover so most likely I knew what is beautiful and what’s not. My friend kept pointing a place and said “we are going to be there later”. With disappointment I just answered “ahh okay”. The long ride and few chit-chats continued….

I did not appreciate the place since it seems like an ordinary one until the next day when we started roaming around. 

“Amazing” finally I blurted it out as I saw a huge rocks and exquisite caves facing the serene sea. The water was even clear. It was a perfect timing since it was a low tide.  We all had a chance to enjoy another God’s beautiful creation.

This is how it looks like when you are in the top. It clearly shows how huge rocks can be so scary. hahah!

This is the sole big tree that gives shelter to those who wanted to observe the movements of the sea.  This is located near the caves, approximately 10 meters above sea level.

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In a few meters away from Diwata Cave, another captivating landscape will surely nourish your eyes’ fantasies and this is popularly known as “JURASSIC PARK”.  Two giant Dinosaurs sculptures welcome you as you enter the said park. 

As we wandered around, we saw different kinds of meaningful sculptures. To name one, we saw naked man, woman and a baby (as seen in the below picture)…the statue is somewhat symbolic for us Filipinos since it talks about our history, it represents how our ancestors live during their time.  

Jurassic park established its own identity by having a cave pool. With misfortune, we were not able to enter the pool because that time the pool underwent maintenance. By just looking at it on top, I, in no doubt, could certainly say the pool is astonishing…oh yeah!

Jurassic park offers rooms for rent which is ideal for honeymoon and also cottages for family gatherings…hehehe…