Cebu after-thoughts

(Daddy reflects)

It has been almost a month since we returned from our Cebu holiday. And I think it's safe to say the whole family has been missing the place badly, albeit for different reasons. The wifey & I yearn for its beautiful beaches...

While the monkies long for the waterpark...

But that's a good thing because it meant that all of us had thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and also lived to tell our experiences.

I'm kidding when I say, "lived to tell our experiences".

Mainly because the first impression most people get when we mention "Cebu, Philippines" is whether it is safe, especially for kids. I don't know about other cities in the Philippines, but Cebu is pretty much the same as Phuket or Bali - only less crowded.

And here are some travel tips if you are planning a family trip to Cebu.


Climate

The rainy season falls between June to November, with the dry season occupying the other half of the year. The hottest & driest months are between February to May, so slap on a more than generous layer of sunscreen if you do go then. Before our trip, we were extremely worried that the rain would literally dampen our glorious holiday plans.

But as we found out, it didn't rain throughout the day and if it did rain, it was usually passing and intermittent. There were heavy thunderstorms but luckily for us, those occurred in the middle of the night, hence gifting us beautiful sunny skies in the mornings. Also, the low season meant that the hotel rates are much lower and the beaches less crowded. So I think I can live with a little rain. :)

People

The Filipinos are quite friendly on the whole, and are generally helpful. There are touts aplenty lying in ambush outside the resorts though, with most trying to sell various tour packages. But they are not too aggressive, and they usually drop away with a friendly 'no'.

Obviously, language isn't a problem there with English being spoken widely. Or maybe perhaps you might want to learn some Korean too. Why? 'Cos the place is teeming with Koreans! We were even mistaken to be Koreans too. The first thing the locals say when they see us? Ahn-hyung-ha-se-yo!

Well, it turns out that Cebu is a popular holiday destination with the Koreans, and also many Koreans go to Cebu to learn English because it is much cheaper than other countries. But no, I didn't spot the Wonder Girls there, else I would have sunbathed with them.

Food

No worries about toddlers being starved in Cebu. Rice & noodles are staple food there, and for the more angmoh-inclined little ones, there are pizza and pasta as well. Also, with the swarm of Koreans there, there were many Korean restaurants that served pretty authentic Korean food.

Ash loved the sio-bak (roasted pork) rice there, while Ayd adored the fried noodles so much that he declared that he wanted to have it EVERYDAY. As for Ale, we brought along jar food for her but occasionally we fed her rice which was mashed in miso soup.

Getting around

Taxis are the most obvious mode of transport in Cebu. The taxis are metered, but they almost always never use them. The most common reason we encountered was that it was spoilt. So the important thing is to negotiate the fare before you get into the taxi. But if you die-die want to use the meter, you can just wait for the next taxi that comes along.

We made 7 cab rides throughout our stay in Cebu, and only ONCE did the cab that we were in use its meter. I don't know if that meant that we were lucky or unlucky. Haha.

And if you are feeling a little bit more adventurous, you can hop onto the locals' mode of transport - the Jeepney. It's very much like the Tuk-tuks of Thailand but it functions like a bus. So it can get really crowded and often we saw people just clinging onto the outside if the vehicle is full.

Oh, and unless you are just going to stay within the four walls of the resort, leave your pram at home. The walkways in Cebu are definitely not built for strollers. Well, unless you intend to buy a new one.

Shopping

We devoted one day of shopping in Cebu city and for that, we went to the SM City Mall which was the largest shopping centre in Cebu. And it was huge with lots of shops & food outlets. It was definitely better than we had anticipated, even with our local brands like Breadtalk, Charles & Keith and BYSI.

But with our monkies, the word 'shopping' has the same meaning as the word 'boring'. And it never fails to illicit such a response.

But luckily, there is an amusement arcade for the kids, with each token being only 17 cents. I would have played some games myself even if the monkies didn't want to! And if the kids got tired, there are shopping buggy cars for rent at about S$10 per hour.


So there you have it, I hope that you had found certain bits of information useful if you are planning a family trip to Cebu too. There are other kids-related stuff that we didn't get a chance to do, like the Mactan Island Aquarium and the Sky Experience Adventure where one gets a chance to walk along the edge at the top of the tallest tower in the Philippines.

Well, there is always next year time. I hope. :D

Convivial Cebu (Final Part)

(Daddy recounts)

Day SEVEN, and our final full day in Cebu before we bid a teary farewell to our holiday destination.

And Ale seemed to know it as well, because she was up bright & early before any one of us were up! I think she has an in-built light sensor within her, which prompts her to open her eyes when daylight breaks. 

Unfortunately (for me), daylight breaks at 5.30AM in Cebu! So much for lazing in bed...

So what's a Diva going to do when the rest of the family (except me of course) were still snuggling in bed?

Check out the Cebu landscape from our hotel room lobby, that's what.

I've got to admit - it was pretty serene and peaceful just sitting out on the balcony early in the morning.

And of course, the company helped too. :)

The little girl seemed to enjoy the view, as she was making all sorts of sounds and  gesturing excitedly while looking out into the green landscape. 

As for me - as early as it was, I was just content to spend some time exclusively with Ale.

The 2 brothers soon awoke, and joined us at the balcony. And though Ale was really overjoyed to have her 2 brothers with her, I think she was rather intrigued by the older brother's out-of-bed look. Haha.

As soon as all of us washed up and got changed, we headed down for our breakfast. It was going to be a whole day of Waterpark fun for the monkies and I was pretty confident there would not be any objections to that.

Although Cebu's rainy season is between June to November, we were blessed with good weather throughout our entire stay there. And today was no exception.

Perfect weather, coupled with high tide at the beach gave us the perfect opportunity to go snorkeling right the resort's doorstep. The snorkeling gear were provided free of charge to resort's guests, and so the 2 boys & I needed no invitation to submerge ourselves in the blue sea in a bid to see some fishes.

And if snorkeling isn't your kind of fun, you can just do what the wifey & Ale did - laze on the deckchairs and basically stare right into the sea horizon. In other words, stone.

When the monkies had enough of saltwater, freshwater was next on their minds. And this time, Ale came along with us to the River pool!

We brought along her very own mini floating tube, and she thoroughly enjoyed drifting with the currents. Well, she did have a personal chauffeur at her beck and call.

Time really does fly when one is having fun, 'cos it was soon time for lunch! Expectantly, the boys remarked that they were not hungry yet, and that they still wanted to play in the water for a little longer.

This all changed when I told them that we were going to have our lunch right in the pool. You should have seen how fast they swam to the pool bar!

All thanks to the pool bar & float, the smallest monkie also had a fuss-free feeding session. In fact, she walloped her lunch in record quick time. Perhaps we should feed her in our home bathtub in future then.

And thanks to pool too, the 2 boys had something to keep them occupied while waiting for our food to be served.

At least they didn't ask for the iPhone. :P

Perhaps we should REALLY feed ALL 3 of them in our home bathtub in future then.

When the food did come, they were at it like a pack of hungry wolves.

Nothing like an ice-cold Strawberry Shake to counter the sun's heat huh?

Ash ordered, predictably, his fave pizza.

While Ayd craved for the burger that he had devoured the previous day.

The wifey had her sandwiches, while I had the usual - whatever was unfinished by all three of them. How to lose weight like that?

After lunch, it was back to the Kids' Play pool area as requested by the boys.

Not that I had any complaints with that, 'cos it was the perfect opportunity for me to keep an eye on them while lazing on the deck chair. That, to me, was the perfect exercise after lunch.

I find it amazing that they (and other children) can keep going on the water slides and never get bored with them! But as long as they are having the time of their lives, I am happy too. (As long as I don't budge from my deck chair.)

Incredulously, we had already spent 6 hours at the Waterpark. And with the need to give our skins a break from the sun, we made our way back to our room albeit reluctantly.

After washing up, all 3 monkies hit the bed like sacks of potatoes. The afternoon nap lasted for 2 hours before the boys awoke as they remembered the promise the wifey & I made them before they slept.

This was the promise.

The resort also housed an indoor playgym for kids and since it was the final day of our holiday, we decided to let the kids have one last treat.

Admission wasn't free though - it was about S$8 per hour for kids aged 3 & above. Pretty decent, and the place was very clean so I felt the charges were pretty reasonable. Besides, Ale had loads of fun in the toddler's play area too - for free!

Needless to say, the 2 brothers had their share of fun as well.

They even took some time out to have dip in the ball pit together with their mei-mei. Heh.

Or simply just entertained her by bouncing themselves silly on the huge trampoline.

After one hour of play, we made our way to the resort's seaside restaurant where we had our dinner right by the sea.

Yummy seafood & cool sea breeze - a fitting finale to our holiday if you ask me.

Ayd asked innocently after dinner, if we could stay for another one more day at this Waterpark resort. Ash nodded furiously in approval upon hearing that. I secretly wished so as well, but the answer was always going to be no.

But I guess we would love to go back to Cebu next time - especially with Tiger Airways starting flights to Cebu from September onwards. The last I checked, a return ticket to Cebu on Tiger is about S$80-S$100, inclusive of taxes. What a perfect excuse to go again! Hahaha!

We had a final dip at the Waterpark the next day before we checked out, just to satisfy the monkies. And as we made our flight back home, mei-mei was an angel once more - sleeping more than three-quarters of the journey. And this can only mean one thing. MORE trips! :D

The wifey & I agreed that this had been one of the more enjoyable beach holidays we had. Ample relaxation, minimal travelling between places, beautiful beaches and of course, lots of water (both salty & fresh) for the monkies to splash around.

Stay tuned for my personal after-thoughts on our Cebu trip!

Convivial Cebu (Part 5)

(Daddy recounts)

Day SIX, and it was time to check out of our wonderful Maribago Bluewater Resort. It had been an enjoyable 5 nights staying so close to the beach, and the wifey & I both agreed that this has so far been one of the best beach holidays thus far. 

Even with the extra chores that come with bringing along an infant on holiday.

To mei-mei's credit, she had been quite an easy baby on this trip - her ability to sleep anywhere has been a huge plus, as well as seeing how much she (& the 2 boys) loved playing in the water has made it all worthwhile. :)

So, it came as no surprise that the 2 older monkies wanted to say their final farewell to the resort pool before we vacated our room.

The deserted pool only shows how early we were at the pool, all because they wanted to go "many many many times" on the slide before we leave.

I also found out that they are apparently immune to low temperatures as well, because the pool water was C.O.L.D. 

And I only knew the extent of the coldness because I was, erm, coerced into jumping into the pool with them. 

Ale, though, was banned from dipping in the pool as she had a mild running nose. So she could only watch in envy from the sidelines. But I could tell the wifey was ever so grateful for the running nose - she's frightful of the cold you see.

So it was just left to me to brave the cold. 

The boys didn't have an issue with the cold water in the first place, as you can clearly tell.

Then, it was time to move on to our next resort where we would spend our 2 remaining nights in Cebu.

Imperial Palace Resort. The resort that will eventually make the 2 boys don't feel like going back home.

Well, the resort's Island Pool looks very nice for sure but that was not what excited the boys. The real reason lies beyond that pool, somewhere in the background of the photo below.

See the coloured slides? That's the big Waterpark that lies within the resort, and it was precisely what made the monkies go crazy over.

But of course, before we embarked on any fun, there was the tiny issue of checking-into our room first.

For some strange reason, Ale ALWAYS love rolling on the soft comfy hotel beds.

The room was decent, pretty much what a normal hotel room should be. But we weren't here for the room, right? Haha.

The star attraction was of course, something else. But it sure wasn't this mascot!

You can probably tell how excited Ash & Ayd were for the photo opportunity with the mascot above.

Yah, ZERO amount of excitement. 'Cos all of it were reserved for the *surprise surprise* Waterpark.

The resort's Island Pool was huge, and looked like a very nice place to chill.

Especially with a pool bar that one can swim up to!

But as expected, there was absolutely no time to pause and enjoy the pool as I was hurried along by my 2 minders. All because of this.

Yup, we finally reached the star attraction of the resort - the Waterpark.

And the Waterpark features 5 different themed pools: the Amazon River Pool (above) - a flowing river pool best enjoyed with inflatable tubes, the Wave Rider - an artificial tide pool; the Beach Pool - with a beach-like shoreline; Captain Hook's Pool - featuring a pirate ship & slides for kids; Toddler Pool (below) - so that even little ones can have loads of splashing fun!

No prizes for guessing which pool the 2 boys zoomed towards!

There wasn't even any time for me to ask them to pause so that I can snap some photos of them with the pool area. They were onto the Pirate ship faster than a firing cannonball and if you look hard enough, they were somewhere aboard the pirate ship in the photo below.

The water play structure beside the pirate ship was quite fun too, complete with slides & a tipping bucket.

And the 2 monkies were kept very busy by the slides indeed, while the mei-mei had her afternoon slumber in the comfort of her Mumy's arms.

As for me, I moved on to more exhilarating stuff.

No need for the adults to feel out of place, for there're 3 huge slides of varying heights to get one's dose of adrenaline rush. Too bad Ash fell short of the height requirements by 5cm, else he could have joined me on the slides.

And if adrenaline isn't your kind of thing, chillax-ing by the beach may just be the answer.

Compared to our previous resort, this beach wasn't anything to shout about. At the very best, it was decent - with nice, clean & comfy deck chairs.

And since the beach wasn't the main attraction of the resort, I had to practically drag the 2 boys over so as to snap at least ONE photo of them by the beach.

They weren't too enthusiastic, as you can probably tell.

At least they perked up as soon as they heard we were going to the River & Wave pools next!

It was quite therapeutic really - to drift along the river while nesting atop an inflatable tube. 

 That was until the 2 boys decided to be funny and find various ways to entertain themselves with the tube.

Like flipping over each other or squeezing into one float at the same time.

Things which I obviously did when I was young too. Hahaha.

Then it was back to Captain Hook's Pool for some last splashing fun before we called it a day.

In a surprise end to the day, Ayd took part in an impromptu kids dance competition by the pool and he WON! Woot! And this was what he won.

Erm, no. NOT the burger. See the glass of orange drink at the bottom right of the photo above? Yup, that was THE prize. At least it was better than nothing I say.

But the resort's ploy worked, 'cos as we sat there waiting for our drink, the irresistible smell of grilled meat wafted out of the cafe and so we succumbed. Big time.

Actually, it was the boys who succumbed. Because the wifey & I couldn't even if we wanted to - there wasn't any food left after the boys were done with it, save the pickles & coleslaw.

They were THAT hungry.

And they looked mighty satisfied, no?