Bantayan Island day 2 [Cebu]

We woke up before 7 to attend the 8am mass at Saints Peter and Paul parish, located at Bantayan proper w/c is still 30mins away by trike. I knew it's 420+ years old so i expected it to look really old. and yeah it was, and it looked even more classic as it's located near the plaza and market ...like most churches here in the phils that are spanish-inspired.



My tummy grumbled the whole time, so after taking pics and all, Blanche and I looked for a place to eat. A candy vendor in the plaza recommended Jela's restaurant. we followed her instructions but we didn't find it, so we entered a small eskenita instead. by gut feel, we knew we'd find a place to eat. surprisingly, there was Jela's resto. and it's more than a canteen! it's actually a lechonan! there we had our breakfast, slash CHEAPEST MEAL we had in bantayan. a plate of lechon costs 70 and the fruit shakes are just P10 each!



After breakfast, we roamed around the market to check out what we could munch back in the hotel (takaw e hehe). we bought avocados for P25 per kilo (2 pieces cost P20 lang!), and 3 corn on cobs for just P10! apparently, everything in bantayan proper's so cheap! not like in Sta. Fe ...palibhasa madami foreigner!





After a short rest, we went to Ogtong Cave beach resort. I used to think that ogtong's a cave that's open to all. it turns out that ogtong is the name of the whole resort, which has a natural cave that is unaccessible unless you pay for the entrance fee. hehe odd huh?

Anyway, the cave's different. I mean it's not like those that are stinky and full of bats. It's also not like those in Sagada where you'd hike half of the time. ogtong cave has a natural pool that's great for short dips. blanche and I actually just chatted inside the cave till we realized that it's about time to get a tan. hehee



So there, we went to ogtong's beach to get a tan. I luuuv this beach so much, the water's not deep unless you go hundreds of meters away of course. hehe. the sand's so fine, Blanche and I actually enjoyed scrubbing our backs and arms. mwehehehe. then we lied on the sand the whole afternoon to get a tan. woopee!



The last night was the best ...we had another buffet dinner. this time it's at Marisqueura o' Portuguese, just across D' Jungle. There's less variety BUT OMG the clams and oysters are so abundant! we ate lots of oysters ...we ate a lot that we had to transfer to another table because the piled up shells won't let us see each other's plates anymore! hehehe. after dinner, we sang all night to burn all the food. then we tried a massage place nearby. the 1hr full body massage was really great, it gave us a good night sleep :)







3rd day was our last day, it was time to leave. At the port of Bantayan I felt really sad that my vacation's over. At the same time I felt so giddy having another destination checked on my checklist. And that destination had everything I wanted in a not so commercialized phil island --perfect beach, healthy food (err, except the lechon), great culture and really kind people. going to Bantayan's a must folks. Include it in your beach list.

MAJOR EXPENSES

Bus from Cebu city to San Remigio 88
(North Cebu Bus Terminal)

Ferry from San Remigio to Sta. Fe Bantayan 135
(Hagnaya wharf)

Yoonik Resort 2500
(1200 per night plus tip :) service is good)

Ogtong Cave entrance fee 100

D' Jungle/ Marisqueira Buffets 195 each
vidoeke's P5 per song. haha

Full body massage 180
can't remember the place, ask trisikad drivers

trisikad/tricycle rides 200 total

Danggit 70 per pack
danggits are cheaper here!

Bantayan Island day 1 [Cebu]

While typhoon Egay was flooding the streets of Manila, Blanche and I were enjoying the perfect weather in Bantayan Island. the whole trip was really great, so relaxing! The island's so peaceful... the locals are accomodating... and the beach... it's beautiful!


sight upon reaching Sta. Fe's port

The first thing we did was to look for a place to stay. the popular resorts we eyed didn't fit our taste --either they're too expensive or the ambience's not good, so we ended up in Yooneek Resort (cool name huh? hehe). Our room wasn't bad for our budget, w/c was 1200/night. plus it's located near the town's best restos... everything's almost walking distance! Thanks to Juli, our manong trisikad driver who suggested this.

It was already 2pm when we finished settling our stuff so we decided to eat in the resort's bar. we ordered onion rings, and their specialty Aji Relleno (deep fried bell pepper stuffed with cheese, cream and corn) OMG, it was soooo yummy!


view from Yooneek's La Cabana (bar)


me @ la cabana, so hungry!


blanche - bartender wannabe


aji relleno (yummmm) and onion rings

After that late lunch, of course it was beach time! Blanche and I enjoyed the beach which was really perfect for swimming. coz even though the tide's high, the water level's not so deep. then we walked along the shore till we discovered shores that are even better --no weeds and the sand's finer.


shore near us, weed-y! grrr

As suggested by Juli again, we checked out White Sand, a resto along the shore. The food was quite costly so we just ordered fruit shakes. each shake costs P95, more expensive than galera and bora huh? haha! that was really good though, I can't remember how many times we said "omg this is good!" haha!


front of White Sand resto...
shore's cleaner, sand's finer!


dip muna while waiting for our shakes Ü


mango and banana smoothies. yumm!

At night we dined at D'Jungle. Eat all you can, for only P195! sobrang sulit. The crabs were really great, they weren't so big so the shells were so crispy, so easy to open. then the meat, it was so good, so sweet! (that's how I describe crabs that aren't bland. haha) I had 4 while blanche had 8! bwhahaha!


first night buffet!

We slept early coz the trip from Manila was exhausting, plus we knew there were more to checkout the next day. the day was really perfect, the 2nd day was even better... [read more]