We arrived in Cebu a few minutes early and met our driver in the loading area at gate B10. The hotel called me on Whatsapp to tell me where the driver was. It was a quick drive, about thirty minutes and we arrived at our hotel. We arrived and paid the driver 1100 pesos cash, or about 30$ Canadian. It was probably more than it should have been, but I was glad to not have to negotiate a cab fare after so much travel over three days, also it was pretty late at night. 

We then proceeded to the ninth floor to check in . We tried to pay but their credit card machine was being used by the bar and we couldn’t…so they told us to pay at check out and sent us to our room on the 15th floor. The room was ok, kind of gross. Jives immediately saw bugs. The power kept going off and the A.C didn’t work. We had a quick show (which was nice) and headed to the 711 nearby to grab some quick instant ramen and a drink to have before bed (nothing was open in the area to eat at). 

Feb 9th

We woke up and headed to breakfast in the banquet hall by reception. There was a lot to choose from. I got a large bowl of congee and some rice with sauteed beans and pumpkin. After breakfast we headed up to the roof to check out the pool. Four Japanese kids were playing around in the pool and laughing and joking (like teenagers). One slipped on the wet steps of the pool surround and fell flat on his back. His friends howled with laughter. The pool was really nice with jets and a view overlooking the entire city. After sitting with my feet in the water for a while, wishing we had time to swim (it was already day four and I hadn’t swam yet). We headed back to the room to get our bags and check out. Our driver met us outside the hotel at 9:30am. He drove a van that would fit twelve people, but we were only two people. The drive was lovely. It took exactly three hours to get to the hotel in Moalboal. Along the way I saw my dream shop, a bougainvillaea store with every colour and combination. We drove by an open back pick up truck with a deep bathtub on the back. A man smiled and waved from inside the bath tub as we zoomed by. Another man enthusiastically waved from inside his shop, I tried to match his enthusiasm as I waved back. We also saw signs for “vulcanizing” services. I hope those services are exactly what I imagine them to be, very logical services. I also saw signs for “Puto Bumbog” for sale. Whatever it is, it is a food….. Mysterious. We drove along the north west coast, catching glimpses of beautiful sandy beaches and gorgeous turquoise waters. Moalboal itself was a little sleepy town with a lot of shops and bars. We slowly wove our way along the narrow streets to our beachfront accommodation. Our van seemed wider than the roadway at times. 

We checked into the hotel, paying 3500 pesos for the ride and 1000 peso as a key deposit for the room. We were led to our room, a beautiful little single room hut with windows wide open to the ocean breeze. There was a large front porch with two chairs and a table from which we could watch boats go by in the bay. The perfect setting. 

We went to the restaurant in the hotel, just at reception, and ordered some lunch. Jives got a vegetarian pizza with; mushroom, green olives, eggplant, peppers, onions, basically any vegetable possible on a pizza. I got a vegetarian potato curry with carrot and a mildly spicy pepper. We both ordered a beer. 

After our delicious meal we headed down for our first swim, just behind our accommodation, a small staircase led right to the water. Jives had been in the water five minutes when a sea turtle swam right up to him and popped his head out of the water. I was further away with my head underwater, so I didn’t know until it was long gone. The snorkeling was lovely, the second best I had ever experienced (after Gili Air in Indonesia). 

After relaxing a bit, we walked to a shop nearby to buy beers to have later in our room. It was a small little closet sized shop, and a very young girl sold Jives four beers in a one litre volume! They were 160 pesos each. We set the beers back in the room and then proceeded to walk further into town to find something to eat for dinner. 

We walked by a rooster farm , or at least I thought it was a rooster farm.. There were well over 100 roosters and soooo many doggos. We settled on eating dinner at a lovely vegetarian place. Jives had an eggplant curry with mock meat and I had a “chicken” burger with fries which seemed a lot like a sloppy joe. I got a mojito and Jives got a San Miguel beer. The food was excellent! We sat there quite awhile enjoying the traffic going by. A local boy set out food and water for the stray dogs and we watched them congregate and eat their doggo dinner. We then walked back to our room and shared a big beer before calling it an early night.