Trip to Cebu (3D, 2N)

Blast from the past - March 2011

January 2011, we already planned to visit Cebu together with my In-laws. This is going to be the first time that Mama and Papa will go out of town as in via plane.  They were excited!! Sweets and I were also excited because it was also our first time to Cebu. 

Lucky us, we have Sandy to join us in this trip as she is already working in Cebu!

First time to arrive in Cebu so it's just right to take photo opps!




We were fetched by Sandy's van and first went to our hotel.


Again, we don't want to waste our time and thus we started our three day journey in Cebu.

Our first stop was the Lapu Lapu Shrine! Of course he is one of our famous heroes and we will not miss this chance to see his statue in person ^_^




Then here comes his statue!

This area is an extension of the sea.  There were little pathways that leads to a hut where anyone can sit and enjoy the view of the sea.  In front of this hut is a wide sight of mangrove.


Before we headed to lunch, we visited a Hotel that we will not choose to stay because we are saving money! haha! However, if one wants to feel a five star hotel accommodation in Cebu then there is nothing else to stay but in Shangrila Hotel in Mactan.  Here we just took some pictures and had a feel of the place.

It is just about lunch and so we were told by Sandy that one of the best cheap restaurants in Cebu was the AA Restaurant.  In here, raw meat and seafood are available and you just have to pick which one you want and how you want it cooked!  All of them were yummy! Plus the fact that it was cheap made it even more delicious!!

We had pork liempo, pansit, squid and many more - yummy! Plus a cold mixed fruit juice!

Again, we do not want to waste time, we headed to Taoist Temple.  It was quite far from the city area but was worth the visit.  Most of the people that we saw were Chinese (of course) but there were also other tourists.

Upon entering, we were given a list of things that we should observe while inside the temple.  This is to pay respect to the Gods.

When you go further up, several prayer rooms were there.  You have to enter barefoot, light some incense and pray.  There was this one large prayer room, with several Chinese Philosophers, you have to enter barefoot, and you can drop two wooden oval blocks and see if your wish will come true.

I was quite disappointed because of the three times that I dropped the wooden oval block, it says that none of my wishes will come true! How sad! Eeer!

Anyways, it is not always about how your wooden blocks were dropped and how it fell to the ground.  It is how you believe!

Mama, posing in one of the temples!

After this stop, we decided to take a rest and go back to our hotel. 
I took this opportunity to bring Sweets to my surprise.


Before we went to Cebu I did some research if there were any Kart Racing Track in Cebu.  Lucky enough, I was able to find one (that is still operational) and coincidentally it was near our place.


We first dropped Mama and Papa to the hotel, then I blindfolded Sweets for the surprise.  I have the address with me and I asked our Kuya driver to bring us to the place.  With the help of the people around the area, we were able to find the place and I asked Kuya driver to leave us there.


While we were walking towards the track (Sweets still blindfolded) was asking where we were.  I told him it's a surprise.  Then suddenly, all of the karts ran and then of course it produced a sound.  Then Sweets told me "alam ko na!" then I took off his blind fold. :)

Fun and fast night! Then we had fries and McFloat at Mcdo, just near the area.
We went back to our hotel via cab.


To make the day complete, we headed to Ayala Malls to have our dinner.
Sandy recommended Casa Verde!

Nachos for our appetizer 

We were all full because of everything that we ate! Casa Verde is a must when you visit cebu!

Day 2:


After having our breakfast in our hotel, we headed to White Sands Resort and Spa.  Here our only intention was to swim and dine! It was quite far from our place but it was good enough to give us the relaxation that we need.

Me resting in one of the beach chairs after going for a dip!
It was hot but the tree made it cooler!

Mama and Papa will not miss the chance to take a dip as well.  

They also enjoyed the banana boat!

But the banana boat was not moving, it was still! hehehehe
After the swim, I got tired and fell a little asleep.  During that time, Sweets took the chance to take some shots around the resort.  Images were cool! (for me). :)

After we have all washed and before we leave the resort.  We decided to eat and enjoy the resort dining.

Before heading home, we went to Regency Crown Plaza for Sky Experience Adventure.  We went to have the "Edge Coaster" but since cameras were not allowed we were not able to take some photos. Nevertheless, the Sky Experience Adventure Team has their own shots and we got them for Souvenirs.

This is how it looked like when we were riding the Edge Coaster. I was scared I admit especially when the coaster was tilted to 45degrees. Aweee.. I asked Sweets to bring it back to normal. KJ me :D


There were also telescopes, drop a penny and you will see from afar! 

We will not miss more shots up there!

Before we went straight home, we went to SM to buy the famous Cebu Lechon!
Indeed, it was!!! Nothing else but CNT Lechon!

Day 3: Packing up!


We were all up early to make sure that we will not miss our plane!
But before we finally bid goodbye to the accommodating and sweet staff of Premiere Citi Suites, Mama and Papa had their photo opps with them.

Beautiful us!

In the plane, we bumped into Migz Zubiri.

I hope this family trip will be repeated but together with Diaz Family! Given this, we need to prepare for the expense! Aww!

When we conquered Coron Palawan

Blast from the past - November 2010

Now this time is more fun and exciting. True enough when they said that "The more, the Merrier".  Taking time off together with your friends and thinking about nothing to do with work is one good reward that you can give yourself.


This is exactly what we did when we all planned to go to Coron Palawan. Of course, Sweets' helped planned this once again and we had a great deal of fun.  If you are a beach person and you want to be relaxed with the water, sand, wind and very good beach food then this is the vacay for you!


There were 9 of us when we conquered Coron for food and beach. This is us when we arrived at the Busuanga Airport.  We were fetched by our rented van.

It was close to an hour travel from the airport to our lodge.  We stayed at Princess of Coron Lodge (Australian Resort). 


It was just about lunchtime when we arrived and thus next priority is to fill our stomach with good food! We don't know anything about the place yet but we were told that we should try Kawayanan Grill Resto, it was just near our place, about 10 - 15 min walk.

I guess the food that we ate gave us the needed energy to proceed with our next destination.  We first went to the reclaimed area in Coron, there was a park and you can see the pier along shore.  It was very hot and windy but still we cannot miss this photo opp! 

Then up to where we were really destined that afternoon! The famous Cross in Coron, this is located at Mt. Tapyas.  If you are up for some exercise then this is the destination for you!  I was not able to count the steps but it was quite high.  It will take you around 30 - 45 min just to reach the top but it will all be worth it.  Let the walking begin...


During our first steps, it was really exciting because we were all eager to reach the top!


Eventually, as we move further up, our legs were taking its toll! Awwee!

Photo above is when we were resting for a bit, around halfway in reaching the cross.  We were catching our breath, enjoying the breeze and feeling inspired to go ahead and start moving to see the view!


This mountain was the view from where we stand (midway to the cross)... It is like a figure of a male human body sleeping. It was really one work of art by mother nature!

Then up we go for more steps then finally we reached the top! yey!

After this cross, you can still walk towards the mountains and there were some nice view as well.  Good timing, it was just about sunset! Perfect view to end the day!

After resting and enjoying the view for thirty minutes or so, we were off to another location.  Still we needed to go down for another 30 - 45 min.


Our next stop was the Maguinit Hot Springs. This time we did not have pictures of us taking a dip since it was dark and thus what was left for us to remember this place was the dinner that we had! Yum!

Hot Springs are known to cure illnesses because of the heat that it gives our body but it was also said that you should not stay too long in a hot spring because it might heat up your heart! :p


Anyways, after this stop! It was about time to take a sleep and prepare for another day of island hopping and swimming!


Day2: Early to rise and we were served with garlic rice, egg, coffee, milo and their famous Lamayo (Marinated, semi dried danggit). I so loved it! For me it was better than the dried Danggit.


Now, we are off to to another island here in Coron!

Coron is known as one of the scuba diving sites in the world (but we never tried it) and it has a lot of stone formation like mountains in the sea. Known for their lagoons and lakes, Coron is one of the best places to relax and have some quiet time. This is also one of the places to appreciate nature and its resources.

Because the sea were surrounded by a lot of rock forms, it was not wavy and thus not scary.  Our first sea destination was the Kayangan Lake.  Before we head to the lake, we first saw the Tagbanua's Houses (people of Palawan).  Look how the clear the water was even before we reach the lake.

We hiked for like 15 - 20 minutes for us to see and reach Kayangan Lake.  It was like mini mountain climbing, plus the fact that it was a bit slippery because it was drizzling at that time.

After walking for around 7 - 10 minutes, we had to stop for a while and rest! Good thing the bench was able to accommodate our tired legs and feet!

Before we head to Kayangan Lake, we went to see yet another famous view in Coron, the Belle Vue de La Mer (don't know what it meant! haha!). Now it's time to pose for a postcard from Coron!

Now, let's head to the most awaited lake! Again, slippery!
Loh and behold! I have never seen a lake as beautiful as this one! Blue and clear and was surrounded by rock mountain like formation.  The water was cold and deep.  You should wear your life vest if you want to swim and feel the freshness of the lake!

I believe this place is one good choice to do a marriage proposal! Serene, quiet and romantic! Just my two cent :)


After the dip, we were off to go into our next swim hopping!

 Next stop is at Banol Beach! Another white beach if I may say (I am not that particular when it comes to white beaches but this one was nice).  We spent our lunch here and went for another round of swimming and photo opps!

 Another postcard view, is it??

Very coincidental because one of the rocks has "Noel" written in it. Hehe

After that beach trip, we decided to have some ink for the vacay! Henna Tattoo is good enough for us! Just for the fun of it!

Dinner and then sleep for another day of beach trippin' and laughin'.

Day3: We were now headed to Malcapuya Island. This is where we spent our entire morning and lunch.  The water was so tempting because of its clarity and again white sand!

Before we had our lunch, we went to the View Cliff at the right side of the island... more photo opps view in there!

Before we plunge into the waters! We needed to fill our stomach first. Lunch and then Rest = Ready for swimming!!! yahoo!

Enjoying the sand!

Next stop: Bulog Uno beach that is connected to another beach which is the Malaroroy beach! This one was fascinating because you can cross the beach to another island by walking!  Ooooh!!! A lot more photo opps in this place! Another romantic place I must say!

This is us, crossing to reach the other island! So cool!

I can imagine a candle light dinner here in this very location (Just don't rain and if "only if" you are not scared of the dark!).  Time for more photo photo!

Us Girls!

Then the boys!!! Roar! 

Now who is afraid of that Puma? haha! Loveeet!

Another destination that we went into that same day was the Twin Lagoon!
It was scary! hahaah! but it was quite an experience just the same! Again, need to have that life vest to literally save your life! :)

Okie, done for the day! One last photo opp with Kuya Bangkero and beach guide and of course Kuya Raymond, our tour guide!

Day 4: Time to pack up!

This is us waiting in line for boarding!

Whew! What a fun-food-beach filled vacation!

Now my next question would be? Where and When is the next destination??? Guys help me think about it!

Love made through time

When I was in elementary, I had a lot of crushes and I thought that love letters and puppy love are the main event of a girl’s dream.  When I was in high school, I envied my beautiful classmates who had their boyfriends.  Someone who will take them out for a date, someone who will bring flowers and chocolates, someone who will wait for them after class and bring them home; again, these are mere dreams for me back then.  

When I was in college, I thought that getting married was as simple as preparing for it.  You prepare the church, reception etc and then everything will again be like a fairy tale with wedding bells, flowers and a happy ending. I have always thought that love is living in an enchanted world where everything are happy moments that will create happy thoughts and memories. 

I have all these things made up in my mind as if everything was as simple as 1,2,3. I never have thought that 1,2,3 is up to gazillions. It is always not that simple.

When I was working and finally got engaged, it was then that I realized that starting a life made with love was not that simple.  You will spend the rest of your life with someone totally different from you.  You will share the same bed, bathroom, kitchen and everything else.  You have to adjust and learn to swim your lives together.  Everything will start when you finally made your vows in front of the special people in your lives and especially God.

I have been married for more than one year and I will not say that my marriage is a fairy tale or a nightmare! Getting married is having a dose of what you can offer to yourself and to your partner.  Being the person that you can be without sacrificing the relationship; being committed without taking oneself for granted.  It is a mix of everything blended perfectly through time! Just like a bowl of vegetable salad! Mix everything well and it will taste perfect but putting a lot or less of dressing will make it taste worst; let it stand in the fridge for days and it will be blunt. Everything is made perfect in TIME.

I cannot say much on how to stand a good marriage! I am just starting one. My inspiration comes from my parents and parents in law whose love and determination were already tested through TIME! However, knowing that they have survived all these years may not be that applicable to our time now. I can compare them to history books that I will read in a library (we do library researches if we need more olden times tested and proven researches.)  What gives me more inspiration now are my friends and relatives who, after all these years of getting married and having a family, have withstanded it all and are still together!

Our friend Cecil and Zack have just celebrated their 10^th Wedding Anniversary and I am so inspired and blessed to know that if they have reached that milestone in their married life, we can also reach that point.  Reaching 5 years is a milestone already but 10 years is a WOW!  For me, being married for more than a year means I can already tell that marriage is not easy! For Zack and Cil, reaching a decade means that they have experienced a lot already! Not to mention having kids, this is another responsibility that a couple should deal with and they have completely blasted it! They have 4 wonderful and healthy kids whom I know will grow up as responsible persons as their parents!  I am so blessed to have known this couple (thanks to Sweets) their experience is something that I will always look up to! I know that we can always count on them! 

Having 10 years of married life experience is something that cannot be bought from a department store, cannot be read from a bookstore. It is a combination of emotion, time, money, energy and your being.  It is something that can only be learned through time!