Should I stay or should I go? Back and forth Marikina-Mindanao

I practically lived all my life in Marikina. My family first came here in 1989 when my parents bought their first house in the quiet neighborhood of Marikina Heights. I love my neighborhood. However, the media hype tarnished the reputation of this peaceful community since a lot of news has been written about rape tragedies and salvage killings during the 90s. But to me, it is a great place! I love my friends that I grew up with and also I love my school, St. Scholastica's Academy of Marikina. I still live in Marikina Heights with my sister, my cousin, and our pet beagle Pacman in St. James Villas.

This is our second house since the first one was sold when my parent's business went bad. This house is an apartment type building. My parents do not live here anymore because they have already gone to Davao for our business.

Because of that, I usually invite my friends to come over and stay with me during the weekend.
I have also hosted a lot of travelers from different parts of the world!

2008 was the year when I first got the chance to travel to Mindanao. My cousin from my father's side will get married and they have invited us. I like Davao. I like how you can go to Samal island and then go back, all in the same day. I like how it is clean, similar to Marikina.



This year I went to another part of Mindanao, Cagayan de Oro. It was a great trip for me!I was able to meet some friends from a youth organization, Dire Husi whose Art House is along Nazareth street.




Thanks to Cebu Pacific promo fares, I was able to book a flight to Cagayan de Oro from Davao for a really sweet price. I'm so excited to know more about Cagayan de Oro like which are the best places to go...and not just the touristy places. I like the small surprises of everyday, like 2 shirts for 5 pesos? Wow, Cogon is an ukay-ukay paradise I must say.

I love Marikina, no doubt about it. The small cafes like Pan de Americana and our favorite Tapsilog hangout, Tapsi ni Vivian, I will truly miss those. But I think, I'm ready for Cagayan de Oro! I'm actually planning to move out of Marikina but I don't know which is a good place for me, Davao or Cagayan de Oro? Truth be told, Cagayan de Oro was the first city that really made me want to stay...