Honey in the Moon

Cebu, Philippines, 2nd to 7th Dec 2008

Once again, I was on Philippines land. This time, it was the honeymoon mood that takes over. No rush for things, or to be busy looking out for possible sites and materials. The honeymoon was needed to take my mind off many many things. It could make me burst into rapturous emotions, just being able to be away from Singapore, even for a little while. Shutter-happy was the usual, I could snap everything just to preserve these memories. And sleep dominated the beginning of the trip, perhaps we were too tired from the wedding and the body was crying out for some kind of rest. We figured it might be the bed in Maribago - the sleep-induced mattress. But it was funny how the bed creaked each time we lie on it.

Security was tight in every corner of Cebu, our Maribago resort was an enclosed one with tall gates and guards with shotguns and pistols were on-duty 24 7. It at least, made us feel saf-er. Eventually, we gave in to signing up for a day tour in Mactan city as there were not much we could do within the resort except to wine and make merry. So the day came when we went to the guitar and ukulele factories and saw a wide array of these instruments that were handmade by the people. I took delight in just filming them in a factory production line, handcrafting the guitars.
After which, we went through a little history about Mactan- Cebu –between Lapu Lapu and Magellan in the battle of Mactan in 1521. Like what tourists should do, we visited Lapu Lapu’s shrine. The rest of the days were filled with the spa that we promised to reward ourselves with, shopping and walking around before we packed up for the last 2 days at Cebu city where we booked into Crown Regency Hotel.

Upon reaching the city, to our dismay, the hotel was still U.C. (under construction), so you can imagine the lack of facilities and so on. But, the good thing was that it REALLY was right smacked in the centre of town. And we could from the map, worked out exactly where we wanted to go for the remaining 2 days. The big joy to me was when we walked all the way to the Carbon Market which is near Ermita. I love the colours and the life over there. Pushcart peddlers and fishmongers who travelled on foot, selling their ware. It was a fresh insight into life in the Philippines, although there was some similarity with the market I went to in Baguio last year.

With the shopping and photo-taking, the trip ended and we returned with satisfied hearts. Of course, the reality of married life will slowly unfold and there are moments which we can call a blast.