Blogs from Cebu, Philippines, Asia - page 15

After taking a flight from Hong Kong to Manilla we were very pleasantly surprised with the friendly characters of the people we met and the extent of English and Spanish spoken (numbers from 1 -100 are said in Spanish or English) and there are 700 Spanish words in the local language along with 700 English words so we could pick up bits from conversations we were hearing, that along with the worlds 3rd largest shopping center and I thought I was dreaming when I saw a Topshop next to a Lush handmade cosmetics! The prices were the same as home so just did plenty of window shopping there was an Olympic sized ice ring and some of the kids were amazing! In the evening I was treated to a fashion show courtesy of Sunsilk shampoo makers ... read more

I just turned 21 and I still want to conquer the world. Yes, conquer the world. I dreamt of this as a kid and I still dream of it today. I guess I'm at that stage of my life where I believe that I could do anything. Who's with me? But who says I can't? All I need is the money, the time, and of course the company. This sense of freedom must come from the fact that next year I am graduating from college. But... I.... have no idea... what I'll be doing with my life. No clue at all. And since I won't be in school anymore, I get to have the leisure of time! oh, how exciting! I want to see the most beautiful beaches, the tallest mountains, the oldest churches, buildings, roads, ... read more

As the plane started to gain altitude, my eyes were riveted to the scene becoming smaller and smaller underneath. Cebu City—the Queen City of the South, the land of my ancestors, the first leg of our adventure. True enough, one day can never be enough for a tour around the hottest spots in the city. We wanted to do so much with so little time. Arriving at Mactan International Airport at 9:30 AM, we headed for Apas, Lahug, where Jessica’s friends were staying in a cute little apartment. Excited as we were to get our fill of the city, we were so dog-tired from the constant cram-shopping and endless gab sessions. After pictures taking and serious catching up with her friends, Jessica decided to just wait out and start the ‘wara’ after lunch. First stop: Taoist ... read more

I'm now 2 weeks behind on blogs, thanks to limited internet access on Palawan, but I'm not giving up! Many more to come. There isn't that much to say about Cebu City... it really isn't much of a tourist destination, more of a layover city. We decided to stay two nights anyway, and made the most of it, but two nights was definitely enough. When we got off the boat from Bohol it was already late afternoon, so we made a bee-line to our hotel. Our taxi driver said his meter was broken, and tried to charge us 200 pesos, but when I threatened to report him he turned on the meter and it only cost 50 pesos to get there. Our hotel (Allson's Inn) was actually pretty nice but it is in a kind of ... read more

This trip was short but nice and relaxing. We made a date with a Cebuana friend beforehand to ask her about where she was from and any insider hints she might have. She taught us a handfull of the local Visaya language which was greatly appriciated during the trip. I took off afterwork on Thursday and arrived at about 2am. Mr. Kim a really nice man was our escort since we arranged the trip through a Korean travel agency. We didnt really care to do all of the touristy things that he had planned for us but since the all inclusive trip was less expensive than the airfare alone it was no brainer. He took us to our hotel which was really nice and on the water with one big infinity pool and 2 other pools. ... read more