Albatross

To make the story short, at 7 pm the vessel is leaving the queen of the south and after 2 hours the captain give some announcement that the vessel encounter engine problem, as a passenger of this vessel what we can do is to wait for the crew to fix the engine problem. We don’t want to be bored while waiting so we decide to have some slept. Almost 12 midnight I woke up and asking some info to our fellow passengers in the vessel if they already fix the problem and they said not yet…Hollyyy shyt!!!!!!!!!! And when I check at the window, good news I still saw the port of the queen of the south.

Around 5 am, another good news that we heard from the captain of the vessel, this time another engine of the vessel encountered problem..WTF..!!!! When I heard that it pissed me off, but good thing they serve breakfast to the passengers. Around 6 am engine is okay and the captain announce that nothing to worry. This time we hopping that before lunch we will be at Cagayan de Oro after that engine error.

Around 9 am if my memory is good, we are boundary of Bohol sea and Cebu the captain announce that another problem for the engine..WFT..!!!!Do you think you will enjoy this trip if you always heard the captain announce for the engine problem? Of course not, since they serve breakfast and we enjoyed the meal that they served so another slept while waiting some crew to fix the engine.

Woke up at lunch time still they did not fix the engine, the captain announced that lunch will be serve to everybody. We could not do anything but to get our lunch meal at their canteen, after our lunch I noticed this bird flying and diving at the sea so because of curiosity I bring my camera and checked the bird. This bird is an Albatross bird who is fishing for the lunch, so I took pictures with this albatross bird and I really enjoyed the photos that I get. This is my first time to get pictures for bird that flying around the vessel and hunt for a food for lunch. Around 4 pm we arrived Cagayan de Oro.. J Considering this trip as an adventure because you could not away from us the worry what if the vessel will be sink while we are in the middle of slept

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Plaza Independencia

Way back few months ago just got interested about historic place in the Philippines. Because of my fellow traveler bloggers I’ve got interested about the historic place in the Philippines where in they love to visit several historic places during their travel.

Fort San Pedro Cebu

Real Talk: Every time we visited a historic place I don’t wrote or I could not found an interest with it. Instead of information about the historic place in the Philippines to everybody know the history of this place what I usually wrote in my blog post is my experience in this place.

Because of these fellow traveler bloggers they opened my eyes and mind how important these historic places in our country and share the info to the next generations where in some of our young generation didn’t know the history of our country.

Miguel López de Legazpi Monument

To start this I would like to share about the Fort San Pedro of Cebu which Cebu City also known as the Queen City of the South and one of the best tourist destination in the country, Cebu City is one of the cities who rich in historical attractions as this are where the first Spanish settlement took place.

Fort San Pedro or Fuerza de San Pedro is one of the historical attractions and the smallest, oldest tri-bastion fort in the country and it is located in Plaza Independencia. According to history the Fort San Pedro is a military defense structure and it was built by the Spanish and indigenous Cebuano laborers under the command of Spanish conquistador, Miguel López de Legazpi and the Spanish Government in Cebu which the work was first started on May 8, 1565. This served also as the nucleus of the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.

Fort San Pedro Cebu tree

I think tree is one of the witness on what really happened on Fort San Pedro before and after.

Why Fort San Pedro?

It is because the fort’s name was taken from Miguel Lopez de Legazpi’s flagship “San Pedro” in which he sailed the Pacific Ocean.

I don’t have chance to get inside because it was closed that time so I don’t have chance to take photos inside. I think there are reasons why I did not enter this historic building and it means I will be back in Queen City of the South this coming Sinulog 2013 and will visit this place and I assure that this time I will go inside and see what’s there.

Veterans Memorial

This is inside Plaza Independencia.

Wondering what’s inside of her mind while she saw this monument?? Did she ask who is this hero?

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Portofino Beach Resort Cebu City

We went to this Portofino Beach Resort because I heard a good feedback about this resort. Aside of the beautiful place that they have I heard also that they have aquanaut where in you can walk under water and you can swim with the fish. Portofino Beach Resort is not the same as the other resorts because it is not big compare to others but you can do lot of things in this beach resort just like paragliding, Jet Ski, ride with their banana boat or try the short zip line by crossing the sea. You can enjoy also the swimming pool with proper swimwear attire, the entrance fee for this pool is only 120 pesos for ages 7 above and 60 pesos for the ages 6 below, this is not included to the entrance of the resort which is 120/person for Saturday, Sundays and Holidays (7 years old above) and 90 pesos for weekdays or ordinary days (6 years old below).

Portofino Beach Resort

Portofino Beach Resort located at Angasil Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City, and the travel time going to this resort is 15-30 minutes it depends on your origin in Cebu city. From the entrance of Portofino Beach Resort you to travel another 800 meters going to the main entrance gate of Portofino Beach Resort.

You can also use the facilities in beach area from 6am to 5 pm only.

Gazebo with 2 tables and 12 chairs for 1,700 pesos
Shade Sails with 2 tables and 12 chairs for 1,400 pesos
Tents with 2 tables and 12 chairs (first come first save basis) for 1,400 pesos
Table set with 1 table and 6 chairs (first come first save basis) 350 pesos

Extra table 140 pesos
Extra Chair 35 pesos

With these facilities that they have in the beach I can assure that you have a nice view from the beach and some beach activities. Well, as a traveler these price is only good when you are in a group so that you can budget well your money.

If you have plan for an overnight in Portofino Beach Resort they have rooms to use from 2 pm to 12 noon.

Beach front De Luxe (4,500 pesos)
Deluxe Regular (4,200 pesos)
Regular Pool Side (3,800 pesos)
Standard Economy (3,500 pesos)
For additional charge or more than 2 pax (6 person max) (1,300)

You can use also their rooms during day only from (8 am to 5 pm)

Beach front De Luxe ( 3,800 pesos)
Deluxe Regular (3,500 pesos)
Regular Pool Side (3,200 pesos)
Standard Economy (3,000 pesos)
For additional charge or more than 2 px (6 person max) (1,300)

The room rates are good for 2 pax only but it includes free entrance, free breakfast and free use of swimming pool. For extra person you will pay 120 0r 90 pesos/head for entrance fee aside from excess room charge or pay 600 pesos/head inclusive o f entrance fee, mattress, breakfast, drinks and free use of swimming pool. For reservation and more info about this beach resort you can contact them at (032)495 7768 – 495 7769 or 495 7881.

Conclusion:

For the place of this resort: I could not say anything about the place because they have the nice place, nice beach, nice view from your cottage and the most important that I’ve observed is that they have a clean area..

Location: very accessible for the customers and to the tourists who love beach. Just a minutes of travel you already there.

Entrance Fee: the entrance fee is not bad for only 120 pesos which we know that Philippines have lots of beautiful beaches to visit and Portofino Beach Resort is one of them.

Room Rates: In my opinion, the room rate for overnight is too expensive although you have the beach in front of your room. It’s the same as the room rate of day time because you can only use the room for 8-9 hours.

But I admit during our visit, I really enjoy the place, the services and off course the clean beach. You can call them for reservations of cottage and rooms.

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Sinulog Festival 2012

It’s been awhile since we visited Cebu City. We travel to Cebu to discover some beautiful places which we did not explore yet and off course hunt the best local foods in town. This time we visited Cebu City for the Sinulog Festival 2012. This is our first travel this year together with my partner and her family; this is one of my favourite travels so far, why? because we made our decision 1 week before to attend the Sinulog Festival 2012 without any plans and itinerary on where to go.:-)

I think the campaign of the tourism and to promote the Philippines “It’s more fun in the Philippines” was really effective because during the Sinulog Festival it was attended by almost 3 Million devoted including the local and tourists which this Sinulog Festival of Cebu City is one of the most awaited celebrations every year.

Sinulog Devoted

Did you know about Sinulog Festival? Here’s some trivia..:-)

The word Sinulog comes from the Cebuano adverb sulog which roughly means “like water current movement;” it describes the forward-backward movement of the Sinulog dance. The dance consists of two steps forward and one step backward, done to the sound of drums.

This festival is one of the most colourful in the Philippines, because of its famous the Sinulog become commercialized to attract tourists around the globe. The Cebu Sinulog Festival is held every third week of January in Cebu City Sports Complex and the celebration will last for 9 days, culminating with a grand parade. Prior to the main event, a fluvial procession is organized. Before sunrise the Sto. Niño is carried on a boat crossing from Mandaue to Cebu City.

Joining Sinulog festival will not be completed if you don’t visit the Sto. Niño Church in Colon.

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As I search in the net, there are lots of bloggers already who blog about Mindanao Bloggers Summit 3 (and register) which is held at Cagayan de Oro City and it was hosted by the CDO BLOGGERS Inc. These are my reasons why I would like to join this event in this coming October 24, 2009.

1. I’m sure that this event I will meet new friends of bloggers and I know they will excited also to meet other bloggers.
2. I heard that during the Mindanao Bloggers Summit, CDO Bloggers will given away Nokia cell phones, Havaianas and many more… (wwoooww, how I wish I can get one..:-)).
3. I’m so excited also for those bloggers who will receive awards for the Philippine Blog Awards which is held also at this same day and that was after MBS3.
4. The most exciting is the 2^nd day because of the adventures that I will expect. If you are an adventurous person then you can try their White Water Rafting or if afraid the on water you can go with the City Tour.

I know lots of bloggers wonder why they pay for this event; the answer of this question is in the #4. Paying 1000 pesos for the rafting is so cheaper compare to the regular price that you will pay and also 500 pesos. For me paying 500 or 1000 pesos is nothing because I know I will surely enjoy this event and I know I can find way to get this money back. They said that “Kong gusto ay may paraan at kakayanin at kong ayaw may dahilan”. So what you are waiting now guys sign up to the registration form and CDO BLOGGERS are waiting for you.:-) So think guys this is once a year event and every year you will meet new friends in the world of blogging.. By the way you can read the program flow of Mindanao Bloggers Summit 3.

The CDO GUIDE give you another info regarding some event will happened in the city of golden friendship.

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But month of August is already passed and what we will do..? There is no already celebration happened in the next 4 months that kagay-anons can be proud off. Ooooppppsss if you think like that then you are wrong. October 24, 2009 is one of the big months of Kagay-anons, why? It is because CDO BLOGGERS will be hosting the Mindanao Bloggers Summit 3 (MBS3) here in Cagayan de Oro with the aim of “Mindanao Bag-uhon ang Panan-aw”. This time bloggers from all over Mindanao will have a gathering and even bloggers from Luzon and Bisayas will be attending on this big event. You wonder why it is already 3 and not 1 and 2..? it is because the Mindanao Bloggers Summit 1 was held at Davao last 2007 and the Mindanao Bloggers Summit 2 was held at General Santos city (Gen San) last 2008, the bloggers of this 2 blooming city is so active and organize. It is time for the Kagay-anons to host this big event for bloggers.

Update of Mindanao Bloggers Summit:

When: October 24, 2009

Venue of the Event: Pearlmont Inn, Limketkai Drive Cagayan de Oro City (visit the Venue for the Mindanao Bloggers Summit 3)

Time: 8am – 5pm

Philippine Blog Awards to be followed, from 7pm – 11pm

After Mindanao Bloggers Summit the PBA (Philippine Blog Awards) is follow, this is the first time where PBA give awards to bloggers in the province and Cagayan de Oro is the first province to host this event. So we are inviting bloggers from Cagayan de Oro and bloggers all over Philippines to join this big event. So what you are waiting for, go and sign up the Pre-Registration for Mindanao Bloggers Summit 3.

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Last August 29-31, 2009 CDO GUIDE went to Cebu to experience the new adventure in life together with the Co-CDOBLGGERS and some friends. This trip was planned two (2) months ago; we went to Cebu with three reasons. 1^st is for the business reason ( try to visit the Online Shopping) and 2^nd is to try and experience the first and tallest Edge Coaster in the Philippines and their Skywalk which is located along Osmena Boulevard Cebu at Crown Regency Hotel and the 3^rd and last is to meet Cebu Bloggers Society (CBS).

We arrived Cebu ahead of our schedule, so instead of getting some taxi to ride on to the city we decided to walk and explore their airport the Cebu Mactan Airport. We just simply ride a jeep going to Mandaue and approaching Mandaue we hire a taxi to our next distinction, the Pacific Pensionne House. After check in, we text ChiQ Montes to meet us at Crown Regency to start our first freaky adventure in life the Edge Coaster which is located at the 38^th floor of the Crown Regency Hotel (521 feet below the ground). Correct me if I’m wrong but I think this hotel is the tallest hotel in the Philippines. The experience of Edge Coaster is so atrocious which you feel you were hanging at the building, the position of the coaster is like 45 degrees angle but your position is 90 degrees angle, but you have an option on what angle you would like because you are the one who control the angle of the coaster.

Edge Coaster Cebu

Edge Coaster 3

After this weird adventure of Edge Coaster we try also the Skywalk which is located at the 37^th floor of the hotel. So from 38^th floor we go down just one floor for the Skywalk adventure. In this adventure, we just walking the path around the Regency Hotel and the experience is just like you are in the moon walking with our nice attire suit and harness for our safety. But before we walk around there is a short briefing for our safety. By the after this two adventure we receive a certificate each of survival.

SkyWalk Adventure 3

SkyWalk Adventure 1

In the next day of craziness in Cebu we try the Kart and it was so fun. For 300 pesos per person plus 25 pesos for the rent of their helmet which is 325 pesos all in all you can now ride kart for 30 minutes which is not enough for fun.:-). And by the way before I forgot, we fail to meet CBS and only ChiQ meet them:-( But we are waiting for you guys in Mindanao Bloggers Summit 3

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There may be literally a hundred wonderful places to visit in the Philippines – in fact, Pangasinan’s Hundred Islands can already claim a hundred of those wonderful places without any difficulty – but there is one place in the country that you must make time to visit and that’s Cebu, also known as La Reina del Sol or the Queen of the South.

Cebu is located in the Visayas, the smallest of the three main islands in the Philippines. To travel to Cebu, you may take an hour long flight or a 22 hour long boat ride from Manila. Cebu is also accessible from other foreign cities such as Hong Kong and Tokyo.

If you’re worried about language barriers being factor, Cebu is populated by English Speaking Filipinos, more fluent in fact than their civilian brothers in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines.

Destination Points of Cebu
So that you won’t need any travel guide once you get to Cebu, Philippines, here is a list of the best travel spots of Cebu.

Magellan’s Cross
In the 19th of April, less than five hundred years ago, Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan discovered the Philippines and planted a cross as remembrance of that fateful day. It is also the spot where the first Filipino Christians were baptized. Travel to Magellanes St. if you want to catch sight of this beautiful cross.

Aznar-Alfonso Antique Collection
Cebu is a city that is deeply rooted in religion and this is highly visible in the beautiful collection of santoses or statues of Jesus Christ during his childhood owned by Dr. Lydia Aznar-Alfonso. Besides the former, there is also a collection of antique furniture, jewelry and grave goods or objects from archaeological diggings in Mactan and Cebu.

Mactan Island
Never ever forget to drop by the idyllic Mactan Island, home to world class beaches and resorts, when you travel to Cebu. This coral-blessed island is also a great favorite among scuba divers so get your artificial fins ready if you also want to explore the underwater beauty of Mactan Island.

Kawasan Falls
There seems to be nothing as majestic and as amazing as when one views the powerful rush of a waterfall If you are in awe of waterfalls just like many people are, do make sure that you drop by Kawasan Falls, located at Matutinao, Badian.

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I’m so excited when our instructor announce that we have a Educational Tour at cebu. I think not only me who was excited in that announcement coz I know that not only me who is first time to step in cebu. We been there for 3 days and 2 nights. We visit lots of places in cebu and big I.T company. Our tour will not be completed if we will not taste there “SUTOKIL”.I’m so enjoy in that trip of ours.

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