The hubby & I, plus two of our friends, flew to Cebu without any itinerary.
I've been to Cebu several times, this trip was one of those - "let's not plan anything" trips.


"San tayo pupunta?" (Where the heck are we going?)
"Bahala na si Batman!" 
"kakain na naman tayo?" (We're having breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, snacks AGAIN??? :-P )
"Saan tayo kakain?" (Where do you want to have breakfast? lunch? dinner? snacks? :-P )
formed most of our discussions / debates.

[Touchdown Mactan International Airport - and I apologize for posting this, but it's just too funny not to post Mr. ButtCrack Man at the conveyor belt.]



So our first day (or rather night... because we took a late night flight) was spent catching up with the "locals" aka our work friends who re-loc'd to Cebu. 

From the airport... first stop, IT Park at Lahug, backpacks and all.

We had a late late dinner at Abuhan Tres at the i2 Bldg. with Lindsay and her boy.  Hmm. No pic.
Next stop, Coffee Cat at e-Bloc, a few blocks away from Abuhan Tres to visit friends who were working the night shift.

Original Yo Go for me, Hot White Chocolate Mocha for Dennis

Nice printouts on their to-go containers.

Ganito pala pag late night ang flight.  Chilling at IT Park at Lahug.

Ubos!

We had absolutely no idea where we'd be spending the night yet. Went around the city, visited a few pensions & inns... ended up at Sugbutel. Not a bad idea :)  Thank you Manong Taxi Driver for the recommendation!

At Php 250 / person / night / bed, it wasn't a bad deal.  Especially for travelers/transients like us.  We arrived around 4 or 430am that day/night (whatever!)  and paying > Php1000 to sleep for a few hours and shower was unfathomable.


If we had known about Sugbutel earlier, we could've gotten the Php 99 / bed deal.  The Philippines lacks these budget friendly hostels (and by budget friendly I mean the non-sleazy non-red-light-district kinds of places. I know you know what I mean :-P.  Most countries around the world & in SE Asia have a lot.  I know our hotel / resort rates are pretty easy on the budget, but it's still a different experience for travelers to mingle with other travelers / backpackers in a non-sleazy environment.

When we stayed there, it was Php 200 / bed exclusive of linens (add Php 50 for linens & a towel) for the Business Class room.  The Business Class area / room had about 20 or so double deck bunks with curtains, similar to the bunks on a cruise ship.

The hubby at the bunk above mine.

Business Class

I had my own night light, a 'safety box' right below my bed mattress (kept my camera bag, wallet, and other valuables there).  The bunk had a shoe ledge, and an outlet so that I can charge my gadgets.  They had wifi too! :) (A great deal... mental note for future Cebu trips... But no, my phone then was still toooo old-fashioned LOL)

My bed for the night

I did not get to take a pic of the common bath, but it was clean, it had separate cubicles & shower rooms.  And I, for one, am very particular about bathrooms.  I can sleep anywhere. I just need a nice, clean bathroom.

Sugbutel apparently was located near the Reclamation Area and the Port and near SM City.  It's clean, affordable, and modern. Thumbs up!

We left Sugbutel around 10am the next day, refreshed even after only a few hours sleep. For lunch (see common conversation above)... we decided to head to SM City, which was so near Sugbutel.  Dennis had his Sodexho thingie, which we could use at the supermarket :)

We discovered the SM Travelers' Lounge, had our caffeine fix at Coffee Dream right beside the reception area, and made "uzi" their amenities.  For travelers like us, we highly highly appreciate the amenities! The group and I were even discussing... Baket walang ganito sa Manila?  Baket hindi na lang Cebu ang capital ng Philippines? LOL.

My usual Latte.

The SM Travelers' Lounge is a one-stop shop perfect for backpackers, transients, and tourists.  They have baggage storage (very important for Go-Lite travelers like us! Php 30 for half compartment, Php 50 for. the whole compartment - which fits all 4 of our packs! At 50 bucks!), shower rooms (at Php 50/20 min shower with hot water!), ferry ticket sales, flight and bus trip information, hotel booking and reservation, battery charging stations (cellphone battery charging is P25 / hour; Laptop, PS2, I-pod and other gadgets - Php 50 / hour), pay phones, electronic loading services, and since it's SM, free wi-fi.  The manong guard even helps you hail a taxi to get you to your next destination.


Before we embarked on our Malapascua adventure (yes, we finally decided after so many discussions... to just do Malapascua on this trip, and scrap Moalboal & Camotes), we had a quick lunch at the supermarket area, and of course dessert after.

Lunch c/o SM Supermarket - the rotisserie chicken :-P

Gelatissimo at SM! :-9

So many choices... so little space... (in my tummy that is)

We saw a few kids practicing for Linggo ng Wika

The North Bus Terminal is just a few blocks away from SM, and we wanted to be nice and full before the 4-5 hour trip.

More about our Malapascua adventure here :)