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wish you were here?
Cebu get-away
A spur-of-the-moment decision to spend five dAys in cebu turned into A memorAble vAcAtion – And hAd bermAr A. bAntolA And fAmily Asking for more!
owards the end of our summer break, our family spent five days in Cebu, Eastern Philippines. None of us – my wife,
sister, three kids, and I – had ever been to Cebu, nor knew anyone there, and had neither guides nor any semblance of an itinerary to speak of.
All we had were five days, some cash, and an RCI membership.
To maximise our vacation, we booked an early (6:30am!) Manila-Cebu flight with Cebu Pacific. Upon landing at Mactan we instantly experienced the excellent service of Days Hotel. Their driver and waiting van welcomed us as we stepped out of the airport. After a brief rest at the hotel we went sightseeing, visiting the Lapu-Lapu shrine, Magellan’s Cross in downtown Cebu, and TOPS at Lahug which offered a panoramic nightscape
of the city. En route, our driver recommended City View Restaurant for dinner where the view, food, and ambience justified his suggestion.
Our focus on the second day was to satisfy our craving for Cebu’s pristine beaches. We chose the beach-fronted Tambuli Beach Club (West), and were driven there in tricycles. We discovered the entrance fee included a sumptuous
lunch, which you could opt for it to be served at your chosen spot on the beach (by paying a little extra, of course). Beach bums had plenty to keep busy with - jet skis, parasailing, banana boats, and boat tours to nearby islands with fish sanctuaries and excellent dive/snorkel spots. Swimming in the sea was great, because during low tide, the shallow
“All we had were five days, some
cash, and an RCI membership.”
water does not get above head level even as far out as 100 meters from the shore. Dinner was at the Su-Tu-Kil collection of restaurants near the Lapu-Lapu shrine. We chose our fresh raw ingredients, and the skilled cooks prepared them in sugba (grilled),
tula (soup) or kilaw (raw fish salad) style. We selected our particular restaurant because of the challenge the cook threw:
“Kapag hindi masarap, libre na!” (“If it doesn’t taste good, it’s free!”). Needless to say, we paid wholeheartedly!
During the day, consensus was already being formed about plans for Day 3. Enthusiastically, we voted on Bohol! Reaching Pier 1, we boarded the first 6am Ocean Jet ferry to Bohol. Upon arrival, we rented a van and Dodong,
our driver, became our tour guide and photographer-cum-translator for the day. Our first stop was, where else, but at the famous Chocolate Hills. One hill has been converted into the ‘base’ hill with the tourist office, souvenir shops and food booths. It was worth the 217-step climb to the peak for the scenic view
of the other perfectly cone-shaped hills. Forgot your camera? Don’t worry as photographers come to your rescue, complete with a developing station and enthusiastic suggestions for creative poses!
Dodong then drove us to Bohol’s other tourist destinations, supplying us with interesting historical and anecdotal snippets. After stopping at the Hanging Bridge, we feasted on a buffet lunch at a floating restaurant on Loboc River; took photo ops with the tiny Tarsiers with their enormous eyes; had a history lesson at the Clarin Ancestral House; saw the
6 SEPTEMBER.DECEMBER
INSET: (left) Bohol, The Chocolate Hills are amazingly uniform and said to number 1268. They get their name from the grass covering them which, at the end of the dry season, turns chocolate brown.