Trip na Trip: Cebu

I’ve been too excited about this trip that I booked the flight way back in October. Cebu Pacific changed the departure time twice that I ended up going to Cebu a day earlier, on May 23, lest my friend, who’s visiting the Philippines for the first time gets lost since he will be arriving on an earlier flight from Manila. I, on the other hand, am coming from Tacloban. As I haven’t seen the island of Leyte from above before, I spent the entire 30-minute flight looking out the window, pointing out the places I could identify. A group of islands right off Cebu, however, held me in awe – longest stretches of white sand I’ve ever seen! I still have to figure out what islands those are.

The flight was perfect, no turbulence, whatsoever.

After queuing up for 30 minutes, I was finally able to get into a cab and off I went to Cebu City. It took us 30 minutes to get from the airport to NS Royal Pensione in Mango Ave. I checked in.

I walked around the area, found that there were a lot of bars but were still empty. It was only 8 in the evening. I was bored. I texted friends who were also in Cebu that time but they were tired, they just came back from Bohol. I went back to the hotel, asked where the nearest Starbucks is and walked to find the Crown Regency Hotel, as directed by the concierge.

I had Coffee Jelly Frappuccino, lit about 4 Dunhill Lights and I was still bored. Oh, I forgot to bring my iPod. No, I was traveling alone!

I walked back to the hotel but felt that it was too early to hit the sack. I went to the Vibe, sat in an empty table outside and was completely ignored for like 15 minutes. I went to the bar area before that and was accorded the same reception. Hello? I’m a customer here. I may look destitute but I certainly can pay for my drinks (I was just wearing shorts and Billabong flip-flops - not the revered Havaianas.)

I waved (should have flogged) a waiter for the menu. I ordered 4 bottles of San Mig Light and Nachos, busied myself texting an ex, pretended to be happy to learn that she’s engaged and getting married soon. I just had to make the most of this UNLITXT thing, you know.

I paid and left.

I woke up at 7 in the morning the following day, showered and had the free breakfast at the hotel’s café. My friend’s flight from Manila wouldn’t arrive until 11.30. I had plenty of time to kill. I bought a map for 99 pesos at the National Bookstore in the corner of Mango Ave. I never got to use it because a classmate in grade school sent me an SMS confirming that he can take us around Cebu after lunch. Good.

I also learned that a former student and a friend, Marco (aka Chubby Lita) was performing at 22nd Street, a comedy bar located beside the National Bookstore. I should have gone there last night, I thought.

I hailed a cab and went to the airport. I still had an hour to wait. I bought a Sunday paper for 40 pesos (cover price: 20 pesos) and flipped through the pages. Nothing interesting. I had two celebrity sightings, though. First came PBB’s Budoy (1st Celebrity edition, I believe) and then Maritoni Fernandez. Wala lang, masabi lang na me celebrities akong nakita sa Cebu!

Finally, my friend arrived. We went back to the hotel and then went to the nearest Jollibee for lunch. This is our national food, I told my friend, referring to the piece of Chickenjoy he’s chomping on. You’re supposed to dip the chicken in the gravy, I further told him. KFC in China don’t have that, they don't even serve rice there.

We then went to Ayala Center and bought souvenir shirts from Islands Souvenir. My grade school classmate arrived and we took a cab to the Basilica de Sto. Nino. There was a mass in progress and people were overflowing to the streets. I took some pictures discreetly and stayed for a while when the Lord’s Prayer was sung. I lit some candles for good luck. My atheist friend just looked on amused, he’s never been to a Catholic church in his life. We took some more pictures at the nearby Magellan’s Cross.













I suddenly remembered that we still had to buy our tickets for the ferry to Tagbilaran so we took another cab to SM Cebu. The level of customer service at the Supercat (2GO) ticketing office was infuriating that my friend (the classmate) volunteered to wait for the ticketing officer, who was biding her time, to attend to us and the rest of the clueless customers. I was on the verge of losing it. Neither explanation nor apology was ever provided for the delay.

My classmate suggested we visit the Taoist temple next. We arrived there at around 4.30 pm. Having been to a number of Chinese temples here in China, the place never had an impact on us except perhaps the view it afforded from the top. After a while, the guards politely informed us that they were about to close. We went down and waited for the taxi driver whom we’ve asked to come back for us. He never did.

We had to walk a good distance before we were able to finally hail a cab. It was already dark by this time but was still hot. We were famished.

We had CnT Lechon Cebu for dinner. Yum! Cebu’s lechon is so tasty you don’t have to dip it in any kind of sauce to enjoy. Meanwhile, my Chinese friend started his Mango Shake obsession here. He’d have Mango Shake every chance he’d get.

Tired and sticky, we went back to the hotel. We rested for a while, changed and made a round of the bars in the area. Just as it was crowded the previous night, all the bars were practically empty that Sunday night. It was utterly disappointing. Nevertheless, we stayed out until 1 am and got back to the hotel just slightly inebriated.