To Cebu City

Well my last full day in the Philippines. I woke up and had french toast with honey for breakfast. It was good, but I regretted not getting mango pancakes again! Back home they were having an engagement party for Phil and Kristin, so I was passed around and talked with the fam a little bit.

French toast and honey!

The previous night the driver who took me back told me he could come and take me into town. So, I counted on him to arrive at 8:30. When he didn't show up and after waiting about 10 minutes I asked the staff to call and ask for another driver. I was set back about 30 minutes from my original plan, but it wasn't too big of a deal. He took me to the bus stop and, from my research the bus would come every 30 minutes. While I was waiting, another van drove by and the door opened and a guy said, "Cebu?" I saw a few foreigners and others inside so I asked how much it was. It was 100Php (7 less than the bus) and decided I would take the van. *A side note, I didn't just get in a random bus--the day before one of the guides asked me how I was getting back to Cebu and I said I took the bus. He suggested a van as it didn't make very many stops. So, with his advice in mind, I realized this is the van he was talking about. Well, we managed to cram about 18 people into this passenger van and took the 2 1/2 hour ride back to the city.

City of Moalboal before taking off

18 strangers crammed in a van for 3 hours...

When I arrived, I first went to the Yap Ancestral House. It is the oldest Chinese house in the Philippines. There were Chinese traders and they built this particular house. There were lots of antiques and such inside the house. The guides there were nice and kind of stood around and offered to take pictures if you wanted.

In the Yap House

Kitchen sink (see below picture)

Above me is the kitchen sink!

That boat was used to get to the island the airport is now on

After that, I went to the Basilica. On my way I passed the Archdiocesan Museum and as it happened there was a tour that had just begun. I joined a group of 3 other Filipino girls and a few minutes later an Australian guy and his Filipino wife joined as well. It was a very informative tour and we saw lots of religious stuff. The coolest thing was a handwritten note from Mother Teresa to the Arch Bishop. Wow!

In the museum

Archdiocese of Cebu Museum

Very old durable wood!

Popes hat

Hello

Really cool shutters

Used to press Eucharistic hosts.

Bells outside

After the tour

After the tour I went on to the Basilica and walked around there. Then I saw Magellan's Cross which was a really old cross. There were security guards to the entrances of the Basilica and they checked your bags. When I went through, the guard asked me where I was from and I said the US. He asked where in the US and I said Michigan. Turns out he has a relative in Dearborn. I asked where was the best place to get a taxi and he was helpful and gave some tips. I stopped at a 7-11 to look at their snack food and get some snacks before taking a taxi to Ayala Mall. It was a gigantic shopping center with tons of stores and restaurants. I had a hard time picking a place to eat. I wanted to have something relatively local for my last meal and finally found a restaurant. I ordered a shredded and dried beef and garlic dish with rice. I ordered an ice cream sundae (not very local) that was delicious as well. Then, on to another taxi so I could get to the airport.

Basilica

Inside the basilica

Inside the Basilica 

El nino

Magellan's Cross 

Giant mall!

Pretty good dinner...but no veggies makes for a sad girl!

Brownie Sundae

When I checked in, I chatted with the workers and I think the young woman actually bumped me up a class because when I finally boarded the plane, I didn't pay attention to the seat numbers and realized that I was already in the 50's just a short way in and saw my number was 21! I had to go back against the flow (oops!) to get to my seat which was the first row after the seats of 2 in a row. I also noticed that I had a leather seat while a few rows behind me were cloth AND I was in the section ahead of the curtain they pull across for privacy. Ooo, fancy! Unfortunately, this was all mostly lost on me as I was quite tired and slept most of the flight. We were served a meal almost as soon as we got on the plane-and there was ice cream!

Leaving Cebu

First solo trip completed!

Purple ice cream?!