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Published: January 26th 2007
So I am going to post old pics for now from my travels around the Philippines, starting with my Holy week trip with my friend Ellie to the province of Cebu, where another good friend Chanda is from.
Original plan was to spend the long holiday in Boracay, but since we were there last year for Holy week and then again for New Year's Eve, we decided to venture into 'alien' territory and packed our bags and hopped into a plane headed to Cebu.
First night was spent bonding with Chanda, but the next day was something else. We crammed the half day to tour the city and its surrounding towns that were easily tourist attractions. I couldnt really compare Cebu to Manila because it would not have been an accurate comparison, have I had one, because the day we were there, it was Holy Thursday and the Philippines being predominantly Catholic, everybody was indoor or spending time on their own vacation spots. The streets were practically free from public transportation (aka jeepneys) so I cannot say whether Cebu is an ideal place to live in if I had to decide to move to another city once I get
tired of the traffic, pollution and the crowd of Metro Manila.
Anyways, we got to visit Magellan's cross and Shangrila Mactan, two famous tourist spots of the city.
The second half of the day was spent travelling by boat to the island of Bohol, but that would be part 2 of my blog...
After Bohol, we went back to Cebu this time to go to Malapascua Island, another island famous among backpackers, as I was told it was also one of the recommended spots by Lonely Planet. It will take you about 4 to 5 hours to get to the pier that will bring you to the island from the city. I really dont know if it would take you as long as that if it had been any ordinary day.
What got me curious about the island is my American friend's comment that Malapascua is overrated. I had to see for myself if it indeed was 'much ado about nothing'. Well for me, the long travel was worth it because the island is heaven...in the sense that you get that serene feeling you don't feel in such commercialized and crowded resorts and islands as Boracay
( but of course the party girl in me wouldnt necessarily denounce Boracay as one of the best vacations spots in the country,if not the world!ha!), it was as far as you can get from the hustle and bustle of metro living and it was a welcome respite for me. I should say that my American friend was a big fan of Boracay (party guy that he is) and had made such unnecessary contrasts between the two islands as his judgment was clouded by over his thirst for party till you drop mode of the very famous Boracay island. (Well, Malapascua is so quaint, I love it... lights out by 9pm and there were prolly only a couple of bars open along the stretch of the beach, it was refreshing)
My stay turned out good, i should say, albeit so short. I of course didnt get to see much of what the island has to offer. Nevertheless, it was a very relaxing 12 hour stay, and a motivation for me to go back there to explore.
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