Just last March, I took an unplanned trip to the Philippines . The destination was Cebu Island . This so-called Queen Island of the South has been ranked one of the top ten islands in the world for quite a number of years now. In the city, there's not much to see other than being a less chaotic version of overcrowded Manila . However, rest of the island has so much to offer. I was to spend only 4 days there, so my cousin and I decided to explore the southeastern Cebuano towns of Badian and Moalboal. With a guide book in one hand and a few print outs from my quick internet search in the other hand, my cousin and I set out for the trip.
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We got a PHP 4,000 roundtrip flight with Cebu Pacific which took around 45 minutes from the Manila domestic terminal to the one in Mactan Island . My good old friend from unforgettable days in Florence came to greet me at the airport. To get to the city proper, we had to cross the bridge. We went for lunch at this nice barbecue place. Terribly hungry (because they didn’t serve food on the budget airlines), I ordered very greedily one of everything – pork, chicken, fish, shells, and those processed foods (tocino?). I ate like crazy, I totally forgot I was on a diet! With a full tummy and sleepy eyes, my friend brought us to the Mayflower Inn (www.mayflowerpensionhouse.com) which is one of the many pension houses scattered across the Cebu City . The double room cost us PHP 1,232 per night without breakfast. There’s a 24-hour McDonald’s just a block away, so I was totally fine with that. The Mayflower offers clean and colorful rooms with the basic comfort you would need away from home. They also have very friendly and helpful staff, some very good-looking I must say. Haha..Hoping to get a discount next visit. Hint!
