Camiguin Island, The Island Born of fire, the land of the sweetest lansones and yummy pastel, is located in the Northern Mindanao Region and formerly a part of Misamis Oriental. Camiguin is the second smallest province in the Philippines both in population and land area after Batanes and Mambajao is its capital and its largest municipality in both area and population.

The island is called the "Island Born of Fire" because it is said that it was created by volcanic eruptions and land movements.

How to get here:

We went to Agora Bus Terminal in Cagayan De Oro, from there, we rode a van that will take us to Balingoan Pier. Travel time from Agora Bus Terminal to Balingoan Pier is around 1.5 to 2 hours. Since we traveled very early, it only took us exactly 1.5 hours. From Balingoan Pier its a 1-hour RoRo ride to Port of  Benoni in Camiguin. First trip is at 0500H and costs PHP170.00 each. From there, we met our driver/ tour guide for our day trip in Camiguin Island.


Places to visit:

• Katibawasan Falls

• Ardent Hibok Hibok Hotspring Resort

• Bohol Sea and Mt. Vulcan

• Old Catarman (Gui-ob) Church Ruins

• Sunken Cemetery

Yes, you can do Camiguin tour for a day, but I must say that its not enough. In our case, I felt like we're contestants in The Amazing Race. We arrived in Camiguin Island and started the tour a little before 0700H. We only stayed in each destination for a few minutes, the longest maybe is an hour in White Island and Sto.Nino Cold Spring Resort. We wanted to stay long but we cannot since the distance from one destination to another is really far and we have to catch the last trip of the barge/ RoRo back to Cagayan De Oro at 1615H, and we almost miss it. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the tour. Knowing someone from Camiguin made the place into my travel bucket list, but, being located in Mindanao area, I never thought that I could set foot in this Island this soon.


xx, Joyce

The day after I arrived from Cagayan De Oro was scheduled for the 19th Hot Air Balloon Fiesta held in Airforce City, Clarkfield Pampanga. This was my second time to visit such event. The first one was last February 2013 for its 18th year. Since I was still in CGY then, my friend took charge of buying our tickets. Entrance ticket then was PHP250.00, now it cost PHP300.00 with an additional PHP20.00 at SM Ticket Net.

As early as 3:00AM, we're already on our way to Clark, Pampanga. We took the same route as we did the first time we went here. From Five Star bus terminal in Cubao, we rode a bus bound for Dagupan then went down in Mabalacat Bus Terminal in Pampanga. There, there's the lounge for passengers bound for Clark International Airport. And since it will pass by the Omni Aviation Complex, we joined the ride for PHP100.00 each. I noticed that now, there are tricycles offering a ride to Airforce City for I think PHP100.00 per ride, cheaper, but I learned from the personel of the airport lounge that it will not bring you directly to the main event place, I think its just up to the gate/ entrance of the Airforce City, and I noticed that the entrance is still very far from the event place. So I still chose to ride the airport shuttle for a no hassle travel.

If I were to compare the hot air balloon fiesta's 18th and 19th year, I must say that  last 2013 is much better than this year's. But still, its a different experience this time since I travelled again with the boyfie plus two good friends of mine, Yza and Mitchiko. There are more booth around the place this year, there's more to see, more food stalls and souvenir shops.

After all the hot air balloons flew, we already roam around the place. The friends had a face/body paint, we had a picture in a photo booth, bought some souvenir and had more photos around.

Afterwards, we went back to Mabalacat bus Terminal to catch a trip to Olongapo since we'll be going to Ocean Adventure in Subic.

From the bus terminal, we rode a Victory Liner bound for Olongapo and went down in Harbor Point in Subic. From there, we  walked 'til we found the terminal for the free shuttle bus to Ocean Adventure and it is located at the bus and taxi terminal across the street from the Subic Bay Sports Complex, next door to the Golden Dragon Restaurant. Take note that there's no public transportation that will take you to Ocean Adventure so its either you wait for the free shuttle or if you miss it, ride a taxi, and, its I think more than 30 minutes travel without the traffic from the shuttle pick-up point to Ocean Adventure. So, just imagine how much it will cost you if you will miss the free shuttle. But if you're travelling in a group, then its fine.
We were given a schedule of the shows so we won't miss each of it.

• Walk on the Wild Side

L-R: The boyfie, me, Yza & Mitchiko