I knew nothing about Cebu initially, but done plenty of research so as to make sure I have an enjoyable trip, which I almost did except for a (almost major) hiccup beyond my control.
My intention of sharing this here is to alert would be travelers, that if it is not totally possible to avoid using Pentravel, at least avoid Janeth D. De Leon. After paying them extra for the services, such circumstances are not deserving and should be avoided at all cost. Anyway, there are at least two other authorised agents currently on the list.
Introduction
Like I said, I didn't want to visit Cebu in the first place, but since I got hold of free air tickets, might as well make optimal use of it and explore this island in greater details. My friend wanted to visit Oslob, but I had Boracay in mind and intended to use Cebu as a transport hub. It was difficult to merge these two within a short trip, but Cebu, or rather the Visayas, is really famous for their beaches and diving spots, much beyond what I could have imagined in the first place. Typically, travelers would have thought of using Manila as a hub to visit Philippines' many secluded spots, but Clark Airport does not have that many connections, and Manila's Ninoy Aquino Airports have 4 terminals, connected by airport buses, and even within the airport compound, traffic can be rather congested, and it can really take hours to make the connection! Cebu's Mactan-Cebu Airport does not have such inconveniences. Besides, it doesn't make much sense going far north Manila just to transfer shuttle flight back south to, say, Boracay or Palawan, among other destinations.
Cebu is more than merely a transport hub. It has several awesome beaches capable of rivaling Boracay, situated off the distant Panay Island, notably in Bantayan and Malapascua, as well as in nearby Bohol Island. For divers, there are fantastic diving spots all over Visayas, and holiday goers, particularly honeymoon couples, can even enjoy a tranquil experience atop secluded islands such as Badian Island and Sumilon Island.
Planning
My travel companion has a high desire to visit Oslob, to swim with the gentle giant whale sharks! Due to geographical reason and our short stay, to accommodate this itinerary, I could only squeeze in one more destination if we did not want to give Cebu city a miss. Considering this was our maiden Cebu trip, we really ought to feel some city heartbeat. Our flight was due to arrive Cebu in the early morning at 4am, when most of the (limited) attractions downtown would still be at slumber land, there would be virtually nothing much we could do at such hour. Going to Oslob, some 200 minutes and 120km travel down south from Cebu city, would have been a good idea if not for our luggage. And we were arriving on a weekend, the expected crowd volume made this option less viable. Going straight to Boracay (via Caticlan, not Kalibo) would be ideal, as we would probably arrive early morning to enjoy full day of fun on one of the best beaches in the world. But the rising flight charges (S$200 return air tickets per pax) made me aborted this plan. So, contingency roped in Bohol, Bantayan, and Malapascua, all come with fantastic beaches and have their respective side attractions. I would have gladly settled for Bohol, but I thought my friend, a newly qualified diver, would probably savour the opportunity to swim with another awesome ocean wonder in Malapascua, that made me settled for this northern island.Our Adventures <3....
Day 0: Fri, 22 June 2012
I left home around 8pm for Changi Airport, and arrived approximately 9.30pm. I was told to check-in at 10pm, and I made sure I have sufficient time for the free shuttle service from Terminal 2 basement connecting to the Budget Terminal. This would probably be my final time flying from this lousy terminal which our government, after few years, finally 'admit' failure by tearing it down to make way for a new full fledged airport terminal. I said that because, for a budget terminal, they don't necessary charge cheaper taxes as compare to some airlines serving in the other 3 main passenger terminals, and so where were our savings by removing boarding bridges and the hassle for shuttle transport? I'm pretty sure the ground handling staffs feel the grunt too as they commute to work in a more regular basis.
Long queue for check-in was already forming when I reached. I joined at the back while waiting for my friend. But when my friend turned up, my jaw dropped when I saw the accompanying luggage. It was a real luggage, I think 24". I was only carrying a haversack (=.=)".
Quite surprisingly, Cebu Pacific Airways flight 5J548 took off punctually in contrary to their notorious nickname of 'Delay Pacific Airways' LOL! No offence, but this is a culture in Philippines, where flights are often overbooked, and some passengers were frequently asked to take the subsequent flight. Only barely a fortnight ago, that Philippines authority announced the cessation of such practice.
By the way, there is one other thing Cebu Pacific Airlines is famous for... if you haven't already seen it, take a look! (@_@) However, we were somewhat disappointed we didn't manage to see it in person.
Day 1: Sat, 23 June 2012
Our flight arrived Mactan-Cebu Airport at 4am punctually, and by 4.35pm, we had cleared custom and boarded a cab to Northern Bus Terminal.
Getting downtown
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| Mactan-Cebu International Airport Departure Terminal |
Just walk out the building from the main exit on your right towards the departure building. Cross the pedestrain crossing and walk up an access ramp to the 2nd level. There you will see the hall above, exit via the first glass door on your left, and there will be a security officer guiding passengers to a taxi. Don't be surprise if you are given a tiny note with the taxi car plate number written, this is to facilitate if you want to lodge complain of any irregularity.
Taxi in Cebu are generally metered, but some drivers may be reluctant to run meter departing from the airport, in such case, a negotiated price of P200 will be reasonable. In any case, my metered trip to Northern Bus Terminal in Mandaue City cost me P180, expect more for a trip downtown to Ayala or Fuente Osmena.
A jeepney would have cost around P14, but probably not so early in the day and not advisable for passengers with luggage.
There is no public buses vying the city, another alternative will be taking a transport into Muella Osmena jetty in Lapu Lapu city, from where, there's ferry connecting Mactan Island to mainland Cebu, arriving at Pier 3 in Cebu jetty. The cost is just 12 Peso one way, with additional P1 Terminal Tax. It takes around 15-20 mins, and runs between 5.30am to 7pm in about half hourly interval. This would be ideal for passengers island-hopping (via Cebu jetty) to Bohol, Leyte etc. but presumably would not be as comfortable as a taxi. It can be crowded at time, but at least avoided the congested traffic on the road, and please note that information is subjected to change and I have not tried it personally.
It took a while for the security officer and taxi driver to figure out our destination, Northern Bus Terminal. Until I mentioned Maya, that they realised I was referring to North Bus Terminal. Regardless of how many travel guide books describing it, that's the way the local terms it, without the 'ern'. Same applies for South Bus Terminal. The educated in Philippines may speak better English than others in Asia, but there are still plenty of them only understand simple English. Along the way, the taxi driver probed us to go all the way to Maya in his cab instead, but we declined. A taxi would probably takes you there in about 3 hours, but for a price of P2500, personally, I'd stick to the bus. So we arrived at North Bus Terminal at around 4.50am, and swiftly boarded a non-aircon bus for Maya, via Bagay. This was where I learnt my first lesson... a porter whom I thought was a Ceres Liner staff 'kindly' helped us to load our luggage into the bus compartment demanded for tips. I told them I had no spared change but they gleefully took my P100 notes & returned me P50. Wow! For that meagre effort and it's worth P50??? I would never let stranger touch my luggage again!
Buses for Maya departs every half hour. Boarded the bus, we were charged P163 each. The bus was not so crowded, but my friend was not feeling pleasant about it, probably because growing up in Singapore's aircon bus era! Haha!
Anyway, for those desperate for aircon bus, I managed to find out the schedule only after my trip. Note that the non-aircon bus are known as Ceres Liner, while aircon ones are call Ceres Tour:
From Cebu - Maya, via Bagay: (Departure-Arrival)
5am-8.30am, 7am-10.30am, 9am-12.30pm, 11am-2.30pm, 3pm-6.30pm, 5pm-8.30pm
From Maya - Cebu, via Bagay: (Departure-Arrival)
6am-9.30am, 7am-10.30am, 9.20am-12.50pm, 11am-2.30pm, 1pm-4.30pm, 3pm-6.30pm
Naturally, subjected to traffic conditions. But avoid reaching Maya after 4pm unless you don't mind paying for the private bangka, easily P1200 (P1500 at night).
The bus stopped twice for toilet break, and a chance for passengers to grab some food and drink, even though there were vendors boarding occasionally to sell some drink and titbits. The highway north to Maya was very much just a single lane each side of the road, without concrete road divider in-between, providing access for vehicles to overtake where necessary. It was really easy to identify our destination, no worry, as Maya is the bus terminal, the conductor will get you off the bus upon arrival anyway (^_^)
Walking towards Maya jetty, there will be some boatmen approaching you to take a private bangka, but you may want to approach the staff inside the stand for public bangka to Malapascua. I understand that there will be bangka every half or one hour, but the boatmen usually won't depart if there are less than 10 passengers. When we reached there, there were no one inside, somehow, I identified a gentlemen seated under a nearby shelter holding a bunch of tickets, who turned out to be the official. Just wait for him to enter the stand to purchase a ticket. The price is now P80, but noting that under low tide condition, a small peddle boat may be used to ferry passengers to the bangka, costing P20 per passenger per luggage.
In case you are wondering, Malapascua is Spanish for unfortunate Christmas. The name was originated from a group of Spanish sailors who were shipwrecked on Christmas day and found themselves on this little island. Hence the name.
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| Logon Beach |
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| Hippocampus Resort |
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| Room 15, Beach Front |
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| View from our room |
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| The only complain I have about the room was the lack of a promised mini-fridge |
At the mean time, let me share a nice video on Malapascua for a short introduction:
Initially, I was torn between coming to Malapascua or Bantayan. But I settled on Malapascua for easier access to restaurants and one distinct factor, the Thresher Sharks! I am not a diver, so it really didn't matter to me, but I thought my friend would enjoy it more as it was rare to see Thresher Sharks at close proximity, given the fact that such creatures usually reside 300 meters under water. Right here in Monal Shoal, these creatures come up to about 20 meters under sea level. It is said that Malapascua is the only place in the world where divers can get to swim with Thresher Sharks. These sharks are otherwise, quite friendly to human being, but is itself a prey to many hunting for its fins. Which is why I would like to urge to minimise the consumption of shark fins if it is not possible to eliminate it altogether.
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| Picture taken off internet |
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| Picture taken off internet |
Thresher sharks normally live in deep water and are nocturnal (night creatures). Monad Shoal near Malapascua is a sunken island at 18-24m whose sides drop off to 230m. The thresher sharks live and hunt in this deep water for most of the day, but in the early morning, before it gets too light, they come up to the Shoal, attracted by its cleaning stations. Here they have a symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationship with the small fish called cleaning wrasse which eat dead skin and bacteria from the shark's body, its gills, and even inside its mouth. Because the cleaning benefits these huge animals, the sharks would never think of eating the wrasse as an early morning snack. The cleaning stations are like a carwash for fish!
Thanks to these wrasse, divers are able to see Thresher Sharks in Malapascua! Interesting huh? That's why I had chosen Malapascua over Bantayan, which now has the convenience of traveling by air over its newly built airport.
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| Ging-Ging's |
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| Fish soup, pork, garlic rice, San Miguel beer |
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| Boat-building at Logon Beach |
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| If Bounty Beach is the tourist center, Logon Beach has to be considered their residential area, as the village resides just behind. |
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| There's even a small church, tiny, but elegant, enough to cater for the residents' need. |
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| Worry-free children playing outside the village |
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| oink! oink! oink!... |
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| Angelina |
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| Angelina |
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| Pesce al BBQ (P310) |
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| dessert (P160) |
The pizza was nice, rich cheese favour, but I tend to like the fish fillet more. Carefully grilled to a golden colour, the fillet served up an adequate grill fragrance. Naturally, it tasted a little salty, but the supplied vegetable salad helped neutralise it to perfection! Gustoso!
If I remember correctly, the dessert we ordered was Panna Cotta al Caffe, an Italian cream leche flan with espresso taste. The texture was pretty soft, sweet, with rich coffee fragrance smearing our senses even before we took a bite! It was a pity I didn't realise my camera was somewhat off focus. We were so impressed and wanted to come over again the next afternoon shortly before our boat ride back to mainland, but for some reason, we couldn't.
The prices at Angelina, though considered pricey locally, was still reasonable comparing to equivalent restaurants back home, their food quality was great, but the speed of their serving has much room for improvement. But I guess that was just the pace in Malapascua.
As I expected, the road back to the resort was hardly lit, and my friend almost tripped several times. I was laughing inside as I was one step behind, as I gradually lit my mini torchlight... Agh.. well prepared huh?? LOL! That summed up our first night in Philippines.
Day 2: Sun, 24 June 2012
Sunday in Malapascua was very much like any other day. This otherwise lazy island could hardly tell weekend from weekday which is what made it a great spot for an escapade. When I woke up around 6am in the morning, the sun was already shining brightly onto the beach, it was when I found my traveling companion missing! Kidnapped?? Yeah, not by human being, but by the gentle Thresher Sharks! LOL!
So, I ventured around to snap a few scenic pictures:
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| Backdoor of our room |
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| Hippocampus Garden View Rooms - non aircon |
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| Another Garden View block - aircon |
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| Some of Hippocampus' inhabitants, who probably stay for free! |
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| Hippocampus' 3D Map, the only 3D was that shark! LOL! |
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| Hippocampus' Magellans restaurant |
My friend came back from diving a little after 9am, and was overjoyed on the sighting of one Thresher Shark, at around 30 meters under sea level. Even though only just one shark was spotted, it was still such an exquisite experience that I could only envy. After a short while, we had our breakfast at Magellans'. The menu includes American Breakfast, Continental Breakfast, Pancake Breakfast, Philippino Breakfast among others, and all come with tea or coffee.
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| My friend's Pancake Breakfast |
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| Pancake with banana and mango fillings |
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| My Philippino Breakfast with the choice of fish or pork |
I couldn't comment on the Pancake breakfast, as I don't eat banana nor mango. But my grilled fish breakfast with rice was rather filling for a breakfast. However, I won't call it generous as did some other travelers, the fish was a bit hard, somewhat tasteless, and I expected the pork to be likewise. I somehow regretted ordering grilled fish, as I really hate to spill out the bone. The supplied sauce was typical Philippino's, tasted sour, good enough to spice up the otherwise blend grilled fish. I could only identified onions in it, not sure whether mango was used though.
We walked around taking pictures before it was almost time for check-out. We were planning to visit Angelina again before we left Malapascua, just then, Jervis appeared to say hello. He asked us whether we would be keen to share a bangka with 3 locals leaving for Maya. The price would be P100 each, and the bangka will pick us up right in front of Bounty Beach, saving us the trouble of the 10 minutes walk to Logon Beach and the Tunda ride. The price would be the same and minus that 10 minutes carrying Tokyo Chic, why not? And I ended up finally giving Jervis some tips he deserved. Since we knew Angelina took their own sweet time serving food, we then decided against going there for dessert, scare might not come back in time.
Before closing the topic on Malapascua, let me share a useful link where potential travelers can refer in getting to Malapascua:
We boarded the bangka around 12pm, and Jervis introduced us to the other passengers. He then asked whether we would be interested to share transport as one of the passengers would be driving, for P1000 (for 2 persons). I would have said no straightaway, but my friend badly wanted an air-conditioned transport back to Cebu city, and explained that we would have to pay for taxi fare from North Bus Terminal to Tune Hotel anyway, very well then. However, little did I know that, an air-conditioned bus would be leaving for Cebu at 1pm. The driver, Japheth, is a marketing director trading in real estate in Cebu city, he would be driving alone otherwise, so for him, it's quick money. However, it was his first time coming to Malapascua, and he lost his way back (@_@)! I thought we probably lost half an hour finding a way out of Bagay. He was driving cautiously (in contrast to the rugged Ceres Liner) otherwise, which I appreciated, and we chatted along the way, together with the other two passengers. Talking about the other two passengers, the one sitting beside me has a look and frame of Ving Rhames, that startled me at first. But as we chatted, I found that he was a contractor dealing with office furnitures, lockers etc, and actually quite friendly. Umm.. looks was really deceiving! They were staying in neighbouring Ocean Vida Resort, and Mr Ving Rhames (gosh! I forgot his name again, sorry :P) told me they got the deal from Ensogo, a voucher-based portal, and paid around P2700 per night for a beach-front aircon room, with buffet breakfast. I ended up paying agoda P3000 at Hippocampus including taxes! And we could see Ocean Vida really offering better room on top of the buffet breakfast!
Our three companions (well, actually two, the other passenger seated beside the driver was very reserved, perhaps not English-speaking) were full of praise for Singapore, and didn't mind telling me the must try and must see in Cebu.
Mr Ving Rhames was very kind to share with us where we should visit Philippines next, and where to avoid. I did my research prior to that, and I can testify many of his revelations are facts. He recommended we should visit Bohol, avoid Mindanao, and most part of Manila. He also shared with us where to find the best lechon (roast pork) in Cebu city. And I also learnt from him that he paid only P170 for the air-conditioned bus to Maya, gosh, I won't have minded the extra P7 (=.=)"! I saw that he was carrying a Canon EOS camera bag, and curiously probed his possession. Oh, he was having an EOS600D as well! And in fact, he bought it in Singapore in a trade fair! I gave him a Singapore vendor where he can find cheap Canon lenses when he's coming back later in the year.
We eventually reached Cebu Tune Hotel around 4.45pm, probably longer than taking a Ceres bus. We walked into Tune Hotel, the security officer informed us the reception's at Level 2. Upon check-in, I was surprise to find that we were only given one set of towel and toiletries, I thought 1 set meant 2 towels plus toiletries since I booked a twin room! We were allocated room 705, with a good view of Ayala Center across the junction. however, we discovered that the door knob was malfunctioned. And they called this a new hotel? I was tempted to ask for a change of room, but the technician came to rectify immediately, although not entirely up to my satisfaction, but since we would only be staying one night, I didn't pursue further.
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| Room 705 |
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| Room 705 window view |
Tune Hotel is very much a no-frill hotel modeled after Air Asia's budget airline policy. It is perhaps the most conveniently located hotel near Ayala Center at such low rate (P962), including air-condition! It declares itself as 5 stars hotel at 1 star rate, not quite true, but seriously, half way there. I used to despise it, but honestly, at such rate, convenient location, and rather new room condition, it's difficult to fault. Older hotels near Fuente Osmena with facilities I probably won't use (24 hr air-con, where I probably only used less than half the allocation, TV, phone, swimming pool, restaurant etc) could have easily charging me double the amount with more worn down condition.
My friend was keen to heed the advice of Mr Ving Rhames and try out the famous lechon at SM City. We took a cab there shortly after. This was the first time we stepped inside a Philippines shopping mall, and I was quite surprise security officers were deployed at all entrances to screen through what visitors brought along. Even though Cebu maybe relatively safer than other parts of Philippines, it pays to play on the safe side, as it is legal in Philippines to carry guns. We had some snacks, and replenished drinks for our subsequent destination, before heading for CNT Lechon. But when we eventually got there, they had sold out for the day. In fact, by the time we were having dinner, many outlets already sold out quite a handful of items on their menu.
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| Chow King's Sweet and Sour Pork set meal |
I settled for Chow King's Sweet and Sour Pork set meal while my friend, apparently losing appetite, opted for a plain chicken noodle. The noodle was NG, but this set meal was good! The pork were more tender than those I tried at Malapascua, the noodle was moist and sweetly fried, crispy prawn crackers, and one sweet pastry along with the rice. For P98, with soft drink included, it's a sumptuous meal! Delicious! I was tempted to order Philippines' most popular dessert Halo Halo, but was sold out in Chow King. Wanted to buy coconut drink from one mobile kiosk, also sold out. I understood that SM City is quite a big mall, but at this hour and so many stuff already sold out, it's rather unbelievable wasn't it?
We returned hotel and were rather tired after traveling the whole day. Indeed, I doubt I would even have the energy to watch TV if we had paid for it in the first place. In any case, I had my Prolink tablet and my friend had an iPad for movies.
Day 3: Mon, 25 June 2012
Woke up around 7.30am and washed up. By 8am, we were already having our breakfast at Ayala Center's Pancake House. I was initially concerned whether we could find breakfast nearby at such early hours, I could do with most thing edible, but fortunately we found something we like.
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| Pancake with Peanut Butter and whipped cream |
My friend had a Pancake with maple syrup, I ordered a Peanut Butter Pancake with whipped cream, and again, we shared to try out the different variety. I won't say it was exceptional, but nice nevertheless. Well, at least back to Cebu, the serving was much prompt comparing to idling Malapascua.
After breakfast, we returned to hotel for check-out and left for South Bus Terminal on a cab.
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| South Bus Terminal |
Most of Cebu city's long distance buses actually go south, as such, it can be observed that the state spent more efforts to maintain the highway, less bumpy than the highway to Maya. Our taxi took us all the way inside the bus terminal, collecting P10 tax as the taxi entered the gantry. I found it kind of puzzling, couldn't the driver let us alight outside the terminal and we could have walked inside by foot? Afterall, we were still charged terminal tax upon entering the bus terminal, this aspect slightly different from North Bus Terminal.
Buses to Bato via Oslob were located at the far end of the terminal from where we alighted. My friend insisted for an aircon bus, I had no problem with that. Fortunately, we did board an aircon Ceres Tour bus and was charged P169 per person.
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| Ceres Tours Aircon Bus |
The Ceres Tours aircon bus we took was one of the newer one, equipped with LCD TV and playing blockbuster movies en-route to Liloan. I watched Clash of the Titans (the Sam Worthington version), and Jason Statham's Death Race. I could have watched my own movie on my tablet, but I was more busy snapping pictures off the street! (^_^)
Like Manila, jeepneys play an important part on the road in Cebu, so much so that there is virtually no public buses plying within the city. Most, if not all, buses are meant for long distance travel, leaving the mobile jeepneys to traverse across the numerous narrow roads of Cebu city. However, I thought I found Cebu's jeepneys are generally less flamboyant than those found in Metro Manila from what I read in travel guide books. Nevertheless, it's still an eye-candy for visitors, although taking it is another matter altogether.
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| Tricycle are another form of transportation, mainly found in provinces outside Cebu city |
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| Liloan Fast Ferry Terminal entrance |
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| Convenience store at the T-junction of the slip road |
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| Slip road to Eden Resort & Liloan Fast Ferry Terminal |
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| The unassuming entrance of Eden Resort |
It was easy to be deceived by the humbling main gate of Eden Resort, what inside was impeccable beauty enriched with phenomenon attributes capable of defining it an awesome haven for holiday goers especially those on honeymoon!
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| Gentle slope leading to the resort |
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| Part of the well-maintained garden in Eden Resort |
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| Overseeing sea view and the distant Dumaguete of Negros Island |
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| The pool's just in front of the restaurant/bar cum reception |
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| Reception cum restaurant + free computer usage |
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| Cosy sofa and a partly hidden open-kitchen |
We were immediately served juice as welcome drink, and promptly led to our room afterwards. The staffs were exceptionally friendly and the entire atmosphere were very family-oriented.
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| View of the accommodations from the reception, all rooms are sea view |
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| We were allocated Room 5, seemingly small from the exterior, but spacious inside |
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| Dumaguete in the distance |
Eden Resort is a 7-years-old establishment owned by a Swedish, who was back home for some personal business during our visit. I was astonished as I thought the resort was newly built within the last couple of years. Kudos to the hardworking team at Eden, who worked tirelessly to maintain the resort in tip-top condition, even the toilet looked as good as new! The room was tastefully cuddled in white brick, with a nostalgic lamp fan although we mostly made use of the air-conditioner. I could see the owner's sincerity to try and make guests feeling at home from the view of the oak door, the wall-mounted wardrobe, cosy sofa and carpet, and even a mini fridge to chill my beers (but no TV though)! To cater an opportunity for guests to view sunrise and sunset, there's even two wooden armchair at the balcony. Frankly speaking, the room was pretty windy, we could have shut off the aircon if we were not worried about the gusty wind blowing away our belongings!
It sounds like I'm promoting Eden Resort here, but honestly, I'm not getting a single dime from them. I know, it may not make sense traveling 4 hours from Cebu city to the Southern tip of the island to stay just one night, but Liloan is a very convenient gateway to Dumaguete, who itself is another transit point for divers going on to Apo Island or Siquijor Island.
We settled down in about half an hours' time, appreciating this seamless beauty and its surrounding. By 2pm, we found ourselves getting back to the restaurant for late lunch. However, perhaps it was down to their culture, serving was painfully slow. We dug out our tablets and connected to their secured-WiFi to keep up with the www. Though I believe they probably won't change their password, but guests can simply ask them for it rather than I reveal it here (^.^)!
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| Pasta Carbonara, P275 |
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| Eden Club House Sandwiches, P160 |
I ordered a Pasta Carbonara, my friend had the Club House Sandwich, but could not finish it, but it was a hugh portion really, ended up, I needed to clear up the plate :P
Their pasta was nice! I like the soft texture of their pasta, delightfully blended with cheese and meat, seriously, I have never tasted pasta this great! As for the sandwich, I must say, it was yummy, the egg was fried with sufficient sweetness, not too dry, while the ham tasted quite unlike the normal ham I had back home, as for the cheese, I'm a cheese lover, all I can say is, it offered a different dimension from the normal Kraft cheddar and tickled my taste bud! Not forgetting the fries, it was better than all fries I can find in Singapore's fastfood outlets, except cheese fries and McDonald's fries, with adequate salt that didn't make it too salty, and remained reasonably crispy even after half an hour!
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| Liloan Port |
After lunch, we took a short walk further in to discover Liloan Port. I was curious. But I also wanted to find out the destination where we were suppose to take the bus back to the city the next day, and where possible, the bus schedule.
It took us less than 5 minutes, but there was a counter at the jetty gate collecting jetty passenger tax, which forbid us to progress inside. Just then, weather began to turn bad, but we didn't expect such heavy weather, but the time we returned to our room, we were half wet. I spent a reasonable time washing and drying my clothing :( Had wanted to have a swim in the pool and at the beach, but under such weather condition, how to?
Good thing, before hand we were still considering going Dumaguete, a short 15 minutes away to Sibulan port from Liloan (P49), and a further 25 minutes multi-cab ride downtown (P11). I couldn't imagine experiencing the roughen sea. At one point, I even pondering having dinner in Dumaguete, but fortunately, the food in Eden Resort was pretty nice and reasonably price (in Singapore restaurants standard). Forget the village center, it was a long walk and I wasn't sure the food measure up to my expectation or they even open in the evening in the first place.
We spent most of the evening watching pre-loaded movies in our tablets, and shortly before dinner, I discovered that the resort has massage service at P350. I thought they have a massage center in the resort, but no, it was actually a call-in service, and massage will be carried out inside guest room. My friend and I took respective turn and I took the time to take some pictures at night. I skipped dinner eventually, hated the long wait, besides, I wasn't hungry after gulping beer with peanuts I bought in Singapore.
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| Dumaguete sunset |
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| The heavenly pool at night |
It was this heavenly view of Eden's pool at night which captivated me into booking this resort. Pity the wind was so strong and I could not find any spot to mount my mini-tripod to take decent pictures. As a result, many of my hand-taken photos are too blur, no thanks to the gusty breeze. I very much loved to have a dip inside, but even as I was willing to bear the chill, there were too many fallen leaves, rendering the pool a little unattractive. I thought I would still have the next morning to try, but it didn't turn out that way. So, that called the end of the day, as I was too sleepy after the massage. I don't know what type of massage was that, not Thai definitely, no stretches, basically rubbing essence oil (a choice of natural or menthol, I chosen menthol at the massage lady's recommendation), and massaging the muscles, a good relaxation nevertheless. Slept around 10.30pm, I couldn't remember how long ago since I last slept at such early hour. Anyway, we had an early morning 'appointment' to catch the next day!
Day 4: Tue, 26 June 2012
And today.. the highlight of our trip! Whale Shark watching!! Or rather swimming with the Whale Sharks!
To be frank, I never wanted to visit this initially, firstly because of the inflated cost, secondly, I sensed some cruelty to these gentle giants.
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| Picture from National Geographic |
These creatures, known as Butanding in Philippines, or Tuki locally, used to hunt around the bay near Barangay Tan-awan for their food. Ever since Philippines banned the slaughtering of these extinguishing creatures, the fishermen in Tan-awan faced a dilemma, because they were virtually hunting for the same fishes! So, the fishermen took turn to lure these creatures away from Tan-awan while the others carried out the fishing. This continued for decade until recently, when the fishermen discovered it was more lucrative having them in with baits (baby shrimps or 'uyap'), cashing in on tourists' money instead. So, beginning late last year (2011), visitors flourished in from all walk of life to savour the experience in viewing these gentle giant up close, to swim with them.
These fishermen now becoming more of tour guides and the whale sharks, their boss (along with the tourists)! LOL! But one thing hurts me, in doing so, the Whale Sharks are relieving their natural hunting instinct and by getting close to the bangkas for food, they had cut themselves with cuts and abrasions. In separate instances, two whale sharks was even severely injured, one by a spear in a neighbouring town, and the other by a bangka's propeller just this January. But I was pleased to learn that these two whale sharks were recovering.
We boarded a Sunray Liner from outside the main highway, and told the conductor we were heading Barangay Tan-awan (P20). The bus ride took about 10 over minutes, and we found ourselves alighting in the midst of 'action'. The whole stretch of Barangay Tan-awan was decorated with many whale shark posters, charging from 0 - 100 Peso for entrance to the respective resorts, probably also offering different level of convenience to visitors. We did not follow the crowd in selecting the resort that started it all. We merely randomly walked in to the one nearest to our alighting point, it was MB's Sunrise View Resort (P70)
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| MB's Sunrise View Resort |
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| MB's Sunrise View Resort |
MB's Sunrise View is a simple resort mainly catering to whale watching. They have a small souvenir booth and modest accommodation, apparently not in the class of Eden Resort. My companion took some pictures, but I am now hitting storage limit in blogspot/picasa, got to be very selective in attaching photos :( By the way, I was given a namecard, if I can get 6 friends in the subsequent visit, their entrance fee will be waived. I'm not gonna try that, but I cheekily probed him whether the representative could apply the discount for 4 friends. He agreed readily. That means anything is negotiable! So how did they earn? Well, we were paying P1000 each for the whale watching, inclusive of snorkeling equipment, I suppose they have a fair share in that even though they claimed this was the official guideline from local authority, which was sheer fact.
We left our belonging on a bed in their room inside their 'office', and were the only two visitors patronising their resort at that moment. In a way, that was good, because the fishermen a.k.a. tour guide can focus their undivided attention on us!
We were led to the seaside, where a bangka peddled over, picked us up, and delivered us to another shore a few hundred meters away. It was a requirement that visitors have to undergo a safety briefing (actually, more of safety to the whale sharks :P), notably to keep a respectable distance from the gentle giants, not to put on sunblock (I knew that, but what if those who already put on? Where would they rinse off by this moment of time?), no camera flash, no contact with the whale sharks etc. After the short briefing, we collected a life vest and snorkeling gear there (no fin), and gleefully rejoined the waiting fishermen!
The fishermen casually rowed us to a water some 200 meters from the shore, where a bunch of bangkas were already there. We put on the gear and were raring to go as soon as they gave us the go ahead.
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| Feeding the Whale Shark |
So, this was how the whale sharks got the abrasion... For cost reason, Philippines' bangka was designed to be slim body, but to stabilise the tiny boat, they improvised the addition of balancing float in the form of crab-shaped float, hence came the name of crab boat in some Chinese speaking countries. But this proves to be no obstruction for the whale sharks, they simply didn't care so long as they got their food! The fishermen were careful to steer away their bangka if the whale sharks were getting too close for comfort, but it wasn't always fool proof.
We jumped into the sea and had a close encounter with the gentle giant, those we saw were easily more than 2.5 meters in length, but their mouth were not large enough to swallow a human being, so we were startled with excitement but not really afraid of it. It seemed like the whale sharks didn't really care what they ate, they were opening their mouth as they approached the bangka and at times, the fishermen teased them by splashing water into their wide-opened mouth. One whale shark even pushed my friend, who was hanging onto one of the bangka fringe, as if my friend was simply 'sitting' onto it. But it didn't care, so long as it got its fair share of the food!
One of our fishermen guide spoke fluent English, he shared with me that they normally fed the whale sharks until around 5pm, and then those gentle creatures will hunt for food elsewhere. But when the sun rise again, they would be back to their favourite makan (eat) haven! The fisherman was even so kind to help us take pictures under water, and he considerably took a picture of a coral for me too! Really, for that gesture, I would have readily given him some tips if I had my wallet with me!
So there, another fine example of fine Philippino hospitality, from the friendly fishermen and of course, whale sharks! :D
We had a fun-filling 30 minutes of swim, though I though I felt longer than that. I suddenly had a change in mind upon seeing how the fishermen teased and played with the whale sharks. I would rather these gentle creatures stayed in Tan-awan, than get hunted and injured elsewhere. True enough, I felt the P1000 charge rather high in local standard, but any other developed country would have charge much more. In addition, if our 'contribution' can help the whale sharks and marine conservation in some little way, it will be money well spent. I was very grateful to my friend who researched and insisted on visiting Oslob. To think even famous guide books such as Lonely Planet and Rough Guide didn't even cover this somehow made this a greater achievement! One other place in Philippines where visitors can swim with whale sharks is in Donsol, but that is some 10-12 hours from Manila by car! Oslob remains the most convenience spot to have a feel of this exquisite experience.
After the swim, we had a shower at the resort (bring own toiletries), got changed, and headed back to Eden Resort. On our way back, we told the conductor we were going Liloan Port and were dropped off at the earlier entrance near the village center.
We paid another P50 for a habal-habal ride back to Eden Resort. We had our late breakfast around 9.30am. I chose one with pork sausages and scrambled eggs, and swopped half of my sausages with my friend's ham. the bread was not overly toasted, and the scrambled eggs tasted nice with adequate salt, while the sausage tasted exceptional from the conventional Taiwanese sausage I tried back in Singapore, another great meal from Eden Resort! I wanted to have another swim after breakfast, this time at Eden's pool. However, they were in the midst of pool cleaning, so I turned my attention to the beach. However, the rocky beach was full of sea urchins and I dared not venture without a fin! Well, snorkeling gear can be rented from the resort's diving center, but I didn't want to pay :P
So, I walked around taking more pictures while my friend dried the wet clothing.
When we checked out around 11am, the kind in-charge (sorry, I forgot his name again :P) offered to drive us to Liloan Port despite it was just a 3 minutes walk, seriously, the time taken to get and started the car was probably longer than we would walk, lol! I was reluctant at first, but accepted his kindness eventually. We reached Liloan Port in a matter of minutes, just in time to catch a departing bus to Cebu city.
The return bus trip to Cebu city was rather congested, even though it was an aircon bus, my friend still felt the stuffiness during the trip, and for once, I felt like vomiting too, and had to ask for candy from my friend.
We reached Cebu city in about 4 hours time and checked in back at Tune Hotel. The reception wanted to re-assigned me Room 705 but I requested a change of room, I didn't expect their door knob issue to be rectified over a day.We were given Room 806 instead. We asked the reception whether there's anywhere we could find good Halo Halo, Philippines' most popular dessert, and was recommended Ice Castle at Ayala Center.
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| Ice Castle's Halo Halo, P72 |
When it was time for dinner, we took a cab, and under the driver's recommendation, we were driven to AA BBQ in Lahug. I understand that they have a number of franchise all over the city too, but Lahug is the original, and probably the nearest from our hotel.
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| AA BBQ @ Lahug |
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| AA BBQ @ Lahug |
We didn't order a lot, but for two persons, I thought it was more than enough. I felt a little bad though, I quite forgotten my friend was allegic to seafood. But I have to say, these food were nicely done, there wasn't any negative thing I could say about them. The best part was, the price was pretty reasonable, and relatively cheaper comparing to Singapore.
That was the last venture we had for the night before heading back to hotel.
We had another day in Cebu city and visited several major attractions such as Carbon Market, Magellan's Cross, Basilica del Santo Nino, Fort San Pedro, and shopped at Robinsons. I even had a Swedish Massage at Grand Prix Hotel Level 2 next block for mere P250! Couldn't imagine how much will it cost me back home. I thought of having a Thai massage (P180) initially, but was curious what was Swedish Massage, well, it actually emphasize more on muscle relaxation rather than joint, with the use of essence oil. It was an eye-opening experience but I believe I'd prefer Thai massage more.
We returned to Ayala Center for further shopping and tried CNT Lechon, we got the last plate available. We had dinner at Casa Verde in Ayala Center before rushing back hotel for our luggage. We reached Mactan-Cebu Airport just in time for check-in, but for that unpleasant incident described at the beginning of this post, I was quite enraged for some time. I could have elaborated further on our last day activities, but I'm afraid I couldn't squeeze in further pictures to complement. Anyway, I suppose these are already rather familiar for many, and not difficult getting information elsewhere. Let me end this post by sharing the loot I bought in Cebu!
My friend sampled the Caramel Bar before buying, we found it nice & I got it for P125. I kinda love honey, excellent for sugar substitute, and I like the unassuming packaging outlook of this Camiguin honey. As for the Batangas coffee, it's for the old folks back home (^.^)
