Monday, October 18

Cebu is a place Edgar and I really wanted to visit before we left the Philippines.  We were given the opportunity this weekend to travel with some friends, one who is living in Cebu, so we went when we found out how cheap the plane tickets were.  On the way to the airport, our friend Joey informed us that Zest Air is so cheap because they are a business that used to be called something else and was known for crashing all the time.  The old name used to be like...Philippines spirit, and apparently they used to crash so much people would joke you would fly with them a person and come back a spirit....soooo needless to say I was a little nervous.  Don't worry mom and dad, I'm writing this blog post from Manila, so you know I'm back safe and sound. 

We saw this sign at the airport in the area you walk through to get on the plane, and it was so confusing to me. 

There was no place to wash feet, what is foot and mouth disease, and of all things to advertise....why this?  (foot and mouth disease is something carried by humans, but that affects pigs snouts or something...sick.)

Anyways, Cebu was beautiful.  When we first arrived we went to a mall to get some lunch and ran into the one other person we know from Cebu, which was nice because she was able to recommend a yummy place for us to eat.  That night we visited Ben at his apartment, and he had set up a barbecue and swimming party with the family next door who owns....probably the most beautiful mansion home I've ever seen in my life.  It was amazing.  and had a sauna....and a movie theater...and 3 stories worth of whatever rooms you would need in a house.  We felt so spoiled. 

I had such a crazy vivid dream that night that I probably shouldn't share with the world, but I'm going to...because it kinda rocked my world.  Basically in my dream I had gone back to Manila, but really wanted to make sure I was back in Cebu in time to see the waterfall with everyone else (which we never ended up actually seeing a waterfall while we were in Cebu).  I went to this house where a woman offered me the opportunity to adopt a Filipino baby, and I really wanted to, but I also really wanted to see the waterfall and couldn't do both for some reason.  It was a very tough decision, but in the end I chose waterfall.... Yes. I am ashamed.  As Hope would say, it's a matter of the heart.  Also at some point in my dream everything started catching on fire, but i think it's because right before I went to bed that night, I tried to turn on the aircon and the wires caught on fire.  And we all know I have a pretty strong fear of fire.  I woke up so confused...everything still seemed kind of real and vivid.  I was happy I was in Cebu, but guilty about the slightly selfish decision I made in my dream.  I'm still kind of processing what the dream might mean for me.  Hm.

Anyways, the next day we took a squished van to a nearby beach called Moalboal.  What made this beach so beautiful were the mountains (Negros) in the background.  We got to snorkel, saw some fish, and I had a few mango margaritas which were especially tasty. 

Cebu had some unique forms of transportation.  We rode on trikes, but these weren't any trikes...they were more souped up than anything I've ever seen in the Philippines.  I was so intrigued. 

Yes, we all fit on this trike.

Overall, a successful and relaxing trip.  We spent Sunday basically doing a food tour around Cebu city.  Ben took us to eat the best Halo Halo I've ever had....where they froze coconut milk for the ice shavings *mmm*...and then we went to eat at a place that has "the big bang burger"...and it's 9 inches wide/long. I'm not kidding. I didn't believe it or understand it until they brought it out, but it was bigger than most of our heads, and soooo good.  I still need to steal a picture from edgar to post on here...