Philippine Travel Notes

Every good trip has to end and there is always that reluctant goodbye. This was my case in Ozamiz. I was so slow in preparing to go and was indeed uninterested in going back to the airport hehe. But a zero-fare flight is a zero-fare flight, any attempt to extend it means thousands of pesos. So I took a trike and went for the Ozamiz Airport. Thanking the trike driver, this was it I told myself and I managed to merrily hop towards departure area. What I encountered next was an unbelievable sight I could not easily fathom. OMG! I silently asked myself “is this where I am going to check-in?, is this an airline? Is this an airport?”. My goodness, what an ugly sight. Entry requirements Together with other passengers, I had to present my ticket and ID to a guard by the perimeter gate OUTSIDE of the Airport and the queue was literally under the sun. My God! See that picture? Those were two passengers ahead of me presenting their documents to the guard. And to think they are “dressed” pa naman

MOAP, pronounced ‘mo-wap’, that is the Misamis Occidental Aquamarine Park on the outskirts of Tudela, nearest Jimenez. And I must say this was, or just became the highlight of my roaming outside Ozamiz City. Not that I even knew about it before I flew into Ozamiz hehe. I just happened to have heard about it while asking around. And yes, the lady over at Royal Garden Hotel’s front desk was ultra-helpful! From Jimenez, there were various ride choices like habal-habal, tricycle or jeep for the just about 4km distance to MOAP. I was convinced by locals to ride a multicab and was actually already seated in one as it waited for more passengers. But a Rural Bus came on its way to Ozamiz, so I jumped out of the multicab and took the bus. Good that Jimenez has an integrated terminal for buses and jeeps so you can see which one is going out first! Well, this bus ride was a bit more expensive (P15) which should have just been 7 or 8 pesos on the multicab hehe! MOAP Entrance Commuters, don’t get

Three blog entries earlier, I said I wrote and bolded the town of Jimenez on my list, right? So here I was, visiting a town I only heard of earlier in the day. I think this should be on the tourists’ map – even if only for their church. This town is at the center of the province’s history anyway. Ah, as you probably deduce, I took the aircon bus from Oroquieta to Ozamiz and got off at the town of Jimenez. Upon arrival of the bus at the Jimenez integrated bus and jeep terminal I immediately asked if the church and the municipal hall were within walking distance. Everyone said no! So I looked around for a ride going there. Grabe! A sea of habal-habals, pedicabs and tricycles were within whistling distance. It was like the whole market across the terminal was adorned with those vehicles. Add to that some private motorbikes, cars and police vehicles. Aliw! So I hopped on a tricycle towards the “plaza” where the church and the munisipyo are located. The Church compound ‘Catholic Parish of S

My first comment as the bus entered Oroquieta City was “ang OA naman”! I said ‘OA’ of course to mean ‘over-acting’ as we commonly use it in this country. And I was referring to the city’s welcome arc. I would have been content with that “Welcome to Oroquieta, City of Good Life”, even if that “good life” is of course very debatable depending on whose point of view – the old resident folks, the resident youth or the young and adult visitors, right? But what made me say ‘OA’ are those writings on top and on both sides of the ‘welcome’ in equally big fonts! Ah just look at the picture and read hehe! Hello, what do they have for a Mayor? Bro. Mike? Bro. Eddie? The Archbishop? Reading those, I silently laughed and said to myself, “ah yun mayor nila kaka-member lang ng prayer group, kaya fired up pa ang pag-bubunganga tungkol sa salita ng Diyos”… followed by “sa salita lang naman like most politicians” hehe! And pasensya mga taga-Oroquieta that was/is my first impression of your leader/s. Act

What comes to mind when you hear about a city and capital of a province at that? Traffic? Bustling business activities here and there? Hectic life? Noisy vehicles? Towering buildings and sprawling malls? Beggars? If you say yes to any or all of those, then Oroquiea is not a city! And mind you, it has been a city just 3 months short of 4 decades as of my visit! Why did I go to Oroquieta anyway? Well, for lack of anything more to do in Ozamiz, that is. But choosing to go and see Oroquieta was not a random thing. I did some little if quick thinking during breakfast hehe. I was in Misamis Occidental and its capital is the city of Oroquieta, so I would naturally want to at least peep, right? If I considered Ozamiz City a bustling hive of various activities, I would probably want to see how the capital is, right? Here’s one thing more I saw on the web… it has for once been declared the capital of this country by Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmena, Sr. – o alam nyo yan?! So I had enough reason t

Oro-what?! That’s what headquarters (a.k.a. my home) ‘aghastedly’ exclaimed when I called to tell them that I was heading for Oroquieta City! So I repeated that slowly “O-ro-kye-tuh”! Told them I thought I had enough of roaming Ozamiz City yesterday, so I decided to head northwards and see what might be worth my time there! The next question I heard was “where is that?”, and the best answer I could muster was “don’t worry, I heard that’s still part of the country, the Philippines, y’know?!” That reply was both meant to tell them “I don’t actually know for sure” and “I think it is a safe place, so calm down you all”! Ah families, we all have our own unique languages, right?! Well, WE have! Okay, my plan (which materialized just over breakfast at Royal Garden’s free wi-fi Veranda Restaurant) was: head north of Ozamiz City up until Oroquieta City ONLY. Reason: at least it is a city and from what I’ve read on the web, there is ample transportation to get back to Ozamiz if and when needed.