In all honesty, the activities that one can do in Cagayan de Oro are very limited but it is the gateway to Northern Mindanao and it's very very famous for white water rafting. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to go water rafting as our schedule did not permit it. What we did have time for, however, was lunch and dinner (haha! This trip really is for work so although I did not get to do any tourist-y things, I was glad to have gotten to try different restaurants.
VIENNA KAFFEEHAUS
The first place we got to try was Vienna Kaffeehaus. Their restaurant is in the downtown area in the same strip as several other restaurants such as Sentro. Their food is good, the calamares was prepared the way I prefer it but I believe that the must try in this restaurant is their dessert line-up. Queen Elizabeth is their best-seller, I thought as I was looking at it that it will be very sweet since the toppings seemed to be caramelized peanuts. But it wasn't at all, it was more of a bread really- a really good one.
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| Calamares |
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| Sugar-free blueberry cheesecake |
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| Queen Elizabeth |
MISSY BON BON
The ambiance of this place is very light and happy and colorful. It's the kind of place you and your girlfriends would like to go to on a weekend brunch to catch up and gossip. It's like gelatissimo meets bread talk meets chuck's deli in a cartoon-y set-up. Their sans rival gelato, I was told, is a must-try. It's pretty good but it might be too sweet for some, I have a sweet tooth though so I didn't mind at all.
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| Happy place! |
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| Sans Rival Gelato |
Just by looking at its architecture and design, Sentro is one of the more upscale restaurants in the city though I think that the price is still average compared to Manila. Their food is amazing. Most of their dishes have something different, and this makes their menu very unique. Everyone really really has to try their pasta - any pasta on their menu! or all of them!
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| Chili Parmesan ( I think) |
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| I don't know what it's called but the dominant flavors were that of cucumber and lemon. |
THAI ME UP AND FIL ME UP
This place is by far my favorite restaurant and I am praying that they bring this to Manila. This restaurant offers the complete dining experience - the place is really quaint, there's something to look at in every corner of the restaurant, the food tastes heavenly and their plating/food presentation is great as well. It's better to go there in the evening when the weather is cooler and when you get to visit, don't forget to order a pitcher of green envy.
MAI CRAFTS AND CAFE
I walked from our hotel to Ateneo de Cagayan because I wanted to visit their museum. However, to my luck, it was closed. I refused to go back to the hotel room without having seen or done anything interesting and so I went around the area. I came across Mai Crafts and Cafe. This place, I find interesting because it is both a home decor store and a cafe. I saw a sign that they were selling Churros con Chocolate and I bought one, not that I was hungry but I really wanted to sit in their 'cafe' which is made up of 3 tables that could each sit 3 people at a maximum. The place had a small rustic feel to it and it's the kind of place where you could just order a cup of tea and read a good book - I didn't have a book but the Churros with native chocolate wasn't bad at all. haha!
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| Mai Crafts and Cafe |
INILOG
This is their local resto-bar and they do have black lights which is why people in white shirts in the photo below are glowing. It's an interesting place, they have jokes plastered all around the restaurant to keep first time visitors amused. And their sizzling ostrich (which is a popular local delicacy) is delicious. It's the kind of place Saturday night + buckets of beer chill place.
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| Inilog |
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| Their version of a chandelier |
One of my most interesting buys during my trip is this gigantic mango. I have never seen a mango this huge! I mean how does a fruit this heavy not fall off the tree?
Besides these restaurants, those in CDO should also try water rafting, buy something from the hundreds of ukay-ukay stores there, go to Bukidnon to see visit the Del Monte farm or drive to iligan (2-3hours) to see the mighty Maria Cristina Falls or to take a dip in Tinago Falls.
It was my first time to go to North Mindanao and since it isn't one of the famous tourist spots in the country, I didn't think that there's so many beautiful places to visit there. I do hope I could get the chance to come back and really travel and explore the area.
