It wasn't really that difficult to figure out the next destination for my birthday this year. I've been to Cebu twice before this trip, and I really loved both experiences. The food! My God! That's the thing that I remembered there, that the food is really good and cheap. So I booked this trip 2 months and a half prior to me leaving and between those months, a lot has happened. There's the earthquake that shook Bohol and Cebu as well as Typhoon Yolanda. I've been in contact with the resort in Santander that I'll be staying in before I left, asking them regarding their situation and if it's safe for me to still go. You see, I didn't have an itinerary for this trip other than the fact that I really wanted to swim with the whale sharks in Oslob so I booked myself at Eden Resort, a lovely place just a few minutes away from Oslob. According to the manager and the owner of the resort they've been OK, there were no damages at their end, so that being said, I was all set.
Anyhu, this blog post will be filled with photos from that beautiful and quick r&r that I had in Cebu. Even though I went there a month after my birthday, it was still a good celebration of my life and a fabulous few days to be thankful for everything that God has made me experience.
Of course this here is the obligatory clouds and landscape while inside the airplane shot as well as the...
obligatory selfie shot hehe...HI!
About a week before my flight, Cebu Pacific informed me that my schedule was moved to a latter time so I arrived in Cebu around lunch time but I did not stay in the city to eat since it's my first time to go to Santander, I gave myself enough leeway in case I get lost. So upon arrival, I went to the South Bus Station immediately, took a Ceres bus (that has free wifi, yehey!) heading to Bato via Oslob and Liloan port. It was a looooonnnggg bus ride, about 4 hours that got me really hungry. Good thing when we passed by Car Car, a manong chicharon vendor hopped in the bus and I bought this.
To be honest, I was so guilty when I took a piece, so guilty that it took me 2 days to finish this pack. This is only P20 nga pala! Sobrang mura! Car Car I think is really known for its chicharon, ang sarap naman talaga. Grabe lang. Sobrang makasalanan.
Just a few shots I took while in the long bus ride going to Liloan, Santander. OK, here's an advice, if you are heading to this place, I think it's better that you book a flight to Dumaguete then from there go to Sibulan Fast Ferry Terminal, take a ferry going to Santander. I think that's waaaay faster, OK, lesson learned, noted with thanks!!!
I was surprised by how nice the resort was. The pictures in their site were OK but it was nothing compared to the actual thing. My room, as you can see in the photos, was huge! It can accommodate probably 3 to 4 people. It has an amazing view of the ocean and every room has a patio. The bathroom was clean and has hot water. I'm a very reasonable traveler and I don't like paying tons of money for a place that I would be in for just 2 to 3 days max, just give me my own banyo, running water and comfortable bed kahit hindi air conditioned room, I'm good. This room at Eden Resort absolutely met all my expectations and more! For the price I paid for my stay there, it was absolutely worth it.
They have a pet rabbit (whom I named Somebunny) that was just running around the grounds. So adorable.
On my second day at Santander, I went to Oslob which was just a 10 min ride from my resort. It was the day I swam with the whale sharks. According to Clyde, Eden Resort's manager, there are only 2 schedules everyday to swim with the whale sharks, either 6:30am or 9:30am, I opted for the earlier slot. Before actually swimming, you have to pay a fee of P500 which includes rental for mask, snorkel (which I must recommend that you have your own for hygienic purposes) and life vest. A lady gave me and a few tourists instructions and regulations before we actually go to where the whale sharks were. One of the things that she said that you are not allowed to touch and ride the whales...OK, got that....You're not allowed to put sunscreen on before swimming with the butandings....noted....and as much as possible distance yourself from their tail to avoid being hit...OK, got that as well. I was the only person in the bangka with 2 boat men, one was designated to paddle and the other was the one who took pictures.
The whale sharks were HUGE! They were like vans and some like mini buses under the sea. I have to say that I got scared at first because these were sea creatures, beautiful MASSIVE creatures and I didn't really know what to expect once you're under water. It also didn't help that my service driver also said to not make a lot of bubbles because they are attracted to bubbles. There were a lot of butandings! Not just 4 or 5, really a lot! They were everywhere in that spot where I swam. While I would watch a whale in front of me, one would be swimming pass my back and another would be charging at my side, it was nerve wracking. But I loved every second of me being there. These butandings were very gentle. There were a few times that I got hit by their tail but it didn't really hurt compared to being hit on the head and body by the bangka. The current was a bit rough when I was there but still, it was one of the best things that ever happened in my 34 years of being alive. To be able to swim with these jaw dropping and amazing creatures was phenomenal. Another thing that I was able to tick off from my virtual bucket list.
After that exhilarating experience, I went back to my resort to eat my breakfast and got ready to go to Sumilon Island Blue Water Resort.
Then I came across the talented couple Isay Alvarez and Robert Seña who were with their friends and they're happened to be booked in the same resort as I was. We chatted a bit about my swimming with the butandings and how their group really love to travel. I would want to have a group of friends who would travel with me once or twice in a year. That would be lovely. But until that day comes, I guess I'd be happily traveling alone for a while.
And I'm off to Sumilon Island.
Sumilon Island Blue Water Resort is a 5-star resort which is a 15 minute bangka ride from Oslob. The rooms are really expensive (P15,000 ata a night) but good thing that they have day trip offers inclusive of lunch. The last trip for the bangka ride going back to Oslob is 5pm so I used my money's worth and stayed until the last trip. I loitered, sun bathe, snorkeled, ate, and snorkeled some more there. It's a bit sad lang that some parts of the island got affected by the typhoon leaving tree logs, a few trash, messed up shoreline which made it difficult to walk in the swimming area of the beach. I hope they'd be able to fix this soon. But still, that didn't stop me from admiring the beauty and simplicity of the island. It's away from chaos, it was a good time to be one with nature. I almost took a nap while I was on the duyan.
During my last day at Eden Resort, I decided to snorkel by the beach located just a few steps from the main resort. The shoreline had tons of little sea urchins good thing I had fins. Wait! I should have picked those sea urchins up! UNI!!!!! NO!!!!!!
With the food I was eating during the trip, I decided to do cardio so I took advantage of the beautiful infinity pool of the resort and did laps. I was already feeling the chicharon living in my body so what better way to get rid of some of it.
Day 2 in Cebu I traveled from Santander to the city. I stayed at M City Suites, a pleasant and clean hotel right smack in the busy district of Cebu. Special thanks to my dear, dear mami Kate Torralba who gave me a gift check as birthday present for my first night's stay. Their room rates were not bad and I love how cozy their standard room is plus their location is perfect, they have a mall across the street so just in case you need to buy toiletries or snacks, you're good.
I arrived around 4:30pm in the city and was not that hungry for lunch. It's a good thing Anita's Bake Shop was just a walking distance from the hotel. It's Cebu's answer to Bread Talk hehe. According to the sign that it's the best place to buy Spanish bread. I'm not much of a bread eater really but when in Cebu, hala, testingan yan and it was good, no wonder the guy paying before me bought 2 bags full.
For dinner, I met up with my Cebuano friend Chad Manzo, who's an awesome graphic designer, you may check out his works here. We were supposed to eat at this restaurant that serves really good lechon but I told him that I want ihaw ihaw instead. I asked him to take me to Larsian but he suggested that we go to Matias' Inato Food Haus instead because the bbq is better there. When we arrived at the place it was full but we managed to grab a spot. I've been there na pala during my previous Cebu stay and yes, masarap nga ang bbq dun. I managed to eat 2 puso and a few sticks of bbq which made my tummy really happy that night.
We then went to La Marea, popular for their brownies in a cup. I'm not a fan of brownies so we ordered their blueberry cheesecake in a cup instead. IT WAS LOVE!!! My sister would have loved it hehe. I only took a few spoonful of the dessert because I was ready to burst at that time. Grabe lang sa sarap ang pagkain sa Cebu! Lami kaayo!
The next day, I decided to take a day trip to Maribago Blue Water Resort. I spent an entire day there just relaxing and swimming.
Maribago Blue Water Resort is the sister resort of Sumilon. It was also beautiful and the food was good. No wonder, since it was Chef Sau del Rosario who was training their chefs. I bumped into him when I was there and he still remembered me from our interview for UNO.
Zubuchon was made famous because Anthony Bourdain said that it's the best lechon that he has ever tasted, so OK, let's do this! I rarely eat lechon, aba, dapat lang or else taas na ng prisyon ko ngayon so I'm obviously not a connoisseur when it comes to it so please don't kill me when I say that I did not saw or tasted the hype that is Zubuchon. It was OK, I personally think that it wasn't really that special to be honest. I almost asked for Mang Tomas but I was scared that management might kick me out. I did like their Kamias shake though, I was tempted to order one for take out. There are other lechon brands in Cebu that are popular like CnT, Ayer, Rico's, etc, will try those next time.
Last day in Cebu, and off to the market I go to buy dried fish and pasalubong for my office mates. I went to Taboan Market, a Cebu staple where to buy danggit, chicharon, and all kinds of Cebu pasalubong.
Overwhelmed again by which stall to buy from so I just walked around a few times til I just decided to stop at one and have my dried fish packed. Warning, the smell is going to stick to your clothes when you leave the place, nangamoy danggit ako pagkatapos kong mamili.
Lunch time, I tried going to Larsian again and with luck, walang masyadong tao! Other stalls were not open as well which is better leaving me to just a few choices where to order. Chad was right though, Matias' was better although Larsian was cheaper.
All in all my Cebu get away was awesome and as per usual bitin, it will always be like that with me and Cebu seeing it's one of my favorite places. Everyone from Eden Resort, the people from Oslob, Sumilon, M Citi Suites, Maribago were really kind, the service from these establishments and places were impeccable so kudos to their management and organization, you guys are doing a good job with your staff. I'll keep coming back to Cebu and that, I really wouldn't mind at all. Still so many places to go to and tons of food to try so until my next lamyerda Cebu.
No comments:
Post a Comment