Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort (Cebu)

Each and everytime I go to Cebu I always try to allocate some time to go to the beach. The beach is usually where I am happiest and I enjoy it immensely whenever I'm with my best friend. Things have changed in the past few years and we now go with our spouses, but we've always gone to the same place in Mactan since I started going to Cebu 6 years ago.

The idea to go to Maribago Bluewater came from Amor Maclang. I was in a meeting with her when she asked if Mica and I were going to Cebu. She asked us how long we were staying and if we had time to go to the beach. I told her that Andrew and I were actually flying in early because we planned to go to the beach. In just a few moments things were set and we were scheduled to go to Maribago Bluewater.

I was really excited to go to the beach (any beach actually). To swim. To get a tan. When we arrived at the site we were brought around to check out the rooms and facilities. I immediately loved the place and thought of a similar-looking place I've been to in Bataan, but Maribago Bluewater was definitely prettier.

 The rooms were spacious.

The toilet and bath was definitely interesting (looked like a spa).

And the clay pot with water is quite handy since I hate getting my feet dirty.

Don't worry the sharks are in a different pond.

We were all sweaty and ready to plunge into the water when we were served the Bluewater pandan-calamansi concoction. It was yummy and refreshing! After downing the drink we all headed to the water and swam for a couple of hours.

Of course, we were served freshly grilled seafood. Sarap!

After lunch we took a dip in the pool and soon had a relaxing massage at the Amuma Spa. I rarely fall asleep whenever I get massages but the masseuse possessed some magic and put me to sleep. I woke up because both Sweetie and Ria were staring at me! LOL.

Thank you for the fun, fun day Maribago Bluewater, Rhyz and Elaine!


Here are more photos from our day in Bluewater:



Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort
Maribago, Buyong
Mactan Island, Lapulapu City 6015
Cebu, Philippines
+63 32 492-0100 / 232-5411
+63 32 492-0128 to 129
maribago@bluewater.com.ph
www.bluewater.com.ph

Location Map:


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Be Resorts, the Place to Be!

I can only say that summer is complete for me when I've gone to the beach. I almost thought that it would be another incomplete summer for me because it was already mid-May and I didn't have the chance yet to go to the beach. I usually head to one as early as the first week of March so I was getting antsy.

Drew and I made plans to go to the beach when we were in Cebu. I was surprised though when we were invited by Garry Garcia, general manager of Be Resorts. After checking our schedules I gladly accepted the invitation to visit Be Resorts.

We got to Be Resorts late afternoon and was welcomed with an awesome view of the sea as we alighted the van. The doors of the hotel served as the picture frame of the beautiful beach. The last time I saw something like it was in Bali. The beach was like a magnet and we immediately headed towards it, but before reaching the shore we were shown the indoor activity center. It was really cute and looked like one of the rooms at the Googleplex. I was drawn by the tiny sofa set for kids.

After taking some photos of the activity room we went further down to check out the beach. It was too late though to take a swim since I had another appointment. I almost couldn't resist getting my feet wet. I just contented myself by taking more photos and breathing in the salty sea air. I love going to the beach because it brings back happy childhood memories and I always feel at home when I'm by the sea (and I have a preference for Philippine sea shores).

The sun was posed to set already so we headed back to the hotel lobby where we met Garry. He gave us an overview of the hotel and mentioned that it used to be the Cebu Microtel. I told him that I was amazed about the place since my best friend always brought me to another resort in the area. I used to see the place from afar but thought it was a condominium project and not a hotel. While relishing us with stories about nearby islands we should visit we were served some really yummy food ordered by Garry. We thought we weren't hungry, but ended up finishing what was served (an array for fushion Asian cuisine).

I definitely enjoyed my short stay at Be Resorts and hope that I'll be able to come back someday and island hop as Garry mentioned. Be Resorts had two important elements I look for in a beach resort: (1) a lovely beach where I could actually swim, and (2) a fabulous place to relax at after frolicking in the beach. Oh! And I absolutely loved the interiors and furniture (everything from the best furniture designers and makers of Cebu!

Thank you Garry and Andrea for hosting us!

Here are more photos of Be Resorts:



Be Resorts is located at Mactan, Cebu:


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Be Resorts
Punta Engaño Road,
Mactan, Cebu, Philippines‎
+6332-236-8888‎

Images of Baclayon Church

Baclayon Church in Bohol is the second oldest Church in the Philippines. The Church of the Our Lady of Immaculate Concepcion was built by the Jesuits in 1717 and what is interesting about the structure is the fact that the natives used coral stones from the sea and cemented together with egg whites. Upon closer inspection of the walls you would notice that it is indeed much different from other old Churches in the Philippines.

In the Church is a museum that showcases old relics and artifacts that were used in the olden times. They had the same gigantic music book which I saw at San Agustin Church, lots of statues which they used to bring in processions, ecclesiastical vestments (I couldn't imagine how they wore it). The guide also pointed out a Sto. Nino which got stolen several times already.

I felt that I stepped back in time when I went inside the Church. I was almost sure I would see Padre Damaso and Maria Clara in prayer. I imagined dressed up matrons fanning themselves which furiously praying the rosary. And saw sacristans running around while the friars were busy talking to the gobernadorcillo. It felt that way because women in sleeveless and shorts were requested to don a blouse and skirt to cover their arms and legs. I had to wear my sarong because I was wearing shorts.

What I found most interesting in the Church though were the windows. The windows had colorful stained glass on it which cast interesting lively colors on the pews

The other windows seemed like portals to the past. I wonder if this area looked the same a hundred years ago.  One can just wonder how things were in the past.

Outside the Church one would nice that one of the panels looked like someone drew a photo of Padre Pio on it. Do you see it?

I had a lovely time at the Baclayon Church, most especially since I went there with my boys.

The Yummy Chocolate Hills

My father-in-law thought that the Chocolate Hills were just small hilly mounds, probably because of how the Nayong Pilipino depicted it when it was still open. Anyway, we only managed to go up one hill and thanks to Dolly for telling us to go up via the ramp and not the stairs. She said that it would be much easier to go up that way. We were on top of the hill in no time and started taking photos of the hills.

According to our tour guide there are really about 1,700+ Chocolate Hills but the local government only considers 1,268 as pure Chocolate Hills since the others had trees on them. Some of the hills had some greenery on them and I'd like to dub them as "Minty Chocolate Hills" since they remind me of the yummy "Goya Mint Chocolate".

It's quite unbelievable though how much beautiful sceneries we have in the Philippines. From beautiful white sandy beaches, to awesome diving sites, to the perfect cone shape of the Mayon Volcano, to just about anything and what's great about our country is most (if not all) of our tourist places are natural and not man-made. I always get teary eyed whenever I see one of our beautiful sights. It reminds me that despite everything that's happening we have so much opportunity and resources to get us out of our economic rut.

Anyway, enough about that. Here are some photos of the Chocolate Hills.

Some of the minty Chocolate Hills.

The Bohol Ati Tribe

I was surprised to find out that the river cruise we took in Bohol was a different one. I was expecting to see the Loboc children's choir but our tour guide Dolly said that we were going on the lesser congested route. I was pleasantly surprised with the route we took since it was an all nature route and the food was way much better.

We disembarked down the river to take a look at the Ati Tribe. I dug around the internet and found out that the Ati Tribe is believed to be the first inhabitants of our country. They are part of the Negrito ethnic group in Panay and speak their own dialect. However this dialect is believed to be "endangered" since only about 1,500 of them still speak it. Because of exposure to outsiders things are also changing a lot for the tribe including clothing and how they do things.

Here's some photos I took of the Ati Tribe.

One of the kids show off his pet lizard. 

The were building this huge replica of a crab. Instant death for me since I'm allergic to crabs!

A warrior. 

A juxtaposition of the old vs. new, nature vs. gadgets. 

See the tiny turtle? 

It was a hot day and I couldn't help but feel envious how he jumped into the river. 

The river cruise was part of the countryside tour. We paid PhP6,000 each inclusive of 3 days, 2 nights stay in Dumaluan Beach Resort. The countryside tour includes the Blood Compact, Chocolate Hills, Butterfly House (we skipped that though), the river cruise (yummy food!), tarsiers and some shopping time with a huge van and personal tour guide. It was definitely fun to have my boys see Bohol! 

 

Tubigon

So my ferry ride from Cebu to Tagbilaran got cancelled because the SuperCat ferry broke down on its way to Cebu. We wasted no time and got a ticket to Tubigon since the earliest available ferry to Tagbilaran was at 4:30 in the afternoon. Tubigon is in the Northern side of Bohol and about an hour away to Tagbilaran City.

It took 2 hours to reach Tubigon from Cebu and the most striking feature of the place is its huge port and seaside.

Tubigon is a small town, but I'm sure there are days when it bustles with activity especially during market days.

Here's Tubigon on Google Maps:


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How to get to Tubigon-Tagbilaran:

1. Take a ferry from Cebu (pier #3), takes approximately 2 hours
2. Tickets range from PhP180-200 (aircon)
3. To get to Tagbilaran, take a tricycle to the V-Hire terminal.
4. Hop on a V-Hire to Tagbilaran, it costs PhP90 each.