Cebu, the second time around

Just two weeks after our CDO trip, we were again on an airplane in yet another trip. D's friends might have noticed my sadness that they are always inviting us to join their adventures. Or the coincidence was just too perfect.

This time, we travelled to the Queen City of the South. We've actually been here during our anniversary trip on July 2012 but we only get to travel the city. Now, we also went to the provinces. Yay!

Look at Cebu from above.

D and I actually joined an arranged family tour - meaning we were outsiders. It's ok because we know everyone from their family. It's more ok because we have organizers (complete with standby transport) because we were travelling with kids and senior citizens. Yay again!

Ohh my mood also was better here.

Our first stop was the Taoist Temple. It sort of look like some temple we went to in China. You will have to climb a flight of stairs. Don't worry, it's just a little and the view will be worth it.

After that, we went to see Magellan's Cross. We get to role play as the tour guides here since we've seen this before.

Just right across it is Basilica del Santo Nino. It was still beautiful even after the strong earthquake that rattled it a few years ago.

We drove a few meters to the historic Fort San Pedro after.

Hep hep hep! Another effortless jumpshot from my love. I call it I-check-kung-may-jebs-ang-shoes jumpshot. Nice eh?

We grabbed a quick lunch and then we continued to travel outside the city. After a few hours, we reached Simala Church. The church was really picturesque, I tell you.

We continued travelling until we reach our destination which was Oslob, Cebu. We arrived at MB's Sunrise View Resort at around 4pm, rested for a little bit and then went to the cafeteria overlooking the beach for an amazing dinner.

Early the next morning, we went directly to Whaleshark Watching after breakfast. Our guide told us that it's better to do it early in the morning because that's the waking and feeding time of the sharks so there will be a lot of them around and it will not be too hot.

I was a little bit worried because it was raining the night before our activity. Look at the undecided clouds here. Fortunately, it was all sunny when it's time for our dip.

I was amazed that Oslob now has a hall where people will get oriented about the do's and don'ts of whaleshark watching. I heard that the activity here is not properly monitored by the authorities which can lead to the endangerment of the sharks.

Most of the rules here were self-explanatory. What I did not expect was that you are not allowed to wear sunblock. They said it's because the chemicals in the sunblock might harm the sharks. I had to go to the bathroom to take off mine. 

But I think they still need to monitor their boatmen more. I saw some of them that were still swimming on the No Swim Area. Also, they were using some sort of alamang/shrimp to lure the sharks. If I'm not mistaken, and based on what I heard from Byahe Ni Drew, people are not supposed to feed the sharks with anything. They are there in the area because of the abundance of planktons, their natural food. In the case of Oslob, they are there also because of the food given by the boatmen. And believe me when I say that there are plenty of sharks there because of that. In the 30 minutes that we snorkelled in the area, I was able to see not less than 5 Butandings. Look at this one in our picture below, it was one of the biggest.

I wished I had a GoPro. We just rented a cheap action cam from the resort, thus the low quality picture. I think I might get one now. But still, nothing can compare to personal encounters.

This was also where D decided we need ocean bags. He and his friend got matching bags. Duh.

After that, we rode another boat to Sumilon Island. This island is famous for Sumilon Bluewater Island Resort. Most parts of the island is private but people can still experience the island through some open spots. Since there were a lot of people on the beach, we trekked a little to reach a quiet spot. So beautiful, look!

We found this rock that I thought was perfect for D's jumpshots! My favorite picture from the trip. Look!

The ocean looks peaceful no? But it's not. This happened after I took the shot. 

We were supposed to stay another night at MB's but since we still have the whole afternoon we decided to travel further and spend the night at Moalboal.

We reached our next destination, the Kawasan Falls at around 3pm. We walked for 20 minutes to reach this falls. The falls look magnificent from this shot but I was actually disgusted with the area. They built establishments very near the falls which causes the falls to be a trash basin. Good thing was that I've seen people picking up trash. But still, it would be better if the falls was preserved in its natural state.

Back to the experience, I was too chicken to try canyoneering there. You know that activity where you get to jump to a series of falls? I don't think I can jump from this falls. Hehe. But! But I was brave enough to be under that falls. Yes! We rode that raft.

I was actually afraid that my contact lens might fall off due to the impact so my eyes were closed the whole time.

This was our first pose upon approaching the falls. Our boatmen arranged us this way, the one willing to be under the falls should be on the farthest right. D, being the only man in the group, volunteered so I'm obviously second. To which I deeply regret because the water impact was so painful. I actually wished for it to be over. Oh well, I do not enjoy hard massages so maybe that's why I hate it.

They made us sit after which was still painful. I got to pose a little though. D said he was also hurt but he looked ok considering that he can still do his signature pose. Haha

After changing into some dry clothes, we went ahead to look for a church since it's a Sunday and someone from the group was celebrating his birthday. Unfortunately, the mass just ended so we went straight to the Balay Abba after buying some food and a cake.

The next morning, I saw this picture opportunity. I posted it in Instagram with a song as caption. Exactly my thoughts.

He is with you when your faith is dead and you can't even get out of bed...

The boat that took us to Moalboal tour docked right in front of the resort. They were late but we didn't mind. With this view? Oh c'mon.

The tour includes the following:

1. Pescador Island Tour - this is, by far, the scariest snorkeling I ever did. We docked in a very challenging part of the island. On one side of the boat, the water was in normal depth. I'm ok here. I get to see Nemo, Dory and friends. There's a lot of beautiful corals but I think the one in Puerto Galera is still more beautiful. My friends said I should see Apo Reef. The other side of the boat though, was a different story. From here, I saw the deep ocean. Half of the boat's rigger was on the deep part. After the group of corals, there's nothing but the deep blue nothingness of the ocean. Super scary! But the kids who were manning our boat, apparently, were not scared. They were swimming along us without their vests and they were jumping on the corals and going under it. Tsktsk

2. Turtle Watching - didn't happen. No turtles that day.

3. Sardines Run - again, another scary dive. The water was so deep! At first I had a hard time finding the sardines since the water was so blurred because of the current. But as my eyes focused, I saw them! They were indeed running. Remember those school of fishes from Finding Nemo? It's like that! I just wish they were colorful. Hehe

4. Dolphin Watching - they were supposed to swim with the boat as we were travelling but since the current is strong they must have hid.

At around lunch time, we were again travelling back to Cebu proper. Our packaged tour now has ended and we will be splurging on a better resort for our last night. The group was supposed to pick the more pricey Plantation Bay but we were not sure of the itinerary so we picked Costabella Resort instead.

The resort was beautiful. Upon checking in, we just changed into wet suits and dive in to the pool. The pool was surprisingly warm and they provided beach towels. Yay!

We took some pictures first. Here's D before hitting the pool.

And a few seconds after. Haha

After a very expensive dinner at one of the resort's restaurant (there's two!), we decided to check the beach and have a few drinks. We called it a night after.

Early the next morning, D and I checked the beach. Look at this amazing cabanas. You can request for mattresses here.

The resort's beach was not that breath-taking. A little bit disappointing if you ask me. They barricaded it with break water structures, maybe to stop the current. And the sand was not that impressive also.

But you can still get a proper picture.

The resort was very good overall. The rooms were nice. There's a bath tub. The TV has cable. The beds were comfortable. The security was tight. The food was nice though pricey. And most of all, there's Pokestops! Hahaha!

After checking out around lunch time, there's no more good story to tell since we were going home by then. We were just picked up by the tour organizer, took us for a quick pasalubong shopping and dropped us at the airport. 

Ohh at the airport, we got to try Zubochon's famous lechon. We were so eager to try lechon all throughout the tour but we never had the chance. Good thing there's one at the airport. I tried one of the combo meals but bleh didn't like it. Our friends, since they were a big family, got the one kilo pack and it was more delicious! I wonder why.

Take-aways:

1. The accommodations that was prepared for us in the packaged tour was not that great. Noticed that I did not review them above? They were just regular rooms, nothing extravagant. That was ok for me. Remember, I mentioned in my previous post that you should opt for a cheaper room if you will not stay in the hotel for long? We applied it here. I was just disappointed because we paid 4200 pesos per head in this tour. I thought that we get to have better rooms. You know, where water will not be cutoff and there's light in the bathroom. Basic things.

2. Read blogs before the tour. 

- I might have saved sunblock have I known that it is not allowed during whaleshark watching.

- D could have tried canyoneering have I known that it is not as scary as I thought. I still don't want to try it. Hehe

- I could have bought an underwater action cam have I known that the ones being rented are crappy.

3. If you know that you will go to some churches or temples, wear something decent. Shorts and sleeveless shirts are definitely a no-no. Basilica Del Sto. Nino provides shawls for free. Simala Church has shawls for rent.

Next time, Malapascua and Bantayan.


Better than better in time,
Yosh