Cagayan de Oro, Philippines - March 8, 2008
My first impression was that I really liked Cagayan de Oro. It has a mountain feel and feels to have a cooler climate than anywhere else I'd been in Mindanao and Visayas. There is also a large university right down named Xavier University, with a lot of university students around, and a lot of university type of bars, clubs, internet and the like. For some reason, it felt like it could be the equivalnet of say a Oregon or Washington State if there as one. Also, the mountains and canyons leading up from Davao to Cagayan de Oro were so beautiful and deep gorgeous canyons. The scenery was the best I've seen anywhere in Southeast Asia by far, with nowhere else even near it. Plus a lot of plants and fruits and such seemed to grow in abundance throughout this area.
In Cagayan de Oro, there is also a downtown area called Friendship Park where a lot of people congregate and feels very lively at night, complete with weekend markets, live bands, and restaurants all over the streets. There were also several parks and such.
One thing I noticed about CDO (Cagayan de Oro) is that I was getting TONS of stares and looks again from nearly everyone, just like I was back in General Santos again. Lots of 'hey joes' and 'where are you going, Joe?" and general annoyances which really annoyed me as it was so constant and so 'hey you're a foreigner, and I'm going to get your attention and bother you as much as I can while you are in my sight' kind of thing. On the other hand, later when a homeless woman started following me down the street and trying to grab me and such, a local guy scolder her and told DON'T DO THAT TO PEOPLE! which made me appreciate the place again. I like the fact that other citizens are trying to educate others to NOT harass white people or blond people or different people when they see them, as most likely they won't go back there again and spend any tourist money whatsoever if you harass them and make them want to leave.
Anyways, I still liked CDO, and felt that maybe years from now if there were more foreigner presence, and people calmed down and would turn normal around foreigners, it might be a real desirable location/city to visit again or maybe even to live in (since I am married to a Filipina and all).
I also went to the local mnall, which is always a refuge from the harassment and attention of the streets. I still got pretty much ALL stares from the moment I stepped in there as well, but at least it was the mall and there were older foreigners around (who never seem to get stared at, I guess people are comfortable with old foreigners, but stare at much younger looking ones like myself who is 37 years old. I also noted at the mall, that CDO seems to attract muslims from other countries as well. Of the couple days in CDO, everytime I was at the mall, I always saw the full-garbed muslims from the MIddle East. One of them even had countless bodyguards, which my wife said is common among the more wealthier muslims of Mindanao or wherever it is they had been living in (Saudia Arabia - maybe married to someone from there? who knows?)
Continued journal entries in the Philippines:
March 10, 2008
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