Cebu – Bohol Day 1 (Arrival – Staying at Seafari Resort Oslob)

Itinerary for the Day: Mactan International Airport, Crown Regency Hotel, Shamrock, Larsian, Ayala Cebu, Rico’s Lechon, Sky Experience, Taboan Public Market, South Bus Terminal, Seafari Resort

For this trip, we flew to Cebu’s Mactan International Airport via Philippine Airlines’ PR 2845 6:55 am flight. There, we met up with Eden after getting our luggage. Outside the airport, a number of taxis and tours are available for you to choose from, so you don’t need to worry if you did not make any prior reservations. Doing this, however, will cost more and might require some haggling skills on your part.

Since we already had an itinerary, we went ahead and took an Uber to Crown Regency Hotel.  There, we dropped off our luggage at the concierge and told them that we’ll be touring around Cebu first and going for the Sky Adventures in the afternoon.

Tip: When taking an Uber/Grab, the driver might call you in order to get your flight details. This is because the airport isn’t allowing such services.

Buy Goodies and Treats in Shamrock

After depositing our luggage, we went to Shamrock to buy souvenirs. From Crown Regency Hotel, you have to cross a foot bridge and walk towards the rotunda. Your goal is to look for “Shamrock Pension House”.

To save you some trouble, Shamrock offers various, pre-packed goodies and treats for you to choose from. Of course, you can always opt to pick and pack them on your own. Some of their best-sellers include rosquillos, otap and peanut kisses. The 200G rosquillos cost PHP 80.00, 200G otap cost PHP 46.00, and butterscotch cost PHP 160.00.

Random thought: I’ve been wondering why shops like these don’t offer free tastes. Employees can simply serve bite-sized samples when there are prospects or customers around. I, for one, think it’s going to be good for sales.

Experience BBQ-Haven in Larsian

You can also find Larsian a few steps from Shamrock. The place is famous as a BBQ place and offers a number of stalls to choose from. The options however, seem to be identical to one another, with only the stall owners throwing in some sort of discounts or promos.

I didn’t try the street food since we’ll be travelling for a long time in the evening. According to Eden though, it tasted like your typical BBQ’ed food so I guess it was good enough. After dining, we walked across to Robinsons Cybergate and rested there before our next stop.

 Chomp on Cebu’s Famous Lechon(s)

One of our main goals for visiting Cebu was to try their lechon. Based from the locals’ opinions, the top lechon places are Zubuchon, CNT and Rico’s. Since Zubuchon will be opening a branch in Makati soon, we looked for CNT and Rico’s instead. From Robinsons Cybergate, we took an Uber to Ayala Center Cebu.

You can find CNT Lechon at the food court on the top floor of the mall.

The lechon wasn’t anything special. The skin lack the crisp, but they were able to season the meat just right. Since it was lunch time, we ordered rice as well. Now, you have to be aware that in Cebu, they have a variation of rice called puso and is wrapped in leaves. Stay away from it. It’s hard and dry. You’re free to try it, though you’ve been warned.

As soon as we were done eating and shopping at Ayala Center Cebu, we headed to Rico’s Lechon. The place was packed even though it was already an hour or two past lunch. So that’s a good sign right?

Random thought: The interior design of this restaurant is amazing. It felt like we were dining at a cozy, garden porch.

 

We were probably just unlucky for the day but the lechon here was terrible too. The meat felt like it was seasoned in salt overnight and it was dry as hell. The skin however, was crispy and we were able to order plain rice, the one we know. A half-kilo, regular lechon cost PHP 315.00 while a single plain rice cost PHP 30.00.

Random thought: Someone please merge CNT Lechon and Rico’s Lechon. That would definitely be a game changer.

Because of our utter disappointment with all the lechon, we just had to order dessert. Thank God for this Mango Oreo Float (PHP 125.00)! We only ordered 1 for sharing but should have went for one each!

Conquer Your Fear of Heights at Crown Regency’s Sky Experience

Since it was getting late, we decided to go back to Crown Regency for the Sky Experience. Admission to the viewing deck alone costs PHP 250.00, while a minimum of PHP 550.00 is needed if you want to take any of the experiences.

For more information on their rates and other promos or updates, you can visit their website here.

After that “exhilarating” experience, we retrieved our luggage from the concierge and hailed another Uber to Taboan.

Haggle Your Way Out at Taboan

The Taboan Public Market is known for its dried goods, especially danggit. As a matter of fact, this has become so popular that I consider at as a tourist trap. I mean PHP 700.00 for a kilo of dried fish? Eden and Gladys were really insistent on buying though, so I just went along with them.

Random thought: I wish there was a way to keep the fishy smell away from clothes!

Travel to Tanoan, Oslob and Prepare for Whale-Shark Watching

After looking at other travel blogs and checking out different tours, I found out that most would stay in central Cebu and travel at wee hours in the morning (3:00 – 4:00 am) for the Oslob Whale Shark Watching. I discussed this with my friends and we decided to check-in at a Seafari Resort Oslob in Tanawan instead. We opted to stay the night there and get up in the morning for a short ride to the whale-shark watching site.

From Taboan Market, we rode the same Uber to South Bus Terminal. At the Terminal, you have to look for Ceres buses bound for Oslob. Simply ask around if you need help.

The bus ride from the terminal to Tanawan takes around 4 hours because of the traffic plus the waiting time for other passengers. Thankfully, we were able to watch movies since they fitted the bus with a TV.

Tip: If you’ll be doing the same thing as us, that is to say, travelling to and checking in at a nearby hotel, it is imperative that one of you pay attention to how close you are to your destination. Even with constant reminders, the conductor forgot about our stop and zipped past it. Good thing I was able to notice the sign and called the driver’s attention before travelling too far off.

Check-in at Seafari Resort Oslob

Seafari Resort Oslob was right beside the highway so it wasn’t difficult to find. Here, we booked an apartment-type accommodation for 3 people and this is what we got.

The room in the apartment that Eden and Gladys slept in. I, on the other hand, slept on the sofa-bed in the living/dining area. The room also comes with a small desk for you to work on.

On the other side of the room, you’ll find an ample amount of storage space for your things.

Moving on, the bathroom was spacey and clean. Although little toiletries were provided, this wasn’t a big deal for us since we brought our own. Anyway, we went to sleep once we were settled down and freshened up as tomorrow was going to be another long day.

Tip: Avoid this resort if you’re with seniors or PWDs. Physically unfit people should also stay away from this resort. They built the resort on the mountain side so expect every move to involve stairs. And a lot of it. Aside from this one draw-back, I find the resort to be quite nice.

Random thought: This was the morning view from our balcony. Amazing, isn’t it?

Up next, our Whale-Shark Watching experience until our stay in Bohol Bee Farm!