Cebu (Malapascua and Bantayan) June 1-5, '08: an accounting

after nearly 10 years, stanford, an old friend from college who is now based in canada, returned to attend a friend's wedding. best man kasi at mukhang wala ng kukuha pa ulit sa kanya in this lifetime kaya he grabbed the chance.
so, since matagal na kaming di nakakita ng alien, the group (jo, anna, and slims dapat) decided to view him and accompany him na rin to one of the local sites he's going to visit. nagkabotohan. nanalo ang cebu. pupunta kami ng cebu. (however, i chose puerto prinsesa or el nido since i've never been to both but hey..malapascua's one of my faves anyways).

day 1: sunday
we left manila using cebu pacific airlines bound for cebu. at cebu, we stayed at the fuente pension house hotel and took the family room. it had 3 beds so we just asked for another mattress (cost: PHP1500+ for 24hours. meaning your check-out time is your check-in time so you consume the whole 24hrs you paid for. not bad.) lunch was at sutukil where we had prawns, seaweed salad, clams, and crabs(we got a little pricey here since we had 3 crabs which cost nearly 800php. tho they were big crabs :D isang babae, isang lalake, at isang bakla.) right beside sutukil would be the mactan shrine. from lapu-lapu city, it was a php180 ride back to cebu city to visit the magellan's cross and the basilica minor del santo nino. medyo maraming tao kasi linggo. then, the group took a walk from the basilica to the fort san pedro (1st spanish settlement in the country. around 2 blocks. a good 15-20 minute walk. medyo cautious ng konti kasi may mga taong grasa along the sidewalks. hehe) final stops were the taoist temple and the heavenly temple of charity. going around cebu, guess it's advised to look for a van or a car you could rent for the day so you wouldn't get annoyed looking for cabs. this is especially so for locations located inside private subdivisions, like the taoist temple and the heavenly temple of charity. yeah..it's either you wait for a cab left by another tourist, you phone call one, or you ask your cab to wait for you when it comes to these sites.









day 2: monday
we left the hotel around 8am and went for the north bus terminal. there were no A/C buses bound for maya pier only ordinary ones. in the bus, one could either sit on the left-side and appreciate the trees and the mountain view or be on the right-side and stare out into the ocean halfway during the trip. it was a 4hr trip worth php68. reaching the maya pier, we were informed the boats could carry a max of 20-26 passengers. so we waited awhile for other passengers to arrive. usual boat ride cost php40. however, since stan thought no other passengers would be arriving, we ended renting a boat (php150 from each of us=php600). it was 12noon. last boats were said to leave at 3pm. guess, my companions just grew tired of waiting.
arriving at the island, i found out the passenger boats now unload behind the island. one would have to walk towards the front of the island where the cottages were located. only dive boats and island trip boats were found in front of the island. lunch of course was at ging-ging's (ave:php50 per meal). i didn't notice then the flies buzzing around in the place. however, the simplicity of the place was still enjoyed. after lunch, we went on the usual habal-habal tour around the island. (cost:php150/hr)
dinner was then spent at a japanese resto infront of la isla bonita restaurant (ave:php
150/meal). anna tasted the chicken curry and commented it can be likened to japan's chicken curry. so, guess, it's near authentic. she visited japan.

day3: tuesday
the 3 decided to have a dsd training (discover scuba diving) from dan's dive. so, on the third day, they had their classroom training and we had the dive after lunch. the dive was at the wreck near the lighthouse.

as recommended by dan, the dive instructor, dinner this round should be taken at the bakhaw kiwi restaurant. just follow the trail behind ging-ging's. was informed that the cook at this place was an old cook from dolce vita or from one of the pricey restos fronting the beach. however, it is advised to text the lady of the resto first an hour ahead so they could prepare your meal. nice thing about it, you can make requests like adding on fries to their regular menu or taking out the vegetables from a dish. cheap too since a meal could average php70-80.



















day4:wednesday
we left dano (cost=php700 for a fan room overnight, 2beds) and rented a boat for bantayan. it's either a large boat (cost:php3500) or a medium-sized one (cost:php2500). the difference: speed. the medium-sized boat could travel in 3hrs while the large one could get you to bantayan in less than 2hrs, on calm waters of course. one could just ask around when you're looking for a boat.

we reached bantayan and went for budyong for the night's lodging(cost:php1500/night, A/C room)

day5: thursday
we had to leave before lunch since the last ferry departs at 11:30am and the next trip was at 3pm. we were brought to the pier by dondon, the habal-habal driver we hired the last time i was here. we took a first class ferry ride (cost:php170). there was a movie playing and the room was airconditioned. however, i left my friends and chose to sit outside and ended up sleeping the entire 1 hour ride.
upon reaching the hagnaya pier, we rented a van (libre ni stan:php800.trip was for 2 1/2hrs back to cebu city.) to bring us to sm cebu where more pasalubongs were bought. from sm cebu, it was back to the mactan airport. (note:just realized terminal fee there cost php200. same in manila. but heck, they have a nicer airport)

by thursday night, was back in manila chatting with officemates at gilligan's in makati.

thanks to anna for some of the pics. :)