CEBU 2015 TRAVEL DIARY

"We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us."

I'm still on a high from last long weekend's travel. 

Destination: CEBU!

It started back in February when my friend Sabb texted me out of the blue that there's an airfare promo ongoing and it would be perfect to plan a vacation for Labor Day and the weekend to follow. I wasn't much prepared, financially the least, but it was also that time that I discovered Trisha Velarmino's blog (P.S I'm On My Way). I would check it out during lunch breaks and everytime, the wanderlust in me would just soar up and I would wish I was somewhere else rather than in my office desk. Hahaha. 

So I decided, why not? I have two months to save! But it wasn't an easy ordeal. In the two months, I would sometimes berate myself thinking that booking an airfare ticket randomly was an act of sheer impulse. I know it's only Cebu not a European Tour or the U.S.A. Hahaha. But the fact still remains that this is my decision and there's no one to finance myself except me. So there were weekends spent at home and not spending on anything unnecessary no matter how badly I wanted to reward myself with a few material possessions. 

MY MANTRA WAS:

 Don't give up what you WANT MOST for WHAT YOU WANT NOW.

What I wanted most was to satiate my wanderlust but sometimes I would want at the moment a few things to temporarily gratify the stress I would feel. Which is a wrong mindset.

But the upside is, having a goal (a travel goal that is) keeps you motivated. Instead of thinking of wanderlust as a distraction for work or your day job, think of it rather as an inspiration to actually focus and get the job done. You know all your hard earned money will be spent worthily.

Anyhoo, to make it even more special, my college best friend Toni decided to join us a week prior the trip! Truly, it's never about the destination, it's about the company!

 So Cebu, off we go!

DAY 1

CEBU CREW L-R: Sabb, Toni and Me

We were very lucky Toni had a contact in Cebu in the person of Charlie (who was Toni's cousin's special friend). He picked us at the airport and drove us around the city. (Salamat kaayo Charlie!) We stayed at Robe's Pension House by Sabb's recommendation. They have the cheapest room rates! Only for P800 - P900 per night and you get a decent fully-air conditioned room with WiFi and location wise as I observed, we were only a few short drives away from notable landmarks such as University of San Carlos, Crown Regency Hotel and Ayala Mall.

We had late lunch at Casa Verde at their Cebu IT Park Branch. It was recommended to me mostly by my office mates who go frequently to Cebu. It was a must-try indeed! Thumbs up for the ribs and their generous serving.

Afterwards, we had an afternoon stroll around Cebu IT Park and went to Ayala Mall. We can't help but look up around Cebu's towering buildings! We don't have that in Gensan and only a few in Davao.

Next stop was La Vie Parisienne! How we loved this place! The fancy lights, the cool interiors, the amazing lighting chairs that changes colors, the Instagram famous wine cellar and best of all, their P10.00 cookie! I didn't like much their macaroons though, I still prefer the ones in French Baker. But their croissant! Heavenly. It was also there we met Joie, Sabb's highschool friend who is now based in Cebu. She treated us with a bottle wine. Now that's a good first impression! Hahaha.

Photo by: Toni Rose Romero

And the last stop for our first day was Tops Lookout in Busay. The way up there was one heck of a ride! The ones that make you pray for your life! Exagg. Hahaha. But it was worth it as expected. You get to see the whole of Cebu in all its breathtaking glory. Just take note there's a P100.00 entrance fee per person. It was lovely at night and I think it's still as lovely by daytime.

The design! Reminded me much of Game of Thrones though. Tops Lookout was one of those places that made me say to myself "I'll be going back" and I'm not yet even leaving. No actually, Cebu made me feel that way. :)

I'll be sharing Day 2 which was spent in Camotes Island!

MATI NA MATI BAI!

WARNING: Gets niyo yung pun ng blog post title ko? MATI NA, MATI BAI as in derived from Matira Matibay...Hahahahaha! Ang #punny at witty ko, grabe! #aynagexplain (Joke! Korny ko na..huhuhu)

ANYWAY (I'm so annoying) ....talk about spontaneous!

It was "Araw ng Dabaw" last Monday and there I was lying in my bed and enjoying the non-working holiday when my friend Wesly messaged me that she and his boyfriend Melton decided to go to Mati that day. Shameless me, I volunteered to tag along! Hahaha. It's been long time no beach and I've always been curios about Mati. Fantastically the day after, March 17 was declared a non-working holiday too! It was for "Araw ng Pasasalamat". Haaaay, pasalamat talaga! :)

In no time, they were outside my house and off to the road we go! I must say the road to Mati was dizzying what with its winding roads. I got a little car sick. But it was bearable because the view is amazing! We even stopped by the road and had our pictures taken at the "Sleeping Dinosaur" (see photo no. 3)

Our main goal was to reach Dahican (thank heavens for Waze!). It's a known surfing spot and summer destination here in Davao. Expectedly, the first thing we did when we arrived at the beach was to take pictures! It reminded me very much of Gumasa what with its long strip of shore and the way it is shaped. Although the sand in Gumasa is much whiter and the waves are calmer. Or maybe my choice of comparison is just too limited since honestly, I've only been to few beaches. (To go to more beaches, is always on the bucket list!)

Since I was third-wheeling, I gave the lovebirds ample time together and went for a solitary long walk along the shore and had my own muni-muni moments and was thinking what to put here in my blog about this trip. Haha. There were random cartwheel-ing too along the way! :)

Anyway, we didn't try surfing since the waves' current is too strong and it's not the surfing season. (Hanggang pose lang kami with the surf boards, feeling TEEN'S CHOICE AWARDS. Hehehe).

The locals said that the ideal season for surfing (or they call it long board) is on Octobers. I tried to Skim instead and charmed the local to let me try at least twice. *wink* Surfing lessons rate is Php 300.00 while Skim Board lessons rate is Php 150.00.

Highlight of our trip was when we witnessed the sunrise and tried our best to swim and braved the waves. Ang lakas talaga ng alon, I almost drowned twice. Pero almost lang. There's something with the soft sand na pag-apak mo ng isang hakbang, malalim na pala. But we all tried to enjoy it, later on we learned to "ride" with the waves and just laughed at ourselves with all our struggles.

As for cheapskate matters, there's no entrance fee! We set up our own tent and we just paid for the table and parking space for a total of P 150.00! Cheapskate approved! (Thank you lovebirds!)

I love how spontaneous trips like this can nourish the soul. :) It can make you appreciate the simple things in life like sleeping with the stars literally above your head, or how the locals were so friendly or how the waves serenely lull you to sleep and calmly wake you up in the morning. Haay, beach life. My inner beachy-care-free-spirit was awakened. Naks.

I'm daydreaming of Siargao next!

THE SUNDAY CURRENTLY VOL. 2

I promised myself to update this blog more often and yet, all I could come up are The Sunday Currently posts. Consistency is the key guys! Hahaha. Next time, I'll try harder to be more creative with my content.

Here's for some catching up and what life was all about lately:

S M I L I N G

Because I just finished my 6-month probationary period in my day job and happily, I got regularized! That means I'm sticking and committing myself to it and I can now avail all the awesome employee benefits. Hahaha! On a serious mode though, I'm happy I'm starting to adjust with the "real world".  It's dawning on me that reality actually doesn't suck. You just have to be brave enough and accept that it's time to be more responsible now as compared to before. And that I should get rid off my high sense of entitlement simply because this world owes us nothing, it was here first. (Quote Mark Twain right there).  I know so #GrownUpTalk. Hihi :)

Have you seen The Devil Wears Prada? I keep associating myself with Andy Sachs during my whole work ordeal (especially sa start, yung mga scenes na clueless ka pa sa trabaho mo). I think I'm somewhere in the transformation scene already. IFFFF my life is a movie. Hahaha! There's so much room for improvements still but I'm slowly building my confidence in the workplace and I hope that will eventually reflect in my work output.

L I S T E N I N G

Playing currently is Weekend by Priory. I have this weird habit of liking a song and completely obsessing over it to the point that it's the ONLY song I play then leave it on endless repeat for a week until my eardrums can't take it anymore.

Last week, I was obsessing over Maroon 5's Sugar and now to this catchy song. The music vid is cool too! This is now my official payday and Oh-Yes-Biyernes-Na song! :)

E A T I N G

I've been at French Baker in SM Lanang thrice the past week with different set of friends. If the decision is up to me where to eat, it's definitely French Baker! The price is reasonable, the amount of serving is generous (good for sharing) and most importantly, super cheapskate friendly because they don't have service charge! And their free water is with lemonade and not just plain tap water. Pwede na hindi umorder ng drinks! Hahaha. There were instances nga lang that our orders were served late because it was always a full-house. But still, worth every penny you spend. I love the rose-scented macaroon and the Korean Beef Brisket.

Cheapskate tip: I got this from my co-worker that 15 minutes before closing time French Baker offers up to discount 50% on all their pastry products! I don't know if that's a common fact for some already, but worth mentioning anyway! Right, cheapskates? Haha

R E A D I N G

It was one late Friday afternoon after work that I decided to just sit in a bench somewhere in SM Lanang and finish reading The Colorless Life of Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami. I've been free-reading this book for the longest time at NBS and finally asked begged my sister to buy me one for Christmas. I always end up loving every Murakami book. As the title suggests, it was about the "colorless" life of Tsukuru Tazaki. It was a narration of someone else's "boring life" or at least that's how I looked at it.

I realized that at some point, our lives become colorless. Life just gets monotonous. Like how the drab routine of going to work 5 or 6 times a week is a real struggle or the little uneventful moments in between our daily grind inside the office or the solitary commute going home. I'm not trying to be melodramatic and I'm not saying it in a cynical way, I'm just saying that those "colorless" moments are simply a part of life, a reality of life. Something not to be lonely about but just something to accept and live with.

Naaaaks. Lakas maka-another #GrownUpTalk Hihihi :)

On the right is my next read, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart! It's a Christmas gift from my friend Cess (yeah, unsurprisingly what I got most for Christmas were books!). As you can see, it's a children's book and it's the first book of the series and it reminds me of Lemony Snicket (though I haven't read any of the books of the series). I mean, just by the looks of it. Haha. We'll see how my reading will pan out. I won't be underestimating the power of a children's book because sometimes the simplest wisdom are from a kid's perspective. 

W A T C H I N G 

The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel both of which are Wes Anderson films. I fell in love with the French film Amelie and since then I've been looking for films with the same aesthetic and feels and undoubtedly, Wes Anderson is the guy to go. The Grand Budapest Hotel was recommended by my friend Jess and I watched The Royal Tenenbaums because aside from it's a Wes Anderson film too, it already piqued my interest when the movie was mentioned in John Green's novel, An Abundance of Katherines. Have you read it? Gaah, I know too much referencing!

I'm totally digging Wes Anderson and his works. My kind of whimsical. I heard The Grand Budapest Hotel is up for some Oscars Nominations, good luck!

Now as I'm in the tail end of this post, I'm a bit confused if this post is properly labeled for The Sunday Currently or should be a Casual Consumption post? Hmmmm, why make life complicated? Hahaha. 

What are you up to lately? And how's your Sunday so far? :) 

The Sunday Currently Series is originally by siddathornton!

THE SUNDAY CURRENTLY VOLUME 1

Starting the New Year by sharing!

I'd always wanted to try this "Sunday Currently Series" which I first read at WildSpirit. I made it one of my resolutions to get back to blogging and sharing this year...so here's for a start!

R E A D I N G  

• My diary entries for the past year (the ULTIMATE THROWBACK)
  
• Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami which my sister gave me for Christmas ( I specifically asked her to haha)
• The Drunken Driver Has The Right of Way by Ethan Cohen - it's a book of interesting poems which I randomly bought last year at Booksale

W R I T I N G this post and my goals and plans for 2015 which is honestly overwhelming (well with me, it's always overwhelming). There's so much to prioritize like fitness, beauty, fashion, career, social, spiritual and it goes on. But I'm on my way filtering everything. Aside from making goals, I've been writing specific strategies on how to achieve it. You know, like a concrete game plan.

C O N V I N C I N G myself I can do it. Ah, just do it.

L I S T E N I N G to my sister's Beyonce and Hip-Hop playlist. Anything she plays loudly really.

W A T C H I N G Thinking Out Loud's music video and Breaking Bad (I'm still on Season 2!)

T H I N K I N G Out Loud Of what's to come for this year, what choices to make and the circumstances (or consequences) it'll bring. 

S M E L L I N G the scent of wood of the new computer table my brother just bought.

W I S H I N G for nothing really. I've learned that everything comes with hard work and not just mere wishing.

H O P I N G to soak myself with arts (in any form) and make time for it this year and to meet new people and make new friends

W E A R I N G the "It's A Dream Come True Nise @ 19" shirt which my college barkada also has and the cheap graphic leggings I only got to wear twice in public cause it faded all too fast

L O V I N G my life, it's imperfections and how it's slowly starting to come to a full circle

W A N T I N G wisdom. Tons of it.

N E E D I N G a boost of confidence and strength to go to office tomorrow! Haha

C L I C K I N G this nice New Year post by Carina Santos. Watch out for the word.


How's your first weekend for 2015 so far?

Join the Sunday Currently blog link-up now! 

21st Birthday x Sunday Brunch x Sea Green Cafe & Lifestyle Shop

For the past years, my birthdays were celebrated simply with close friends over dinner at somewhere fancy. Aside from I want to keep it intimate, mas mura talaga pag kaunti lang kayo. HAHAHAHA. #cheapskate #budget. Last year it was spent with close college friends at Cafe Mita in GenSan, (throwback post here). 

Since my family recently moved back here in Davao,  I spent my 21st birth anniversary yesterday with my highschool besties at Sea Green Cafe & Lifestyle Shop.

My friends and I were all eyeing to try Sea Green for the longest time. If you search it over the intwerwebz, you'll stumble upon a lot of blog posts that can attest how Sea Green is a famous must-try cafe in Davao. And not just that, even if you just simply pass by, the cafe's facade is really arresting and eye-catching.

Photo via Sea Green Cafe and Lifestyle Shop Facebook Account

ANYHOO, HERE'S WHAT WE ATE!

Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict for Jess

Tomato and Mozarella Penne for Melton

Creamy Pesto and Vegetable Liguine for me.
 It's not photographed in a flattering way, but it tastes really good! Love the creamy Broccoli.

Lemon Garlic Shrimp with Garlic Black Rice for Cess

Eggplant Parmesan for Wesly

Fried Quezong Puti Salad with Dalandan Vinaigrette for Jess again haha

VERDICT:

The food was great plus the serving is generous. (But we think it's only apt since it's a little bit pricey). Also, the waiting time for the food to be served is minimal. And the best part is that their food options are all healthy options! Perfect for health and fitness conscious people like my friends. Haha.

The service was just as great. The waiter was very courteous and he really attended to our needs. Plus points because they didn't impose any corkage fee for the cake my friends bought at Sugar Munch even if Sea Green has their own selection of cakes. Cheapskate friendly!

Also, the day prior, I inquired about their menu through texting the mobile number posted in their FB page. The response was quick and they even sent me a PDF file of their menu in my email (it helped me prepare my budget) #cheapskatefriendly. Very efficient customer service!

Lastly, the ambiance. There was nothing we could complain about! The interiors were calming to the eyes and it makes you feel that you are transported in another world. The whole vibe of the cafe was dreamy and whimsical. Ang saya lang. I appreciated too the mellow songs played in the background. Dagdag cafe feels. 

Annnd, the washroom was clean too!

I was thinking that Sea Green is the perfect place to spend birthdays. Why? Because they have merchandise on display too so you can just buy in an instant a gift for the celebrant or the celebrant can pick it for herself/himself! (Not that my friends allowed me to do that! Hahaha). But kidding aside, their merchandise were quite a sight too. Perfect distraction while waiting for your meal. :)

Over-all it was a memorable dining experience! 

Good food, good atmosphere, good service and good company! 

 In the end, I was one happy kid adult. Hahaha

VISIT

Circumferential Road, Doña Vicenta Subdivision

Like them on Facebook!

(Photos via Wes Licmoan)