Ayala Centrio Mall

"Deep in the heart of Mindanao lies Cagayan de Oro, a first-class growing metropolis that has earned the sobriquet the city of golden friendship. For here, the people are ever ready to welcome visitors into their homes, be it ever so humble, and into their hearts. The home of warm and hospitable people, CDO is also home to awe-inspiring historical sites and natural wonders designed for pulse-racing adventures for adrenaline junkies like white water rafting, kayaking, rappelling, and zip lining." - Philippine Star



I went to Cagayan de Oro yesterday together with our company's Managing Director - Kathy Gueverra, to visit our new client Ayala Centrio Mall.



We were awarded the contract of protecting their establishment from pests. I got the chance to take a stroll during my visit yesterday. Centrio is an integrated mixed-use complex composed of a shopping mall, Seda hotel, an office building and a condominium tower located along Capt. Vicente Roa St. and Corrales Ave., cor. C.M. Recto Avenue, Cagayan de Oro City.

Ayala Land preserved two large acacia trees, about 60 years old.


While other developers would have cut them down or relocated them, they built the mall around the trees and made them the centerpiece of the development.




Tenants in the mall includes Esprit, Starbucks, Aldo,  J. Co Donuts, Watsons,  White Yoghurt, Bench Human, Kashieca, Face Shop, Cotton On and many more.



There is also homegrown food merchants Bigby’s, Candy’s, Thai Me Up, Oro Shawarma, Nai Cha, SLERS and Barkadahan Grill.




non-food merchant list at Centrio includes Bettina, Children’s World, Mag’s, Treasures, Parasat, Hair Chemistry, I Lash Salon, Solidmark, Spacecom, Vanity Works, St. Jude Optical, Technomart and Oro Graphic.

30 Days of Thankful: Share-a-Page Fridays

The Living Treasure: Lang Dulay

Our group was privileged to meet in person Lang Dulay, a National Living Treasure Awardee and a Tinalak Master Weaver.   She is now 98 years old.  Upon arriving at the center, I got thrilled to see a number of looms laid full with T'nalak.

LANG DULAY wearing a T'boli dress and ME

Our group posing inside the Manlilikha ng Bayan Center of Sitio Tukolefa, Lamdalag, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato.  The center is dedicated to the preservation and flowering of the ancient art of T'boli textile weaving.   
(Picture: Me, Tita Lina, Deenia, Marilee, Tessie and  Dolly)

Lang Dulay knows a hundred designs, including the bulinglangit (clouds), the bankiring (hair bangs), and the kabingi (butterfly), each one special for the storied it tells.  Her T'nalak designs were inspired by patterns from her dreams.

Using red and black dyes, she spins her stories with grace. Her textiles reflect the wisdom and the visions of her people.  The process also includes talking to spirits before they could even get the fibers from the abaca tree. 

 Lang Dulay even at 98 years old willingly made a demo on how to weave T'nalak.  

An original t'nalak design from Lang Dulay would cost a  a thousand pesos per meter.

The t'nalak being sold here is a lot pricey compared with those being sold from other lakeside souvenir shops. But if you really want the real-deal, Lang Dulay's creation is worth the price.

An 8 meter per roll of t'nalak is intricately handwoven for four months. This is me trying how to weave.

She was only 12 when she first learn how to weave. Through the years, she has dreamed that, someday she could pass on her talent and skills to young in her community.

Upon learning that she was being considered to be one of the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan awardees, tears of joy fell from her eyes.

Clinica Ruiz - Glan Saranggani Province

Our last stop at Saranggani Province is the Clinica Ruiz, owned by Dr. Tranquilino Ruiz II. To fully appreciate the history and culture of Glan, visitors of the province would always drop by the Ruiz family memorabilia which he patiently collected and preserved over the years.

 Dr. Jose Tranquilino Ruiz II, a scion of one of the first families to settle in Glan during the early 1900s


He has a vast collection of antiques, gongs, and old pictures of "colonos" (first Christian settlers) of Glan.




Their ancestral house, which is a now a semi-museum, is open to the public (by appointment) and is just near the town hall making it ideal for visitors to have it on their list when they explore the town.  Thanks to our tour guide REY, we were able to visit the museum.