Cebu Getaway

As promise in my previous blog, here is the last part of my Cebu-Bohol trip. Another sleepless night for me, because I got back in our hotel at 11PM and we need to be in the terminal going to Oslob at 2AM. 

So I need to pack my things carefully as we needed to check out first then deposit our bags at the hotel lobby. So I was really restless and as for my boyfriend he is still not feeling very well. We checked out at 1:30 AM and deposited our bags then headed out to get a taxi going to the terminal. Our friends are already there and we boarded the bus, but first we bought water like a gigantic bottle of water. The temperature of the bus was really, really cold! If I knew that it would be that cold I should have worn leggings and not shorts! Also I should have brought thicker jacket then! The fare was 165 pesos. It was a 3 hour drive so we slept. 

We were dropped off by the bus driver in the resort called MB's Sunrise View Resort. We were assisted on what activities we were gonna do and we were also given keys to our "lockers", these lockers are for our bags, because it is not allowed during the actual whale watching as the boats are really small and it might get wet too. So we prepared our things that we need to bring, we also changed into our swimming clothes. One of the personnel collected the fee of 600 pesos for each - this includes the overall experience of whale watching for 30 minutes. 

Then we were escorted to the actual site, but we need to attend to the briefing first. It was really short and this is just for our safety and of course the safety of the whale sharks too. The most important for me in the guidelines is that, do not swim with the whale sharks, also do not go very near them.

And we were given life jackets then and we boarded the very small boat that will bring us to the very famous whale sharks of Oslob. It was a short ride like 10-15 minutes. And then we were on! The boatman and his assistant tells us when the whale sharks are already near us then we were going to go really deep just for us to take the picture. The first time I saw them, I really panicked because they are so huge!!! And they're mouths are so big that really we can fit inside them. But then I get to appreciate them and started to take decent pictures with them - which is impossible because underwater shots aren't my forte. I noticed that when they are near, there are things that are biting our legs - which I think is their food and they are being fed by a small boat also which is roaming around the area so that all the people will get to experience them. One thing that's bothered me are the foreigners who kept on swimming VERY near the whale sharks which is VERY annoying! One of them accidentally kicked the whale shark because as I've said they kept on swimming very near them. They were also in our photos - a VERY annoying photo bomber!  I hate that they are in our photos but I really hate that they didn't listen to the instructions earlier! Anyways, I don't want to spoil my bubble of happiness seeing the whale sharks for the first time so yeah lets move on.

We headed back to the shore and there was a huge crowd of people already waiting for their turn, they are mostly foreigners and Koreans are the majority of them. We headed back and take our breakfast. It wasn't very delightful I must say but just so we can fill our empty stomachs with. After resting a bit we headed to our next activity which is going to Sumilon Island. It's a 30 minute boat ride going there and we paid 300 each for the boat ride plus 100 pesos for the entrance fee. We encountered a little bit of delay and trouble riding the boat because the people there kept on insisting that we ride with the other groups, but we paid for our own boat so WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! Anyways we were granted our own boat and after 30 minutes, we were there. 

It was a really nice beach, I love how the sand is very white and fine and the water is crystal blue! We found our spot under the stairs so as we can also put our things there because there are not shore there because everything is water and sand. Again took a million of photos and my friends were very supportive of it. After I think an hour or so, we decided to headed back to the spot where we first came in, and took a bath - still in  MB's Sunrise View Resort. I really liked how they have a lot of cubicles and CR's so people won't have to wait for a long time. Also the water is very abundant there - we don't have to experience the same dilemma that our other friends experienced when they visited Oslob. 

After bathing and arranging our things we set to ride again the bus and we were supposed to go to Simala Shrine but after getting off the bus, a heavy rain welcomes us. We decided to ride another bus going to Carcar to take our lunch but it is another 30 minutes before we boarded another bus. When we reached Carcar, it's still raining and the traffic was insane! So we decided not to get down the bus, instead get down to the terminal. It was another 1 hour before we reached the terminal because of the traffic. As we get off the bus, people are swarming the terminal. And we have to fight our way out then. We ate in a karinderya near the terminal, it's like the one in Larsians, but this time it was only pork barbecue, hotdog, and the likes. They also have the puso rice. And we ate very heartily and hungrily as we are all starving! After eating we headed back to our hotel, and picked up our bags because we need to transfer hotel, which is in Mactan. It was I think a 1 hour drive, I am not sure because again I slept through the ride and again it is raining. We reached our hotel in Mactan around 6PM. Very exhausted again, after going through our things in our room we headed out to search for a restaurant near, but unfortunately there isn't very near our hotel so we opted for instant noodles - what a very sad dinner. After eating I organized our expenses and again, organized our things. I slept until 9 AM I think.

We decided to head out and eat brunch, and I am really craving for the siomai sa Tisa. Unfortunately there isn't one very near our place. We ate at Starbucks because the restaurant that my officemate suggested is still closed. There was an outlet store of Nike near our hotel, so we headed out there. It was an entire compound of Outlet Shops and my heart is pounding so fast it hurts! We roam around the stores and I told my boyfriend I wouldn't buy anything. I ended up buying a jumper dress from Cotton On. 

Since our flight back to Manila was moved to a later time, we headed to Magellans' Cross. Because I really, really wanted to see it in person and not just in history books! It was a 30-45 minute ride going there. When we get down the taxi, we were mobbed by vendors but we opted not to buy anything. We searched for it and a last we found it. But it wasn't what I am expecting, I am expecting a ginormous shrine and cross but no - it wasn't like that. Just a regular sized shrine and cross (talk about expectation versus reality) Anyways, despite that I'm still in awe of it. We then headed inside the church. I also put candles there and prayed. After that we headed outside and shop for pasalubongs. We bought some biscuits and candies. 

We headed back to our hotel picked up our things and headed to the airport. It was a 15 minute ride from our hotel. Again our friends are already there. We bought Lechon in Ayer's which is just outside the airport. The famous lechon of Cebu costs 550 pesos for 1 kilo. We also bought pasalubongs inside the airport as we didn't have time to buy it in the market where it is cheaper. Our flight again is delayed so we ate inside the airport. My boyfriend and I ate the Zubuchons rice porridge with lechon flakes. It wasn't a delight though but it's good for empty stomachs.  After more than an hour of waiting we boarded the plane and we're off to Manila - back to reality I guess.

I would definitely would like to visit Cebu again, because I have a ton of other places to visit. And food to eat. I feel like I didn't enjoy the food there very much. But overall I'm glad we've had this chance of visiting that wonderful City.