Cebu... B?
The Holy Week break is definitely a great opportunity for Filipinos to travel. Since it always falls during summer season, popular destinations are always waterfronts. And my country is lucky enough to be blessed with thousands of islands home to beautiful beaches.
Days flew so fast that I just woke up one day realizing it's just four days before the vacation, and nothing has been planned yet. Immediately I checked on the flight availability to Boracay, Palawan and Davao, hoping that they were still open. But as expected, they were overly overbooked. My last choice was a destination with the most number of flights in a day (which follows that there were still seats available), Cebu.
If it's for any consolation, seven friends called me up and expressed their willingness to join this trip. Luckily, one of them came up with a brilliant idea of hopping to the island of Bohol via a ferry. Now everything was getting better! And so flight tickets and hotel rooms were booked, phoned a Cebu-based friend, and arranged a day tour with a local guide in Bohol, we were all set for a more exciting Holy Week trip.
March 20, Thurdays. We took the earliest flight out of Manila at 430AM, and arrived in Cebu after an hour.
Diplomat Hotel was just 30-minute ride from the airport. The taxi driver explained that our hotel has the perfect location. It was seconded when we found out from the hotel receptionist that a handful of restaurants, bars, supermarkets and banks are just walking-distance from where we were. More to our delight, our room had three single beds which is not usual to Filipino hotels, or at least to those abroad that I have seen. Hungry and drained, we just dropped our back packs in our rooms and decided to eat breakfast at a nearby Mc Donald's.
Wow, Cebuanos are really friendly! You could see smiling faces everywhere. Perhaps these people know we were not locals from our Tagalog conversations (Manilenos speak Tagalog while Cebuanos communicate with Bisaya).
After a couple of hours of “power nap”, we all met in the hotel lobby at 1030AM. Our service van, which was generously accorded to us by a friend, was already waiting outside the hotel.
He drove us to Beverly Hills where one famous landmark is located- The Cebu Taoist Temple. I have always admired the richness of Chinese cultures and religion. Attractions here consist of huge, colorful dragon, a replica of the Great Wall of China, spacious balconies offering scenic views, souvenir shops, mini library with instructional materials, and dozens of escalating steps. The temple was so solemn that we were not allowed to take pictures of most parts.
From Beverly Hills, we went to Mactan Island to visit the historic Lapu-Lapu Shrine.
Not so far from the shrine is one of Cebu's most popular place for dining- the Sutukil! It is home to chain of restaurants that will let you choose whatever you want cooked from stalls of fresh fish, prawns, crabs, seaweeds, shells, clams and even lobsters. These seafood are as fresh as seafood can be and the crabs and lobsters on display are still alive as you pick which ones you want cooked.
After we ordered garlic prawns, sizzling squid, clam soup, seaweeds salad, red eggs and tomatoes, and friend crabs, we chose the best spot of the resto.
Since we were already in Mactan Island, it was but a must to visit Cebu City's prime resorts. Not so far from Sutukil are Shangri-La Mactan Island Resort and the Hilton Cebu Resort and Spa. These two are the most popular resorts here. Why not? Both offer world-class facilities and beach resorts for people who are up to complete R and R, and exclusivity. But I I were to choose between the two, Shangri-La is undoubtedly the winner!
We went back to our hotel for a wash-up as our Cebu-based friend (who owns our service van) had called and invited us for dinner.
After the dinner, we went back to the hotel and called it a night. We had to rest early as another day packed of activities is waiting for us. But so far, Cebu proves to be an absolute destination of choice.
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We ordered Garlic Shrimp (which is the house specialty among all restaurants here), Clam Soup, Baked Mussels, Grilled Tuna, Sizzling Squid and Sea Weed Salad done in two different styles. After 20 minutes, our food were served, making us realized that we have ordered more than how much we expected to eat that afternoon. But it was okay, the more the food, the more the room for commenting. =D
I would like to commend the restaurants friendly staff. My hands are down when we talk of Cebuano’s hospitality. They just never fail to wear that heartwarming smile.
Another Sutukil advantage is that they serve sea food as fresh as they can be as sellers get their daily supplies from nearby islets.
The location of Sutukil restaurants is also a plus. Just a few meters from your table is the very relaxing view of the island’s seawater and extensive rows of Mangroves.
The food? So so. It was not at all bad but they just weren’t cooked and tasted the way I wanted them to be. On this part, I would say Manila’s Dampa is better (although this reveiw is not meant to compare the two). No question about the freshness of the ingredients, but the taste was not just perfect. I am not sure if the disappointment came from too much expectation, or my tastebuds just don’t go well with Cebuanos.
But when it was time to pay the bill, I was amazed at how cheap our bountiful lunch cost. It could have passed for a fiesta dining but we only paid just half of what we usually do in Manila with the same number of food. Amazing!
I would say eating at Sutukil is still a must for every travelet hitting Cebu. As the locals say here: KAON ‘TA! =D
How to get to Sutukil:
Sutukil restaurants are located just beside the Mactan Shrine. You can get a taxi from Cebu City which will cost you about P200. Just tell the cab driver you want to go to Mactan Shrine in Punta Engaño. It’s on the way to Hilton Resort and Shangri-la Mactan. For public transport, you can either ride on a jeepney that goes to Punta Engaño (No. 23 jeepneys with Punta Engaño signboards in the windshield) or get a tricycle from Lapu Lapu City.
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