10 posts tagged “travel”
finally, we had the chance to go to the beach. we've been itching to go soak in sea water and get toasted under the sun since we set foot in cebu. we were really desperate that we decided to go to tambuli beach resort after our shift yesterday. mactan, being the nearest province (45 minute drive from the city) with a reputable and decent beach was our first option. we had to settle for a day trip just to satisfy our itch for the beach. we weren't also that prepared to go the distance of malapascua or moalboal. we kinda considered kawasan falls but time just ain't on our side. we got there an hour after win and the other agents arrived. we missed the lunch buffet. win had four full plates of everything. the beach was ok despite the claims that the mactan shoreline is degrading. still, it was pretty nice beach and we had fun. and since it was too late for us to get tanned, we did a whole lot of camwhoring instead.
it was, as usual, one lazy afternoon. i had nothing to do. we haven't bought a tv yet. i wasn't in the mood to hang out at any of the malls in cebu. win got to thinking of going to the taoist temple. as camera whores, we didn't think twice and headed out to beverly hills. not the one in california. although, we must say, the houses were very impressive. the opulence of cebu's upper class were in full display. but that would be a totally different post. we've seen a lot of posh cars and we'll maintained subdvisions here. we have somehow concluded that cebu is definitely along the haciendaras and hacienderos group with the likes of bacolod, iloilo and davao.
back to the taoist temple. it's officially called the philippine taoist temple, inc. it's inside the beverly hills subdivision. you need a cab or any moving vehicle for you to reach this location. do not attempt to hike it. we thought of it but glad that we didn't actually bought the idea. it's considered a tourist destination in cebu city. and true enough, there were plenty of chinese, koreans, americans and portugese speaking women. brazilians maybe. no entrance fee whatsoever. you can take as many pictures as you want, just like we did. however, there were signs that no picture taking should take place inside the praying temple or any of the holy images at the altar. we willingfully obeyed so we took pictures with the giant dragon, the red stairs, the chinese lions, and what not. the temple is grandiously overlooking what seems to be cebu's wilderness and some parts of the sea. we were there for almost an hour. we had to walk a couple of blocks before we could spot a vacant cab. here are the pictures:
makati vs. cebu.
it's like east coast vs. west coast.
i've been living in cebu for almost a month now, and the life down south is sloooowly sinking in. everything in cebu is so...relaxed. it's like i've timewarped to a perpetual sunday slowjam. and if you're used to working your ass and running around the big cosmopolitan buildings of makati, it may take awhile before your daily routine gets adjusted.
i can't help but compare cebu with makati. there's a big difference with cost of living. everything in cebu seems to be cheap and at times too good to be true. the food is sooo good here. my current faves are the mexican themed mooon cafe in guadalupe and the dessert factory (alchocolypse now is synonymous to cardiac arrest). we're all crossing our fingers that we just gain half the weight than what the locals are predicting. be it a quick meal at a karinderia, grilled seafoods and beer with your boss, or a team lunch at an avant garde mexican restaurant; it's all good. i really should start going back to my situps.
i've learned to carry a coin purse to any part of cebu. you will collect absurd amount of coins before you reach home. why? the taxi drivers here are mostly polite and notably returns the exact change. no rounding off of fares. shame on the makati and manila cabbies. i demand a full refund. here, if your fare amounts to 47.50 pesos and you hand out a fifty-peso bill, then most likely you'll receive your 2.50 change. i've learned to either prepare the exact amount or any bill lower than 100. they hate it when you give out 200 or 500. and yes, jeepney fare is 6.00 to almost anywhere. funny thing about the jeepney or "multicabs" (local term) is that they don't go by routes. instead the go by an alphanumeric combination, like 4C or 16D or 62B. much like airline seat assignments. very travel-esque.
movie tickets are also inexpensive. win and i watched the latest harry potter at on-stage of the ayala cinemas for only 130 bucks each. the height of cinema experience. the downside is that they have only 2 reputable and recommendable malls. it's either the ayala mall or the we've-got-it-all-for-you sm. they have gaisano and the likes but you only go to these "malls" if you have nowhere to buy grocery. and, for crying out loud, not a single 7-11 can be found.
houses are cheap. so are the abundant wholistic and massage spas. nightlife is not that big. nothing compares to makati and malate. we haven't been to the beaches and to other tourist spots. we're taking it slow cebuano steps at a time.
here's more snapshots taken last week:
The rest of 22 at the domestic airport with Reijiro
Dinner by me and Win with Sandy
it still feels weird to be in Cebu...
i am back. i have been very busy the past few weeks and now i am writing this from cebu city. yes, finally we have arrived. the first 3 days have been the most tiring days of recent years. we have been scouting for houses and apartments and condos for the entire 22-man team that has relocated to cebu. my feet ached for like 15 hours a day. we did complain alot but we also took a lot of pictures. here's our first week in cebu:
The Advance Party
L-R: At the very old and bus terminal like - Cebu Pacific Domestic terminal, Win and Nina upon landing, the girls at Sophia's lobby, and the boys watching SpongeBob SquarePants.
The House Hunting
L-R: Win at Starbucks trying to call a house for rent, Win at Mocha Blends getting refreshed before going to the next apartment, Asfer waiting for the cab, and the girls try to come up with a more constructed plan.
The Sophia Suites
L-R: Win trying to get dressed, Win trying to get some sleep, and me trying to get some morning sunshine.
Win's Big Waves a la Guess models
The Tests and the Remaing 16
The July 13 and 14 test of the emergency broadcast system.
And we are live from the Skyrise Building in Cebu...
our migration to cebu has been moved a week earlier. too our surprise. so our countdown to cebu has officially and prematurely started. last night, me, charlie, reijiro and win had little trip down memory lane. we got together at one of our favorite places - sonata. we belted out like we always did. it was fun and it was silly as always. i will really miss reijiro and charlie the most. thank god win is going with me. otherwise, i may be institutionalized in cebu. win and i haven't packed yet. we have to do it soon but we still don't feel like it. we're still gonna shop for some luggages this week. something big to fit in whatever we need to bring that can help us last for at least 12 months. as in 365 days. i don't wanna convert to hours. i must pack. i must pack. i must pack.... otherwise i'm a mother packer.
finally, the news about our account opening in our cebu site is out and official. sandy asked me a favor to create announcements about the movement to cebu and to keep it low since it was not official back then. this was about a month ago. i did keep it a secret, except to win. one of our conversations lead to the cebu projects i did. anyway, here are 3 of what i came up with:
i like cebu1 the most because of the colors but it seriously looks like a travel brochure. cebu2 is a bit contemporary and minimalistic but not as eye candy. i had difficulties layering cebu3 and it looks off. i still have no idea which one sandy will use.
i was literally dragged by my mom and my sisters to join them in our "annual" family summer escapade. it was still dark when we left home and i woke up somewhere in batangas. laiya at san juan, batangas to be exact. i never heard of the place before but seems like it was the alternative for puerto galera. come to think of it, this could be the fix for my sea/motion sickness. there weren't as many people but i noticed that they had the same water activites and the same crowd. it's just that it wasn't as crowded. anyway, it was cool and it got me toasted while i was raking loads of pictures. as always.
charlie planned a getaway outside the metro last weekend. nothing big. just an overnight swim that offers cheap beer. preferably red horse beer. we all came except for nina who was a no show. yeah, the queen bee fell asleep and her mobile phone just kept on ringing. she was shocked the following day to have received 118 missed calls. we decided to go anyway. it was just supposed to be short trip which turned out to be a multi-connecting trip. we traveled from one bus to a tricycle to another. there wasn't much that happened at the resort called sun city somewhere in laguna. the place was .... ok. sure, they were offering a very reasonable rate, but they could improve on a lot of things. like customer service. good thing was they had cheap red horse beer. jackpot. reijiro was ecstatic since he never had a beer that cheap - red horse 500 ml stallion for 30 bucks. he was like child with a free lollipop from the dentist, except that this freebie was a sure headache the morning after. although we rented a room to stay for the night, we never got to sleep until the next day. we spent all day talking about how hysterical people can get when singing the karaoke and how shame has lost it's value nowadays or how swimwear has evolved when you are outside the metro. and since there were not much activities offered by the resort, we resulted to 2 of our favorite things to do. first one was blurting out random insults to anyone we came across. and mind you, we blurt out insults like persian arrows -- fast, massive and one after the other. the second one was taking snapshots. not of other people, silly. during wee hours of dawn approaching sunrise, while everyone else had already gone home or were sleeping, we took the opportunity of taking the vacant pools by storm. we posed and posed and posed and gave all our best to tyra banks like we were the next one to be eliminated. like we didn't talk about shame losing it's value a bit earlier. there were a lot of pictures, mostly outtakes.... i had to edit some of them just to make them....worthy. hahahaha. here are some of the silly moments we had at sun city:
not even the bus we took on the way back was safe. we got bored - easily.
we just got back from white beach, puerto galera 2 days ago. it was a much needed 4-day vacation. although it was relatively short, i was happy nevertheless. except that i'm half baked from the uncooperating sun. i admit, sun bathing has never been my forte. riding the huge waves like we were 6 again was fun. we were a huge group so the trip was more fun. i've been to galera several times but this was the first time that i went with friends that i go to work with. and it's december. we had a lot of galera greenhorns. mostly girls, who thought that white beach was entirely crowded with gay men all through out the year. not this time of the year. me and charlie, the galera vets of the group, tried to show them what white beach had to offer. however, sheena seemed to have bargained for more than what she hoped for. she had the following, in chronological order: pork kebabs, mindoro sling, pork kebabs, coconut oil massage, henna tattoo, more mindoro slings, and a whole lot of sunburn. we all had fun that we we're all planning to go back together. like the week after. we wish... back in the city. back to work.
by the way, we had planned for this vacation for quite some time. and we knew that it's gonna take another while before this could happen again. came friday, the day we leave makati for galera. typhoon milenyo had other plans. then again, typhoon milenyo did not know how desperate we were for a vacation. we arrived at the batangas pier, all optimistic. it was closed to our slight shock. we were transported to who knows where in batangas. coastguards almost foiled our vacation. almost. we were overpriced for a private boat that we thought would get us to white beach. instead we arrived in sabang where we had to take a jeepney, travelled along a dark and steep road and all the time we had ana roces in mind (see shake,rattle and roll 2). we did arrive to white beach safe and intact. a total of 7 hours travel just to get to our destination. we've spent more time and money than we should have for the transportation alone. but it was worth it. pictures -- pricless. there are some things that money can't buy. and thus the phrase more chika, more fun: chika, chika hahahaha was born and overused to death. sheesh...
