Q Style Christmas at Waterfront

One of the biggest hotel in town with a very unique design and with its castle-like roof is the Waterfront hotel & Casino. A place to many international and local concerts and big events and parties. Speaking of big events, our recent company Christmas celebration dubbed as 'The Q Style Christmas' was held in one of their grandest ballroom. Since I am not into big events such as this, I went there to see 'what is there to see' and of course use my lenses as I haven't had any photo of the hotel even if I keep coming back and now I'm living here in Cebu.

the entrance to the hotel

not just one but lots of Christmas trees at the hotel lobby

even the chandeliers are also decorated for Christmas sake

the stage at the grand ballroom

Some Random things I Like about CEBU

Today, I had so much fun reading about Bianca's blog. One of the blogs I followed. One of her posts is about a random list about herself that she wrote last year. I'm also thinking to write my own list but since I am dedicating this month to just write about Cebu, I will stick to that idea. Here's my own list of Random things why I like CEBU- the Queen City of the South!

1. There are a lot of  Boracay like white beaches here. To name a few: Camotes, Bantayan, Malapascua, Moalboal and many others. They are heaven like beaches as captured in photos with sea-meet-the clouds view.
2. It is so much easier for me to go home in CDO from here. Just 1 overnight trip by boat or 45 minutes by plane.
3. Easy to communicate with people because Cebuanos speak the main language that we also use at home.
4. Cebu is the best place to eat lechon or roast pig. It is guaranteed super tasty!
5. I just love the 'death by chocolate' dessert in Casa Verde.
6. There are a lot of  'All you can Eat' places here that they called 'Eat All You Can' if you'd like to have a pig out day. Must go to 'Jovens' in Mandaue or at 'The Port' just beside Waterfront hotel. I've been to a few before.
7. The cost of living here is not that much and you can always get a good meal anywhere.
8.  Cebu is home to many old and big churches in the Philippines. I've been to the famous Miraculous home of  Mother Mary in Simala and the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino in the heart of the City.
9. I love the bargains at Colon Street-known as the oldest street in the Philippines.
10. Golden Cowrie's crispy pata is also one of my many favorites here.
11. Sinulog- the biggest festival in the Philippines is celebrated here every January that is why a lot of people are coming here from all points.
12. Some of my best friends from University days are living and working here for years now.
13. I like to take an early morning walk from Mango Ave-Jones Ave-across Colon St to Carbon market every Sunday to buy fresh fruits and sea foods.
14.Hmmm...the SuTuKil seafood places in Mactan are also the best!
15.
16..

And the list goes on...I believe I will discover more things in the future about this place. For those of you who've been here in Cebu, what are the things you love about coming here?


More about Cebu this whole month of December as promised. Salamat sa pagbasa! (Thanks for reading!)

Thanksgiving day in Camotes Island

Destination: Camotes Island! It was Thanksgiving day when my cousin and 2 of our friends went to the island of Camotes. From SM Cebu City passenger terminal lounge, we boarded a van to Danao port as early as 7:00am and paid Php50 each. We reached Danao port at exactly 8:30 just in time for the next ferry trip to Consuelo port in Camotes. Good thing my cousin booked us a transportation from the port to Santiago Bay Garden Resort where I booked our overnight accommodation.

Welcome to Santiago bay!!!

The Santiago bay beach front

We arrived at Consuelo port at 10:30am (2 hours ferry trip for Php180) and hurried to the van waiting for us since we were already hungry. The driver offered us for a half day tour round the island for a reasonable price including a local tour guide and the pick up from the resort back to the port the next day so we grabbed the opportunity. By the way, the most common transportation on the island is the habal-habal or motorcycles that would cost you Php40 for each ride.

the very wide Santiago seashore

Wow! I was never wrong about Santiago bay because aside from their warm staff, the place was so lovely. We headed to our room and ate our lunch outside admiring the beautiful view and the very wide seashores. Then, we went down to the beach and took photos while waiting for Manong Pitos (van owner and driver) for the afternoon round the island tour.

we enjoyed the clear waters

 chilling and relaxing=Chillaxing!

what a wonderful world..

Our half day tour consists of 4 main tourist destinations in the island. We started in Mangodlong beach resort (sister company of Santiago bay), to Danao Lake Park, Timubo Cave resort and Buho Garden which were all breathtaking!

at Mangodlong resort

you'll see lots of these huge jellyfish in Mangodlong

Welcome to Lake Danao park (entrance fee: Php5)

the scenic Lake Danao park

at the cave's entrance (entrance fee is Php10)

going down to see more

Sunset at Buho garden

We also droved to Jestrera's to try their delicacies. They exclusively produced products made of camote or sweet potato. That was where the name of the island came from. According to our tour guide the shape of the island is similar to the shape of a sweet potato. We had a sumptuous dinner at Manong Pitos after the whole afternoon tour. It's one of the best dinner I've ever had as everything in our table is fresh. You can still taste the sweet flavor of the fish after it's cooked or grilled. It only cost us around Php300 for all those dishes you can see on the photo below.

Wow! Sutukil for dinner. dig in!

It was our time to go home the next morning. So we woke up early to watch the sunrise and took more photos around the resort. The place was so peaceful like the morning breeze of the ocean. We also ate our free breakfast and headed down to the souvenir shop before we packed up our things. Manong driver was already outside the resort's entrance waiting for us.

zooming my cam to capture the lovely sunrise and saw this fisherman

early morning at Santiago beach

Santiago bay poolside in the morning

Manong Pitos van with the ad of his Sutukil biz

the ferry about to leave Camotes..

I enjoyed the trip. Though I wish my partner was there too to see the beauty of the island and its wonders. Bye Camotes...

Boat Schedule: http://www.travelcamotes.com/
Accommodation: http://www.camotesresorts.com.ph/santiago_accomodation.htm

SuTuKil feast in Mactan

It's the 1st of December! I would like to dedicate this last month of the year writing about the island of Cebu. Cebu is one of the islands in the Visayas region where you can find lots of beautiful white beaches, fresh sea foods and not to mention dining places that offer a relatively cheap (Php200-300) all you can eat lunch/dinner or buffet meal.

We visited a famous seafood place in the island of Mactan where you can just choose what you want to have and they can cook it for you. The term SuTuKiL is very popular among the locals. Su is the short term for sugba which means grilled. Tu is tula which is a soup based dish. Kil is kilaw which is raw fish cooked in vinegar and spices.

We went to No Problem. Such a cool name for a seafood restaurant. The easiest way to go there from the city proper is by cab (taxi fare is around Php190). This was actually the same eating place that I've been to years ago during our Cebu field exposure when I was still in the university. It was like 7 years ago so I was all excited to go back.

All freshly cooked that you would surely love!

Having lunch while enjoying the view of the mangroves..

hello buttered shrimp!

Fact: The sea foods are affordable but they will charge extra for cooking so make sure to ask.

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