Our trip to Bonbon Church Ruins and the Sunken Cemetery was not just a journey through space. It was a subjunctive travel through the bounds of time—one that crosses the boundaries of the present and of a bygone era, etched on the tangible remnants of a poignant past. As we left the Sunken Cemetery behind, it was as if we moved from the threshold of the netherworld back into the warmth of the living, trading the salt of the sea for the sugar of the soil. Back on dry land, in the shadow of the mountains that once destroyed everything, we found a different kind of sanctuary, one that was built on the sweetness of the harvest and the slow, deliberate cultivation of friendship. 

From our poignant trip through the ruins of the tragedy that formed the landscape and wrote the history of Camiguin, we went to the place where travellers of today will surely stop to get a taste of the island that they can take back home. Pasalubong centers are staples in most provinces in the Philippines that boost tourism as they hold the promise of home that you can take back home. For an island as captivating to tourists as Camiguin, then a visit to its Pasalubong Center is a must.

Pasalubong sa Camiguin in the town of Mambajao.

One notable sight to see in the Pasalubong Center is the huge monument of a basket of lanzones, the most famous yield of the earth on the island. The lanzones of Camiguin are reputed to be notably sweet, something that is associated with the fertile volcanic soil all throughout the province. 

We bought some pasalubong items for our families back home. Apart from the ones we will take back with us to Bulacan, we also did not allow the opportunity to pass without trying their signature lanzones ice cream. Unfortunately, we were not able to capture those things in photos.

We then carried on to go to what would turn out to be our final destination in Camiguin, Utopia. It is a restaurant and coffee shop located on top of a hill, offering not only food and coffee but also a picturesque eagle’s eye view of the island. 

We bypassed a traditional dinner for plates of pasta, artisanal sandwiches, and hot lattes that felt like a necessary indulgence to close out a long day of exploring. It was an unconventional, un–Filipino spread, but the effortless warmth of our shared culture filled the room anyway. As stories were exchanged and the coffee cups emptied, the distance between traveler and local, past and present, seemed to dissolve. 

Our experiences made me realize that Camiguin’s famous volcanic fertility doesn’t just nourish the sweet lanzones or the rich harvests filling the shelves of the nearby pasalubong center; it also cultivates the human connections made upon its shores, turning a simple dinner into a sanctuary of genuine camaraderie. There, in the al fresco corners of Utopia, we found the true wrap-up to our Camiguin journey; not in the stone or the sea, but in the vibrant, living sweetness of good food and great company.