When I was a little younger, I used to think that traveling was a luxury and that traveling involved tons of money to be spent. But, when a good friend of mine, Ate Rizza, who started travelling in her 20’s, she proved that my assumption wrong. She inspired me to travel at a fair price. How did it happen?
It was late in the evening when I saw her post on Facebook that she had just booked a domestic flight for 400pesos only. I asked her the details about that and she was very willing to explain. After several clicks, she told me that I was booked.
Day 1
Riding an airplane, going to Mindanao, and travelling–this had been the activities that I only wished before. Now, it actually happened.
Two of my friends and I decided to go to Cagayan de Oro because we had a friend/former spiritual director who’d been very close to our hearts. He was staying there and he told us that he’d tour us in their place.
Unfortunately, he was too busy that day so he just asked his friend to accompany us. His friend was also our friend here in Manila, so there’s no reason to be disappointed.
Then, we reached the airport at 1:00 I think, and we had our first lunch in Cagayan de Oro at 3:00pm. This was fun because we ate in a restaurant beside the sea. Overlooking was really nice and people who tend there were approachable.
Who would not love to eat if your view is like this?
Who would stop eating if your food is this?
We had an hour to reach the Divine Mercy which had been my dream destination ever since I saw this photo on Facebook. The place was definitely worth looking at. Its ambiance reminded me of God’s undying love and passionate heart. My expectations were really made possible then.
After praying in their chapel, we headed back to their home. We stayed in PSDP’s convent in Lumbia, CDO. There, we were with the kids that the foundation had been taking care ever since. We also went to their foundation house in Causwagan, CDO. After that, we attended the Mass in their so-called Eco church.
There was this funny moment when a folk asked us, “Nahihuma na ang Misa?” Surprisingly, we were able to answer yes. (They just asked if the Mass has ended.)
Then, we ate our dinner together with the kids in Causwagan.
Day 2
What we did in our second day was to go to Dahilayan Forest Park. It was in Bukidnon province. We had our lunch in that park. The weather did not permit us to fully enjoy the place. It rained hard that day. But then, it did not stop us from taking photos.
The highlight of our day was when we met the reason why we went to Cagayan de Oro. They lived in Bayabas. Hence, the time for us to meet was limited. Besides, this pushed us to meet at night.
Our spiritual director brought us to their apostolate area in DV Soria. This place was near Ateneo de Cagayan. They had been guiding rugby boys on the park there.
He explained the situation of the kids in that place. They had to struggle for them to survive.
After that, we had our night life. This sounded so coool;yet what we did was just to eat pansit, cake, and drink shake.
This is our night life, though.
What made this day fun was the fact that we sneaked out our place just to see these people. Tumakas kami pero masaya. 🙂
Day 2 ended at 12:20.
Day 3
We woke up at 5:00am and left at 7:00am. We bought pastel and pastel and pastel.
Day 4, Monday, Manila
I still had a hangover about our trip. In fact, I wished to stay longer in the province.
I miss the smell of the farm. The white sky. The fresh air. Ohhh. Life.
Now, what did I learn?
- Be thrifty.
- Save more.
- Travel sometimes.
- Finish meals.
- Reward yourself.
Looking forward to more adventures. Thanks, Bro.
Davao? 🙂