When we are out of the water scuba diving, the Dive Monster Family tries to get some real work done (scuba diving isn’t paying for itself you know). Since some stuff are going back to “normal”, we decided to start covering some events again. Mama Monster and I traveled four hours to the northern part of the province…to Canlaon City! Our work included covering the Miss Canlaon 2022 Coronation Night, Pasayaw Festival and visiting the different tourist spots in Canlaon City.
Due to the pandemic, most festivals and beauty pageants were cancelled starting in the year 2020. Thankfully after two years, some government offices are taking in the “new normal” and celebrate different festivities. The Canlaon Tourism Office accommodated us at the F & C Guesthouse where we booked to stay for two nights. There we got to rest and prepare ourselves for our first event…Miss Canlaon 2022.
Watch the Miss Canlaon 2022 Video below:
After the pageant, we slept at 1 am. We slept until six in the morning and prepared ourselves for breakfast. Then, we went straight to the plaza and the municipal hall for the lechon contest and other mini events. We grabbed a quick lunch and at 1 pm we waited at the Children’s Park for the Pasayaw Festival Dance. It wasn’t the typical festival street dance we were used to. However, we did get to see a few dancers and the City Mayor dance.
Trip to Canlaon City Tourist Spots
The following day, we decided to roam around Canlaon City and its different Tourist Spots. We woke up again at six in the morning. Our first stop was the Padudusan Falls and Water Slide. Our last visit to this place was back in 2018. There were a few changes such as better roads and a new bridge. We couldn’t go swimming though because we had to visit as many attractions in just a few hours.
Next tourist spot we went to is the farms of Canlaon. We aren’t sure exactly what the name was called, but it was either “Villa Ewa” or “Villa Iowa”. Different vegetables were planted in this area.
We got to see fields of lettuce, eggplants, bell peppers, tomatoes, onion, rice, corn, and so much more! After seeing those vegetables, we got a little hungry, so we went back to the city and ate lunch. We tried their halo-halo and it was good.
Since we were planning to finish our tour before 3 pm, we decided to check out from F & C Guesthouse. We packed our stuff and just placed all our bags in the car while we continue our adventure.
Canlaon Century Tree & Good Coffee
After lunch, we went to the Century Balete Tree or also known as the Century Tree Dalakit. It is said to be the oldest balete tree in province, and possibly the country. It is located in Barangay Lumapao and has no entrance fee. Compared to our last visit four years ago, the tourist attraction is now guarded by a fence. This was built to preserve the tree, as tourists and locals would climb the tree’s roots and some get damaged. We took a few selfies of this area then headed our way to Tita’s Garden & Cafe. This was located not far from the Century Tree.
What makes Tita’s Garden & Café a great place is the refreshing and colorful view. The entrance of the place is only Php 10. The money is then used to maintain the garden. There is a handmade wooden bridge from the highway going to the café. We ordered some coffee and budbud (sticky rice). I personally loved their native coffee. Definitely the best coffee I had in Canlaon.
It seemed to be a perfect day, until it started raining hard. So hard that you barely see the other side of the fields and mountains. Our driver and new friend, Kuya Ronnie drove us carefully to the bus terminal by 3pm, where we took a bus going home. It rained harder, as if Canlaon wanted us out already hahaha.
After four long hours on the road in an aircon bus, Mama Monster & I finally got home safely to Dumaguete City. The bus fare costed us about Php 380 each. When we finally got back home, the rain stopped…and passed out.
It was great being back in different municipalities and covering events. We encountered a bunch of problems and situations. Honestly, some of these situations turned us into a big mess and a chaos. There was a point where everyone was in a really bad mood. However, I think it is a learning curve for what future events we will cover. After all, this is only the beginning of the “new normal” we will be facing in the next few months.
Am I excited to cover the next festival or pageant? Hell yeah!
Cheers,
Daisy
