Glimpse of CEBU in a rush

Date of trip: June 30 - July 3, 2011

Notes:

• This trip is not really intended for sight-seeing but merely for vacation purpose. 70% of my time in Cebu was spent inside the hotel waiting for the other 30% time that I might go out and truly experience the 'Queen of the South.' Anyway, I just went there as an excess baggage for my buddy who happens to have a business trip. And with some arrangements, especially on the budget, who am I to complain.
• Unplanned trip = budget trip. So this blog is not encouraging the readers to duplicate the expenses shown below.

The Flight

Downpour of rain causes the taxi drivers to be very picky of their passengers and route. In effect, I had to shed P200 with matching "Kuya, Terminal 3. Kahit magdagdag na ko!" plea just to make it on time for my 9PM flight.

I made it on time. Actually, much earlier since the flight was delayed by almost an hour. Tsk! I was a bit dismayed because almost all the food stores in the airport were already close. Among the ones that are still open, I chose to kill time at Kape Manila. I ordered baked spaghetti (P90) and bottled water (P25) since they have no ice for cold drinks. The food is just fine and of course understandably bit expensive considering that I'm in the airport.

Read and dine at Kape Manila

At last... after 2 hours of waiting, the plane arrived. It was my first time to fly via Airphil (Manila to Cebu - P1680) and here are some of my comments:
     (-) The flight is 45 minutes delayed.
     (-) The seats are uncleaned and the headrest has no cover. As uttered by one of the passengers, "Ano ba yan, ang dugyot naman ng upuan! Di man lang nilinis!"

     (+) Smooth flight. It only took 40mins to reach Cebu.

     (+) The most important (for me), I have not experienced the 'sasabog-ang-ulo' pain due to pressure which I always experience whenever I have domestic flights on board Cebu Pacific.

Welcome Cebu!!!

Accomodation:
My buddy fetches me at the airport since he have to be in Cebu earlier for a business appointment. After 30 minutes of heart-stopping taxi ride which cost us P250, we arrive at Marco Polo Plaza Cebu (P2,500/night excluding breakfast).



Grand Lobby



Standard Room



No LCD TV for Standard Room



Toilet...

 

and Bath...



Complimentary Candies

Since I spent most of my time in the hotel, it became a necessity that I have to enjoy and make the most out of my stay there. With the amenities offered by the hotel, indeed, my time was well spent.

View from our room

 

View from the corridor




Lunch/Merienda (must be good for 2 meals since it is pricey) - 10" Pepperoni Pizza



The Inviting Pool



The Gym where I spent 2.5hrs of my day (1hr using the equipments and 1.5hrs watching TV. Hehe.)

 

I decided not to enter the Playroom since I don't have any playmate

 Unsolicited Rating for Marco Polo Plaza, Cebu (based on 4-star hotels):

• Location: 6.5/10
• Value: 8/10
• Service: 9/10
• Amenities: 8/10
• Rooms: 7/10

 Where to go? What to do?

Aside from staying in the hotel, I managed to go to some places in Cebu. Somehow it felt like I am not in our own country. It was also difficult to communicate due to language barrier. Although I hardly understand their dialect, I found the Cebuanos friendly and accommodating.

Ayala Center, Cebu 
The first place that I visited in Cebu. As I am waiting for Jayrold to finish his business meetings, I spent 6hrs strolling in the mall and using its mall-wide wifi connection. Its pleasing ambiance increases my tolerance for waiting. Aside from that, there are variety of choices for shopping and dining. It instantly became one of my favorite malls (2nd to Mall of Asia) in the Philippines.


It took me some time to find this mall entrance with Ayala Center Logo



Lovely Landscape



Never bored with this sight



How long will it take to eat this bread?



Larsian

I am aware that there are many restaurants and other places to dine in Cebu but I chose to have our Saturday dinner at Larsian which is located near Fuente Osmeña Park and Chonh Hua Hospital. I've read some blogs about Cebu and they always mention Larsian so I told my self that I have to experience dining here. I am really not that fond of Inihaw but still I insisted to eat at Larsian.

The place has a wide array of all the food that you can grill, seafoods, chicken, pork babecue, isaw, hotdog, and a lot more. The food is quite good but still not the best barbecue that I have tasted. Price is very affordable. We only have one problem while dining, the smoke coming from the stores somehow stops us to enjoy eating as there are no exhaust fans. Although it is an open air fast food, the smoke is evidently contained in the place. We understand that the place will be inevitably smoky since they cater grilled foods, but then again, we are teary-eyed while eating so we quickly finish our dinner. If you have smoke-sensitive eyes and wants to dine at Larsian, think again. Nonetheless, dining at Larsian is still a good experience.

Smoke-gets-in-your-eyes setting

Inihaw all-you-want!



Love and 'Puso'... as what they call the steamed rice

Less than P200 dinner... not bad!


Night Swimming

We arrived at the hotel adapting the Larsian fragrance/everything-amoy-usok so we decided to take a night plunge at the pool. Good thing it is still open at 9pm. The pool was very cozy with a bonus of good live band performance. We spent more than 1 hour listening to their music while playing our self-made game, 'Paunahang tumakbo sa Pool' and that is when we discover that it is easier to walk in the water than to run.

Live band performing

Night view of the pool

View of the bar from the pool



Timer mode


Magellan's Cross

There's no way that I will be leaving Cebu without seeing the Magellan's Cross. Even if we have to spend P500 for the round trip taxi fare from and to the airport. We checked in at the airport around 9am and hurriedly went to visit some of the famous tourist attractions in Cebu.

The famous landmark in Cebu



Wow... I've only seen this in text books!



 Basilica del Sto. Niño

Being a Catholic, I felt the need to visit the church and thank God for this short but wonderful trip.

At first, it felt like being on any other churches but as we went near the entrance of the church I was overwhelmed by the number of people attending the mass. In fact, the church could not accommodate all the church-goers and they have to conduct the mass simultaneously inside and outside the church.

Thanking God for the safe trip

The beauty of Basilica del Sto. Niño



Altar



Up-close

Pillars of Faith

P.S. I would like to thank Jayrold for accompanying me to the church eventhough he is not a Catholic. He even took some of these pictures. Greatly appreciated brod!

Fort de San Pedro

This military defense structure is just walking distance from Magellan's Cross and Basilica del Sto. Niño. It is situated in the area called Plaza Independencia. The place is triangular in shape and smaller compared to Fort Santiago in Intramuros. There's nothing much to see here so the entrance fee of P30.00 is just enough.



Plaza Independencia



The Wall



Koreans tracking our history



Inside the fort



Vintage Flag of Spain



Handwriting of Gat. Andres Bonifacio



Going home

After spending 30mins in Fort de San Pedro (actually, 15mins exploring and 15mins sitting), we arrive at the airport just in time for our 11:10am flight. We managed to buy coffee and bread at Bo's Coffee before boarding the plane. It is also my first time to fly via Philippine Airlines for domestic travel (Cebu to Manila - P2448). Good thing we bought some snacks because they only offered peanuts and Rebisco biscuit. Yes, we are expecting even a tetra pack juice and ensaymada since it is PAL. Anyway, it's ok since it is just a 1-hr flight and to compensate that, the plane that was assigned for the flight is Boeing 747. Air travel is less than an hour and without any hassle. And that's the way to end a short but great trip... 



Aboard Boieng 747

 The Damage

• Transportation - 5,800 (Airfare and taxis)
• Hotel               - 7,500 (for 3 nights)
• Food               - 1,750 (some meals are good for 2)
• Pasalubong      - 1,200 (T-shirts, keychains, danggit, mangorind candies, etc.)
  TOTAL           - 16,250

P.S. I only paid more or less P5,000. Other than that is paid by my buddy. Thanks to him... : )