Cebu Week Vacation [Days 7]

MONDAY - Nov. 13, 2006

5:45 AM - Wake Up and Shower

yawn! hehe... i waited long for the sun to come out... and i did it! yehey! sunrise... o sunrise... aimee and i had fun doing the pics.. the videos... the silhouette(s)... which is kinda embarassing... hehe! kaye wasn't up yet... well, u know kaye... Ü that was actually my first experience to fully focus on sunrise... hehe... amazing... so, that's how it comes out... so... that how it starts... so, that how big it is... bright... and early!!! yeh.. we took a long time... haha! ok stop.

6:30 AM - Breakfast

I had the Filipino brekfast in spending our last minutes at the island... so soon.... huhuhu..... we are catching the 7:30 first trip back to hagnaya port....

7:30 AM - Off to Hagnaya Port

we were the last ones to ride the fairy this time we didn't take the air-con seats... we wanted to enjoy the view.... though its hard to leave the island... wwaaaaahhhhhhhhh.............

9:30 AM - Off to Cebu City

and we're back.... this time we are taking the bus to the city... fortunately we are early.. haha.... anyway, we were confident that the trip won't be too long coz its our cebu fav bus: CERES! haha! its still a long ride, so we sleep.. saya! sarap matulog! yawn.

12:00 NN - SM City

we stop here for lunch... aimee is set to meet with her relatives then kaye and i to tour the queen city... yey! syempre prang bata na may field trip.... wippeeee! txted our very own Manong... ung sa TOPS... pra mgpasundo... we eat at Sunburst Chicken.. not bad and nothing special... gutom lng.. Ü

1:15 PM - The Cebu Tour: Carbon Market
keychains - php 10.00 each (free lettering)

we arrived here 20mins after... then started taking on the shops one by one to look for souvenirs for friends.... we were looking for keychains... after some time we found one... at first, we were thinkin twice because the cute keychains we found don't have any text on them to tell us its from Cebu.... syempre, maabilidad si kuya noel(si manong cebu taxi service) he asked the local folks if they can add labels on them and yey! they can! we had pics with them too.. they liked the pics... i enjoyed talking to them and laughing with them.... feels homie. Ü

2:10 PM - The Cebu Tour: Magellan's Cross

the famous cross.. we were there... like they say.. kinda disappointing.. nothing special.. nothing amazing about the place.. like they say.. like quiapo before.... but the ceilings of its place was nice... i like the art... we had a hard time taking pictures coz.. its too high... haha!

2: 15 PM - The Cebu Tour: Bassilica de Sto. Nino

a few steps after the cross you will reach the church... its a big old spanish inspired church... pretty obvious actually... i like the fact that its big... i like how it looks on the outside, i like the details... i didn't like the inside of the church.... except for the garden.. there were a number of people even its a monday... its a busy church...

dumaan kmi dun sa sindihan ng mga kandila.. (sorii, di ko lam tawag e.. i forgot..) i like the curved cemented walls at the back.... i had to take a picture even if i wasn't suppose to.. sorry...

2:45 PM - The Cebu Tour: Fort San Pedro

like Fort Santiago in Manila, they have this... i haven't explored Fort Santiago so i can't really compare... it was this castle like fort... that has canons on top... watch towers on the side... pure rock surrounding whatever's inside.... large wooden doors... as if im awaiting an army to come out... it looked nice inside... i like the walk ong the left side.... i didn't understand the monkey statue on the tree.... it oversized... haha! and then the walk to the right side is ronda la tienda... which means te stores are located there... souvenirs, drinks, food.. etc... upstairs is a museum which features old artifacts of the history in cebu... which we can't take pics of.. heheh! naawa lng ako dun sa guard kaya di ko na sya dinaya... hehe..

3:30 PM - The Cebu Tour: Taoist Temple

syempre... palalampasin ba namin to?! the very famouse taoist temple... we came here to take pics of coarse and primarily because of the chance u get to ask Buddha for some guidance to ur questions.... i had fun asking... i think i finished 4 questions straight yes, 1 maybe then went yes again... ang nkkinis.. ung for not-so-much-for-myself question.. dun pa sya mag-no! weeh.... hehee fine!

4:30 PM - The Cebu Tour: Casa Gorordo

this is a house full of cebu history... i like this the best from all the places we toured.. y? because it the most educational about cebu.. hehhe... it has rooms.. like a casa.. from bedrooms, kitchen, living rooms, veranda, dining and toilet! ul walk on a red carpet path to view the rooms.... ul see obviously the furnitures are old and very antique... ang saya! feeling tourist ka tlga! so sad di pwede masyadong picture! so, nakaw pics lng meron ako.. hehee... its floor grounds look nice too.. perfect for picture takin! haha! kulit!

5:15 PM - The Cebu Tour: Pasalubong Shoppin'

suggestion ni kuya noel, dalin kmi sa pinaka-kilalang factory ng 7D pra makamura ng dried mangoes.. dahil madami-dami rin e... so, we go! 5:30 we got there.. tawid ako.. sbay "hi" kay manong guard... manong bili kmi... "sorry ma'am, uwian na po... close na factory" weeh.. manong naman.. di na pwede? "di na ma'am e"... balik sa sasakyan... kuya pano to... 5:30 sna dpt asa airport na kmi... 6:30 ang flight! dito ngsimulang ang kamalasan... trappik pa!
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ang tensyon nmin sa katawan ay amin nang naramdaman.... mukang tatakbo tyo ulit kaye... at infairness, ang dami nting dala this time.. lht ng bags pati kay aimee at ung mga pasalubong pa.. yikes pano to... tense! tense! tense!
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suggestion ulit ni kuya ung malapit nalng sa airport... o sya tara! 6:00 we arrived.. baba kaye! dali... ate, 4 na otap, 12 mangorind, 20+ na dried... dali.. onting baratan.. then pack it! pack it! pack it! ate! bilisan nyo.. bayad! kaye, sakay!
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manong, larga! kuya salamat ah..binigyan ko na lng sya 1k pra sarado.... the best ka kuya! i-aadvertise kita sa maynila! hehe!

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sa bilis lang pics... =(

6:15 PM - Cebu - Mactan Airport Arrival

kaye, baba! ang mga gamit.. text message from aimee: "asan na kyo? kktpos ko lng check-out counter"... kaye, dyan lng si aimee.. bitbitin mo lht ng kaya mo.. akin matitira... eto si kuya tumulong.. yehey! kaye, x-ray.. gamit.. tray! scan dali! kuya bilis! takbo kaye! sa counter..... kuya,.... to manila po... kuya:"sorry, ma'am boarding na po di na po pwede" guard: "bat ksi late kyo?, pa-rebook nyo na po yan ma'am" anoo!?!?! putcha na yan! cge na.. boarding pa lng nman e.. kkumpisa nyo lng... cge na ho! text message from aimee: "san na kyo? kkpasok k lng ng plane!" naman! pano to? "sorry ma'am di na po!" @#$@#$#!!!
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kung asa manila kmi pwede sana to.... dyan lng nman e... or kung cebuana sana kmi.. bwisit!
nkkinis sa twing iisipin ko ung init ng ulo ko lampas sa akin... at eto pa.. cost us php 900.00 each for the new ticket... walang pera.. walang dinner... at 2.5 oras na pagiintay... haaaay! kamalasan! y?!!?

****At long last! finished! sorry sa mga pngintay ko... eto na... on-time naman ako sa drafts e.. sorri wlang time ituloy. Ang saya.. grand total budget: php 12k less.... not bad d ba pra isang linggong salaysay ko ng kasiyahan... haay.. sana pwedeng ulit-ulitin... nweiz, panalo to! wala akong masabi... im proud of me... us... sariling sikap lht to noh! i wish sna masundan ang makatulong sa inyo...

for inquiries: email/ym me: iconpool@yahoo.com

Cebu Week Vacation [Days 5 & 6]

SUNDAY – Nov. 12, 2006

7:30 AM – Wake up and shower

as usual ako ang gumising sa mga kids... nga pla.. di ako sa kwarto natulog sa kabilang rm. with Maan(frm OV sabi syo wwork ang punta nmin e.. hihi), mag-isa ksi sya... wawa naman! lumampas nga ako sa target na 6:00 so, therefore might be late... Mass starts at 9:00... syempre la na breakfast to! ..will attend Mass to thank God for this trip.. hehe.. (bait)

8:30 AM – Travel to St. Nicholas Church
Taxi Fare: P80.00

will attend mass here ksi.. priest dun ung uncle ni Aimee... pra di kmi hiwa-hiwalay... dun na...

9:00 AM – Mass

it was a nice church.. it was kinda big... there were a lot of people that came in... i was curious with one picture there... coz for me... somethings wrong with it.. hihi... the mass was held in english and bisaya so we did understand some parts of it..

10:00 AM - Picture takin'

while waiting for Aimee's tito... we took the chance to go around and take pics syempre... kaye, smile! Ü

10:05 AM - Breakfast

at last! hehehe.. we were invited to have merienda actually (breakfast for us)... wow! jabi! hamburger.... ng-sphagetti ako... (yum! yum!) at softdrinks.. tnx po...

11:00 AM - Travel back to Hotel

check-out na kmi... gudbye pensionne... nice to meet you.. Ü

11:30 AM - Travel to SM

will ride a V-hire to get to Hagnaya Port... dito ang terminal nila..

12:00 AM - SM (North V-hire terminal)

wow.. ang init... and u know i can't stand it.. so... ng-stay na lng ako sa labas while waiting... we were the first ones sa van... will have to wait for 7 other people... ganun tlga ang V-hire... minutes later, it was really getting too hot... i asked Kaye to go with me sa SM for a while... Aimee stayed to rest and read and of coarse watch the bags.. hehe... later.... Aimee txted may dumating daw na babae... was asking if its ok if we just paid for the rest pra lng maka-alis na.. it was getting late na rin.. 1:00 PM na nun e... at kmi palang din sa van.. other alternate is to take a bus.. which we could catch if we were extremely early... next trip is too late for the last trip at Hagnaya Port.. in the end.. aun! binayaran na nga nmin... costs us P960 all in... to take occupancy of 8 peeps... haay.... mas wise kung groups kyo then tsaka kyo mgV-hire... pra sulit at di mabigat sa bulsa... Ü

1:30 PM - Travel to Hagnaya Port

total of 2.5 hrs ang ride... so... aun! tulog! tulog! ang saya! pro it felt longer than that... dunno y... cguro ksi ung view... feeling ko wala na tlga kmi sa civilization.... pro maganda.. peaceful!

4:00 PM - Arrive at Hagnaya Port

last trip leaves at 5:30 so.... 1.5 oras pa... grabe... waiting... the scene around there was not very likeable... it seems time was so slow.... people are just waiting and contented watching the tv... porters are everywhere constantly asking for ur bags... i felt like a star when we arrived... they were really runnning... if a bus comes in or a tricycle or a van same thing happens.. i felt sad for the way of living they have.... nweiz, we were really starving.. grabe.. anong oras na.... wala pa kmi lunch... aun! nilantakan na nmin ang mga tinapay! haha!

5:30 PM – Travel to Bantayan
Ferry Fare (via Island Express Shipping) – php 168.00 (air-con) php 135.00 (regular)

we road the M/V Island Roro II boat... it was ok.... ung mga crew ang kukulit.. cguro just about our age.. kaya ang galing mambola... hehhe.. pro sila lalake... it will be a 1.5 hrs cruise to get to Bantayan.... so.. nood na muna... uy! the Buzz! at Going Bulilit... hehe...

7:30 PM – Arrive in Bantayan, Travel to resort via Kota service c/o Manong Dodong

haha.. ang kulit! syempre same old! same old! kht saan ata dun sa Cebu... syempre.. artista kmi ulit nung dumating.. pro prang mas artista kmi dun.. dhil isla un e.. prang aun! tao! tao! (haha! joke lng...) may kasama kmi sa service nung dumating.... mga foreigners.... muntik na kmi di magkasya lht... sakto lng...

7:45 PM – Check-in Kota Beach Resort (1st Day)
Cottage(w/ AC) – php 1560*
Beachfront – php 2000*
Extra bed – php 150*
(032) 438-9042(032) 419-6135(0916)981-2023

got a discount of php 200.00 so.. si Beachfront nmin.. php 1800.00 na lng... Ü yep! beachfront.. too bad it was dark already for us to appreciate the beach front! pro grabe.. look up! wow! am i in a planetarium?!! ang ganda.... ang ganda! grabe.. ang ganda! and those were all i can say.... i cudn't explain how happy i was to see that... i was amazed and overjoyed.... (grabe, ang sweet! hehe... and then i miss someone! wushu...) bsta i was happy! can't take my eyes off the sky and i can't help but smile.. i like stars! hehe... gives me piece of mind... nweiz, and off we go to check the room... aba! not bad.. leave our bags and find a place to eat.. haha! gutom na tlga ko!


08:00 PM – Dinner
bill – php 935.00

we went to a place called White Sand, its not far from Kota u can actually walk.. but since were tired and it was dark and our first time in the island we took a pedicab.. palapit pa lng kmi ng gate... prang nabuhayan na ung mga pedicab boys at pinag-agawan kmi... may isang bibong pedicab driver dun... sya rin ung makulit sa pier sna sa knya na kmi sasakay kso.. kulang upuan ng sidecar nya for the 3 of us.. so kay young Dodong kmi napasakay... (uso ang pangalan na Dodong dun.. iba-iba lng pronounciation) haha! nweiz, makulit rin pla ito.. half korean ata sya, obvious naman sa itsura nya... kinokontrata na kmi bukas... at iintayin na daw kmi pagtapos kumain... haha! agawan tlga e noh... so, cge... napa-mahal tuloy... 15 lng sna kung indi nya kmi iintayin... naging 50 tuloy... pro cge na... tulong na nmin...

so, were there finally... grabe... ang stars.... ang ganda.. mas maganda... the view was great... ul eat by candlelight beside the shore.... underneath a carpet of stars.. ang lapit nila... the wind was blowin and ul hear no noise but the waves of the sea... wow! this is the life.... if ur with ur boyfriend and they propose right there... it might be hard to say no to... ewan ko ba bat un ang nsa isip ko nun... ang ganda ksi... i dunno bout Aimee and Kaye but i'v overjoyed it....

about the food... they'll present you a bed of fresh food (fish, meat, vegetables, etc.) from which ul choose from... the waitresses are well-trained in english and tagalog.. (very scripted haha!) ok na! afterwhich, the foreigner owner will approach u and have his "hope ul enjoy the fud" speech... --we will! mahirap lng mgpicture coz of the wind and the place being only lighted by candles... aun! naexplore ko tuloy ung camera ng wala sa oras! haha! pra sa picture! the food was nice by the way they come in a variety of sauces... try to remember what are they when they are served, haha! we had mango pancake for dessert... not bad! but not that ok! we tried the ones we dnt have any clue about... medyo napamahal pro busog!

10:00 PM - Travel back to Kota

hehe.. 2 oras kmi andun.. tagal nmin.. Ü

10:30 PM - Night at Kota

syempre eto na naman ako kay stars... we decided to star gaze for a while.. di pa naman kmi antok.... haaay... ang saya... we laid on the benches and stared... i saw 2 shooting stars.... haha! panalo! Kaye saw one. wish! wish! i was tellin Kaye that i hope our friends could experience the same.... Ü

11:00 PM - Sleep!

MONDAY – Nov. 13, 2006

7:00 AM - Wake Up and Shower

I wake up by myself and take a look around.. i know its gonna be beautiful... and it was... had myself took pictures like there's no tomorrow... Aimee was already swimmin'. Kaye is hehe.. still sleepin'..... wow... it was a nice island...there were a number of early birds too... people trying to get some tan.... i drew a message in the sand... for my friends who can't be there... pra ksing hinde totoo na andun kmi... and sana di na kmi bumalik.. hehe...

mga 8:30, lumabas na rin si Kaye.. sa wakas.. hehe... picture! picture!

9:00 AM - Breakfast

mmmm..... coffee and pancakes... sarap! ang saya tlga dun...... cheese! we were planning the day... and forever wishin we could get an extention... haha! will have the Bantayan tour.... Ü

10:00 AM - Off to Ogtong Cave

Tricycle Rent - php 150.00

Ogtong Cave is located inside the Ogtong Resort not far from Kota... you could walk the shore but ul die coz of heat.. or take a hired tricycle to go about the island... we had ours for P150.. pretty cheap... The resort was much beatufil in terms of facility vs. Kota.. but the view was off because of the fast that they are at the higher part of the island that u needed to go down to the shore for the beach experience... they have pools... much good lookin cottages... and of coarse higher prices... haha! Ü since we are not staying.. we only paid a php 50.00 each entrance fee... if ur being wise.. u cud do it this way... check-in at kota then pay entrance Ogtong and enjoy full access of facilities... nweiz, Ogtong Cave is a small cave that has cold spring inside... it flows from the ocean... the water was very clear... it was a nice not scary lookin cave.

we also bought some souvenirs here.... they have a lot at the entrance lobby... Ü

10:45 AM - Off to go to Bantayan Market

php 75.00 per 1/4 kilo

we went here for the danggit pasalubong... si shen-shen ksi e... ang kulit! the price here are really low... y? because Bantayan is the place where they fish danggit... so, bagsakan tlga.. got ours at php 75.00 per 1/4 kilo... got pictures with nanay and ate... natuwa namn sila sa pics... haha!

11:30 AM - Off to go to Bantayan Church

across the street ul reach Bantayan Church... it was an old church as u see it... its just sad that no one's there to tell us the story... i like it doors... it has the arch wooden door style.... with big metal railing on the side and locks... Ü it was a simple designed church inside... very homey... there were school kids inside that didn't look prayin but just waiting.... we asked them to hold the camera.. haha! outside i took a shot of a bunch of school boys playin basketball at the park in front.. feeling photographer naman tlga ko.. pra sa caption na.. local kids at Bantayan... haha!

i got pictures of they're local schools... on the way i took a picture of one poultry farm... the place was well surrounded by that...

12:15 PM - Off to go to Lunch at Blue Ice Bear

bill - php 495.00

yep.. not a typo.. that's the name of the place... we misread it the first time... took a while to let us see that... then another bar near that was the Hard Cock Cafe.. san ka pa?!! haha! naman! bat ganun? nweiz, we decided to eat and have lunch there... hmmm... what's on the menu? the menu there wasn't to costly.. most of their dish our good for 2-3 persons... ul have a variety of chicken, pork, beef, vegetables, squid, shrimp. etc... since its our first time we took the liberty of trying the food we dnt know... haha!

1:20 PM - Off to go back to Kota

i dunno for them but everytime i look at the view.. it feels that it keeps getting better and better to my eyes... again the photographer wannabe in me took some pictures... we rest for a while then decided to take the Virgin island tour.. wooo!

3:00 PM - Off to Virgin Island

Boat fare: php 900.00

Island Entrance: php 200.00

Safety jackets (optional): php 30.00 each?! not sure about the price

to get there we need a boat, so Manong Dodong offered one... we were excited to get there coz of the name... we wanted to know y? along the way... ul see the view of the side of bantayan... and the resorts around it... it was a 15mins boat ride from Kota...

later, we reach the island.. there were a group of foreigners already there... they are staying in Kota too... they are the nice couple always smiling at us.. hi! first impression at the island it was desserted... the view was nice coz ul feel lost. it got trees and some houses... for the people that take care of it.. and a sign that says: "this island is for sale" hmmmm.... magkano kaya? hehe! the sand is still white but not as fine in Bantayan... its very peaceful there... ul enjoy snorkelling because the island has lots of fish around.... unfortunately, Kaye got stung by a jelly fish which we couldn't find.... damn that jelly fish! and no thanks to Aimee for helping... haha! iwanan daw ba si Kaye? nweiz, while we're there... we had a nice view of the clouds... it suddenly had this effect of light coming down on a certain part of the sea... sino kaya kinukuha dun?! fishes?!! haha! i made footprints on the sand.... the water was not as clear but as cold.... refreshing... swim! swim! swim!

5:00 PM - Off to go back to Kota

on the back we saw a rainbow! la lng.... i tried capturing the sun and the water... la lng din...

we continue our swimming there.... the sand really feels great.. ul enjoy walkin in it... the shore expands long enough upfront for you to reach far off the water.... feeling mo ang tangkad mo... haha! we enjoyed picture taking in the sunset.... we waited.. Ü

7:30 PM - Off to take shower and prepare for dinner

syempre picture muna!

8:00 PM - Off to Marisquera O Portugese

bill - php 980.00

this is a well known bar in Bantayan... too bad they don't have the karaoke workin.. they have billiards which unfortunately we didn't get the change to play with.. dami ksing nglalaro e... sayang! nweiz, this is the bar that is fully lighted.. with christmas tree.. nweiz, we had fun taking pictures... overall they're style is very unique they have shirts hangin in the ceiling.. the waiter and waitresses wear hawaiian.. and they serve all more on portugese, mexican food... haha! san ka pa? the long wait for food is very well known... so we ordered beer first... i think Aimee had her 1st time.... and i think it should be here last... it didn't have a nyc effect on her... nweiz, the food was great or maybe we didn't notice because we're too much starving.. we had pasta, pizza and a spicy pika-pika (forgot the name) haha!

10:30 PM - Off to go back to Kota

we had fun... we took picture with the yung Dodong.. when we got to the room... we took some more... hahaha.. like there's to tomorrow.. as long as the idea comes in... cge.. click lng ng click! one with the towels.. one with the same shirt.... mcdo.. budda... the ring 2... sleeping... lookin... etc...

12:00 MD - Sleep!