trip to cebu

and so i'm back... from outer space - err cebu pala :D it has been a very nice vacation even though i was sick every night, it was still fun and 4 days doesnt seem enough for us to explore cebu - twas our first time to visit cebu, but anyways let me recount to you what i did in cebu... oh by the way just to let you know i'm really happy that cebu pacific have these promos, we actually bought our ticket to cebu last october 2008 on the last day of their promo.. i just hope that cebu pacific's flight doesnt get delayed arg, oh i am getting ahead again... anyways, bought the roundtrip ticket to cebu for only Php 1456 nice eh, and in case you'd like to know terminal fee is still Php 200.

Day 1 - trip to cebu
feb 27, 2009

and i was also excited to check out the newly opened NAIA terminal 3 and it looks nice and shiny :) our flight was scheduled at 1355H and me and my friend che agreed to meet at the airport at around 1100H but since it was friday, i got stuck in traffic and i had to pay Php 300 for my taxi fare waaaa, well actually the meter only said 230 but i already agreed with the taxi driver for an additional Php 50 in the fare since i'm already late and it was hard to flag a taxi and of course sobrang trapik, and gave him Php 20 tip because he was kind enough and accommodate my request for drive thru at jollibee so i, haller more than one hour kaya ako sa taxi noh, and sobrang gutom na ang aking tuklaw sa tiyan :D
here's the second floor of naia terminal 3, kinda like a lounge and snack area, there are still a lot of closed stalls here, and i really like this naia terminal 3 compared to the domestic airport noh, buti na lang dito na ang lipad ng cebupacific hehehe
going to gate 120, one thing i dont like here at naia terminal 3 is that their waiting lounges are small.. anyways as expected, the flight was delayed pero for only a few minutes
pomo-pose lang :D
cute diba? parang toys lang hehehe, bye bye manila, cebu here i come!
view inside the plane from the back, oh yeah nagrest room po kasi ako
nice noh? when i was a kid i used to think that you can touch the clouds when you're already up there riding the plane, sigh... i still want to touch the clouds though, i still want to know how it feels to touch a cloud... hays downside lang flying with cebu pacific is that not only the flights get delayed tigil pa kamo sa ere for a while, feeling ko dudugo na tenga ko sa sakit as in! we we're hovering over cebu city for quite some time
naks, diba parang view from google earth :D i just knew that we have arrived!
finally we landed at mactan cebu international airport and stepped on cebu soil at about 1533H, more than 20minutes late oh well... when we arrived at the airport we headed to the departure section to get a cab from there para mas mura :)
this is the mandaue-mactan bridge connecting lapulapu to mandaue, if you look at the above aerial photo again of the city, you'd notice that there are two bridges connecting lapu lapu city and mandaue, so this is the mandaue-mactan bridge is the one we used going to mandaue.
now this is the marcelo fernan bridge... actually i took this photo when we're going back to manila already, i dunno how they set it up but its seems that those from the airport use the mandaue-mactan bridge then going back they use this marcelo fernan bridge. cebu city is just like manila, as in... when we arrived traffic din from the airport.

we were supposed to stay at castle peak hotel but our taxi driver told us that it is still far from the north bus terminal because we mentioned to him that we're going to be early since we want to catch the bus' first trip to hagnaya the next day, he suggested we check out hotels near SM city cebu which is near the north bus terminal, we also informed him that we need a cheap hotel since we're just going to sleep there, he brought us first to sugbutel pero hindi kinaya ng powers namin, it is a bed and bath hotel (kinda like the gwapotels in manila) the rate is only Php 250 per head per night but we cant bear the thought of sharing a room with strangers and according to the receptionist of sugbutel you have to share the room with about 6-8 persons and the bed are like those in the roro ships doubledeck style ngiiii
so our taxi driver recommended hotel pier cuatro, which is about 2 blocks away from sugbutel and is also very near SM city cebu and the north bus terminal, and we only had to pay Php 880 per day. we liked the place immediately aside from the fact that it is cheap, the place looks clean... we later learned that the hotel is really new, it was just built last august 2008. our taxi fare is about Php 170 but we gave him Php 200, again because the driver was nice.
and the staff are really accommodating and courteous, and i was again surprised to learned that they have elevators oh diba :) this is their reception area

hotel pier cuatro is located at 3rd avenue, North Reclamation Area, Cebu City and there is a KTV bar across the hotel and a drive inn beside it.. so getting a taxi from the hotel is very easy, there are taxis standing by
the standard room is small, but it's actually okay, just two single beds, with a small cabinet on the side and a cable tv
i really loved their toilet, small but clean, the place is really new... as soon as we settled in we went out already to see some tourist spot since its already 1600H and we want to maximize our time in cebu city... afterall we're leaving very early in the morning to go to bantayan island
our first stop is at fort san pedro but we also passed Plaza Indepedencia on our way to the fort acutally a walking distance (we took a taxi from the hotel to the fort and paid Php 50) ... entrance fee to the fort is Php 21 per head. Good thing the place is still open but the museum inside the fort is already closed, well anyways we just strolled around the area and took pictures :D

Fort San Pedro as described in an official report of 1739 is triangular in shape and made of stone and mortar, the 3 bastions are La Concepcion, San Ignacio de Loyola, and San Miguel.

Fort San Pedro actually reminded me of Paco Park, i actually thought Fort san pedro is big like fort santiago in intramuros but is it small, i think smaller than paco park.
just goofing around,... hehehe di naman kami adik sa pictures :D
of course the flying cat is always present :D
eating dirty ice cream, this is at the plaza independencia... the cebuanos are very nice and courteous people, as in its just that we have a problem, me and che dont speak cebuano so we sometimes feel helpless, especially when asking for directions, good thing there was a man who instructed us where to go from fort san pedro to magellan's cross, it was just pretty straight ahead actually, just a few minutes walks from the fort and we're so proud we didnt get lost :D
on our way to the historic magellan's cross
wheeee finally, i saw Magellan's Cross in person, which is just see before at books and postcards. its just that its too difficult to take a decent picture of the place because it is actually small, no entrance fee just a donation box inside and there are vendors selling candles to offer for prayer
this is the iconic kiosk that house the historic cross that i usually see in photos. as per the caption at the bottom of the cross - "this cross of tindalo wood encases the original cross planted by ferdinand magellan on this very site on april 21, 1521
Magellan's Cross is in front of the city hall of Cebu City, and their city hall is big and well lit ha
and just beside the cross is the Basilica of Sto. Niño or Basilica del Sto. Niño de Cebu, which was built in 16th century.
sorry for the blurry image, but this is the facade of the basilica del sto. nino... actually i was surprised to find the church full of people, i guess that day being friday which i think is dedicated to the baby jesus image and maybe cebuanos area really a religious lot. there were a lot of people in the candle area which is very very big, lots of people offering their prayers and thanks (sorry i didnt get a chance to take photos of the candle area, there are just too many people there)
here's what the basilica del sto. nino looks like, actually the church's light is off because the mass i think is being held at the pilgrim's center. i wanted to take pictures of the altar but i felt i am a bad person if i took pictures when there are people solemnly praying.
this is the huge Pilgrim's Center, just across the church, actually na-disorient ako sa taka why they have this different altar or what looks like an outdoor church, i think a mass was about to start when we visited, there are already lots of people at both sides where the chairs are
and there are lots of vendors here, and they have uniforms pa.. i think they are the only one authorized to sell within the church grounds, cause there are still lots of vendors outside the church's gate but without uniform.
we're already starving and we decided to have dinner at SM city cebu, it's near the church so we just opted to ride the jeepney, we were so proud of ourselves that we dont need to ride a taxi and be one of the locals pero may sablay nga lang, we really are having a difficult time communicating since we do not speak cebuano, and as always there are helpful people who translate for us :D

anyways che was craving for pizza and we're looking for sbarro but according to a girl there is no sbarro at sm city cebu, only at the ayala center mall, so we opted to dine at shakeys which is the nearest pizza place from where we are but to our big disappointment their mushroom soup doesnt taste like mushroom soup, in short we had a disappointing dinner and we had to pay

Php 600, sayang lang talaga.

after our not so happy dinner we went to the grocery and bought bottled water and some snack for our trip to bantayan island the next day. yeah we didnt check out the night life in cebu city because me and che's not feeling well and had fever that night since both of us were actually sick before this trip, good thing we brought our drugs with us - bioflu and vitamin c lang pow.

after taking a shower and a little chit chat we hit the bed and slept early since we plan to woke up at 3am, we were planning to catch the bus' first trip to hagnaya.

***my other bantayan island, cebu pictures and posts:

• trip to cebu
• going to bantayan island
• kota beach - bantayan island
• virgin island
• exploring bantayan island