Cebu Part 4: Madridejos, Bantayan Island

Hi guys! I know it's been on and off again for me when it comes to blogging. I had NO IDEA Grad School can suck the life out of you hahaha and to think I still have more than 2 years to endure (gah!) :D

So to complete (FINALLY) my Cebu Diaries, here's my take on our last stop during our tour of Bantayan Island. I am about to leave for another Visayan province this weekend for my Uncle's birthday, so I decided to wrap this baby up already! :)

So after our island hopping tour earlier in the day, Trency and I just showered and rushed back outside to hop on our rented habal-habal (motorbike) which will take us to the town of Madridejos. Trency really wanted to go here because she heard they had incredible sunsets here.

We had our very cool, hip-hop tour guide with us, Kuya Jun, as our driver. Below are pictures I took while precariously balancing myself on the edge of the motorcycle. With Kuya Jun's crazy-ass driving, I am amazed I was still able to take pictures of the countryside. I tell you this was the CUHRAZIEST motorcycle ride I've ever been on. IT was Trency's first time on a motorcycle and I think she won't ride one again after this experience hahahaha!!






It took about 30-minutes for us to get there, and the first thing we went to is this old fort, much like the one we see in Intramuros. There's really nothing much there, except for some old artifacts recovered from shipwrecks.


From there, we walked on towards the beach. They had this really long boardwalk, but since it was low tide, Trency and I decided to walk on the coral deposits. If you guys are wondering about the old woman, she's scraping shells stuck on the corals. According to Kuya Jun, it's edible and they have it as ulam. The old lady must have been there for quite some time cos she was about to fill that water gallon she brought with her.




But while walking around, Trency and I were treated to another surprise: A RAINBOW! I had already blogged about it before cos I saw another rainbow after this one. A clearer photo of the rainbow is on this blog entry too. It was so beautiful! I felt like it was a sign from Heaven; I knew Trency and I had a good trip together! :)

We waited around for the sunset, and when the sun started setting, Trency and I just sat down at the boardwalk completely ENTHRALLED! It was breathtaking, and it gave the sky a nice orange hue (my favorite color).



It was a great trip with my BFF! Although it would've been sooo sooo much better had BFF Amanda went with us. We kinda just rushed through our activities, but it still gave me and Trency that much needed break from the city. Vacations are really precious for us, and we always make sure we make the most out of it! :)

Cebu Part 2: Hello Bantayan Island

After a hectic tour of the city, Trency and I woke up LATE the next day. We wanted to wake up at 6AM but since we were both tired from the day before we overslept and instead woke up at 9AM. After a quick breakfast, we checked out, and hailed a cab to take us to the North Bus Terminal. Good thing our hotel was only about 15 minutes away from the bus terminal, so we got there pretty quick.

As promised more photos, less words. :D

NORTH BUS TERMINAL. Take a bus going to HAGNAYA PIER. It's a good 3 hours away. Bus fare Php130. This bus ride actually reminded me of our Manila-Laoag-Pagudpud-Laoag-Vigan-Manila trip earlier in the year. But it was scenic drive so it's pretty much ok! :)



HAGNAYA PIER. Take boat that will go to STA.FE in BANTAYAN ISLAND. Fee costs Php170, terminal fee i think was Php2.



We were to stay at the Hard K Kafe & Kiwi Kottages. They were kind enough to pick us up from the pier. After checking-in and had our bags brought in to our rooms, we decided it was time to get our late asses moving. We had already arranged our island hopping tour (more on that on the next blog), but for that day we decided to go to the Bantayan town proper to get to an ATM, look around the town, and to go to the palengke (market) for the food we were to eat during the island hopping. We hopped on the trike that took us from the pier to the resort, and went on a 15 minute ride to the town. We paid Php300 for that.



BANTAYAN WET MARKET. I usually get disgusted with markets because they can get pretty stinky and dirty. But not in Bantayan! It was clean and it didn't reek of anything out-of-this-world. So going around wasn't a problem! :D



THE OLDEST CHURCH IN THE ISLAND: STS. PETER & PAUL CHURCH BUILT IN 1580.




KOTA BEACH & SUNSET


FOOD TRIPPING. I swear Cebu is a city of sin, but more on GLUTTONY. Case in point, this eat-all-you-can buffet for only Php295 with unlimited iced tea. I swear I gained about 20 pounds here! But it was so good. They had a wide variety of dishes, from pancit, spaghetti, fish, adobo to native kakanins like biko and maja blanca.






To cap off the night, Trency and I drank by the bar. We started up a conversation with the most hospitable resort owner I've ever encountered, GING. She married a Kiwi, hence the name of the resort, and they have a daughter named Steffi. It was a fun night of trilingual conversations, switching from Tagalog to Bisaya to English. Funny!

For the next, and the last entry, on Bantayan Island. It's going to be about our island hopping escapade with Bantatay and Kuya Jun and our habal-habal ride to the town of Madridejos. STAY TUNED!! :p