Summer Vacation Pt. 3

The rest of the week went by very quickly. We had a last dinner with my Mom and sister at 801, the restaurant/bar at White Sands, before they left for Taipei the next morning. On Tuesday I met Will and Mike for dinner at Ayala Terraces and met Mike there again on Wednesday before he flew back to Tampa. Both times ending up at TGI Friday's. Thursday we were at the resort all day before my Dad, Sue, and Braden all left from the long trek back to Vancouver.

With everyone gone, Cebu suddenly got a lot quieter. Yen and I moved to our condo in San Marino. We've stayed there before and, while it is a decent place to stay a few weeks, I am not sure why you would build a condo there, and I am sure I would never buy in it. Only 10 years old but looks and feels at least 30 years old. We had a good couple of weeks though. Travelled around the city a bit, did the last few things we had never done in Cebu, and relaxed. Yen's cousin Ivy came by for a couple days with her daughter, and we did a tower in Cebu, the Daoist temple, and went to see a band at the terraces at Ayala mall. Fun, but hardly stuff you'd travel across the world to see.

While I love the Cebu/Mactan area, I doubt I will be back anytime soon. As a city Cebu itself is fairly quiet. I've well and truly done the tourist trail there, and with no good friends there, there isn't much for us to actually do there anymore. If I owned a condo there, and could spend my vacation swimming, fishing, and reading and I'd probably feel differently, but to rent a cheap condo for two weeks isn't exactly something I'd want to do every year. I think the next time we are in the Philippines together we will try for a resort area. Boracay or Puerto Galera.

Still, it was the best August of my life. Next August I am assuming we will be back in Vancouver for a visit. I think we have a couple more years before we come back for good, but it is hard to see much more than a couple years in to the future right now.

Summer Vacation Pt. 2

We landed in Cebu and walked out right in to the biggest rain storm we would experience the entire trip. However, it was a dry cab and a short run to White Sands.

I was actually one of the last to arrive. Yen had arrived with her family from Dipolog that morning, and most of my friends has showed up during the day. Only Mike and Will were still in transit. I ran in to Bobby first and met his lovely new girlfriend Karishma. I didn't have much time to talk with friends or family though, as we had to meet with the wedding coordinator.

After all that it was a bit of a family and friends reunion and a day at the resort.

The next day of course I got married.

On Sunday Yen and I moved to our condo, back at San Marino, which we had stayed at in February. Then it was back to the resort for more visiting and dinner at 801, the rooftop bar at White Sands. Sunday was also the day that much of the wedding party left Cebu. Yen's family were all off home, Darren back to Daejeon and Bobby to Seoul, and UK Mike off for a week in the Philippines with his wife.

Monday was our first real day trip. Rosie had organised a trip to Oslob, to see the whale sharks that go there to feed every day year round. It was an early start and a long trip to south Cebu island, but well worth the effort.

a whale shark.

south Cebu island

After the whale sharks we went to see a waterfall, which was cool as well (in every sense of the word, that water was downright cold). It was great to get in to the countryside, as that is where the Philippines really shines. I do like Cebu city, and I even like Manila, but if I were to ever permanently relocate to the Philippines it would not be to the city, it would be a chunk of land with a view like the one above. Anyway, after the waterfalls we began the long trek to Cebu City.