For an ordinary day to start it would have to be preceded by more ordinary days, humdrum minutes ticking by, never amounting to much more than hours spilling over to days spent in nights upon nights of restless sleep.
Alas, this rare event of a vacation happened recently and I will not allow any mishaps to happen. I was determined to have fun, do everything on my list.
Thanks to Cebu Pacific’s 999 Promo Fares, we got tickets to Cebu from Clark. People kept on asking us why we had to leave from Clark- there was no other reason except that for cheapskates like us, it was the perfect excuse to go on a road trip. You’d be surprised though how nice flying from Clark airport is, but I digress.
Suddenly I was all so fired up with all the work I had to do, trying to finish and turn over everything so people wouldn’t have any reason to call me on my away-time. By Thursday night, I had turned over enough work that I could resign and not come back (like that could happen) but I hadn’t packed a single freakin’ thing. I panicked and over-shopped on new underwear and now I have loads of pretty under things. Whatever happened to packing light on tank tops, shorts and summer things? As it turned out, I ended up carrying a full sized duffel bag, with an extra backpack tucked in and my trusty green tote as hand carry. Not bad.
The trip up to Clark airport went on smoothly enough; not much traffic even if it was on a Friday morning. We got to the airport with an hour to spare; amazingly, the check-through was hassle-free and it pretty much boded well for the rest of the trip. Note to self: is it possible to just go from Clark to anywhere else from now on? Compared to Manila’s airports, where up until the last minute your senses are assaulted with grime and pollution, Clark airports start you off on your vacation in the right mode. Sounds brochure-ish, I know. Anyone wanna hire me?
Anyhoo, we enjoyed the flight though we didn’t win any game prizes. Or numbers. Got to Cebu all in one piece, kissing the grounds of Cebu and the Tita Sunshine kissing us back and my dad’s staff from the hotel holding up a sign-thankfully not my name.
First on the itinerary- welcome lunch of Cebu’s best lechon, ngohiong and puso, with a surprise welcome by an old friend who was kind enough to bring us to some of our go-to places: passing through new places from Mandaue to the city, lighting incense sticks at Taoist Temple, the spankin’ new IT Park, and generally being our touristy selves. Checked in at Cest la Vie, the pension house near my college alma mater. Nice place, potential to get creepy though. First night’s dinner was at this Asian café somewhere in IT Park, Cebu’s version of Libis.
I should have really just made a Cebu guide packet while I was at it- Amazing Race, Cebu version. Because we moved around a lot, between pension houses, hotels and resorts, we got to indulge and swim in all bodies of water- from fresh waterfalls, to saltwater and chlorinated pool water. Pity we didn’t get to go snorkeling though. Everything was fun, because it was purely vacation mode but top picks and things I loved about it-and not in any order:
1- Singing road trip en route to Moalboal and back.
2- Lots of photo ops, which accounted for half the fun.
3- Trekking a loooong way up to Kawasan Falls, only to get waylaid by goats.
4- The goats that Melai sang Baa Baa Black Sheep to.
5- Hiking up to the source of the falls, and rewarded by a great swim like it was my own private spa lagoon. Super heavenly. You wouldn’t believe the colors of the water and the exquisite beauty of it all. (And this only in Cebu! I can’t wait to discover all the corners of the country, visit what I can in my lifetime.)
6- Getting minimalistic and pared down to essentials: I didn’t put on makeup most of the time, just some gloss and yet, I had great skin the whole time! And nicer hair too. Ahh, what living stress-free does to you.
7- Food! Lechon, seafood, hotel buffets.
8- PinoyHenyo, twisted version.
9- Casino! The Chinese gambler in Shoti was so inspired.
10- Rediscovering Cebu. Funny how leaving makes you appreciate it more than ever.
On the downside, there was a night we wanted to go out and party and there wasn’t an open place to go to. Maybe we didn’t look hard enough? And we had a bunch of other things that we weren’t able to do, but ah well, I hope there’s still a next time. And soon!
Well, either am too lazy to write about the trip or I couldn’t remember half of it. Maybe both, but if there’s one thing am sure of, it’s that I need more vacations and travel time. In the meantime, my memories of the water and my tan lines keep me company in my wait.
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