Travelogue XXI:VISMIN TOUR 1st LEG-Cebu Part III

 The next series of travelogues that  I will be sharing with you consist of three weeks worth of vacation,  touring parts of Visayas and Mindanao two summers ago.  This was the time when both of us were able to scrimp the P40,000 we saved up for this adventure and learned the art of backpacking by experience. Come, join us on our journey and explore the beauty of our country. Maybe next time, we can do a backpack tour of Asia and Europe as well. *crossing our fingers now*

~~~oOo~~~

Doing a pose outside our hotel room before heading to Veranda… 

After our Plantation Bay tour, we went back to our hotel to rest for a while before we were picked up by Peter’s cousin, Wawa, who brought us to their really cozy bar, VERANDA, in Mandaue City. It’s quite popular in the area and you should try to drop by when you visit Cebu. They serve fairly priced food and drinks and bands  are invited to play especially on special occasions like the Sinulog every January. 

Left to right: Peter, me, Martin and Wawa hanging out at Veranda…

We didn’t stay until the wee hours of the morning (which is usually the case when we go to bars) since we still have an itinerary early the next day. 

It was still quite early in the evening but I was already tipsy…

April 12, we woke up early, had our buffet breakfast (which was included in our hotel package) and hailed a cab going to the North Bus Terminal. We asked around which bus to ride if we wanted to go to Moalboal and they pointed to us this Ceres bus liner heading to the Southwestern part of Cebu.  

Waiting for the other passengers… I wish they’d hurry! I can’t wait to go to Moalboal! 

The ride took us around 2 hours. We told the driver where we wanted to go exactly (Moalboal beach) and he told us that he’d signal us when it’s time to go down.  On the way there, we passed by the city with its colorful fieras as the main mode of transportation. An hour or so, we were already passing by forests, trees, hills and seas. The sights were really spectacular! And true enough, after a little over two hours, the conductor told us that we’d be going down soon. 

Wonderful view on the way to the beach… 

We were dropped off at an intersection where lots of tricycle line up. We rode one and told the driver to lead us to the beach. The ride took 20 minutes until finally, we reached this beach called Bas Daku. It’s a Visayan term which literally means BIG SAND.

 Good thing the ride wasn’t bumpy…

And true enough, the beach has fine white sand. We hurriedly went to the beach. There were no people around except us. Wow! There were no entrace fees too. It’s paradise, all to ourselves, for free! WOW!

Paradise at last! 

Without further ado, we hit the waters and enjoyed being one with nature! There were empty kubos nearby but we opted to make this trip as affordable as possible so we stayed by the beach with my sarong sprawled over the fine white sand.

This is THE life! 

From where I was sunbathing, I saw someone windsurfing. We were not alone after all. Then moments later, I saw a foreign guy setting up his tent with his two kids and some locals enjoying their afternoon by the beach as well. But still, it felt like the whole place was still ours.
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Mactan Cebu Adventure

 The next series of travelogues that  I will be sharing with you consist of three weeks worth of vacation,  touring parts of Visayas and Mindanao two summers ago.  This was the time when both of us were able to scrimp the P40,000 we saved up for this adventure and learned the art of backpacking by experience. Come, join us on our journey and explore the beauty of our country. Maybe next time, we can do a backpack tour of Asia and Europe as well. *crossing our fingers now*

~~~oOo~~~

Come Monday morning, April 11, after a hearty breakfast, we got ready to tour other parts of the city. We hailed a cab and asked the driver to bring us to the Mactan Shrine. On our way there, we passed by Mandaue City and crossed the Lapu-Lapu bridge, until finally, the driver dropped us off outside the shrine.

Cab ride going to Marigondon… Passing by the Lapu-Lapu Bridge… 

There were no entrance fees required so we just walked in. It looked like a small park with lots of flower-bearing shrubs and coconut trees. In the middle of the park is Lapu-Lapu’s lone statue standing big and tall, the way Cebuanos generally are (proud and strong). At the other end of the park is a mini museum housing the largest painting depicting the battle of Mactan. It was really huge!

Visiting the Mactan Shrine 

 What a huge painting!!!

The shrine is near a public beach where kids bathe and play around. We walked there and found this cute bahay kubo standing on the water. Nearby were mangroves which provide greenery in the area. There were also nearby stalls sellingnative handicrafts and accessories.

 
 Checking out the outer vicinity of the shrine…

Having seen everything we wanted to see, we again hailed a cab and asked the driver to bring us to Marigondon beach — a public beach resort famous for its familial and cozy atmosphere. When we got there, there weren’t a lot of people around (t was Monday that’s why). We only paid P20 for entrance and rent of one of the sheds by the beach.

See the beach behind Peter? That’s Marigondon beach. 

Honestly, I didn’t expect what we saw — a beach so clean with clear turquoise seawater! It definitely beats all the first class beaches here in Batangas, Cavite and Subic. To think that this is just Cebu’s public beach. Yet,  it is comparable to Boracay’s quality of water and sand. Awesome! Since we didn’t expect to see a beach so pretty, Peter and I decided to test the waters. Good thing I was wearing my bikini underneath my summer attire. As for Peter, the security guard saw our intention and gladly lent him one of his shorts (Cebuanos are not only proud and strong, they’re nice folks too!). And frolick we did that early Monday morning.

So tempted to test the waters of Marigondon beach!!!

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Cebu City Tour Must See Places

The next series of travelogues that  I will be sharing with you consist of three weeks worth of vacation,  touring parts of Visayas and Mindanao two summers ago.  This was the time when both of us were able to scrimp the P40,000 we saved up for this adventure and learned the art of backpacking by experience. Come, join us on our journey and explore the beauty of our country. Maybe next time, we can do a backpack tour of Asia and Europe as well. *crossing our fingers now* 

    ~~~oOo~~~

  Enjoying the tourist accommodation…  “I’m the queen of the wold!”

April 9, 2005, Saturday, we boarded Superferry 18. Since I was a kid, I’ve been riding the WG&A ferries with my parents. But this time, it felt different. Maybe because I was with my husband and that made a whole lot of a difference. We got tourist type of accommodation and we got to share it with a bunch of middle-aged public school teachers who were also doing their own backpack adventure that I got to share with them some tips I know about Cebu from what I researched on the internet. They were very thankful and I was glad to help.  

Look at the very spacious and sparkling lobby of Superferry 18… 

  Enjoying the view on their deck…

Anyway, we treated the whole trip like a cruise. Staying at Superferry 18 was a mini vacation in itself. The ship looked like a hotel with a very nice lobby, internet cafe facilities and a restaurant bar comparable to what we have in the city. Peter and I really took advantage of everything the boat has to offer. And the food really aint that bad.

Arriving at Cebu finally!                     Resting at Tito Ped’s hammock. 

 Chow time with Tita Anne, Tito Ped and Martin.

We arrived at Cebu the following morning, April 10, Sunday. Tito Pedro fetched us and lunch was served at their cozy newly constructed abode. We had fun!

 This is the view from our hotel which Tita Anne booked for us.

That afternoon, we rested bit inside our hotel room, which is by the way, the one just across Ayala Center Cebu. After an hour’s rest, we were ready to explore the city. 

Ayala Center Cebu 

The Battle at Mactan … this theme is everywhere in Cebu. 

We hailed a cab and told the driver to bring us to where Magellan’s Cross is. On our way, we saw this beautiful landmark which is a depiction of the battle of Lapu-lapu and Magellan at Mactan. Finally, we reached the church housing the cross of Magellan.

The Magellan’s Cross

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SPREAD the WORD…

April 30, 2007

Relieving Stress: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Ang Cute Ng Ina Mo

Last weekend, to relieve myself of stress from training and to take my mind off all those leadership concepts taught in the classroom, Peter and I decided to watch movies. He  was happy to see that I obliged in watching TMNT coz I actually had a different movie in mind. Anyway, I was a bit surprised that not many people were inside the cinema. I thought maybe this movie sucks. Or maybe, there weren’t enough promotions around that could’ve lured viewers to watch this flick. Or maybe, we watched it too late into the screening period that we didn’t get to catch all the other viewers as well.

Anyway, to save time, we brought our pizza and drinks inside the theater and started on with the movie.

What amazed me was the fluidity of the story, its diverse moods, strength of each character and the depth of the plot itself. I honestly thought it would be a film intended for kids but I was wrong. It is a movie intended for the kids in us! After all, it was during our childhood years when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles started to invade our consciousness (remember its cartoon version shown on TV that time?). Plus, it helped that the computer graphics used were of superior quality. From start to finish, I didn’t notice the time passing by. I was engrossed in each scene and I just wanted to get emotionally involved in the plot and subplots of the movie. There were even moments when I cried, especially when the two brothers, Leonardo and Raphael were engaged in duel.

I also had a very funny insight. In this movie, Leonardo was sent to a far away place by their Master Splinter to enhance his leadership qualities and skills which made Raphael resent him for “abandoning” them, their team, thus he continued fighting evil disguised as another hero who strikes at night. One of the main plots of this flick I think is about this conflict in leadership or struggle for real leadership. I thought, “My goodness, even in my time of leisure,  MDP concepts seem to follow me still, hahaha!” 

But what struck me the most was the fact that in times of universal crisis, when we have to fight one single dominant evil, we CAN  forget about our minor differences, sacrifice our greed to come up with a compromise  that can bring greater good to humanity.  I guess, this was the ultimate message of the story. It made me feel good about myself afterwards. However, I still need another mood booster so I asked Peter if we can watch another flick.

And so we did. Watching Pinoy flicks for us is a very rare event. There aren’t enough quality Pinoy films and when  there are, they are not promoted well. Anyway, through word-of-mouth, I came to know that Cute Ng Ina Mo is really one hilarious film. And since I was on the brink of depression then, I decided to give this comedy a try. After all, laughter is still the best medicine, right? Or so they say.

True enough, I wasn’t disappointed. The story is simple and every Filipino can relate to it because though it depicts an example of how Pinay women get to be brides of foreigners, it describes a much more complex phenomenon of hardship and sacrifice. I not only laughed my heart out but I cried at some scenes too.

Ay-Ay Delas Alas can always be counted upon for her comedic timing and dramatic strokes. What also amazed me was Anne Curtis’ grasp and skill of the Australian language and diction. She really sounded like one! If I was just listening to her, I wouldn’t recognize her voice at all. It’s nice to know that our actors are getting better at their craft, seeing at how they can be good at not only acting but speaking as well.

I won’t dwell on each character anymore. I think it’s enough to know that if you want to see a very funny and well-crafted movie, ANG CUTE NG INA MO is the film to watch. Trust me.