CEBU: EXPLORING MANDAUE AND LAPU-LAPU

September 5, 2010, Sunday

My mom, her friend Kuya Soc and I planned to go to Corregidor but then there was a problem with my sister’s confirmation and baptismal certificate. It was important to get these two certificates as they were requirements for her church wedding next year. However, my sister is currently working in UAE so my mom had to be the one to attend to this matter. To make up for the cancelled Corregidor trip, my mom asked me and Kuya Soc to go with her to Cebu instead. My cousin, Jace, also went with us to Cebu because it was a long time since he last saw his mom and younger brother, Arvi, who are currently based in Cebu.

I was tasked to look for the best airline deal and I was surprised that Philippine Airlines was actually cheaper than Cebu Pacific! The price for PAL was only P1,100 while the price for Cebu Pacific was P1,500. It was a bit strange that there were many unoccupied seats during our flight. I guess I was used to flying with Cebu Pacific which is always jampacked.

Before dropping off our things in Tita Stella's house, we had breakfast first at Mcdonalds. Since we were already in Mandaue, my mom decided that we should go first to St. Joseph’s Church to get my sister’s confirmation certificate.

The secretary still hasn’t arrived yet so we decided to explore the church while waiting. It was really big and nice. What impressed me the most is the life sized Last Supper.

Afterwards, we headed to Lapu-Lapu to have lunch at the house of my other aunt, Dada.

Since Dada’s place is near to beach resorts, we decided to have a look at some resorts for my sister’s honeymoon destination. The first stop was a new resort, Crimson Beach Resort and Spa.

I really like the ambience in Crimson. It is fairly secluded and the view, especially from the infinity pool, is breathtaking. I hope I can take a dip there in the future, hehe. :D

The next stop is Imperial Palace. I guess it is a pretty popular place as there were many foreign visitors in the lobby. If compared to Crimson, Imperial Palace offers more amenities.

However, I still like Crimson better. I guess I prefer less crowds and Imperial Palace was a bit crowded for me.

We were all tired after the ocular so we went to Parkmall Mandaue to have snacks. We ended up eating at my cousin Arvi’s favorite restaturant, Dimsum Break.

The day did not end there as we went to TOPS overlooking that night. There was an entrance fee of P100/person. However, though the view was beautiful, I was a bit disappointed that the place was not that well-maintained. It was raining that night so it added to the gloomy atmosphere.

A tip for those planning to go to TOPS: It is advisable to hire a cab round trip since it can be very hard to commute there as it is uphill.