Going through the Backdoor Part Deux

Seen:  Cagayan de Oro City

And so my adventure continues....  It was a 5-hour journey from Oroquieta, to that place where we took a barge, seen Maguindanao from afar, had lunch in Iligan at a small Chinese restaurant with generous helpings and finally arrived at CDO. 

So we made plans to go white water rafting the following day.  When asked whether we want the basic or the advanced course, my significant other advised us to take the advanced course we can go through 7 extra rapids, plus, we should allow the raft to flip for fun and to get our money's worth. 

We entrusted our lives to the capable hands of a guy named Jerome, who runs the tour.  I forgot how much we paid but we got a discount.  The fee is inclusive of 1 snacks and lunch that is served at the end of tour.  I was pleased with how Jerome did the introductions and safety reminders plus the fact that there has never been an accident in any of the tours conducted by his company.  So with that info in mind, we were set to go.

Getting ready

At the start

Ready for the push off

This is it!

The first rapid

Anyway, at the end of the tour, we were really ravenous.  And so we ate and slept after.  Next adventure please!

Going through the Backdoor

Seen:  Oroquieta in December

Finally made a trip to Misamis Occidental in Mindanao, Oroquieta City to be specific.  My significant other gave me an invite to spend some time there, see what his life is like, and meet his parents.  My stay in Oroquieta City was brief but I made it a point to shoot almost any scenery.

My friend and I arrived via Ozamiz and it took us about an hour from there to Oroquieta City.  We passed by rice fields mostly and it's quite nice to see food growing out there.  So once we arrived, we had lunch and had a brief tour and here are the pics for posterity.

My friend, Kitin on the hanging bridge

 My friend, Kitin here, is hanging on for dear life as my significant other tries to gently sway the hanging bridge (just for laughs).  It was quite windy so I told him not to overdo it or else we'd end up in the water.

Ukay-Ukay

This here is the ukay-ukay.  Appararently, they sell nice stuff that's way too friendly for your wallet.  Would definitely give it a try the next chance I get.

Going to the bay area

 This is the way towards the bay area, and the market.  Went around for a drive around siesta time, so not a lot of people milling around the area.

Next came this interesting piece of oddity...

It's not the Flying House, it's just the SuperFerry House

Right smack in your face is this house.  My significant other said that the former Miss Oroquieta (circa 2000s) or was it a former contestant lives in this very house.  I asked him if her parents are WGA employees, well he had no idea.  The structure in front of the house is a Brgy Tanod Outpost in a shape of a tugboat (unfortunately not captured in this frame), most likely to complement the nearby house.

Town Circle

 After a wonderful dinner, we decided to go around that night.  Here's the town circle, quite similar to the Fuente Circle, strung up with lights for the Yuletide season.  I think their town circle has outdone ours since they even had laser lights.

The Boardwalk

This here reminds me of a scene from Benjamin Button, the place where he goes to see the sunrise.

Now on to their different displays...

The Nativity

They have different versions of the Nativity.  There's even one done in stained-glass fashion.

Stained Glass Nativity

Christmas tree

Santa sans the reindeers

So these are most of the things that I have seen during my short stay there.  I hope they have the same dedication and enthusiasm to put up the same or even better displays this year.

Next stop...CDO