Saturday, August 10, 2013

Weekend in Cebu

Yay! Our short getaway to Cebu was finally here!

I woke up even before the alarm clock went off. Did some last minute packing, called the cab and off we went to Changi T2.

Feeling excited *grin*

The terminal was packed with people. I supposed we all had the same purpose in mind - to make use of the extra long weekend for a short vacation. We had done online check-in earlier so we only needed to deposit our luggage. But the queue, though shorter, did not seem to be moving at all. After a while, a staff approached us and told us to go to SIA's counter instead. What a relief, there was no queue at all and our bag was even tagged with a shocking pink 'priority' sticker :)

We had a light breakfast of toast and tea while observing the planes. Soon it was boarding time. The flight to Davao via Cebu was full and we were among the last few who boarded the plane.

Boarding time


The flight was slightly delayed so we arrived at Mactan airport quite late at 1pm. Custom and immigration were cleared in no time. However we waited for a while for the shuttle bus to the hotel - not a good first impression.

Our room in Shangri-la's Mactan Resort was in excellent condition. Loved the spacious working table and the balcony. Complimentary fruits were delivered every afternoon. There's even laundry powder as part of the toiletries and clothes lines installed on the balcony.

Our room #7051

View from the balcony

We did not miss anytime to start exploring the resort. Its well-manicured gardens, crystal blue swimming pools, and terrific private beach were fabulous.




For dinner we went to Acqua, the Italian restaurant located at Ocean wing. The setting suggested a fine-dining establishment, but actually it's a family-friendly place. Children were given colorful cutleries and also a cute chef hat.

We ordered risotto mushroom with truffle oil and crispy parma ham, a 12-inch hawaiian pizza and vanilla gelato. Food was lip-smacking! Pizza was topped with thick ham and sweet pineapple chunks..

Risotto, free bread slices and hawaiian pizza

I was impressed with the breakfast buffet spread at Tides too. The variety and quality were excellent. They had Korean, Japanese, Chinese and local dishes. Children were not forgotten, there was a children section where serving plates were lined up in low tables. I tried to take small amount for each dish so I could sample more. The grilled beef/fish/sotong/vegetables at Korean counter was superb. The juice bar was impressive too, with rows of jars filled with various juice goodness - mango, orange, watermelon, cucumber, etc. The bread and pastry section was so enticing with different pastries and carbo-ladden goods.

Breakfast at Tides

On second day we took a shuttle to SM mall at Cebu City. Along the way we passed many animals by the roadside: goats, cows, chicken, dogs, etc. Small provision shops were common. In short the streets reminded me of Jakarta, just that they drove on the right.

Inside the shuttle to Cebu City

First stop in the shopping mall: Jollibee! :p

Yums!

My verdict: spaghetti and burger were alright. Chicken was crispy and nicely done. But since I was not exactly particular on my fried chicken, I guess KFC's or Arnold's would do too.

The star of the resort must be its pristine beach. Rows of beach chairs with umbrellas were neatly lined up. Observation deck was built on top of a huge rock. We could feed the fish with some breadcrumbs, and through the clear water the fish were clearly visible. Sheltered areas for sand play equipped with plastic toys were ready for children to build their sand castles. Water activities were available too. I saw that a lot of maintenance work was done to keep up the excellence.



Too bad it's too cloudy to see the sunrise at its full glory



All in all, the resort is a fabulous destination for a short family vacation.

2 comments:

Adelina said...

1. Nice vacation!
2. Is that your boy in the photo? He's so big!
3. You woke up early enough to take a sunrise photo? Impressive. That'll never happen in my vacation. ;)
4. They're opening a Jolibee in Houston next month. Can't wait to try it!

pleasantinterlude said...

1. Yes, it was :)
2. Nope, that's somebody else's boy. He just happened to be at the right place and right time :p
3. Yeah.. smart phone with alarm clock came handy..
4. Wow.. I thought it has outlets all over US? Good to have alternatives in choosing our fried chicken, right? hahaha..