Sarah G in CDO Part I

For the past two days, Sarah G's has rocked Cagayan de Oro.

Fortunate that we are, a day before her concert she visited one of her endorsed food chain near our workplace. So I got the chance to have a glimpse of her for the very first time. But my sister who is an avid fan of Sarah G had the opportunity to meet and greet her up close.

She'll never grow tired in sharing her experience over and over again.

No Man Is an Island

I can say that I’m blessed with the gifts of persons. One Sunday which is our only rest day from work, my friends willingly offered to work on the on-going construction of our house. In a way, we can save on the labor cost. The site is an hour ride from the City of Cagayan de Oro.

Truly with lots of hands, the work was hastened. The septic tank was almost done as well as the leveling of the soil inside the house. My family was amazed of how fast things were. The place was filled with people who were enjoying working with each other.
We stopped working at around 2 pm because it rained hard so we gathered inside the place where I got the chance to thank everybody for their precious time and effort. It means a lot to me and to my family and it will be forever remembered in our hearts that a part of our house was built by the sweats of generous people.

Mountainbiking!

Excitement rushed through my veins as I woke up very early on Black Saturday.

At first, things seemed fun and easy for me until the first ascend where I pedaled so hard but I felt like not moving a bit. So I went down from the bike and pushed it to the top where my companions were waiting for me. Sweats were flowing like rain. I remembered begging countless times that we stop for a while to rest. The going up rocky path made it more difficult for me. Another challenge set before me was the descending part which is very steep for me. It’s cemented but I got scared that I might not be able to control the brake and go down continuously that again I was thinking of just walking. But hesitantly I’ve decided to go down riding the bike praying the brake can handle my weight and the gravity. But thank God I was able to arrive at our destination which is the watershed or lomboy as popularly named by them. I took sometime to taste the gift of nature. The air is so refreshing and the water is clear and clean. It has preserved its natural beauty although the place has changed a lot. I’m hoping that the villagers will continue to take care of this bounty.

From lomboy, we have to climb the road and push the bikes. After which, I’ve never gone down from the bike to walk. The trail was still rocky but at least descending so I won’t have exert much effort to move.

In totality I really had a great time with mountain biking. Thank to the two friends of my boyfriend who joined us, to Zary for the borrowed rig and also to Kelvin for his bike that I used. And most especially for my Lavs for the jersey I wore and for making it possible for me to experience the hardship and enjoyment of mountainbiking.

Warm Up

This pics were taken in the afternoon of thursday. Together with his younger sister, I had my chance to get familiar with mountainbike. I got a little uneasy at first since I have'nt had pedalled for quite a long time especially that it's also my first time with mountainbike in particular. But after moving around their village, I found biking as enjoyable as always.

I remembered my childhood days when I was so eager to learn how to bike that I am not ashamed of asking my neighbor to teach me using thier own two wheels because we don't have one at home. After fervent practice, I was able to experience the fun of biking especially when our father bought our own bike.

Holy Week Trip to Cotabato

Common practice of the company I'm working with is closing business for the Holy Week that is from thursday to saturday. Well sunday is our rest day. So I took the chance of spending it at my boyfriend's place.

Maundy thursday after taking a my early bath and filling my stomach with an instant noodle, I was already in the bus terminal at 5:30 where I waited for an hour for the bus to arrive. Passengers going to different destinations were swarming the place. It was a good thing that I did not brought lots of baggage.

After stopping at major municipalities in bukidnon including a halt for breakfast and lunch, the bus finally arrived at 1 pm in Kabacan where my boyfriend have been waiting for 2 hours already :(. From there, we rode another bus going to Cotabato.

At last we reached our destination where he took me to a fastfood in the mall where he had a snack and mine a big meal :).

A Visit to the Shrine of Guadalupe

Located at Tablon which is 20 minutes away from Cagayan de Oro City, one could ride a puj then just tell the driver that you’re heading to the Shrine of Guadalupe. From Tablon highway, another ride on a motorized trisikad should be taken to get you to the starting point. The one hour trail consists of walking on land and crossing the river 9 times which water level may rise up above the knee or even up to the hip line and water current may vary depending on the area. So the hikers should be very careful in crossing.

The Stations of the Cross are placed at strategic areas where you can light a candle on the stones and say your prayer till you get to the 14th station which is at the mountaintop. A chapel was also built there for a Holy Eucharist every 7th of the month. But it is open everyday where the public can always say their prayers.

Few distances from the chapel are picnic tables and benches which can be used without charge so the whole family and friends can rest while sharing some food.

The place is really perfect for devotees who want to experience Him through the Mary of Guadalupe in the serenity of the mountains. At the same time, it’s a perfect nature trekking for everybody.

white rapids-full story

Because of late confirmation, our original plan of 8 am was moved to 11 am. So the sun was already high so I covered myself with more cloth to shield me from the scorching heat. We gathered in Divisoria where we waited for everybody to arrive. The team who facilitated the activity asked us to sign an agreement that includes statements such as that we came in our own freewill, that injuries may result along the course and our personal belongings are our responsibility.

From there, we traveled for an hour to the starting point but we dropped by the endpoint to get rafts and things necessary for the activity. While everything was being loaded in the jeepney, we took the chance of hanging the zip line where we really had fun.

Finally we arrived at the starting point. After we have put on our helmets and life jackets, we were given basic course about it like the three parts of a paddle-blade, shaft and the tie grip. The basic paddling strokes were also taught and most especially the safety in the water tips. And so the adventure began. There were 14 rapids along the way. The first one really took our breath away since being first timers we did not what it’s gonna be like. One gets to experience different things in the various rapids. We were allowed to take a plunge in the water. Our guide Jong did made a good job in giving us one great time-adventure and knowledge since he mentioned lots of things worth knowing along the way. The exciting activity ended after 3 hours with big smiles on our faces.