Magellan’s Cross

When in Cebu and you’re stuck in the city itself, why don’t you go around and visit the popular spots and have endless photo ops? :) That’s actually what we did. Since it was my first time in Cebu, I asked Dona (who’ve been there before) to tour me around the most popular spots in the Queen City of the South.

But first, we went to SM to meet up with the rest of the gang who just arrived. All of them are Vera’s friends and they’re all currently enrolled in UP Diliman. After getting introduced, Tina and Bret requested if they could have few hours of sleep. Vera accompanied them to where we were staying. The boys on the other hand went to John’s (Vera’s coach and their friend as well). When they were all gone, Dona and I stayed at SM and a little later went to Sto. Nino Basilica.

In an exhibit at SM, feel na feel kong magpangap na guest kami ni Dona dahil pareho kaming naka-pink, which is the theme of the exhibit.

At the exhibit, I saw the perfect chair for my future house/condo/apartment. More info.

Behold the ultimate proof that I’ve been to Cebu. Please don’t mind the perfect shorts. :p

The church visit was quick. I wanted to get out of there immediately since I was discriminated upon entering the place. It was my fault I wore the most appropriate clothing for a church visit. Disclaimer, I didn’t really plan on going inside, I just wanted my photo taken with Magellan’s Cross which is outside the cathedral.

We then went looking for someplace to have lunch. We actually wanted to eat in a turo-turo for cheaper local foods but we walked streets and didn’t find any (later we’ll learn that we looked into the wrong streets). We were so thirsty we sat down at the very first unknown restaurant we saw. The restaurant serves Chines food.

After lunch, we had to meet Vera and altogether we went to a Taoist Temple located in a hill overlooking the metro. We hired a habal-habal (all three of us in a single motor, scary at first) to take us to Beverly Hills but we had to walk few meters up to the temple. It’s an exclusive village and there few were private vehicles ad cabs passing by so walking was a bliss, and there were lots of greens! The temple is open for public- worshippers or tourists who went up for photo ops. :)

My lunch is Pork Rice Toppings with Dimsum on the side.

Before the sun set, we went to Tops, the highest peak in Cebu (I’m not sure if this is legit). Tops deck offers an amazing view of the metro in its glittering lights at night. Entrance if P100 per person and less 50% if your habal-habal driver is a cardholder. Bring your jacket/shawl/scarf when going there because the temperature is lower in the area.

Tops is just one of the many places you can go to if you want to get a good view of Cebu. There are lots of other shops and some even offer adventure rides like zipline. Maybe it’s better if you check the whole place out in day time. The peak is called Busay Hill.

We waited for the others to arrive before heading back to Simeon’s place. We waited for them to get back again so we can have dinner altogether. We dined at Outpost, a seemingly cool place because from the outside, one can already guess the type of people that hang out in there.

Because the boys planned not to sleep the whole night (I seriously didn’t understand why pero di rin ata nila napanindigan ‘to), we spent half of the young night in a karaoke bar. Merlo and a friend of his later joined us.

Tina and Bret <3

Lym and John

Jam and Jet

With Merlo’s friend, Vera and Dona

Merlo

The night ended in McDonald’s where we separated ways. The boys went to One Mango to pursue their sleepless night.

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Tonyo’s

When in Cebu on an impulse trip and having only a friend who tagged you along, what better options do you have but to make friends with locals, or at least those from the region or those who speaks Cebuano/Visayan and knows the place very well. User much? I don’t think so, just enjoying the company of new found friends. :)

Seriously, I just took the definition of being kaladkarin to a different level. I don’t know what dawned upon me when I said yes to this ‘abrupt’ trip out of town. Mara encountered some problems and can no longer go to Cebu with Dona so she asked me and Karen if we wanna buy the ticket instead. Of course, Karen has to work, and me too but I managed to talk my manager into allowing me have a 3-day vacation leave the next week. WTF Irish! Anyway, I promised this would be the last super-short notice vacation I’ll have.

Flight was scheduled at 4:10 p.m. Saturday and I I still gotta work that day so I had to go to the office extra-early. Unfortunate things started to happen as early as 5 a.m. and I ended up logging in at around 5:30. I should be meeting Dona at Taft by that time.

I almost didn’t make it. I arrived at the airport barely 30 minutes before departure and the counter was already closed but thank goodness I got in. My words to Dona: Kinabahan ka no, kasi ako di kinabahan. Sobrang malas ko naman kung maiiwan ako ng plane. 

Our flight was delayed for about 15 minutes anyway. We arrived at Mactan Airport by 6 p.m. and commuted all the way to SM in Cebu City to meet up with Vera, Dona’s friend who tagged her along (and then Dona tagged me along and all the people I shall meet are 3rd degree friends). I met Vera early this year at Michelle’s birthday dinner.

I didn’t know about their plans and I did not bother to ask so I just went along with whatever was happening. We had snacks at SM and then met up with Vera’s friend’s parents who are from the city. Apparently, their son, Vera’s coach in Taekwondo, was still asleep so they decided to see Vera even without him. These people are one helluva cool parents.

After SM, Momsy and Popsy (actually, it’s Moms and Dads but I prefer the former) went with us to see the place where we’ll be staying (at Vera’s friend’s boarding house in PC Hills) where Vera’s friend Cat, who coincidentally had a business trip in Cebu, currently stays. Their friend Simeon was not around but according to Vera, he’s aware that we’re gonna stay at his room for a good 2 days.

At around 9 p.m., we went out to have dinner. Cat was supposed to meet up with her brother but we were introduced to her friends instead, who were already drinking at Ilaputi. Next thing I know, I was drinking some cocktails. Still I didn’t know where we’re gonna go next, I was famished and contemplating about food by this time. We walked down IT Park (it’s like the Ortigas Center of Cebu) and went to Tonyo’s, a bigger bar. Since it seemed we’re gonna be with them people, we decided to eat there before hitting the beer towers.

All the while I was so sleepy (I only had 3 hours of sleep the night before). Dona and I both have zero energy, thank goodness Vera was so good at socializing. After finishing the two towers of beer, them people still want to party. I still got no energy but these newfound friends had been so nice we decided to go just to be polite.

One Mango, where more clubs are. Dona and I are in slippers but we managed to get in. Thanks to the concept of connection. Why I’m in slippers is an issue I told Dona even before packing my things up for this trip. I usually don’t bring shoes in out of town trips. Apparently, Merlo, a friend of Cat’s knows the owner of this new club, Alchology, and we even got a huge discount on our entrance fee. Oh, and I spotted the hottie Borgy Manotoc partying in the same club. He was a guest I think.

One Mango

Alchology

We were supposed to stay for 30 minutes only but it seemed we enjoyed their company so we stayed a bit longer. Dona, Vera and I got home at around 4 a.m. while Cat stayed behind and they transferred to another bar.

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