Cebu, We Meet Again

After two glorious days in Bohol, it's time to conquer Cebu! Remember our very accommodating tour van driver Kuya Dodong? He asked his wife to purchase ferry tickets for the six of us (so hire him when you decide to take a trip around Bohol). We rode the ferry (245 pesos, along with the terminal fee) from Tubigon back to Cebu city where we were welcomed by our gracious Cebu host, the Desabilles. Our initial plan was to eat dinner then go straight to the airport to see Joey off and spend the night in a 24/7 food chain/convenience store. Lo and behold, Tita Mayet reserved an overnight room for us in a pension house in Mandaue City for 250 pesos/pax. The room comes with air-conditioning, WiFi, very comfortable beds and a clean bathroom. She also treated the six of us to a sumptuous dinner in a sutukil restaurant.

Somebody's catching up on sleep already
(c) Cayton

Sutukil comes from three Bisaya words sugba (to grill), tuwa (i-sigang or to stew with tamarind), and kilaw (to serve in vinegar). In a sutukil restaurant, you first choose the seafood you want in your meals and the cook will prepare them sutukil-ly (for lack of a better word) or you can have them cooked the way you want them. Tita Mayet ordered shrimps, calamares, fish sinigang, and kinilaw for us. The waiting time is less than an hour, just enough to keep you at the edge of hunger without losing your appetite altogether. There was a karaoke in the restaurant and since it's late at night, they sang their hearts out for five pesos a song. After dinner, we went back to the pension house to rest (and have a round of drinks with snails as pulutan). I opted to enjoy the WiFi until the break of dawn.

Post-sutukil faces with the Desabilles (Dena - holding Arya Snow - Tita Mayet and Dhin)
(c) Cayton

Our first destination was the whale sharks in Oslob which is way south of Cebu so I decided to just visit Dreamland on our way there. After checking out of the pension house at five in the morning, we first had our breakfast with the Desabilles where we also left unnecessary things and repacked essentials for our hike later that day. From there (take note, we're from Mandaue City), we went to Parkmall via jeep for 8 pesos and rode another jeep to Cebu South Bus Terminal for 10 pesos. I like how Cebu has codified jeepney routes that traverse its streets and placing these 'route codes' atop the jeepneys-ala-taxi. This app may come in handy for those who want to commute around Cebu: Go With Jeepney in Cebu.

Four and a half hours of sleeeeeeep!
(c) maps.google.com

We first bought trail food and canned goods in a convenience store for our overnight hike at Osmeña Peak. You may want to buy energy bars or make your own trail mix using nuts and chocolate candies. Whatever your choice, make sure it's easily accessible and gives you a boost while trekking. Remember to rehydrate and replace the lost electrolytes so sports drinks come in handy. Canned goods, a loaf of bread, and some crackers are good enough a breakfast-cum-dinner for us. 

From Cebu South Bus Terminal, ride an Oslob-bus bound for 124 pesos (so remember to bring a student ID, especially for the young travelers). The bus ride is almost four and a half hours, enough time for me to catch up on sleep. Around noon, we reached Barangay Tan-awan, Oslob and went to Aaron's Beach Resort which offers diving and whale shark viewing experience for 600 pesos.

Pricey....but what the hell, you don't see whale sharks everyday, right?

Before meeting the gentle giants of the seas, we first attended an orientation of the do's and don'ts during whale shark watching (ie. do not feed nor touch the whale shark, keep a distance of 4 meters between you and the whale shark, etc). After the lecture and a quick shower, we're off in our boats with our guides that will take us near these majestic creatures.

Whale shark viewing has become quite the 'community business' for the people of Oslob. I do hope they do their part in the protection and conservation of the whale sharks.

The viewing area was already full of other boats that were waiting for the whale sharks. We were given thirty minutes of interaction with the whale sharks which started when you start swimming with these large creatures. A boat that goes around the viewing area carries a fisherman who (sadly) feeds the whale sharks so the other boats will just have to wait for him to pass by, with the whale shark tailing behind him. We got a chance to have pictures with the shark, individually and as a group, thanks to Erika's GoPro camera and our guides' instructions - when to dive, not to blow bubbles for a picture-perfect shot and for dunking our heads underwater (no sarcasm intended)! The last one is especially helpful because I was the only non-swimmer among the group, hence the need for a life vest.

Four meters. Yeah, right.
(c) Crisostomo

Wow. Much struggle. Such organize.
(c) Crisostomo

We may not have the most picture-perfect shots but, hey, watching these gentle giants gliding a few meters from you is enough experience to bring back grins in our faces. The whale shark passed by our boat several times that we were satisfied by the half hour given to us. We went back to the shore to have our lunch, again courtesy of Dena's parents. After washing up and a bit of rest, we're up and about to go to our next destination: Osmeña Peak in Barangay Mantalogon, Dalaguete, Cebu.

Just wait for a Cebu City-bound bus along the highway and tell the conductor to drop you off at Dalaguete, Highway Junction for 80 pesos. From the crossing, ride a habal-habal for 100 pesos that will take you to the jump-off point. 

Buwis-buhay shot while reading the habal-habal. The road to the jump-off point is (thankfully) paved except for the last almost-a-kilometer of unpaved, rocky and rolling path.

You can ask the drivers to first drop you off at the town market of Dalaguete to buy your overnight food and supplies, which we did. We also bought large transparent bags since signs of a pending rain were threatening us since we left the junction. We asked the contact numbers of the habal-habal drivers so we would have a way to get from the jump-off point back to the highway junction.

Upon reaching the jump-off point, you have to sign in a logbook and their are no fees to be paid (yeay!). Some children offer their services as a guide for a fee but since Dena already hiked the peak, we decided against getting a guide. Had it not rained, the trail would have been much easier. Be sure to pack jackets and raincoats when hiking Osmeña Peak during the -ber months. Mantalongon is known as the Summer Capital of Cebu because of its cold temperature during the said months. Moreover, rains frequent the area during the same period and the windchill will definitely get into you. 

View from the (foggy) summit

View from the (foggier) campsite

We reached the summit in about an hour and there was also a group of day-hikers there. It was cloudy when we reached the summit so we only had glimpses of the numerous peaks the, er, Peak is known for. As the winds started to pick up speed and the clouds started getting darker, we started to become hesitant to spend the night........but we did, anyway! Hahaha! We set up camp in the designated area below the summit. Again, it would have been an ideal campsite had the winds and rain stopped bombarding our tent and flooding the inside. Scary stories about men robbing lone overnight campers in the area did not help at all. 

Malong burritos
(c) Agullana

We planned to welcome the sunrise at the summit by five in the morning the next day but the winds and rain kept bashing our camp and we only got out of our tent when it was almost seven and it was light outside. We took the opportunity in the lull of the rain and winds to break camp and start the descent . It was still foggy when we started the descent but at least it wasn't raining, which would be harder given the muddy trail. We also contacted the habal-habal drivers to meet us in the jump-off point. 

Silent Hill: Osmeña Peak version

The descent was much farther and (thankfully) less wetter because as we descended the cloud-hugged peaks, we were welcomed by the warm rays of the Sun. As I looked back at the camping experience we had, I still love it, no matter how strong the rain beat us, how scary the wind whistled, how cold and wet we got. It's the experience and the people you've spent it with that matters the most.

Osmeña Peak Collection 2014
Collage (c) Desabille\

Wet but happy. Wait. Wet and happy.
(c) Crisostomo

From the jump-off point, we were greeted by more kids and, thankfully, the habal-habal drivers that drove us back to the highway junction for another 100 pesos. From the junction, we rode a bus back to Mandaue for . We then took a jeepney ride back to the Desabilles for 8 pesos. Muscle soreness kicking in, we opted to just stroll around the mall before heading back to prepare for our flight back to Manila later that night.

Remember the airline where we booked our flights? The one with the sunshine-y yellow logo? Guess what happened to our flight back home (and to the others', consequently) - It got delayed. The long waiting at the terminal is a story on its own. Basically, our flight got delayed by a measly four hours compared to some who had been waiting for more than six hours just to get in their flight. Some even had their flights cancelled! In retrospect, we're quite lucky that we got home before Christmas because the said airlines made news when passengers who booked their flights waited for more than half a day, some even spent the night on the airport, only to know that their flights got delayed the next day or worse, cancelled. So people, plan your vacation details well, taking into consideration the credibility of the airlines (if you're planning to fly) and the dates of your getaway, so you can enjoy it!

P.S. Check out Dena's travel blog and her take on our Bohol-Cebu trip at I Wonder so I Wander

Until the next trip!

- Paulo

Trying my best to look fine underwater.
(c) Crisostomo