Meet the Blogger

 

best beaches in the Philippines

Chyng Reyes was born and raised in the flooded area of Malabon. She  currently lives in Makati. The blogger gained a degree of BS Electronics and Communications Engineering in a university at Intramuros, Manila. She's currently working for a Software Development company somewhere  in the concrete jungle district of Ayala, Makati. 

Many are COLD, but few are FROZEN.

This blog was created because of boredom. Due to unpreparedness, she named this blog "No Spam, No Virus, No Kiddin'!" inspired by her job then, which was for an AntiVirus company. This blog features AntiVirus reviews, Do It Yourself trips, Comfort Food Hunt, Fun Photography, No Drama Recipe and Feel Good Blogging only. Ü

She owned Vincent, her first point and shoot camera, last Feb 2008. And got a DSLR, which was named Harvey, last Jan 2010. She upgraded early this year and named her camera Luke.

hello, I'm Chyng Reyes. a travel blogger from the Philippines.

Growing up, she's been hospitalized a lot of times. Her immune system is never at its finest - that's why she never imagined herself to travel alone, do risky things, climb mountains, scuba dive, surf waves, explore caves, trek falls, and more. Now everyone's surprised (including herself) to see her kind of trips and adventures. She has weak lungs yet she went diving. She never liked the cold weather yet she climbed snowy mountains. She always suffer from amoebiasis yet she indulged the food in India and Thailand. She has fears, yet she tries not to limit herself. Indeed, "Malaya ang matapang!"

She is a late bloomer when it comes to traveling. However, traveling is not a contest. Everyone can have each own preference and no one should be telling what's the best thing to do or where to go next. There are simply no rules. She travels to experience the world outside Manila. How people live differently, how they imagine 'perfection', how they define 'beauty and chaos', how they worship their gods - these things interest her to explore more.

PS - say hi to her when you see her on the road!

Just so you know, when I visit other blogs, I always read the About Me page. Somehow I want to know more about the blogger as a person. A short background will do. So here's mine. After blogging for 2.5 years, I made an About Me page. Bida ako today, pagbigyan nyo na. BIRTHDAY ko kasi! ♥

Camiguin Island Tour

Upon seeing the beauty and charm of Bahay Bakasyunan, we almost forgot we had an island tour to make. Since there will be not enough time to visit all the tourist spots, we just chose the best places that interest us. Our contact is Chris (0921.563.7788) he charged us P2500 for 2 days. Here goes the tour:

First, we went to Katibawasan Falls. Entrance is P15 each.

falls behind the board

preview of the falls - lovely!

bird's eye view of the place

Katibawasan Falls - up close

The water is very cold! The boys managed take a dip. The girls didnt. Haha

dont kill me Xtian

happy bday! Ü

my JGC ♥

Next na!

The place is called Giant Clams Sanctuary. Entrance fee is P25. There's not much guests when we arrived.

locals said it's better to visit in the morning

We tried snorkeling to see the Giant Clams. The locals provided us to use the goggles for free. Could have been fun but the seabed really hurts our feet. The water stings my face too. Will post my super kanegrahan picture in FB. hihi

Nonetheless, upon seeing these bright colored, live, giant clams - wala na. It took our breath away. The long drive to get here is all worth it.

oh my, buhay nga siya!

Giant Clams - for real!

may bonus pang starfish!

I extremely had fun with this place because of the Giant Clams. We're all amazed!

We hurriedly went to Sunken Cemetery to have a view of the place at sunset time. It didn't fail to impress us.

super photogenic Sunken Cemetery as the sun sets

the place is simple yet very stunning

sunset drama

Next stop na is Walkway to the Old Volcano and Stations of the Cross.

Walkway to the Old Volcano and Stations of the Cross

It's already dark, just in time to visit Ardent Hot Spring.

welcome to Ardent Hot Spring

Entrance is P30 each. The reviews Ive read are correct. The place is crowded and full of drunk locals and guests. The only place that's not crowded is deepest springs. Lucky us, everyone can swim. We enjoyed that spot all by ourselves.

harutan bonding sa deepest part ng hot spring

thanks My for the photo - ulirang photograper award for you! Ü

And opcors, after a tiring day, a complete dinner is good but a dinner feast is better.

a dinner feast at Vjandep

We ended the day by just relaxing in BBC's amenities. Perfect for casual drinking by the pool. Great bonding time. ♥

3rd day is for White Island. It's best to visit this in the morning while the tide is low. Else the sand bar wont show up. We hired a boat for P400 to take us to the famous sand bar. While the entrance is P20.

1st glimpse of White Island - mini tiangge?

the famous sand bar

The place is indeed beautiful. But not spectacular. Aside from the many vendors in the place, I dont like the seabed too. Masakit sa paa. We tried snorkeling too, but there's not much to see. This White Island is just ok. Wag na OA to brag that this is Soooo Beautiful. Ok lang. Period. Magandang you know what to expect if ever you plan to visit this in the future. Ü

Gloomy and Seaweed-dy White Island

in memory of supporting Gordon (see baller)

island souvenirs

After camwhoring, we decided to leave and have breakfast in Bahay Bakasyunan.

Oopps, what's leaving Camiguin without buying these bread? 1 dozen = P115

36 dozens of Pastel please!

Vjandep stands for Virgilio Jose amd Eleanor Popera (aha!)

Super sarap! No wonder every tourist hoards these Camiguin specialty. Btw, I've been to Market Market last weekend and I saw these being sold at P175. Mahal pero kesa naman pumunta pa ulit ng Camiguin to taste these.

To catch the 6.30pm flight, we left Camiguin at 12noon. Since there is no available fast craft that time, we have no choice but to go back to CDO the long and hard way. We took the RORO. Omg, it's really so slow! After an hour of sailing, we found ourselves still along the port. Hilarious! After the RORO experience, we took the bus to CDO town proper. The bus ride is about 3 hours. When where already in Gaisano Mall, we managed to transfer to a taxi to drive us to the airport. EFFORT!

Honest conclusion:

If I live in Visayas or Mindanao region, I would appreciate going to Camiguin. But since Im from Luzon, effort na para puntahan pa to. I wont ride that RORO again para lang makita ang Camiguin. Yes the island is beautiful, pero kung isama ko yung effort factor to get there - parang I would think twice.

Again, bonus nalang yung sidetrip sa Camiguin dahil Rafting palang sa CDO, super winner na. Ü

Overall, this CDO-Camiguin trip is still a Winner!

W is Winner!

Cagayan de Oro - Camiguin series

Dahilayan's Longest Dual Zipline in Asia

Expert (not just Advance) Course Rafting

Bahay Bakasyunan sa Camiguin

Camiguin Island Tour

I've included every entrance fee, rate, price of everything as well as the contacts we availed for this trip. Take time to read na lang. If you would ask how much we spent for the entire trip and you're so tamad to do the math- well it's about P7500 for the all-in expenses while in the trip and P1800 for the roundtrip airfare.

Bahay Bakasyunan sa Camiguin

Related entries to this CDO-Camiguin series

Dahilayan's Longest Dual Zipline in Asia
Expert (not just Advance) Course Rafting

Since late last year, I've prioritize the art of being a traveler and not just a tourist. I've been to destinations where no decent accommodation, no fancy dining, no easy transportation are available. Surprisingly, I enjoyed all the DIY trips as extremely as I could imagine. These "hardships" made my every trip very memorable too.

But since it's the first time JGC flies to Mindanao, we all agreed to experience the best Camiguin Island could offer. Deadma na kung kinda expensive. We picked Bahay Bakasyunan sa Camiguin as our home.

From Wilshire Inn in CDO, we took a cab going to Macabalan Port. Fare is P100/taxi. There is only 1 trip per day from CDO-Camiguin if you plan to take Paras SeaCat ferry. I recommend this route. Schedule is at 8:30am. Fare costs P400 each. Travel time is 2hours.

sailing the beautiful sea of Pinas!

Travel is convenient. The usual fast ferry ride. After 2 hours, we finally saw the island of Camiguin. For our contact, I chose Chris (0921.563.7788) to tour us around the island using his multicab. He charged us P2500 for 2 days service. Deal!

Camiguin welcomes JGC

We headed first to Bahay Bakasyunan sa Camiguin to check in. It's a 20min ride from Benoni Port.

this way

the resort's signage gave us a warm welcome

We were greeted by the staffs and gave us welcome drinks. We booked 2 standard rooms with 8 single beds. A standard room normally has 2 beds only, but since the rooms are spacious, we decided to add 2 beds per room. Way cheaper than getting 4 rooms for 8 persons. We only paid P900 each.

Now let's see if the actual appearance of this resort is as stunning as its website.

bakasyon mode - definitely ON!

Bahay Bakasyunan sa Camiguin features mixed modern and traditional architecture.

we're all impressed ♥

The place is very quiet, clean, and maintained. There's not much guests too!
The rooms we got are connected. We have an easy access to the other room. Fun!

simple yet cozy setup

Eto na, the original plan was just to drop our things and immediately proceed with touring the island. But how can we leave this beautiful place? Ang hirap...

poolside with the ocean view

how i miss this kind of accommodation

mini day spa

Haay, we left very very late for our island tour. Panira tong Bahay Bakasyunan sa Camiguin ng itinerary namin. Hihi

BBC at night

bokeh with reflection at the pool

We have no regrets we settled for BBC in our Camiguin trip. In the morning, we availed the complimentary breakfast by the ocean. Honestly, this could be the best reason why I should go back to Camiguin in the future. Seriously.

Now we know why this is called Bahay Bakasyunan.

the name of the resort speaks for itself

highly recommended!

Up next: Camiguin Island Tour

Bahay Bakasyunan sa Camiguin
Mambajao, Camiguin
http://www.bahaybakasyunan.com/

Cagayan de Oro Water Rafting - Expert Course

See Dahilayan's Longest Dual Zipline in Asia first.

To start with, all of my friends are like me, malakas ang trip so we all agreed to take the Expert Course. Oh yeah, not just the Beginner and Advanced Course. (there are 4 courses pala: beginner, advance, expert, and extreme) With intensive exposures from flooded areas of Bulacan, Malabon & Valenzuela during rainy and high tide seasons, no wonder we're all thrilled to experience the Expert Course Rafting! Ü

Our guide is Clint, a certified Kagay. Btw, we availed their photo service for only P250, which also includes a CD! The photographer rides a kayak. Cool eh?

This is the standard ride that will pick up the guests.
o

by Kagay - the finest

This is it!

Actually we were taken to another spot. The Kagays just picked up our rafts and gears here.

When were in the starting point for Experts Course, Clint held an orientation by the river. Here's our favorite lesson:

High Five! Ü

We're ready for the rapids of Cagayan River.

Beautiful indeed!

Our rafts! Feeling astig na agad kahit di pa nakakalayo sa starting point. Haha

It's easy to paddle, really. Well, we're not really taking this seriously. We're just after the fun!

We stopped and Clint asked us to climb a big stone. From there, all of us has to jump. No one feared, lahat kami nakatira sa flooded areas, walang hindi marunong lumangoy samin. And opcors, lahat kami insured. Talon na! Ü



Moving on.. more activities of course!
Series of water splashes.


The sudden drops...

High Five team!

We just so loved them all!

This is paddling against the rapids. Our goal is to turn the raft upside down. We extremely enjoyed this part.

Lunod moments are the most exciting part of the rafting experience

For the finale, everyone must jump out of the raft to rapids. Oh yeah, you will be submerged for a while, so just go with the current and you will find yourself in the other end of the river. Cool!



This activity was so fun! And because Im with my dear friends, this experience became 8x memorable and 8x more fun! This activity alone makes our Mindanao trip very sulit.

Thank you Cagayan River for that awesome ride! Ü

KAGAY

www.cdorafting-map.com

0917.712.2323 / dankaamino@yahoo.com

After those tiring activities that day, we headed to Wilshire Inn to sleep. We availed 2 rooms for 8 persons. We paid P266 each. Tipid yet comfy accommodation.

Wilshire Inn

Lobby

Contrary to some bad reviews, the rooms are clean, spacious, have well functioned aircon units, flat screen TV, and comfortable beds/mattresses/pillows. Yes I do recommend Wilshire Inn for budget accommodation.

Wilshire Inn

0915.233.2734

Next post will be Camiguin Island..