CEBU!

Upon landing on Mactan Island, I was surprised by what a nice little airport it was! Simple, easy to navigate. We hopped a cab and headed to our hotel. The 45 minute trip in was very interesting. Some good, some bad. As neither one of us had stayed in Cebu before. Rey had been to Manila, but it was his first trip too. So I had booked a hotel in the city near or easy to get to many of the night spots, shopping and tourist sites. Eddie's Hotel (see my review). For $31 USD we each got a standard room with a built -in wardrobe, queen-size bed and private bath. Older, but do-able and comfortable! There is a small restaurant where a continental breakfast of fruit, breads and coffee is served. The menu is set up for Westerers it seems. There is also room service. The front desk staff, we would come to find, were very friendly and talkative, but not always helpful with nearby points of interest. So the rest of our first day was to be an exploration of the neighborhood. I was pleased to find a grocery store just on the opposite corner of our little block. A Fooda. Everything you needed and at very good prices. I wound up getting a small ice chest, snacks, beverages and ice of course. The Mountain Dew tastes different here, so be forewarned! : ) We walked about five blocks. Passing small hotels, vending stalls, churches, spas and eateries, local and chains; Yellow Cab Pizza, and the Philippine equivilant of McDonald's, Jollibee's. They are everywhere! We checkout the National Bookstore (great place for maps of Cebu), the shops at Mango Square and Robinson's. During our walk, we came across Nature Spa, advertising all sorts of massage, scrubs and treatments. Now, don't get the wrong idea here! This was a REAL spa for men AND women. None of that hanky-panky stuff you hear about.  Hey, Rey and I are all about relaxing when traveling. And the prices were crazy cheap in our book! Located on the second floor of the Coast Pacific Business Center at the corner of Gen. Maxilom Ave. and F. Ramos Street. They offer four types of body massage: Aromatherapy, Swedish, Shiatsu and Traditional Thai, ranging from $3.80-$6.00 USD for an hour to a hour fifteen minutes! Checkout my review, they offer so much for so little. The place is amazing! Sweet, friendly attendants (with grips of steel, I tell you! ;) ) make your stay enjoyable.  I thought I'd start with a Collagen/Anti-wrinkle Facial Treatment and a Traditional Thai Massage. Ahh.. the good life! The Thai massage was a little much for me truthfully. I prefer a lighter tough. But live and learn. For about $12 USD how could I go wrong! After our new found indulgence, we finally stopped for dinner at a large thatched "hut" where the wonderful smell of grilled meats were wafting on the breeze. Though the name now escapes me, (I'll find it later) it was great! We ate there all 5 days we were in Cebu, either lunch or dinner. It's located on the southside of the street between Mango Square and the Fooda. After a couple tastings of various local brews (all San Miguel Brewery): San Miguel Light, Dry, Pilsner and the local favorite "Red Horse". We settled on the San Mig Light.  Dining on grilled kingfish, prawns and rice (each item is seperate) for under $4 was the perfect finally of our day. I checked my email once we got back to the hotel and called it a night.