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 worked for much of the day (ironic, considering it was May Day), only stepping out at 2pm to go to Ayala Center.
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.
I then took a jeepney to SM City, where I decided to have lunch.
After some window shopping and purchasing some souvenirs, I headed back to the hostel.
Date: May 3rd, 2014
I took a taxi to the airport as today I was leaving Cebu for Davao.
After checking in, we got word that the flight was slightly delayed. *Shocker* -_-
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.
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)
(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.
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 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 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.
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.