Southern Cebu Roadtrip

Note: This is just a continuation of this post.

The good thing about knowing someone in Cebu (or any other place) is that you don't get stuck in doing touristy stuff over and over again. Or commuting. Even though our swag multicab is not the most glamorous ride in the world (and it comes with awful lot of disadvantages) at least we got to our destinations for free and we had the best view.

We left Mandaue a little before 5 in the morning. Our agenda that day: swimming with whale sharks. IF there were any. See, I'm not really sure if we'll see them because basing from my researches, the latest blog that I read was from 3 months ago. They could be out of the Visayan water for all I know so we went on a hunch here.

The sun isn't out yet

But lo and behold.

When we arrived in Oslob town, JC's dad immediately turned left at the first beach resort we saw where people are already queuing to catch the next boat out onto the sea. From where I was standing, I can see the boats in neat little lines not far from the shore probably having a wonderful time spotting some butanding!

This is their rate which is I think is standard in all resorts. Left one is for locals, right one are for foreigners. Huge difference!

I committed a major booboo in this trip by forgetting to pack a boardshorts. So dedma na sa sangkalibutan but I wore a bikini while swimming with whale sharks, hindi naman sila natakot sakin, I think.

After a short breakfast, we paid for our fees and then hopped into our I'ts more fun in the Philippines boat with two manong, one sitting in front and the other one at the rear.

First stop: a short briefing about do's and don'ts in whale sharks encounter. Absolutely no touching. No swimming in front or directly behind the whale shark. Keep a distance of 3 feet (or was it meters? sheeeet I forgot!). Basta yun! No flash photography. No worries there because we don't have an underwater camera anyway and I refuse to pay 500 pesos worth of camera rent. Babalik na lang ako uy! I know, such losers. As for the swimming, I'm proud to say that even though the temptation of touching them was shoved right into my face, I didn't give in. I didn't touch them.

So this is the only photo I got of a butanding in my camera. The rest was taken from Lyn's camera.

In the photo below, JC looked so happy and scared at the same time. But that's normal in the first few minutes. The guide said that our 30 minutes of whale shark encounter begins when we see our first butanding so it was a mad dash to get into the water because you know, 30 minutes is like 3 minutes when you're having too much fun.

The many butanding that we saw are pretty small, almost like babyish in size. You can easily recognize the difference of a Donsol butanding to an Oslob butanding (google it!). But 10-20 feet sized mammal is still massive! You can't really help but be scared at first even though I always tell (and know) myself that these creatures will never eat/harm human, that they are the gentlest creature ever.

So yeah, size can be really daunting. But after the initial scare, the rush of excitement and childlike happiness eventually replaced the mini scare. And that bastard panghihinayang at the corner of my brain for not documenting this precious moment? I momentarily forgot about it. The good thing about not having a camera with you is that you get to soak in and enjoy the experience more without having to worry of that perfect shot worthy to be your next Facebook profile photo. Regrets came back when it was all over haha.

There will always be next time. The whale sharks of Oslob won't go anywhere, they are (GOOD NEWS) there all year round (except that one time when there was an earthquake, the whale sharks have gone MIA, I asked our guide). So I will come back na lang, in NOVEMBER 3-5 :))

After the 30-minute whale shark encounter we were back ashore. I had a quick shower and we were off again. JC's dad continued driving down south - Cebu's southernmost - where a perfect view of Dumaguete was waiting for us. Le sigh. We stopped at a few towns here and there and who would've thought we'll be back in Moalboal shoreline once again?

Naulanan lang kami ng bongga dito but I have good memories of Moalboal from 3 years ago it would not dampen my mood.

An hour more from Moalboal we finally stopped in Barili and had our lunch in Mantayupan Falls, picnic-style!

Mantayupan Falls is Cebu's tallest falls. I'm not sure if because it's a Sunday hence throngs of people picnicking (and swimming) or if it's a normal thing.

Then we were back on the road again. Molave Milk Station was our last pit stop for the day. We each had an ice cream made from carabaos and cows' milk. Tama ba yung wordplay?

Another more hour and we're back to the city. We just had to drop by here:

Too bad it was closed despite the store hours posted on the door. Maybe because it was a Sunday? I don't know. So a slightly disappointed Cheese must come back tomorrow.

Up next, Ayala Center Cebu food trip post!

Catching Up On Breaking Bad

I'm currently on a Breaking Bad rampage marathon and it is affecting my life. Well, in a good way. No, I don't know a jack about meth (okay maybe I probably know more now after watching episodes after episodes) but I'll never gonna sniff that evil stuff no matter how pretty those blue crystals might seem. 

These two, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, have been my constant companion for 3 straight weeks now. I actually dream of them every now and then. What would Heisenberg do? Even though I know that they are the bad guy, you can't help but root for them. The Sopranos, remember them?

Got it from here

And everytime Jesse Pinkman cries on the show, I die a little each day. Chos! You should really see him in his crying scenes. He is splendid! He is now in my list of great crier such as Shia LaBeouf and Ben Foster. The guys who just wrenches your heart and make you feel for them with every tear that falls.

Aaron Paul image from light-comma-sticks

I just finished watching season 3 and first episode of season 4 last night. I can't wait to catch up til season 5. Gus Fring seriously gave me the heebie jeebies with the Box Cutter episode. I always look forward to getting home and watching 3 or 4 episodes more before sleeping. This is the only TV series that I religiously and patiently marathon-ed just to catch up. And I don't regret it.

Sentosa Singaporean Restaurant

Friday the 13th payday and a very annoying email about a very annoying person led us to Shangri-La Mall's Sentosa Singaporean Restaurant. It's located at the Ledge right beside Sumo Sam and Tender Bob's.

menu

Come to think of it, we didn't order any noodles haha.

They had these nice lantern lights.

We ordered the following:

Roti Canai or should I say a cheap version of Roti Canai. I ate this in Petaling Jaya and I could've swear it was bigger, cheaper and tastes a lot better there. Sentosa's Roti Canai has the saddest cheese fillings ever :(

Bandung Rose Milk Tea ordered by my officemate, Xan. I don't like its taste, reminded me of temples lol. But its pink color is pretty entertaining. Ten had a Chrysanthemum Iced Tea which I liked (but she didn't haha).

Chicken Rice. I forgot the name!

We had half an order of Singaporean Hainanese Boneless Chicken.

Which came with these. We had to ask 3 times for these because they didn't have a refill readily available on the table (like Wee Nam Kee's) plus they serve too little.

Pork Spare Ribs (I forgot the complete name again!). This one's on the salty side which is favourable to Ten only haha.

And this pahabol seafood order. Win!

It was a good lunch but I'm not sure I'm ready to eat here anytime soon again. 

Sentosa Singaporean Restaurant
6th Level, Shangri-la Plaza Mall
Mandaluyong, Philippines

Yabu House of Katsu

It's my third time to eat here but it's my first time to write about Yabu. Why? Because I always seem to leave my camera and the quality of my phone camera won't do justice at Yabu's food.

Eating at Yabu is a treat that we always look forward to, when it's payday or we're feeling down. haha. palusot.

Anime interior design

I had the rosu.

I should try the chicken set next time.

I would love to have this someday, The best daw talaga ang Kurobuta.

Condiments.

Grind grind grind 'em sesame seeds!

Japanese rice goodness. It's unlimited too!

My Rosu set. Unlimited cabbage, pickled veggies, Japanese rice and fruits.

I love you but I can't have you everyday nor once a week. :D But that makes me look forward to our dates. chos.

Yabu House of Katsu
2/F Mega Atrium, SM Megamall, 
1552 Manila, Philippines

Back in Cebu!

It's been a long while since I was in Cebu so I was pretty excited for this break away from the office VBs. Our flight (via Airphil Express) went smoothly, no delays wow! We landed at exactly 8am in Mactan International Airport where JC's dad was waiting for us. We went to his brand new house in Mandaue City which reminded me a lot of  JC's aunt place in NorthTown, just smaller. 

A sneak peak.

We had these for breakfast. Fresh na fresh!

After breakfast we hung out at JC's dad office (trucking business hehe) while waiting for Lyn to get her hair done. But first, we dropped by here and bought a kilo of lechon for our lunch later.

When all 3 of us got too bored out of our wits, we decided to follow Lyn and wait for her at Pacific Mall. We sat/walked at the food court and bought some fruits in the grocery. JC and I even managed to play a game of hoops in Worlds of Fun. hwoo.


Finally hair got fixed and we were on the road to Balamban. It was my first time in that area. Balamban is like Cebu's version of Tagaytay/Baguio. It's cool and full of greeneries.

We dropped by his Aunt's yet another vacation house. Construction was still going on but you can already make out that this'll be one very cool vacation house once it's finished. Oh to be rich and famous.

There's a trend of furniture used in each of their many houses: woods and this from photo below, whatever that material is. Rattan? Buri? Basta. those furniture made by Cobonpue, they have that! No surprise there, the guy came from Cebu.

I love the design of these table and chairs!

The pond is still under construction...

Look! Heart-shaped pond. Cheesy! hahaha

I love this bamboo tree. So huge! It looks so calming.

After our late lunch here, we hopped back into the car then proceeded to our real purpose of coming to Balamban: zipline! 

We went to Adventure Cafe which boasts as the first Resto Adventure in the Philippines. Pretty neat! Besides, fee is only 150 pesos. Very affordable.

We're going on the other side. Exciting!

Here's JC and I after our harnesses have been strapped, donning Black Diamond helmets (ang soshal!).

I always get scared pre-ride, be they extreme theme rides, wall climbing or ziplines kaya grabe ang paalala ko kay Kuya na wag muna nya ko itulak hangga't hindi pa ko handa feeling ko kasi tatraydurin nya ko hahaha. Once I got over past that anxiety attack, adrenaline rush started to kick in and the time of my life ensued, well, more or less 30 seconds of it.

Here are the videos JC took of our ride :))

On our way back to the city, we stopped by Marlito's Pink House to buy veggies and fruits. Mang Marlito is gay (thus the pink house) but he has a wife and children and gives huge discounts to suking mamimili. Win!

Lots of freshly picked tomatoes.

The guyabano that JC's dad bought from Mang Marlito was made into guyabano shake when we got home and I LOVED it so much I wish I could have it everyday.

We also bought sweet corn from Manong Marlito which was so good that even after eating rice, shrimps and lechon I ate another half serving of sweet corn. What is PG?

Great first day in Cebu!