Philippines: Cebu City | Day 1-3

So in between studying and literally watching two whole seasons of my favourite show ever, it hit me and I remembered I hadn't blogged yet this week. I'm currently trying to figure out what to do with the blog because I'm really into the idea of micro blogging, simplify the whole concept and just bombard you with pictures and the necessary one- or two-liner. Also, I'm skipping my finishing post on the Taiwan leg because I recently blew up my computer and with it all my drafted travel posts went and somehow the Taiwan part of my trip takes up a lot of time to recompose. As I was on a one-month trip round Southeast Asia touring various crowded cities, I thought a getaway, a real vacation from my vacation, would be a nice idea, so off I went to the Philippines!

I never imagined wanting to go to the Philippines ever. No offense, but it's a place that never appealed to me until I touched down in Cebu City. I had quite a never-wrecking transfer from Taipei to Manila and then to Cebu because I had heard horrible things about any Filipino airline, but everything went great and as soon as I touched down in the land of 7k islands, I was blown away by the friendliness and openness of the Filipino people. The Taiwanese were kinda harsh on me, the Japanese very reserved, but no matter where I went I was greeted by everyone and was also amazed at how well everyone speaks English. For the first time on this trip I had no trouble communicating with others.

I chose Cebu City because I had originally planned to take the ferry to the nearby island, Bohol, to see the Chocolate Hills. More on that later, though. I checked into a hotel right by one of the nicest malls in the Philippines, Ayala Mall. To be honest, though, apart from the day trip to Bohol, I was in the Philippines to get cheap massages, food and just relax in my hotel room, which I did and it was so refreshing. Besides, Cebu City isn't that safe and I as a European single lady didn't feel like risking it and exploring Cebu City by night. No offense, once again.

I was on an overnight transfer to the Philippines, meaning I left Taiwan at 11.30pm, touched down in Manila at 1am and finally landed in Cebu City around 7am (yep, had kind of a long layover and Manila Airport really isn't the nicest.. but they had Cinnabon and free wi-fi, so I facetimed with my family and friends to keep me entertained). Naturally, I checked out the Starbucks, which was one of the nicest I've ever been - spacious, quiet, super friendly and good-looking baristas, I was in love. Plus, I merely paid 2$ for a venti latte. The Philippines is a great destination for a cheap vacation promising eye-opening encounters with the friendly locals as a bonus.

It was only 10am, but I spent the rest of the day at a spa getting massages and treatments, dozing off and forgetting about time. At 4pm I went back to the mall, had awesome dinner and stayed in for the rest of the night catching up on "Cake Boss" and some survival shows. That, my precious readers, is what I call a relaxing vacation minus the cultural fulfillment.

Now, as I mentioned earlier the reason why I decided to go to Cebu City was Bohol. I slept in till 1pm and that pretty much ruined my daytrip plans because the ferry schedule was messed up, it was rainy and I decided to go back to the spa. In the evening I was tempted to try authentic Filipino food and checked out a place called "Mesa" at the mall, which served the world's best mango daiquiri and scallops. Cebu is actually known for its mango plantations and lord, they know their mango business.

On my third day I shipped out a lot of stuff because my suitcase was getting too full - again - and spent approx. an hour trying to figure out the postage rates, it was a disaster, but in the meantime (three months later) my big-ass parcel has arrived safely and everything's in mint condition. I left for Boracay the same day, chartering an 11am flight bound for Caticlan.