Touring Cebu And Bohol

March 23, 2012 – Friday

I woke up really early, excited for my flight to Cebu. It was a clear day, perfect weather; I ate a quick breakfast consisting of hash browns and chicken nuggets then got ready to go to SM City to catch a van to the Iloilo airport. I arrived at 6:45am in SM City, by then the van was not yet full, so I hitched a ride in another van which was also on its way to the airport. When I got to the airport, I checked in, and then proceeded to the departure area. The plane arrived early, so instead of my 8:10am flight, we were off to Cebu at 7:50am.

8:30am • Arrival in Cebu.  My plane landed in Mactan International Airport at exactly 8:30am. I had to wait for my two friends' arrival from Singapore. Their flight’s supposed to arrive at 11:40am so I had quite a few hours to spare. It’s a good thing there was a massage place inside the airport that offered manicure and pedicure, so I had my nails done in there.

And oh, I even saw Manny Pacquaio and his wife Jinky, and took a picture with Rhian Ramos at the airport. At around 11am, I went to the International arrivals area to wait. It was a long wait, we got out of the airport 1 hour later than my friends' scheduled arrival. We got into the taxi that I hired to pick us up and went straight to Palazzo Pensionne (Read: My Review of Palazzo Pensionne). We asked the taxi to wait for us while we checked in, so we can go straight to Crown Regency Hotel for our Sky Day Tour.

1:30pm-6pm • Sky Experience Adventure @ Crown Regency Hotel - Read about my Sky Experience Adventure.

7pm-10pm • “The Terraces” Ayala  Center. After our Sky Day Tour, my friends wanted to try the jeepney, so instead of riding a taxi to Ayala, we hailed a jeepney. With no map in hand, we had to rely on other people to tell us which jeepney to take and where to alight. Thankfully, we arrived safely in our destination. In Ayala Center, I bought a Cebu T-shirt and a Cebu fridge magnet.

My Cebu souvenir T-shirt

Then we went to find a place to eat. I was texting the whole time with Cebu Couchsurfing people, we wanted to meetup with them that night. We ended up having dinner in MAX restaurant since that was what my friends wanted. I ordered a Pancit Lomi coz I wasn’t that hungry. I was still feeling the remnants from the lunch buffet floating around in my tummy.

Pancit Lomi @ Max Restaurant

At around 9pm, Lala arrived and after a little while, Eva and her 2 other friends arrived as well. It was my first time meeting people from CS, and it was really fun. We planned to hang out for a bit but it rained really hard, so we were stuck inside an empty bar in Mango Avenue. After 1 bottle of beer and a few snapshots, we decided to call it a day and went back to the hotel.

March 24, 2012 – Saturday

4:00am - Wake up call 

4:30am - Breakfast (3 pieces of bread toast with jam and butter, coffee/hot choco)

5:00am - Off to Cebu Pier to catch the first ferry service to Bohol

8:30am-6:30pm • Bohol Countryside Tour. Read about my Amazing Bohol Countryside Tour.

8:15pm • Back in Cebu. We had a great time in Bohol. We were back in Cebu by 8:15pm. We caught a free shuttle service from the pier to SM Mall. My friend got into a little accident when she was coming down the bus. She scraped her leg, but thankfully, it wasn't that bad, and she didn't break any bones. We ate dinner at Jonie's Sizzlers & Roast in SM. I ordered their house steak, which tasted really good.

House steak @ Jonie's Sizzlers & Roast

After we finished eating, we took a taxi back to our hotel. The taxi queue was really long, so we asked a valet parking attendant to help us find a taxi home. He was kind enough to accompany us outside the mall perimeter and helped us hail a taxi. Thanks Manong! We slept more soundly that night.

March 25, 2012 – Sunday

5:00am - Wake up call 

5:30am - Breakfast 

Early breakfast in our hotel

6:30am • Meetup @ Jollibee. We took a cab to go to our meetup place in Mandaue City. We met in Jollibee highway with Eva and her Korean friend Jong. It took us about 30 minutes taxi drive to Cordova, the launching point of our Island Hopping trip.

8am-12nn • Island Hopping & Snorkeling @ Guilotongan Island, Marine Sanctuary. Read about our Island Hopping/Snorkeling.

1pm-1:30pm • Lunch @ Jollibee Mandaue. We got back in the mainland after our island hopping, and my friends wanted to try Jollibee, so that's where we had lunch. I ordered my favorite Jollibee meal, one piece spicy chicken joy with rice, and I also tried their Milo Sundae.

Lunch at Jollibee Highway, Mandaue

3:00-6:00pm • Cebu Heritage City Tour. After lunch, we went back to the hotel, took a quick shower, dressed, and waited for the taxi that will take us around the city. We went around the city for a short heritage tour. Read about our Cebu Heritage City Tour.

6:00-7:30pm • SM Mall. We made a quick stop at SM Mall because my friends wanted to buy a bag and some more foodstuffs. I ended up buying a really pretty travel bag. It wasn't included in my budget, but I just couldn't resist buying it. It was on sale, for only Php 1,599.75. And on top of that, I also got a free smaller bag along with it. It's quite a steal, right? Anyway, I needed a bag that I could bring with me when I go to Macau and Cambodia, preferably one that can be hand carried on the plane. And this was just perfect.

7:40-10:40pm • MO2 KTV. We had a room reservation in MO2 KTV (thanks to Eva). At first my friends were a bit hesitant, as they weren't really fond of singing in karaokes. But I told them, their trip to the Philippines wouldn't be complete without karaoke, so they consented in the end. Turns out, they had fun! They were singing their heads off the entire 3hours we were there. We ordered a few dishes: Lechon Kawali, Sizzling Bangus, Marinara Pizza, Chicken Basket, Sizzling Crabmeat, and for drinks, one of them ordered something with an interesting name. I particularly enjoyed their crabmeat. It was yummy!

Php1,200 worth of food and drinks @ MO2 KTV

10:45pm-12:15am • MO2 Bar. We were about to go home but then my friends looked like they wanted to check out the MO2 Bar. The music was kinda cool, there was a live band and so we went inside, bought one drink each (I got the Blue Boracay iced tea), listened to the band for a bit, watched a couple working the dance floor, got a little snoozy, then decided to go back to the hotel. We didn't even dance! But I think it was a nice way to spend our last night in Cebu.

My Blue Boracay Iced Tea @ MO2 Restobar

March 26, 2012 - Monday

It was a jam-packed weekend in Cebu and Bohol. Thank God we enjoyed a smooth and hassle-free tour. Well, at least right up to the point where we had to go home, and I somehow missed my flight, left my pasalubong at the hotel, and had to go home at 7:10pm rather than 11:40am. Read about what happened to me.

All in all, it was a wonderful Cebu-Bohol Tour. A few items were crossed out of my Bucket List. A huge dent on my savings for the tour expenses, but all of it worthwhile. On to my next adventure... Boracay!