North Cebu Travel Diary
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| This island is definitely to die for. Ang ganda mo, Pilipinas. |
Circa 2006/7 - when we only had Friendster; when getting home by 6 or 7pm is already considered so late; when we had to wear our white and green skirt to school every weekdays; when we still need to ask our parents if we can go out on a weekend for a school project or just so we can sneak out; when we only have little to no money left for lakwacha or eating out; when we used to have a slam book where almost everyone's favorite quotation is "Love is like a rosary, it's full of mystery."; when our social media is outside.
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| Early flight with more or less two hours of sleep. Look at those eyebags. |
Years have passed without seeing each other very often. One is already making her way up to the corporate ladder in PH, planning to get married 2 or 3 years from now. The other one - happily single, working as a nurse in Middle East, fulfilling her plans to do business when retirement comes. And then there's me, uhhhmmm, never mind.
It was almost a year of planning - changing dates from end of March to first or second week of April, bearing in mind all the uncertain work leave approvals, varying destinations from El Nido to Davao to Coron to Siargao and ending up with Cebu (just because it has the cheapest air fare), booking accommodations with the wrong dates (ehem, good thing it still wasn't charged), finalizing itineraries, deciding on which island to go first, googling acitvities, to-do's and must-tries. This trip made me realize that nothing has changed with the friendship made almost a decade ago.
Malapascua Island
The 4am flight from MNL to CEB and the almost 5 hours travel from Mactan to Malapascua with relatively no sleep at all didn't stop us from exploring the little island of Malapascua on our Day 1. You can literally go around the island within 30-40 minutes of walking. With all the dive resorts across, it pretty evident that Malapascua has the best diving sites in the country. But knowing well that all three of us are not good swimmers - correction on that, I am not a swimmer - we didn't bother trying to learn scuba diving. It could have been more fun but nonetheless, our lazy butts didn't get in the way.
This is the stunning view right outside our room.
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| Always the annoying face. |
I personally picked our room because the reviews said that it is one of the perfect spot to watch the sunset. And that was, definitely true.
Kalanggaman Island
Day 2 was spent on probably one of the most beautiful islands I have ever laid my eyes on. The turquoise waters, the pristine shore, the refreshing sea despite the excruciating heat of the sun, the enchanting sand bar - it was really beautiful, a summer paradise indeed. Ang ganda mo, Pilipinas.
And on that day itself, I made a mental note to come back and perhaps camp overnight.
Side note: Kalanggaman Island is already part of Palompon, Leyte. A 2-hour boat ride from Malapascua island.
Bantayan Island
Five years ago, when my mind was a little less hectic, I went to Bantayan with a few friends. That was the first time I went out of Luzon and my first airplane ride. (Yup, hindi kami mayaman to afford such when I was young.) It was a short stay so going back there was not a question at all.
Bantayan Island was still as beautiful as the first time I saw it and I liked it even more.
On our last day, we woke up at 5am so we can catch the sunrise and have a morning swim since Pam and Alvie were already so sun burnt.
Do you know the movie Camp Sawi? Apparently, that was shot in Bantayan Island. The places where they filmed became tourist spots because of that movie. And nope, I am not enrolling myself into this camp. :)
Best spot for cliff diving, they say.
I didn't get any sunburn AT ALL. But I'm back to being negneg again. No regrets though.
Cebu City
Our last day was spent hunting one of the things that should not be missed whenever in Cebu. Yes, ladies and gents, LECHON. It's a shame how I didn't get a taste of it during my first time in Cebu. It was heaven on a piece of wooden plate, right then and there, asking to be devoured.
Four days —it was definitely a good four days. Catching up with all the years that passed by, reminiscing the good old times, tracing back how it all started, and later realizing how we are still the three Batangueñas with the promdi accent. Hopefully, this will be the first of the many.
And to whoever is reading this (which I doubt there is), may you also find friendship that come hell or high water could withstand the test of time, that knows no boundaries or separation.
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