Southeast Asian Getaway - Philippines

2 ASEAN countries left unvisited - Philippines is one of them, Brunei being another one. Therefore, this summer holidays, we did a short family holiday to the Pearl of the Orient Seas. This was also to coincide with my mum's 61st birthday.

Cebu was not a common choice and having been there it was clear that this was not one of the main tourist destination for the Philippines. Wanting an easy and relaxing destination, preferably by the beach, we chose to fly to Cebu/Mactan. Easy in the sense that it was a 3 1/2 direct flight from Kuala Lumpur on Air Asia. Manila would be the easiest to fly to with the most frequent direct service from Kuala Lumpur but we didn't want to be subjected to the Manila traffic once we got there. It was relaxing in the sense that we booked a hotel on a smaller island across from Mactan island where the international airport was located at. Therefore, we settled on Cebu and it did not disappoint at all.

Upon arrival in Mactan Cebu International Airport on the 30th of July, we were greeted by a brand new terminal which was not fully completed yet. However, the areas we went through were comfortable and easy enough to navigate. In addition, there were plenty of staff around to guide us. It is to no surprise that one of Philippines most abundant and valuable factor of production is their labour.

At the airport, we organised a private transfer to get to our resort. This is where the adventure started - to get to our resort, we were driven 20 minutes to a jetty next to the Movenpick Hotel on Mactan Island. Then, we were guided to our own private boat to get across the Hilutungan Channel to get to Olango Island, where our resort for the next 3 nights was located at. It was an interesting 20 minute boat ride on a boat which was stablised by bamboo on the sides, which was a very common boat design in this part of the world. It was also a nice sunny day and the sea was calm, making this boat ride a very enjoyable one, despite the semi-treacherous path to get onto and out of the boat. We thought first that this vessel would take us directly to the resort but due to the low tide, we had to be transferred to a smaller boat / sampan and we were then pulled for about 50 metres to the resort. We could have waded in the water but I guess the resort didn't want us to put our feet into the water too quickly!

Sunset from the resort

The resort, Talima Beach Villas and Dive Resort, was the perfect sanctuary for a relaxing vacation. The friendly staff greeted us with their signature Mangorita which did pull a punch albeit with a local twist. Shoes off, we settled into our cosy 2 bedroom villa, which was facing the pool ahead and the beach on the right. Theres nothing better than stepping out of your abode seeing those two. Dinner soon after was a specially cooked Filipino meal with the local flavours, seafood, and meat such as the Chicken Adobo and Seafood Sissig. The resort also went the extra mile to get a cake from the main island upon request to celebrate my mum's birthday. Hopefully this was a more memorable birthday compared to last year's birthday when we were all on the Malaysian airline flight from Kuala Lumpur to London where besides the awesome Business class seat we purchased, no effort at all was made by the airline to celebrate this special day - Malaysian Airlines have to pick up some good practice from the Filipinos. Fully satiated and quenched, we called it a night, with the best feeling anyone could have before going to bed - with the confidence that the next day is going to be another day of bliss on the island.

The next day was just that - starting with a morning swim in the pool all to myself. Then, we had a Filipino breakfast, rice with pork, with the local bread, pandisal, and fresh mangoes, which we had after every meal at the resort. After a lie down on one of the many cabanas, hammocks, and lounge chairs, I decided to be a bit more adventurous and swim with the fishes at the fish sanctuary, which is in fact right in front of the resort. With snorkeling goggles and flippers rented from the dive centre adjacent to the resort, I swam about 150m out to sea, to the area where all the tourist boats were lurking as that was where the majority of the fishes congregated. The colours of the fishes and corals were beautiful and even only equipped with goggles and flippers, most areas were accessible without needing the full diving gear. There were sea urchins to look out for as well but I ended my snorkeling adventures when I saw a sea snake slithering on the seabed though the corals. It wasn't one of the poisonous or threatening kind but just knowing there was a snake lingering nearby was enough to get me out of the water. 150 meters back to the shore, I was greeted by freshly picked coconuts which was a refreshing change from the sea water accidentally swallowed during my swim.

Just lounging at the Talima Resort

After more lounging, we decided to venture out to the capital of Olango Island, Santa Rosa. To get there, we had to a take a tricycle (the main mode of transport on the island). With 4 of us squeezed onto a single tricycle, we did the 15 minute ride out on a dirt path for 5 minutes and then 10 minutes on a very well paved road, which later on we found out is lighted by solar powered lights embedded onto the road. Santa Rosa is a simple town and the centre is on a 2X2 grid. A 15 minutes walk and we have covered the entire town centre. We then had a light lunch of pancit canton (instant noodles) at a local stall as that was the only thing they had in the middle of the day. However, we also passed by Mr. Liempo, which we later got to know was a chain around the area, which sold roast pork and chicken. We took away a box of roast pork, which was very similar to the Chinese siew yoke, and had it with our pancit canton. Drinks - Red Horse Lager, which was a strong lager which didn't really taste that strong and was a good change from the equally refreshing San Miguel. While having this, the cock fighting nearby caught our attention and the friendly waitress who spoke Malay, wanted to show us the match but we were blocked by the other spectators. (Sidenote: although initially quite surprised, we soon found out that a handful of the islanders spoke Malay as many have worked in Malaysia before, either as fishermen or domestic help, amongst others)

Dinner that night was an experience by itself. If I were to summarise the sentiment of the whole group - the experience of getting to a restaurant in the middle of the sea by boat and dining at dusk surrounded by calm pristine water without any form of electric was class but the seafood we had, despite being very fresh as expected from a restaurant surrounded by water, was very mediocre for the slightly extortionate price we paid. Stomachs unsatisfied but phone memory cards full, we headed back to the resort for more mangoes and late night club sandwich.

Boat we took to the restaurant and restaurant right across

We thought the visit to this part of the Philippines would not have been complete without actually visiting Cebu City itself and therefore we dedicated the penultimate day of our holiday to a city tour to Cebu City (and Lapu-Lapu city to a certain extent). Getting out of the island was a trek as we decided to take the public ferry out. Missing one ferry, we waited at the pier enjoying the breeze and views of people fishing in the sea. The seas were quite rough but we made it across to Mactan island eventually. There, we had a representative from Flamingo Tours waiting to drive us around on the city tour. However, first, we had to get breakfast. This was when I first realised that Filipinos love their fastfood. Jolibees is already now in Malaysia but Malaysians should try to get ChowKing in as well - this Chinese fast food style concept chain served very good Chinese food at reasonable prices. It was also when we realised Filipinos love their Siew Mai (or as they spell it Siumai).

We then made the dreaded drive into Cebu City with its horrendous traffic. Even going up the hills of Cebu City, we were caught in some traffic. On top of the hills in Cebu City, we snapped lots of photos at Sirao Gardens i.e Little Netherlands and was slightly taken aback by the construction of the Temple of Leah, a edifice, honouring Leah Villa Albino-Adarna, Matron Queen the University of Southern Philippines. It is said that the Temple of Leah is Cebu's version of the Taj Mahal as it was built by Leah's adoring husband. The Temple of Leah is also where a very good panaroma of the city and the islands adjacent to it could be seen. We could actually see as far as the island we were staying on which were 2 islands away. While Cebu Island and Mactan Island was connected by bridges, Olango Island was only accessible by ferry.

Panorama from Sirao Gardens

Lunch was probably the highlight of the day. Ever since the first day, we saw signs of Lechon everywhere, and it is to no surprise that Lechon or Suckling Pig is made best in Cebu. Apparently, Filipinos from Manila comes to Cebu to take away the Lechon, brining it back to Manila after a trip here. It is that good! We had it at the House of Lechon in Cebu City, along with many other traditional Cebuano dishes. Am just hungry now thinking about it. We then quickly stopped a Magellan's cross, which was planted by Ferdinand Magellan when he first arrived in these islands in 1521. We also found the best bargain of the trip when we went to the local supermarket nearby to get the famous Filipino dried mangoes. When we were in the airport the next, we found out that the airport shop was selling it in US Dollars and nearly 10 times more than in the supermarket with the conversion - talk about a mark up!

Despite rushing across Cebu and Lapu-Lapu City, back to the ferry terminal to get our ferry back to Olango Island, we were not allowed onto an earlier ferry because of weight restrictions. We concluded that because the sea was choppy, the authorities sent someone to the terminal to make sure that the ferry companies did not overload their vessel. On one hand, we were slightly annoyed/ that we didn't get on the ferry, but on the other hand, we were quite glad that the Filipino authorities are doing something to avoid possible catastrophes. Half and hour later, we were getting a little bit more annoyed as the next ferry did not arrive. Lots of people were now waiting. One hour passed, still nothing. The patience of the local commuters here was a force of calm for us as the longer the time the boat did not arrive, we were already thinking of alternative plans - the best one was that we will stay in Movenpick Hotel right next to the ferry terminal and get the people at Talima to deliver our luggage to us the next day. I think it was only about 2 hours later when the next ferry arrived, and this time is was already all dark. And the friendliness and care of the Filipinos towards others once again shone here as because we were the first ones that were denied boarding on the previous ferry, we were made sure that we boarded this next ferry first and were guided through the crowds of people waiting to get on by an employee of the company.

Upon arriving at the ferry terminal in Santa Rosa after a choppy ride on the ferry through pitch darkness, we took 2 tricycles back this time and returned to the resort to a very concerned hotel manager. She tried contacting us to no avail and asked around to see where we were and why we were not back yet and we then told the stories of our attempts to get back on the island. Dinner was also waiting for us and we had a final full home-cooked Filipino meal for the trip.

After a morning swim and a Filipino breakfast with rice and fish, the time we all dreaded came. If only we could have stayed longer. We had to say goodbye to everyone at Talima and made our way back to the airport to catch our Air Asia flight back from Cebu Mactan to Kuala Lumpur.

Next summer - Brunei!