THE first column I wrote way back in 2003 was about the Cagayan de Oro fiesta.
Twenty-two years later, here’s the fiesta again. How time flies. And the Cagayanon is happy, with much thanks to the holidays: Ninoy Aquino Day on August 21, National Heroes’ Day on August 25, and the fiesta on August 28. Plus the fiesta activities.
If only mobile networks would not turn off phone signals as part of the fiesta’s security measures, the celebration will be better? Hmmm.
Traffic is much worse than usual due to road closures and vehicle rerouting to give way to some fiesta events that use the streets.
With so many events to choose from, the Cagayanon is now confused: Which way do I go, which way did they go? Concerts, fireworks, parade, marathon, rave run, lechon festival, food booths, etc.
I don’t even know anymore if a particular activity is part of the city’s celebration or not. But at least this I know: if you’re an uptowner and you work from home or your office/business is also in uptown CDO, avoid going to downtown until August 28. Oh. Include August 29, too, since that’s a Friday. A rainy Friday afternoon is the worst time to travel around CDO.
I think it’s now wise to have two houses or condo units in CDO: one in downtown, the other in uptown. Wherever the Cagayanon is during traffic jams, he can easily go to his nearest residence and avoid the traffic, thereby saving himself from at least an hour or two of useless travel.
In the ‘80s when uptown CDO was known only for Lumbia airport, traffic was unheard of in the city. We couldn’t play patintero anymore along Corrales Avenue where we used to live, but the traffic wasn’t that bad yet. The Cagayanon could still make muni-muni, parang namamasyal sa Luneta, while walking along Velez Street, Corrales Avenue, and Osmeña Street during rush hours. Try doing that now at, say, 5 pm. Good luck na lang.
Wait, there was even no rush hour in CDO then.
But, as a city councilor once said, traffic is a sign of progress. So, I guess the Cagayanon should be happy and grateful for that. Haha.
For me, Dunkin’ Donuts opening a branch here in CDO was a sign of progress. I used to bring that as pasalubong each time I was in Manila. When Dunkin’ finally opened here, I switched to Krispy Kreme as pasalubong. And when Krispy Kreme opened here, it was time to switch to J.CO. I remember lining up at its MOA branch then.
And when J.CO opened here, I heaved a deep sigh of relief. Whew. No more need to bring pasalubong. But then, I discovered Eng Bee Tin’s Golden Pork Floss Hopia.
Choosing the right kind of pasalubong is crucial. It reduces luggage space. If it’s delicate and fragile, like Majestic’s egg tarts (Cebu), it should be hand-carried. Imagine lugging that around from point A to point B, complete with the chaos of travel, only for the recipient to find it unworthy.
Surely CDO now has fiesta guests who want to buy pasalubong, too. They should try MiMo Cafe’s croissants and espresso canele. Yummiest!
Other must-tries are Jacks Halo Halo’s taro-ube overload and Fat Chef’s bilo-bilo. The halo-halo as pasalubong may need a cooler, though.
