Cebu

Cebu here I come! :D

It's been a while since I last rode a plane, so I'm pretty excited when I booked my trip to Cebu. Although I've gone to different places outside the country (SG, JP, CND, and HK), I haven't really done much travelling domestically. If at all, I was only able to get around the Philippines because of a company trip, or because of school. Other than Galera and Boracay, this will by my other non-work and non-school related trip.

Our scheduled Cebu trip isn't exactly a lot - it's for 3 days and 2 nights. My purpose in going to Cebu wasn't so much to experience a lot of the tourist activities or destinations, but to take pictures around as much as I can (that's my usual reason for going to one place). So, you can expect no moving along the edge of a sky scraper or doing mission impossible feats in Cebu. I'm here to relax, not to stress myself out. :P

Day 1

Bought these at the airport

I left the house around 7 AM in the morning, heading directly to the airport. Our flight was scheduled at around 10 am in the morning (10:20 to be exact) under Cebu Pacific. Since it was past Christmas, there weren't a lot of people in the airport, so we didn't take a lot of time checking in. We were able to check in our baggages with more than an hour to spare.

I had to buy a pair of flipflops because I didn't bring one and my friend told me we were going to stay at the beach on our first day. I was able to buy one for 600 pesos - not too expensive but not really cheap either for a pair of flipflops. I did get to enjoy them because for once I was able to buy footwear that is my size.

We got to Cebu close to 12 noon. We didn't have any problems getting a cab from the airport as there were tons of cabs waiting in line. We did get a bit of problem with the cab though because he wasn't familiar with the hotel where we would be staying on our first day. In addition, it was in Mactan Island, and according to the driver it would cost us an additional 50 pesos on top the rate as it was too far from and it's difficult to get passengers at that side. I also had to navigate the driver to the hotel via Google Maps (thank God for technology).

Our hotel room

We checked in at SotoGrande hotel. The hotel was at the other end of Mactan Island, near the Mactan Shrine. It was located inside a private subdivision, with very few residential houses. The hotel isn't really what someone would call accessible, as the nearest shop was McDonald's, which requires you to either take a cab, or walk towards the subdivision entrance and then ride a tricycle afterwards.

After checking in (we were able to check-in early), we were given the key to our room and so we proceeded to check the room ourselves. The room had 2 double-size beds, a balcony and tons of mirrors. It had the basic amenities needed in a room, but what we noticed is that there were cracks on some of the walls (not sure if it was just paint scraping off the walls or actual wall cracks). I also noticed some staining on the side of the air conditioning unit, presumably due to water slipping on the sides. The water seems fine, but turning on the shower would show that the water is discoloured (maybe rust or earth), but it does clear off eventually.

The beach looks like it has a
long shoreline, but in reality it's
just a few meters long

Around 4 o'clock, we decided to head out to the beach. The beach was a few meters away from the hotel, so we just had to walk. After seeing the beach I knew that the beach was man-made, and that the sand was most likely not from the area. Since it was man-made, the shoreline was pretty short, and there were two long walls that secluded the area. The beach was quite small, which was okay since there weren't a lot of people in the area. It was still a nice view though.

There wasn't a lot of things to do at the beach, so only stayed there for an hour or two - my friend took a swim and enjoyed the sand while I was busy clicking my camera away. If you wish to see the pics I took for day I (it's not much), you may go to this link to see them.

Day 2

We slept early the night before (we were out by 9 PM), so we were awake at around 6 AM. We had breakfast at the hotel cafeteria. The hotel serves buffet breakfast, and the menu included mostly filipino dishes. There weren't a lot of options when it came to food (there was bread, sotanghon soup, rice, sausage, eggs, tocino, salad and some fruits) but it was enough to curb our appetites. One thing I noticed is the lack of water (you had to ask it from the hotel staff). We didn't have get to buy some bottled water beforehand, so we were very conscious of the drinking water we could get our hands on.

Big Christmas Tree at
SM Cebu

Around 10 AM we checked out of the hotel. We checked out early because we were meeting some friends at Cebu City. Since the hotel was in a remote part of Mactan Island, we had the hotel call a cab for us. Inside the cab, the cab driver tried negotiating for a fixed price instead of the meter, so we tried to politely decline and have him deliver us at the airport instead. From there we took another cab to SM Cebu, where we met +Stephanie and +Bodgie for lunch.

After lunch, we took the jeepney from SM Cebu to Ayala Center. From there we walked towards the Mandarin Hotel Plaza, where we would be staying for the night. Mandarin Hotel Plaza was walking distance from Ayala Center, so it was accessible to shops and restaurants. It was also near the Jeepney Terminal, so commuting to and fro the area was easy. We got to the hotel at around 2 PM, but we had to wait until 3 PM before we can check in.

Our hotel room was located at the 16th floor. Compared to SotoGrande, we had smaller beds (two single beds), but the tub was larger. Although the room was smaller, it felt more cozy for me. Plus the accessibility to almost anything was a major plus.

It was pretty late in the afternoon so we decided to prepare and tour some of the more common tourist spots in Cebu. From the hotel we headed to the Jeepney Terminal and rode 14D route heading to Colon Street. It was less than 4 kilometers away so we only had to pay the minimum far (8 pesos).

Colon Street reminded me of the busier parts of Manila. My friend told me not to take out my phone around the area so as not to attract thieves. If ever we had to check our location, we would go inside an establishment (i.e. Jollibee) to check our bearings (my navigator side kicked in). We didn't get to lost, thankfully, and we reached our target destination - Magellan's cross.

Basilica at night

Magellan's cross was located at the lower section of Cebu City, and sits beside the Basilica of Sto. Nino. Both structured had scaffoldings to support them. This was due to the recent earthquake that hit Visayas. That didn't stop people from flocking the area, however. A lot of people were still taking pictures and attending the mass in the basilica. You can see what I captured using my camera by clicking on this link.

After taking pictures around the area, we decided to buy some pasalubong from the nearby Island Souvenir shop, then headed back to the hotel to rest.

Day 3

View from our hotel window

Our last day in Cebu. Our flight was still in the evening, so we still had a whole day left in Cebu. We decided to stay in the hotel during the morning, using the hotel facilities such as the pool and sauna. At around 11 AM, we were ready to check out, but we left some of our luggages at the hotel so that we can wander off more easily.

We headed back to Colon Street and headed towards our next destination - Fort San Pedro. It was a small fort near Magellan's cross which served as a fort during the early Spanish settlement in Cebu. There wasn't much to see at the fort, but it was a good place to immerse oneself from Cebu's rich history.

See what I saw at Fort San Pedro from the pictures on this link.

After going around the Fort, we decided to head back to Ayala Mall and relax before going to the airport for our flight. Around 4 PM, we got our luggage from the hotel and took a cab straight to the airport.

Our stay in Cebu was short, not enough to experience the wonder and grandeur that is Cebu. That leaves a lot of room for another trip back to the Queen City of the South. Hopefully next time I get the chance to go to Cebu, I'll be better prepared and will get to take more pictures the next time around.