Philippines / North Mindanao / Cagayan de Oro City

This university city is the economic and cultural center of northern Mindanao. It is a lively and noisy city with a relatively small downtown and extensive suburbs. Nevertheless, for this author it's probably the most pleasant city of Mindanao, and it's also easy to reach as ships from Cebu City and other ports in the Visayas have convenient overnight connections with Cagayan de Oro. The plaza in downtown is not quite as nice as Luneta in Manila or the plaza of Bacolod City but it's not unpleasant though a little bit too small. Several times when this author visited Cagayan de Oro, the central area of the city was closed for vehicle traffic during the night - probably rather for security reasons and not to ensure a good sleep for residents and visitors. However, one doesn't mind that security measure as it does permit a night without being awakened by tricycles.