Aside from the Philippine Blog Awards’ Visayas Leg, we had another mission in Cebu: to eat, and to eat well. Lucky for us Cebu has a lot of great homegrown restaurants that not only serve good food, but are also quite affordable.
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This is actually the fourth time I’ve been to Cebu, but there’s still a lot more that I haven’t been to in the city. I was alone when I first set foot in the island, there were two of us when I returned a a few months after, and there were three of us when I returned last year. Last Saturday, I was in a group of fourteen bloggers: Gail, Marc, Juned, Melo, Karla, Sha, Hana, Markku, Winston, Coy, Mica and Ada.
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I was looking through my archive and in my personal files and I was surprised to find out that I didn’t have any spreadsheet on my first Cebu trip’s expenses. I’m pretty certain I wrote down all my expenses, but I guess after tallying it, I passed out because it was pretty darned expensive. I *am* quite a high maintenance traveler. I can rough it out, but as long as I’m traveling with people who doesn’t mind splurging, my weekend jaunts will always be over 10K >_<
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The great thing about traveling with friends is that you have more energy and motivation to go out and explore. I remember the first time I went to Cebu. It was my first solo travel, and I was exhausted and I found the heat intolerable. I didn’t have the energy to explore Cebu, checking out only one or two landmarks. This time though, with two avid travelers as my companion, I was determined to see the places I missed the first time I was in Cebu.
First in the itinerary was the Taoist Temple. There’s a huge population of Chinese and Chinese-Filipinos in Cebu, and the influence of the culture can be seen where ever you go. The temple is not easily accessible — located inside the posh Beverly Hills subdivision, you’d have to take a taxi to go there. From the area of the Fuente-Osmeña Circle, the fare is around Php 80. The Cebu Taoist Temple is best visited early on in the day or in the late afternoon, when the sun is not too hot. There are 99 steps to climb to reach the main temple, and from there you are rewarded with stunning views of the city below, as well as the islands of Mactan and Bohol.
From the Taoist Temple, we took another taxi to the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. Since it was a Sunday, the cathedral was packed with people hearing mass. We only took some outdoor shots and made our way to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu. The two churches are within comfortable distance from each other. Like the Cebu Cathedral, the Basilica was likewise packed. The church was located in a main thoroughfare, so most public utility vehicles are driving by. There are tons of street vendors outside the church, selling clothes, flowers, balloons, and even prayers.
Right beside the Basilica of the Sto. Niño is the Magellan’s Cross. The shrine is filled with tour groups filing in and out at intervals. There are ladies milling around the shrine. For a fee, they will perform the traditional Sinulog — a prayer done while dancing and waving a bunch of candles.
From the Basilica, we made our way down the road to Colon street, the oldest street in the Philippines. I was getting pretty tired and hungry at this time, and I just wanted to breeze through Colon. It turns out that there is plenty to see in Colon. Like the rest of Cebu, there are plenty of beautiful architecture that’s just begging to be photographed and restored to its full glory. Unfortunately, the traffic, the banderitas and the powerlines made for an annoying photoshoot, so we cut it short and hopped on a SM-bound jeep.
SM wasn’t really our destination — it’s what’s across SM that we’re after. CNT Lechon’s restaurant across SM was our target. It was already 1pm, yet the restaurant was still packed. This is not a fancy restaurant, mind you. The place was not airconditioned, and it’s like a glorified turo-turo wherein you go up to the counter and point at the dishes you want to order. A trip to Cebu isn’t complete without a taste of the local lechon, and CNT delivers with the cripy skin and flavorful meat that doesn’t have you reaching for that bottle of Mang Tomas.
Our Cebu lechon craving satisfied, we headed out to Mactan, to look for a Cebu guitar factory or store. We ended up at Guitar Master, and after a passionate sales talk from Mr. Ronie, we headed back into Cebu to look for danggit. Tabo’an Market is the place to go for anything dried: they have danggit (rabbitfish), dilis (anchovy), pusit (squid), and every variation of daing (dried fish).
We were welcomed with mini mountains of every variety of dried seafood. After a round of photos, it was down to serious pasalubong shopping. While everyone is busy buying danggit, I opted to buy some Cebu chorizo, something I just discovered and tried the night before. A kilo of danggit goes for Php 400+, while the chorizo goes for Php 190 per kilo. Apart from the chorizo, I also bought some packets of Guadalupe brand dried mango strips, a brand I read about in other blogs, and something I am longing to find in Manila because it’s so good.
With our plastic bags tightly sealed (the dried fish tastes good, but it has that strong smell when uncooked), we jump into a taxi and headed back to the hotel to freshen up before meeting the Cebu bloggers. By the time we changed our clothes and headed out, the sun was almost setting, casting a fine soft light on our hotel’s neighboring building, the University of San Carlos.
Meeting the Cebu-based bloggers was an experience. It was great seeing and meeting new faces. Fresh new faces at that… they were all so young! To Arnold, McBilly, Jorich, Wilhelmina, Aileen, Empress, Xerxes, Kevin, Rodel, Sinjin, Maibe, Winston and Mark, thank you for meeting with this weird group of Manila travel bloggers 
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Apart from fresh and dried mangoes, otap and danggit, one of Cebu’s other major product is its guitars. Filipinos know that when you want the best quality local-made guitars for the best value prices, you go to Cebu.
Being avid travel photographers, going to a Cebu guitar factory or store is in the itinerary. We hopped on a cab and told the driver to take us to Mactan island, where most of the guitar shops are located in Cebu. We ended up at Guitar Master, and was met by Ronie, a passionate man who believes in making good quality guitars without the expensive price tag. The conversation turned technical, so I resorted to playing around with the Canon Ixus’ video feature and patched together this little piece.
I’m not a music expert, but that guitar sounded pretty nice.
Guitar Master
Quezon National Highway
Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu
Philippines
Phone: +6332-495-2412
Mobile: +63920-224-3767
Contact: Ronie Pangatunan
How to get there: From Cebu, take the Mandaue-Mactan bridge to cross to Mactan Island. At the first intersection, turn left. Guitar Master is on the right side.
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Last Saturday, I flew into Cebu with Eric and Melo to participate in the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo. This is a festival of festivals — contingents from all around Cebu are converging in the big city to show off to the rest of the province what their town’s festival is like.
Here’s a very short video clip, a tiny sampling of the contingent’s street dancing perfomances during the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo. I was anticipating that I’d be taking a lot of photos and videos for this trip, so I bought an extra 2GB SD card. Unfortunately, my foresight didn’t extend to my camera’s battery — it died shortly after the contingents started dancing their way from Mandaue City Hall to the CICC. 
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I haven’t saved enough money to afford accomodations at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa, but I have enough for a day tour. Or as they call it, a day in paradise.
It was paradise indeed. True to the Shangri-La tradition of excellence, the island resort is a great getaway from the city (which is only 30 minutes away). From the lush green gardens to the stunning white sand, from the sparkling waters of the sea to the welcoming cool of the infinity pool, from the abundance of available facilities to the attention of their staff, Shangri-La makes sure you get your money’s worth.
A day in paradise costs Php 2,000. This includes access to their beach, use of their pools, towels, a discount for their Health Club services, and a lunch buffet at the Tides.
Ah, the Tides. Where do I begin? The lunch buffet is available from 12 noon until 2 o’clock in the afternoon. There’s a wide array of international and local dishes, set up in different areas of the restaurant. I suggest that you go around and see what’s available, or you might end up piling food on your plate and getting the oddest combinations.
Then comes the dessert. They have a wide selection of the freshest fruits, divine chocolate concoctions, biscuits, marshmallows and fruits you can smother with chocolate and crepes made to your liking. ‘Twas paradise indeed.
After that gastronomic adventure, I settled down for some peppermint tea before I head off to the airport. Another great thing about Shangri-La is that they have a regular shuttle going to and from the airport and shopping centers in Cebu city. So instead of having to shell out money for a taxi ride to the airport, I just waited for their airport shuttle.
I was just a tad overwhelmed by the attention from the Shangri-La staff. It started when I asked the front desk of their shuttle schedule, the guy behind the counter got on the radio and asked what time the shuttle will be back. He then calls another staff to assist me with my bags, and he continued harassing the shuttle driver to hustle back to the hotel.
To my surprise, it wasn’t just a van; it was a 20-seater coaster. Another surprise came when the bus driver drove off after I settled inside the bus. I have the whole coaster to myself. I feel so special. As we near the airport, the driver asked me if I already bought souvenirs. I told him I already bought some, but I want to buy a couple more things. I said I’ll just buy them at the airport. The prices they give you at the airport is too high, he said. He then detoured to the tourist shops near the airport entrance. Well, it wasn’t cheap there either, but it was still cheaper than the overpriced stuff at the airport.
I picked a pack of danggit and a couple of pawikan refrigerator magnets for my friends. After paying, the lady handed over my purchases to somebody standing behind me. I turn and lo and behold, my “driver” was standing by to carry my 500 gram pack of dried fish. Now THAT is service.
Getting there:
Shangri-La Mactan is in Mactan Island, along the Punta Engaño road. It is 20-30 minutes from the foot of the Marcelo H. Fernan Bridge (Mandaue-Mactan bridge), and about an hour from Cebu City.
From Mactan, you can ride a jeep going to Punta Engaño and get off at the gate to the resort. The fare is about Php 11.
You can also take a taxi, and it will cost you approximately Php 80 from Mactan, and Php 150 – 170 from Cebu City.
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Nina, going through quarterlife crisis, decided to stop talking about traveling and actually start traveling. Starting with a solo weekend trip to Cebu to a backpacking trip in Thailand and Singapore, she finally made it out of Asia and into Australia. After spending close to six months down under, she's happily settled in Manila (for now), intent to explore the best things the Philippines has to offer.
