While the Iligan Group was still on their last leg of the Amazing, Fearless, Survival Trip, the Cebu Group was experiencing a pleasant luxurious downtime.
Welcome to Cebu!
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| Photo by MDPahed |
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| Photo by EAPalanca |
Our next destination was Plantation Bay Cebu. Upon arriving at the Mactan International Airport, there was a rep from the resort who met us and led us to our complimentary ride going to the resort.
Our accommodation was the Riverboat Suite. It's kind of pricey, for they charged us in dollars, but it was so worth it. A special welcome exclusive to guests of the only two suites at Plantation Bay were accorded to us. They drove us to our suite directly, gave us the Express Check-in, and the registration was done right in our cottage. Three lovely staff were already waiting there in front of the cottage to greet us. They hanged a puka necklace around our necks, and gave us a cold towel each. Shucks, we felt special at once.
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| Photo by CDRamos |
There were a lot of free goodies for us which included a tray of miniature cakes, dried mangoes, snacks, canned juices, and complimentary bottled water. Plus a personal welcome note!
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| Photo by BACacnio |
We were just so excited to relax and unwind!
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| Photo by CDRAmos |
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| Photo by CDRamos |
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| Photo by EAPalanca |
We wanted to explore the place and get acquainted with it, so we requested for a golf cart tour around Plantation Bay, and they happily obliged.
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| Photo by MDPahed |
We saw this lechon being cooked in a pit, but we wondered why it was sunog. Our tour guide said it's the unique recipe style of Plantation Bay, which they call Black Lechon. We asked him if we could try it, but of course, he said no, because he said this would be the highlight of their Luau Buffet later in the evening. Baka lang naman lumusot at bigyan kami! Hehehe!
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| Photo by MDPahed |
There were a lot of activities we could do there (aside from enjoying their man-made beaches), like archery, kayaking, biking, and even internet surfing. I realized one day may not be enough to fully enjoy the resort.
It was not peak season, so we had the place almost all to ourselves. There was this cute private sunbathing corner in front of our cottage, exclusive for the Riverboat Suite guests, or so we thought. Later, a group of Korean tourists tried to occupy OUR corner...but we shooed them away ....NOT! They just realized that it wasn't their turf so after a few minutes, they packed up and left. Or probably they felt Maer's dagger looks on them? Hahaha!
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| Photo by EAPalanca |
We saw that it was a little bit cloudy, and it might rain in a while, so we decided to hit the pools at once. Let's go for a swim!!
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| Photo by MDPahed |
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| Photo by MDPahed |
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| Photo by MDPahed |
We bought an inflatable beach ball and a frisbee and tried to play catch. After a few minutes, it rained, so we sought shelter under one of the caves in the pool, because, you know, we didn't want to get wet. Hahaha! While supposedly waiting for the rain to stop, we just ended up just telling stories and catching up on our lives. In other words, nagtsismisan lang pala sa pool!
It was Nathan who was able to enjoy the pool the most.
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| Photo by MDPahed |
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| Photo by MDPahed |
He was even able to explore the beach.
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| Photo by MDPahed |
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| Photo by MDPahed |
And the oldies? Well, they went back to the cottage to make more chikas!
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Photo by MDPahed
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Preparing for dinner. We heard that it's Luau night for Plantation Bay's dinner buffet. We would have wanted to eat there, with all the Hawaiian dancers entertaining the guests and all, but I promised my Premz I would bring them to the island's famed SuTuKil (SUgba, TinUla, KiniLaw) near the Lapulapu Shrine in Mactan.
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| Photo by MDPahed |
You know they are your best friends when you can't stop laughing,
even if they are not saying anything coherent...
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| Photo by MDPahed |
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| Photo by MDPahed |
Okay, one more pose, Rhod, because we are already starving!!!
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| Photo by MDPahed |
We hired another van from outside to bring us around Mactan (no more free ride from Plantation--abuso na yun!) There was a little traffic going to the Sutukil area, which made us more gigil to eat seafoods. When we reached the place, there were a lot of "callers" from the different restaurants there. One even said they were featured on Kris TV. I got confused with all the sales pitch, so I just chose the first big carinderia we saw.
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| Photo by MDPahed |
We had to choose first from the fresh goods laid in the front of the restaurant, and then request how we wanted the food cooked.
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| Photo by MDPahed |
Magkano po? Wala nang tawad?
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| Photo by MDPahed |
Don't expect a fancy restaurant setting when in Sutukil. People flock here for the fresh, mouthwatering food. Period.
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| Photo by MDPahed |
We ordered tinolang shellfish, crabs and shrimps in garlic sauce...
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| Photo by MDPahed |
Steamed lapulapu in soy sauce...
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| Photo by MDPahed |
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| Photo by MDPahed |
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| Photo by MDPahed |
...and sinugbang pork belly, which suddenly disappeared right after it was served. It was so good that they ordered for a second round of it again! For a total of around P4,000, we were so happy with our meal! Oh, thanks to my kababayan friends, Clara, Cecilie, Edna, and Melizza and Rhod for paying for our dinner. Whew, ligtas tayo, Maer!
The Sutukil line of restaurants is just a stone's throw away from the Lapulapu's Monument. Melizza's son, Nathan, had a project in his school about explorers of the world. Now this was the right chance for him to know about Magellan and Lapulapu, and discover a little bit about Philippine history.
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| Photo by MDPahed |
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That amazing, huh? Photo by MDPahed
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We bought some food and drinks for the next day's breakfast from the nearby Mactan Newtown Center. When we arrived back at the resort, we had a few cocktails and talked some more till dawn.
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| Photo by EAPalanca |
We really couldn't get enough of one another.
To be continued...(Last episode na, pramis!)
