Yesterday was an eventful day of sightseeing. I began early morning swimming with Oslob’s famed whale sharks and later enjoyed the beauty of Tumalog Falls. I was tired by the time I got back to Cebu from Oslob yesterday, so when I woke up in the morning, I decided to take it easy today.
I had breakfast from the hostel’s roof top ‘cafe’The hills weren’t too far away from here
I worked for much of the day (ironic, considering it was May Day), only stepping out at 2pm to go to Ayala Center.
A very nice mall not too far from the hostel. (Had to take two short jeepney rides to get here)I sat down at Persian Palate and had a spinach felalfel sandwich, a chicken shawarma rice meal and coconut water. Bill came to ₱242.
Since it was May Day, many shops were closed and the streets were far from buzzing.
The next day (May 2), I stepped out to do some shopping. I took a jeepney and went all the way down to the end of Osmeña Blvd. No fancy malls out here. Just a lot of street markets, shops and some much older shopping centres and department stores. I stepped into one and ended up buying some sandals for really cheap.
Much of down town Cebu looks like thisSaw a bit of ‘anti-America’… for a change
I then took a jeepney to SM City, where I decided to have lunch.
I had an bacon-wrapped hot dog from Monster Franks. And yes, that’s all the onion rings you get (plus a drink) for ₱130
After some window shopping and purchasing some souvenirs, I headed back to the hostel.
For dinner I ate at a small Italian eatery near Tr3ats Guesthouse. That’s fettucine pasta with meat sauce (₱140). This would be my final dinner in Cebu.
Date: May 3rd, 2014
I took a taxi to the airport as today I was leaving Cebu for Davao.
It was bright and sunny today, so I hoped the flight would leave on time
After checking in, we got word that the flight was slightly delayed. *Shocker* -_-
In the departures lounge, the famed Zubuchon had an outletZubichon got really famous after Antony Bourdain called their lechon “the best he’s ever eaten”. So I too packed a lechon and rice meal (₱190) to have on the plane as my in-flight meal.Goodbye Cebu!The lechon was really well done and the meat was obviously good quality pork. I guess Zubuchon really is worth trying when in Cebu.The flight from Cebu to Davao takes just over an hourLanded in Davao — for the first timeI hired a taxi to take me to the hostel I was going to be staying at for the next few daysThis building with green tinted windows is the FTC Tower. It houses Green Windows Dormitel on the 4th, 5th and 6th floors (Oh, the taxi fare came to ₱166)I chose Green Windows Dormitel because they have dorm beds for ₱188 all inclusive, and the rooms looked very nice and clean in the photosGreen Windows Dormitel has everything from dorm rooms to full service suitesThis was the ₱188 dorm room, and I chose bed E, by the window. I was quite impressed! Wooden floors, functioning air conditioner, and comfy beds. The wi-fi was spotty inside the room, but whenever it worked, it was good.I would sometimes have to sit out on the couch to get a better connectionThis is the TV room, attached to the cafeteriaThe cafeteria has a (pay) buffet serving breakfast, lunch and dinner (mostly Filipino cuisine) and the prices for coffee/tea and other items seem fairly reasonableThere’s even a store selling more groceries in the reception areaThe street Green Windows Dormitel is situated at is called Mt. Apo street. With a name like that, you would assume Mt. Apo is close by. Nope, Mt. Apo is no where near it!Green Windows Dormitel wasn’t too far away from the main city center
I walked about to scan the area and was happy to find enough eateries (KFC, McDonalds, Jollibee, etc.), pizzerias and bakeries galore all within walking distance from the dormitel.
To the left is Daylight Inn, a place I was initially going to stay at because it was the only listing available for Davao City on Hostels.comTimes Square Mall to the left and more shopping centers all aroundI just roamed around town to see what else Davao City had to offerCity Hall of DavaoDurian is abundant in Davao and there they honour the fruitA statue honouring Philippine hero Jose Rizal
Davao is home to the country’s national bird — the Philippines Eagle. I would be visiting the Philippines Eagle Center the day after.I walked towards the San Pedro Cathedral, a Davao landmarkThis statue is the Commemorative Monument of Peace and UnitySan Pedro Cathedral is one of the oldest churches in Davao and renowned for its odd boat-like designI checked out the interiorsTook a panoramaAnd then I leftNear by was Osmena ParkAnd inside were scores of masseurs offering foot and shoulder massages I walked around a bit more before heading backBilliards seemed to be a popular pass timeA lot of nice bakeries in Davao City, and it was cheap!
I’ll be honest. When I read Davao City was the biggest city in the world (in terms of area), I still assumed Davao City would have its areas of world-class skylines. Far from it. It feels more like a very big town. It’s big in size, sure, but far from fancy. I saw so many pawn shops — a sign that the populace are looking to sell their wares (hopefully not stolen) in exchange for cash. Electronics stores hardly stocked the latest models and even the malls lacked any of the usual fancy brands. Definitely far more low key compared to Manila and Cebu.
Anyway, I wasn’t in Davao to hang out at malls. Tomorrow I would visit Eden Nature Park and attempt to visit Mt. Apo (which I realized only after landing here that the mountain is no where near the city)
FTC Tower, at night
(All the above photos were taken using my phone camera, Sony Xperia Z1)
After spending the early morning swimming with whale sharks, I then decided to visit Tumalog Falls, Oslob’s other big attraction.
There were plenty of bike taxis at the entrance of the Whale shark briefing center and this guy approached me asking me if I wanted to go to Tumalog Falls. He said it would cost ₱120 to take me there and back.Tumalog Falls isn’t too far away from the whale shark briefing centerBasically the road to Tumalog Falls is just off the main highway, heading back from the whale shark briefing centerThe driver dropped me off at a parking area at the top. From here, I had to climb down a steep slope.You can pay again to have a bike drop you at the waterfalls and back, but I just chose to walk not knowing how far it was (it wasn’t)Once at the bottom, the beauty begins right awayHow is the water so blue?!I really wasn’t expecting much from Tumalog Falls and planned to spend only a few minutes hereBut even from here I could sense the beauty. You have to climb from the left to get inside the falls areaTumalog Falls is really beautiful!It was so nice and cool to stand here… even though water droplets were hitting my lensThe water was so blue, but it was hard to get the entire falls top to bottom in one frameThere was so much mist in the air from the waterfalls!I pictured Tumalog Falls to be one big stream — it isn’tIf you wanted to set up a BBQ or picnic, you could do it here. But mind you, it’s very muddy.I decided to pack up my DSLR as I didn’t want it getting too wet. It was time for the GoPro to come out.I held the GoPro sideways to take this shotI took my shirt off and carefully stepped to the left of the waterfallsIt was slippery and the water felt cold, but I felt like taking a shower after a swim in the sea The water sure was chilly — but it felt good!I tried to get closer to the falls from the left
I decided to go to the other sideI figured I would take some photos of the waterfalls from another angleSeemed to be less splashier on this sideYou could get a full shot from this side, with no tree obstructingFortunately the skies were clearing up too. I got in the water to try and see if I could stay under the water splashing down.IT. WAS. COLD! And heavy!Then for some reason, this woman asked for a photo with me. After that, her group asked me to take a photo of all of them.Finally I thought, why not, handed one of them to take a group shot on my GoPro camera. Clearly not the best camera for such situations. I didn’t know any of them but that’s how it works in the Philippines I took a parting shotIt was now time to leaveI enjoyed Tumalog falls more than I thought I would. It was really beautiful and you have to be here to experience its beauty! I ended up spending close to an hour instead of just a “few minutes”.I walked back to the top where my bike taxi guy was waiting.I took these photos using the GoProYou can get a nice view of the sea from up hereI asked the bike taxi driver how to get to a bus stop in town from where I can catch a ride back to Cebu. He dropped me here and told me I can take a jeepney going to the market area. (This photo and the next few are taken on my phone)I hopped on a jeepney and this was the last stop. This was the main market area.Since I was in town, I decided to check out some of the attractions near byThis is where the municipal offices and government offices wereThere were a few houses aroundPulis = PoliceA covered basketball courtChurch of the Immaculate Conception — Oslob’s oldest churchI couldn’t go in, the doors were closedI wasn’t sad or anything. I had seen enough churches in Philippines.Next to the church was Cuartel, an unfinished structure by the Spanish colonials that was meant for soldiersThe stones used came from the church when its floor had collapsed in 1899It is still well-maintainedI decided to shoot some photos using my 70-200mm lens
Behind Cuartel and facing the sea is a public parkThere used to be an old lighthouse hereI sat under the tree shade for a while as it was scorching hot
I just love how clear and blue the water appears hereOh so blueI decided to walk on the edge tooAhh, felt like swimming in these waters
I walked back and decided to leave Oslob
Once back at the main highway, I asked the townsfolk from where I could board a bus to Cebu and they said, “Right here”. I figured I would eat an early lunch (it was just past 11am) as by the time I would reach Cebu, it would be past 3pm.
I had (garlic) fried chicken and rice (₱60)Soon after lunch I boarded a bus going to CebuI passed by so many houses by the sea. Imagine waking up to such blue seas every morning.
I really enjoyed Oslob more than I thought I would. Definitely a place to visit and worth spending a day at! I’m glad I woke up early. A visit to Oslob is highly-recommended if you are in Cebu. I’m glad I didn’t do this trip via some travel agency. It can by done by yourself and for a lot less. As a foreigner, I spent around ₱1500 today (to & fro bus journeys + whale shark experience + bike taxi + Tumalog Falls + lunch), half of what was quoted to me by some of the travel agencies back in Cebu yesterday. I could make up for sleep on the bus journey back. I was going to take it easy tomorrow anyway.
Today was a Tuesday. I had a nice one day break after the Sunday trek to Mount Pinatubo. I was to leave Manila and head to Cebu by flight. I thought I’d take the train to Pasay and then take a taxi or jeepney from Pasay/TAFT Avenue to the airport.
But that was a mistake. When I got to the Cubao station, first there was a line for tickets. After I got the ticket, there was another line just to pass through security. Then another line after security just before taking the steps up to the platform. Then another line to get inside the train. This was done because that’s how many people there are during morning rush hour! It took an hour after getting my ticket just to get inside the stuffed train. It was such a struggle to stand inside with my two bags but I somehow survived! I got to Terminal 3 in time… which was not that important as the flight was later delayed by half-an-hour.
Anyway, my Cebu Pacific flight landed in Cebu safely, but getting to my hostel took more than an hour due to the line for taxis, first, then the city traffic. As irritated I was arriving past lunch time, it was nice to be back in Cebu since 2011.
I was staying here, Tr3ats Guesthouse. (Just read it as ‘treats’). The hostel was a short jeepney ride away from Fuente Osmeña circle which has a Robinsons mall and many other eateriesThis is the room I was given. They would later shift me to another room a day later but this is how little space there is to walk around once you leave bags on the floorThey have 3 bathrooms, but the shower heads needed some cleaning up. You had streams of water shooting in every other direction besides your head.Beside the bathrooms
I stepped out soon after to first, get some drinking water, hand over my laundry, and then to have lunch. Fortunately, just across the road from Tr3ats Guesthouse were many laundry shops (₱25/kg). I then took a jeepney, paid minimum fare (₱8) to get to Fuente Osmeña circle. It was already well past 3pm and I was late for lunch as it is. I went downstairs where the supermarket and food court is.
₱170 for some garlic chicken, stuffed crab, and fried rice
After lunch, I went around to find travel agencies offering trips to Oslob for the whale shark sighting tours. A few of the travel agencies I visited said they need a minimum of 3 people for them to organize a tour and even if I managed to group together 3-4 people, they told me it would still cost me ₱3k or more, per person, which was way too much. Back at the hostel, the staff told me how to get to Oslob by bus (which I also read online). I convinced myself to wake up really early — like 3am early — and so I went to bed early.
April 30th, 2014 – Cebu to Oslob by Bus
I woke up at 3:30am and took a taxi to the Cebu bus station, which only took 10 minutes to get to due to the lack of traffic.
Even though there were air-conditioned buses to Oslob, I hopped into the first regular bus leaving the bus station — mostly because I didn’t want to wait, or freeze. The one-way ticket to Oslob cost ₱150.I slept through much of the journey, but by the time I woke up, the bus had reached Oslob provinceLook at how amazingly calm the sea is. It was beautiful.The bus dropped me at Tan-awan, which is where you need to disembark and right where the Oslob Butanding (whale shark) Briefing Center isIt was just past 7am, which is when the center opensI walked straight to the briefing centerI assumed at 7:30am in the morning, things would be just starting upBut there was a trail of boats already out in sea!
