Philippine Travel Notes

It’s the biggest buffet in Cebu! Literally! Ah you’ll get bored at the story how I started out on this lunch… but you deserve it, if only for you to know what to expect, okay?! So, it was another “anyongaseo” encounter for me entering the “Familia Buffet Restaurant” (girl who received me at the entrance is also a Korean staff). Of course I again said I am no Korean, I received another apology, the lunch stub was detached from my ‘ticket card’ and I was let into the door. Another crew, this time in “wait staff” uniform and Pinay ushered me in, suggesting tables where I might be interested to sit, and she was speaking in English hehe. I just went strolling amongst the many tables, until I thought those smaller ones (good for 2) by the closed glass doors/walls that led into the outside gardens would be a fine place for me. Nge! The girl was following me all along hahaha, and I got a bit startled when she asked from behind me what I wanted for a drink as soon as I was settled in that t...

Again, I was not in Tokyo. We are just talking about this big resort / hotel over at Mactan Island. Complete name? Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort & Spa, Cebu Philippines! Haba ‘no?! If you haven’t noticed yet, most resorts in Cebu and elsewhere in the country have inserted or are still trying to insert the word “spa” in their names because that is the fad nowadays. Anyway, I had to roam around the building as it was just a little past 11AM – too early for me to dive into lunch and too late to be going around the waterpark only to come back to the building soon for lunch. So, roam around I did, and I liked it! Delmar Lobby Lounge. Naturally, this is the first that I saw and the first that anyone sees when entering the hotel/resort. This is that coffee-shop, restaurant or lounge that forms part of the lobby. Well yes, at both ends are the tables mentioned in the earlier blog entry . The inner portion of this lounge that you can also call an outer portion – depending on your point ...

That’s the “Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort & Spa” for a complete name. Yep, it is in the province of Cebu, in the city of Lapu-lapu, on the island of Mactan. Capice? Alright, how I got to this resort, you probably have already read the previous blog entry. If not, and you really wanna know, go read it and come back here. It wont hurt, I assure you! And no, I did not go there to gate-crash or go there without reservation. I called up the day before to ask about their day tour rates and its inclusions. So there I was… at the lobby. Oh it’s a big lobby, probably as wide and as 5-star as Shangri-la Mactan’s, if you can call it that. And being the ‘right-handed’ that I am, I veered towards my right where I could see the bellhops and another desk that said Customer Service. As I walked towards it, I did wonder with a thought as to where could their front desk be! Am not joking, I could not see any hint of the usual long counter of a front desk, where the concierge is usually at one e...

No I was not in Tokyo, remember that! I was still in Cebu and the Imperial Palace that I want to tell you is this big hotel / resort (the biggest in fact) on the island of Mactan, Lapu-lapu City. Clear? Okay, fine hehe! “Anyongaseo”! That is what the grinning driver said when I sat on front seat. And my equally grinning reply was “mayng buntag” (take note, I omitted one “a” and the “o” in “maayo” for that’s how most Cebuanos pronounce it). “Aha, you speak Bisaya!” so he said, and I retorted with “nganong dili diay kay bisdak man ko?” He was not probably getting it yet… when he said “really?”. I topped that with “ayaw ko englisa ‘nong oy, bisdak ko. Don’t English me, I’m not school”!! Yep, that sentence of a joke has already stuck with me, and that’s what I always say when joking with people who mistake me for the “K” or the “J” crowd. He laughed mighty hard but not ready to believe yet as he even told me he has already encountered a lot of foreigners who already speak fluent Bisaya. So...

That is the Sto. Nino De Cebu – Mactan Parish for an exact name. And you cannot miss those ultra big letters that dominate the frontage of this church. I hopped into this church for a visit on my way to the Imperial Palace Resort in Maribago, Mactan as it is just along the road. No I did not have this church on my list as anything to visit that day, though I have always passed by it, musing that the architect must have be real imaginative. Yep, this church is more well-known by the roof’s shape imitating the shape of Magelllan’s hat, than anything else. The other thing that attracted me to this church is not only the shape of the roof but the quite ample concrete frontage that it has. Yeah yeah… makes the church some kind of really really important for them to have built it with such a spacious parking area. And I thought those colored glass panels used on some parts of the front wall seem to portray something (they’re not clear viewed from the outside during daytime). So, when my j...

I was on my usual afternoon city walk-arounds when I saw this red pail attracting the attention of some passers-by as it had a turtle wiggling inside it! And this was at a very unlikely place... Barangay Banilad. When I asked what kind of turtle it was, the 'owner' did not exactly know but offered that some folks call it a "chinese turtle". I asked if it was endangered and she said she does not think so as many folks have already dropped by and none told them that it might be so. She did tell that they already saw a similar kind being sold at a pet shop for about P5,000 though this one they were offering for just P1,500. Another onlooker, who, like me, also crowded around the turtle asked where it was found and the reply was somewhere in the mountains of Negros Oriental. I checked out the web for similar pictures and I gather that this one is probably called the Chinese Softshelled Turtle with a scientific name of Pelodiscus Sinensis. That's the nearest that I thi...

Evolution. That is a thing that constantly plays in our lives. Everything’s a changing and sometimes, I muse at the way technology is shaping us and our 'Filipino lifestyles'. Take the Videoke Machine for one, that is generally part of the Pinoy household – even for those who live under bridges and over creeks in makeshift shacks. And we all know too well that Videokes are not only in houses. They are also at malls and of course almost every other turo-turo. Yet, we know too, that some people (proprietors and customers alike, include me) can’t stand the blaring sound of people croaking on those machines – that is if they/we are not those “ones” who are belting their/our throats away, right? yeah yeah hehehe So, the thing has evolved. At first we experienced videoke rooms. Luxurious rooms fitted with the machine as a central figure where people can party in private and sing their hearts away, without bothering the “general public”. There are still quite a number of them everywhe...

Yes, that’s plural! Funny how two churches could sit almost right beside each other. Well, not literally side by side as they seem to have been built at an angle from each other. Though their entrances converge on one street. Gosh, I thought the St. Joseph Parish and the Metropolitan Cathedral of Immaculate Concepcion in Zamboanga City were too near each other. I also thought it was weird for Cebu’s Metropolitan Cathedral to be just a short block away from the Basilica Minore Del Sto Nino. So there I was, wondering all the more, how come churches big as these are beside each other? Am not sure what brought me to this area in Sta. Mesa. Probably this was the time I accompanied a friend to have his license renewed at the Professional Regulation Commission’s offices in Manila. I have been to Bustillos years ago when I was just a boy who would jump out to tag along when mom would go anywhere. And I think she had friends who lived in this area. I think I may have even entered one or both...