Cebu

For years, I had been wanting to visit Cebu. Before this trip, I had not stayed longer than 2 hours in this island. I was still at university, then, on my way back home for Christmas, and the ship I was on had a stop over Cebu. Passengers were allowed to go around the port area but had to be back in 2 hours. I had never really been able to go anywhere far for fear of getting left behind.

This time, I decided to find out a little bit more about the city, and the island (see travel notes below). And since it is quite difficult to get vacations nowadays, I had to fix the itinerary in such a way, that I would be able to maximize the time that I had. I decided to visit Bohol, as well. 

Let's just say, I wished I had had more time, as there were so many more to see. 
We arrived in Cebu on a Thursday night. After unpacking and resting a bit, we headed for downtown Cebu to have dinner at a restaurant (ilaputi) recommended by a colleague who frequents the city. It was also a good time to check out bars. 

It was fine, but we were not really there for the city's attraction. We figured, we had enough of that in Metro Manila. 

The next day, we continued our tour of the city. From the Sto. Nino shrine, to the famous Colon, to the more modern, Ayala business park. 

Saturday, we were supposed to leave for Bohol, but Super Cat had to cancel the trip due to a problem with the ferry's engine. 

We could not waste one day, so we decided to move our schedule for Malapascua earlier. We took the bus all the way to the north, then a boat to the island. 


Malapascua

Malapascua, besides being one of the country's best spot for romantic sunsets, is a diver's paradise. Only, we are not divers and we neither had the time nor the budget to get a license. We settled for snorkeling instead. Though Coron is so much better, we were able to see a shipwreck. It was interesting, but it gave me goosebumps. It's hard to enjoy a sight of something that tells of tragic deaths some years ago. Looking at what remained of that battle ship, it was like the tragedy's memory is still lodged in there. You could almost hear the screams of the boatmen. I did not enjoy it. 

We stayed in the Island for just a night. There was not much to do, or should I say we were not very eager to find out what more we could do. Honestly, having gone to so much more beautiful places, this Island was just a notch above disappointment. We had expected so much of the beach. It was also probably because we were ripped off on our way there. 

The boat to Malapascua is supposed to just cost 50 pesos. We arrived at 2pm at the port. A group of people (the boatment and the terminal personnel) told us that it was already too late, and that there would not probably be any more boat to take us to the island, unless we are willing to pay 500 php (With just three of us). We did not want to waste any time, so we grabbed it only to find out later on that there were trips till about 3 or 4pm. In fact, when we got on the boat, there were still other people who arrived bound for Malapascua. This really upset me.

Anyhow, we left the next morning back to Cebu city, hoping that we could finally find a ferry that would take us to Bohol (see story here).

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After Bohol, we had to go back to Cebu, since our flight back to Manila is from Cebu. That gave us another day to explore Cebu. We visited:

Olango Bird Sanctuary
Daoist Temple
Tops

Travel Notes:

From Cebu to Malapascua
Bus Terminal: Northern Bus Terminal (get on the bus bound for Maya)
Bus Fare: Php 100
- The bus ride is not for the faint-hearted. Drivers (especially of Ceres buses) drive like they're immortals. 
Port: Maya Port
Boat Fare: Php 50 (beware of boatmen who tell you that the last boat has left. They will charge you 450 pesos more if you panic and take theirs)
Accommodation: Php 700/night (There are a lot of resorts in Malapascua. Search the net for more choices).

- I heard there are home stays around Maya port that you can stay in should you miss the boat.

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