By some unforeseen circumstances, this blogger will find himself spending the holy week in the historic City of Butuan, the capital of Agusan Del Norte. It shouldn’t be a surprise since I’m from there though I happen to work here in Manila.
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I say unforeseen because this was totally unexpected. I have accepted the fact that I will be working through the holy week (yep, including black saturday) since I’m supporting some European country and we’re about to migrate some of their work here. This european country however is strictly catholic (think in terms of Padre Damaso and Fray Butod and you’d know which country I’m talking about) and they decided not to come to the office, which means I’ve got some time in my hands. It also helped a lot that the significant other made arrangements for me to fly tomorrow which is really awesome.

So barring any force of nature, I should be in Butuan by noon tomorrow. Now if by some stroke of luck you find yourself in Butuan City, what do you do, where do you go, and where do you sleep. Despite being a city and all, Butuan is still a very small place with very limited options. No offense meant, I’m talking relative to Manila here. Anyway, there are still very nice places to go to within the city if you have time to spare.

If you’re an internet addict like myself and you’ve got your own wifi enabled laptop, you can always go to Margies at the Pan De Pugon along forgive-me-i-forgot-the-name-of-the-street, lol. But the place is very popular so you shouldn’t have any problem asking the tricycle driver to take you there. In a way this is where the ‘sosyal’ set hangout (that’s what I heard anyway). They have free wifi and their cakes are awesome. Ask for a whole chocolate cake and you’d be set back by around P800. In fairness, Margies does not skimp on the ingredients so it’s sinfully delicious. I have yet to taste a chocolate cake that’s as rich as the one that Margies has. Yep even here in Manila. Conti’s? Puhlease.

If you’re looking for a meal on the gourmet side, you can always go to True Brew where they serve those mouthwatering pork ribs and those hungarian sausages that are bigger than the sausages you see in porno movies. Sorry, bad joke. But really, the food they serve there is first rate. Trust me on this one, everytime I’m in Butuan, I always manage to gain a couple of pounds from visiting True Brew so much.

Butuan also has its share of little cancer centers in the form of BBQ stalls near the public elementary school. Again the name of the street escapes me. But these stalls are only open from late afternoon onwards. If you’ve got the grilled meat munchies, this is the place to go to. I often go there with my and eat our hearts out, the big gluttons that we are.

If you’re after seafood and chicken (the ubiquitous chicken inasal) there’s always Weegols and Aling Cora. I prefer the latter though. The kinilaw there (sort of like sashimi but bathed in vinegar with lots of chili if you like) is absolutely fantastic, pair that one with grilled Ketong (nope not the disease dummy, it’s a kind of fish) and you’re in for an absolute treat.

After all these pig-outs, you may want to get a little pampering and head on over to Body and Sole. You can get a facial or a full body massage at ridiculous prices. You’ll easily find yourself snoring after all the pampering you get.

Now the good thing about all of these is that this is Butuan, and as I said a very small city, which means that all of these things will cost you very, very little.

In terms of shopping, there’s really only one destination– Gaisano Mall. And while you’re at it, you may want to visit Bambi’s. It’s a can’t miss store and if you have the hots for anything Barbie or Hello Kitty and all those cute little characters that’s the place to go. They might even give you a discount if you mention that you know of Bambi’s through this blog. The beautiful Bambi better be prepared to compensate me for this plug. Lol.
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