2013 Destinations

On a Saturday afternoon, I had a time to discuss all my travel plans to my mom. 

Me: Ma, pag nakuha ko yung benefit ko sa SSS, maglealeave ako ng 3 weeks, lilibutin ko buong Pilipinas.
Mama: Ikaw bahala, malaki ka na. Hindi ka na alagain.

Hahahahahaha. Yes, I was dead serious when I told her that, but I think work won't allow me to leave for such a long time. While waiting for my "denied" SSS benefit (I was supposed to receive it last year pa, a few months after my cystectomy), I decided, why not make a list of destinations for this year? Who knows, I might be able to visit the places that I want to see & do the things that I plan to do.

First on my list is EL Nido, Palawan. Perfect for beach bumming. I'll celebrate my 22nd birthday here. ;-)

photo from gopalawan.travel

Second, surfing in Baler. (Still saving up for this, maybe one of these days..)

photo from traveltothephilippines.info

Third would be the Bangui Windmills in Ilocos Norte & the old Spanish houses in Ilocos Sur. I'll be traveling here for four days in August.

 photo from sulit.com.ph

photo from visitpinas.com

Fourth, climb Mt. Pulag. I want to be on top of the world! My dream proposal.. (EHEM! John Mark Bacay! tamaan ka sana hahaha)

photo from pinoymountaineer.com

Fifth, rock formation at Biri Island, Samar.

photo from imagesphilippines.com

Sixth, Calaguas Island of Camarines Norte.

photo from calaguasislandbeachparadise.com

Seventh, Mararison or Malalison Isalnd in Culasi, Antique. Antique is my father's hometown and whenever I talk about this island, my parents just laugh about it. Bakit daw amaze na amaze ako sa lugar eh napaka-common na yun sa kanila. Okay, kayo na mga taga-probinsya! Because my parents live nearby, all I have to spend for is the airfare and the boat to reach this place.

photo from papparaz0.com

Eight, surfing and diving in Siargao! Wow, finally, Mindanao! We plan to celebrate our 2nd Anniversary here (kung aabutin pa, hehehe, joke). Gusto ko sana sulitin ang stay ko sa Mindanao by visiting Davao and Cagayan Region too.

photo from pilipinaswow.blogspot.com

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Hotel Review: Gran Tierra Suites

I stayed in a single room (matrimonial bed) during my Cebu trip. It costs 789 pesos only. I really like the modern atmosphere in this hotel. The room was spacious enough and once you check-in, the hotel staff will give you 4 pcs. of complimentary bread and water. Winner naman ang ensaymada nila e. 

What I didn't "quite" like is the shower. There's no hot shower so I was kind of shivering when I took a bath.

Single Room (reserve in advance!)

The hotel is two to three blocks away from Larsian in Fuente Circle and two blocks away from the hospital. It is 30-45 minutes away from Mactan International Airport. I like how quiet and peaceful the location is. This hotel offers free wi-fi, too! 

The staff are accommodating but be sure to speak a little Cebuano when you talk to them, they are not quite familiar with the Tagalog language.

For more information:

Address:

#207 Don Mariano Cui

Cor. Don Jose Avila

Capitol, Cebu City, Cebu

Contact Numbers:

+639176341839

+639996882816

+639235929369

Website:

http://grantierrasuites.com

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Cebu City

For our anniversary, I booked us a flight from Manila to Cebu last August 19, 2012. Actually, it wasn’t planned, pero dahil nag seat sale ang TIGER AIRWAYS, gumora na ako. I was able to buy roundtrip tickets (Manila-Cebu-Manila) for two for the price of PHP1,200 only.

 at Gran Tierra Suites

We went to Cebu last Nov.17, 2012. We stayed in Grand Tierra Suites (I will have a separate blog post for my hotel review). I reserved a room in El Salvador Beach Resort in Danao for Nov. 18 pero sabi ng cab driver sa Cebu, if we plan to go to the beach, better go to Panglao, Bohol instead. 

Anyway, I made an itinerary for our Cebu tour. It was a city tour and that time, it was really scorching hot in Cebu City. Pero keri lang, kasi we really wanted to make the most out of our Cebu trip. 

Larsian at Fuente Circle

They have a term for this rice.

 

Larsian in Fuente Circle is a MUST! For a budget of 150 (or 300 less for 2 person), you’ll be able to buy more than enough food to fill your stomach. Hahaha. The rice (wrapped in a pandan-like leaf, eh?) costs 3pesos each, and the meat and seafoods cost from 15pesos to 50pesos. Parang ihaw-ihaw lang sa Manila.  

The Cathedral, Magellan’s Cross, Basilica and Fort San Pedro are just a few kilometers apart so you don’t need to take a cab or a jeepney. SM Cebu is one jeepney away from the Cathedral. 

 SM Cebu

CNT Lechon, a must for tourists! 

We tried CNT Lechon in SM Cebu but I found it too salty (maybe we got the belly part?). The price is a little expensive compared to the main branch of CNT Lechon (which is just a few walks away from SM Cebu). 

 Basilica De Sto. Nino

 Renovated Cebu Cathedral

 Fort San Pedro

 Magellan's Cross

Magellan's Cross

We bought some souvenirs at Island Souvenirs (just across Cebu Cathedral). A sealed pack of danggit costs 80+php each. If you plan to bring home a lot of "danggit," it's much more cheaper in the Tabo-an Market (one jeepney ride from Cebu Cathedral).

A souvenir shop at the entrance of Mactan Shrine

SUTUKIL in Mactan Island (just at the entrance of Mactan Shrine) is also a MUST! Too bad we weren’t able to visit Mactan Shrine because of the sudden rain (and we have no umbrella that time)!

 Manna Sutukil

 Calamares & Grilled Pork with the left-over lechon

Overall, I was very satisfied with all the foods I ate in Cebu. You shouldn't leave Cebu without having a taste of their lechon! 

Itinerary: (Cebu-Bohol-Cebu)

 

I will post about my Bohol trip, soon! It only costs us less than 5000PESOS each for our Cebu-Bohol trip!

One helpful tip: Book everything in advance! =)

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Baguio City

I went to Baguio together with my bf and his sisters two weeks after my cystectomy. We traveled using a private vehicle. It took us about 7 hours from Las Pinas to Baguio, including stop over at NLEX. It was roughly a 2.5-days of vacation.

We reached Baguio at around 12 midnight and first, searched for a place to stay in the city. The locals offered us some place to stay that ranges from 2,800-3,000php. There were 6 of us. After a couple hours of strolling, we finally found a place to stay. Holiday Villa Court offered us 2,800 for 12 hours (but we have to check out at 10AM).

 Our hotel in Baguio

The apartment-like hotel.

It was fair enough since it was a 2-storey villa with living room and kitchen and there were two bedrooms and bathrooms. The first bedroom has a queen sized bed and a bathroom, and the other one has two separate single-sized beds. It also includes free breakfast for the 6 of us (don't expect a well plated breakfast!).

 Infront of Jay-Jay's Inasal

What we ordered.

 menu.

 

We ate at Jay-Jay’s Inasal at around 1AM. There were actually some restaurants in Baguio city that are open until late midnight. The restaurant is just a few steps away from Holiday Villa Court and they serve delicious Filipino cuisine. We ordered a set good for 6 (sinigang, rice, bangus, etc.) and paid around PHP900. We went back to Holiday Villa Court after dinner and slept at 2.30AM. 

 Max's. =)

We first went to SM City Baguio to have breakfast at Max’s. We ordered a set good for 6 (chicken, rice, lumpia, dessert, etc.) and paid less than PHP1,300.

After the breakfast, we strolled around the town:

Burnham Park

Man-made Lake at the Burnham Park

Souvenir & Ukay-Ukay shopping at Session Road

Mines View Park

 Man-made Lake.

 With ate Meg at Mines View Park

Ukay-Ukay.

 Haggardo Versoza @ the Souvenir Shop

Because we only have the weekend for vacation, we didn’t have much time to tour in some places. It’s okay, though. We were able to make the most out of our weekend trip naman.


Going back to Manila:
Approximately 6 hours from Manila to Las Pinas via private vehicle (without traffic & stopovers).

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