After our very tiring and adventurous morning, we decided to just rest a bit and then continue on with our ‘do-it-yourself’ city tour of CDO. This was a spur of the moment idea so we weren’t able to research a lot about places to go to in CDO. Since our hotel is located near Divisoria, we decided to just walk around and see what tourists spots are around it.
GASTON PARK
This is just a few blocks away from Divisoria Plaza, you can walk to it. It’s basically a park with a huge fountain in the middle. It was named after the first Mayor of CDO, Segundo Gaston. It served as a training ground for the local revolutionaries during the 1900s. The park boasts of its giant fountain but unfortunately, when we were there the fountain wasn’t working. There's also a nice-looking playground at the side.
 |
 |
CITY MUSEUM
Located just a stone’s throw away from the park. This was, unfortunately again, closed.
 |
ST. AGUSTINE CHURCH
Located also just beside the park. This church is the city’s main Catholic Church and the seat of the Archdiocese of CDO. The original church was built in 1845 but was destroyed during the American bombardment in 1945. The only survivor of the church is the wooden cross found in front of the church. We weren’t able to go in since there was a mass going but nonetheless, the exterior of the church was still very overwhelming.
 |
 |
VICENTE DE LARA PARK
This is just beside the Misamis Oriental Provinicial Capitol. From Gaston Park, we rented a motorella to get us there. This is previously known as the McArthur Park and is popular venue for joggers or just those who wants to relax and stroll around. In the middle of the park, you would notice a huge monument called the Heritage Monument of Misamis Oriental designed by Eduardo Castrillo. It honors the rich cultural heritage of Misamis Oriental.
 |
 |
 |
 |
MACABALAN WHARF/MACARTHUR MARKER
From the Vicente De Lara Park, we hailed a jeepnery right in front (I forgot what signboard, we just asked the locals around) to take us to Macabalan Wharf where the MacArthur Marker would be found. On the way there, we were thinking that the place might be crawling with tourists since it looked very nice when we searched for it in the internet. So imagine our surprise when we got there. The jeepney told us to get off an isolated place with one gate near the road. When we got near the gate, we were surprise to find the white hat of MacArthur inside. So this is Macabalan Wharf. Haha. It doesn’t look that ‘touristy’ or maybe because there were no people around when we got there. Anyway, the Macabalan Wharf was the place which was occupied by the American forces during the Philippine-American War in 1900. This is also the place where Gen. Douglas MacArthur landed in Mindanao in his route to Australia.
 |
 |
We had a comedy moment while taking pictures. We thought that the side facing the entrance gate was the front of the hat of MacArthur so we were taking a lot of poses there. Then suddenly, the caretaker went out of his office and told us that he will take pictures of us in front of the hat. Then he showed us the front of the hat which was opposite to where we were taking pictures haha.
 |
 |
Anyway, you could learn a lot about the history of the place inside. There are several plaques, stories, etc. it was a very insightful tour.
That ends our City Tour of CDO. Up next, food tripping at CDO!
Read more:
Conquering Northern Mindanao: Katibawasan Falls at Camiguin
Conquering Northern Mindanao: The Different "Springs" in Camiguin
Conquering Northern Mindanao: White Island Beach at Camiguin
Conquering Northern Mindanao: The Sunken Cemetery in Camiguin
Conquering Northern Mindanao: Old Church Ruins and Walkway to the Old Volcano
Conquering Northern Mindanao: White Water Rafting in Cagayan De Oro City
Conquering Northern Mindanao: Food Tripping at Limketkai Mall
Conquering Northern Mindanao: How To Go To Bukidnon
Conquering Northern Mindanao: Dahilayan Adventure Park
Conquering Northern Mindanao: Eating Fresh Pineapples in Bukidnon
Conquering Northern Mindanao: How To Get To Iligan City
Conquering Northern Mindanao: Maria Cristina Falls
Conquering Northern Mindanao: Tinago Falls
Conquering Northern Mindanao: Summary of our Trip
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete