My Time in Hong Kong: Philippines

After a night of much-needed sleep, we got up and checked out of the ALTA Cebu hotel. It was a nice place to stay and we were satisfied with it, but we should have opted for a better location. The hotel had a really nice pool, but didn't have a beach. It was a perfect resort if you just wanted to stay in and relax by the pool or if you held a meeting or convention there...but that's not really what we were looking for.

We took a taxi to the Cebu City ferry terminal (which took about 25 minutes) and luckily there was a ferry heading to Tagbilaran right when we arrived. We purchased a ticket and set our sights on Bohol and Panglao Island. The ferry ride was about an hour and forty minutes. Jo typically gets motion sickness so we were worried she would get really sick. Luckily, she made it through the trip without any issues. One thing I found odd was that before the in-ferry movie, they showed a short video, which talked about the love of god and the power of Jesus. I know this is a religious country, but it was still weird to to watch religious messages on a public ferry. I also found it odd that they showed a Chinese film w/ English subtitles- I would have expected a Filipino or Western film.

Once we arrived in Tagbilaran, we took another taxi to our hotel in Ahona Beach, which is 25 minutes away, on the southwest end of Panglao Island. Alona is well known for it's white sand beaches and a great place for scuba diving. On the way, we made the driver stop at Jollibee, a Filipino fast food chain. I wasn't hungry, but Jo and Juan kept talking about their food, so I went with it. They are well known for their burgers and chicken so I just got fries and a strawberry sundae- both were pretty good. Once we arrived at Ahona Beach, we checked into the Oasis Hotel. It was a nice mid-range hotel, with many different areas to hang out and relax. It also had a nice pool and an on-site bar. Most importantly, it was about 100 steps to the beach. Before are a few pics of our journey to Ahona Beach.

At the port of Tagbilaran

Alona Beach

Juan and Jo

View from our room at Oasis Resort

On Thursday, we spent pretty much the entire day at the beach. We only booked the Oasis for one night to give us more flexibility in case we didn't like the resort. We decided to extend our stay so we told the front-desk person at breakfast we'd like to stay another night. Unfortunately, around noon, one of the workers came out and told us that they no longer had a room for us. I guess someone booked online last night and took our room. Luckily, the hotel next door, the Alona Kew White Sands Hotel, had vacancies for at a similar price point. We checked into our third hotel in three days and continued our relaxation on the beach for the remainder of the day. While at the beach, we saw tons of starfish (pic below) and unfortunately, Jo stepped on a sea-urchin. Sea urchins are those spined invertebraes you see pictures of, that live on the sea floor. They are very painful when stung by them, especially when you step on them. Jo was in a lot of pain and could barely walk for the rest of the trip. Similar to jellyfish, the basic remedy for reducing the pain is for someone to pee on the wound. I know what you all are thinking...to set the record straight, no one peed on Jo's foot. : )

Our room at Alona Kew Resort

Starfish (with spikes on top)

For our last night, we had an amazing dinner right on the beach. All of the restaurants put out their fresh catches for the day and you can choose the seafood you want. They cook it for you right there. As you can imagine, the seafood was amazing. We ate fresh prawns, squid, Lapu Lapu and a Parrot Fish. There is a pic of our meal below. It was all so cheap too. With all that food, drinks and a Halo Halo dessert, we still only spent about $60 USD in total. Dad would be so proud.

Overall, the trip was a good one. Juan and Jo were easy to travel with. The hotel, food and transportation were relatively cheap, especially compared to Hong Kong. Heck, I got a massage on the beach for $8 USD. You can't beat that. In addition, pretty much everyone speaks English and they are very accommodating. Finally, as you can see from the pictures, the scenery is gorgeous.

My only complaint about the trip is with respect to getting around. Metered taxis are difficult to find so you usually have to use private buses or private cars. Because we're tourists, all of the drivers try to rip you off. Sometimes you get an honest driver who will give you a reasonable fare, but most of the time you have to haggle to get a fair price. After awhile, bargaining gets really old. As a tourist, I understand I'll pay a premium sometimes. I also understand that the Philippines is a poor country and honestly, it's not that much more money to me. However, no one enjoys getting ripped off repeatedly, not to mention it's really draining to have to bargain anytime you want to go anywhere. Below a few more pics from our trip.