The Bonga-Villa Liloan Beach Resort

As part of our team’s summer outing activity, we had an overnight stay at Bonga Villa Resort last May. Basically, we stayed here out of the many resorts here in Cebu for two reasons. First, because it’s situated in Santander, near the Oslob Whale Shark Watching area which was actually the main highlight of our summer activity. It’s only 10-15 minutes drive from the resort to Oslob to be specific. Second, considering our team’s headcount, no resort or pension house in Oslob could cater us. What’s “bongga” in Bonga Villa Their Villas •    The villa we stayed is somewhat separated into two parts, thus we made it one for the boys and the other for the girls. But it also has a common area through the terrace. •   ...

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Posted in: Cebu,Oslob

Oslob Whale Shark Watching: Up close encounter with the Gentle Giants

Whale Shark Watching in Oslob, Cebu is becoming another tourist destination of the province and is getting very popular these days. And yes, we’re lucky to finally experience it last May! Even luckier since it’s our monthly anti-flat out (anti-stress) activity, meaning all expenses was paid by the company *grinning* The original plan was to do it on a Saturday but since it’s located in Tanawan Oslob, probably around 2-3hrs ride from Cebu City, our team decided to stay overnight in a nearby resort, at Bongga Villa resort to be specific, on Saturday and then we did the viewing on Sunday morning. This way, we visited two attractions plus we don’t have to wake up and travel too early. Actually, the resort is located in the next town, in...

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Posted in: Cebu,Oslob

A "loaded" Sightseing at Burnham Park

Loaded with our bags already, we can’t help not visiting this famous Burnham Park before heading back to Manila. It’s a shame if we will not visit this anyway as the park is in the City center and in fact just few kilometers away from the transient house we stayed. And so, with heavy luggage on our backs and shoulders, we explored the Park. It was under renovation then but still there are a lot of tourists. Burnham Park has man-made lagoon with a range of water boat ride option. Bike riding and skating is also available in the area. A lot of food stalls can also be found. But since we’re fully loaded then (hahahah), we chose to stroll the area and of course we can’t forget to have photo op. :p ...

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Posted in: Baguio

What's in in the PMA Grounds?

It’s known to be the school and training venue of the best Filipino men and women aiming for military service, and like many of us, we also would like to witness or at least have a glimpse of what’s in the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) grounds. That’s why on the 2nd day of our exciting Baguio escape, we had PMA tour as our first stop. Located at Fort Gegorio del Pilar on Loakan Road or at least about 10km from Burnham Park, we headed to PMA few minutes after 8AM. Since it was peak time and on a Monday, our travel time were more than expected, about 45mins to be specific when on normal time and days you can get to the place in 30mins. The area is very huge and we requested the taxi driver to drop us at the midpoint. We strolled...

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Posted in: Baguio

There's more to "The Mansion"

Coming from the Wright Park and just we were about to cross the street towards The Mansion, we spotted three big tourists buses also heading towards the famous tourist spot. Yeah right, a lot of tourist in this area at the same time would mean no chance of taking good pictures..argh! And so, without further delay, we literally ran to at least get ahead of them. J And guess what; we managed to get a number of good shots just before they get in the area. Lucky isn’t it? But hey, what’s really in it about The Mansion that everybody would like to get a sight of it when in Baguio City? Well, it’s the summer residence of the President of the Philippines and also its official residence when in the City. As an official home of the highest leader...

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Posted in: Baguio

Wright Park in Baguio City

After about a 10-minute walk from the Baguio Botanical Garden, this Jollibee riding in a horse signage welcomed us to Wright Park Baguio City. There are several horses which can be rented for at least 15 minutes and can stroll around the park. Funny how imaginative they could get to make their horses attractive as possible and lure each tourist or visitor to rent it..see, they even dyed one in pink! Plants for sale could also be found in the park. After taking some photos and a short stroll around the area, we headed through this stairs to the other side of the park. We rested for a while after the somewhat long walked and hiked by sitting beside this long ornamental lagoon until we had a sight of “The Mansion”. We...

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Posted in: Baguio

Baguio Botanical Garden

I love flowers, who doesn’t by the way? :) And I mean not just flower bouquets but the blooming ones, just like growing in a landscaped garden setting. That’s why I was so excited to visit the Botanical Garden when we had our Baguio tour. The weather was unpredictable that day that it actually rained an hour before we visited the place. Still with rain showers, we visited the garden and we were welcomed by the natives who were so pushy to draw us to take pictures with them, with their costumes and of course for a fee. The area was relatively huge but I was disappointed that the garden had only few blooming flowers. We roamed around the garden and we found some cute structures too. There’s also a horse where in you...

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Posted in: Baguio

Lourdes Grotto in Baguio City

Lourdes Grotto is another famous tourist spot in Baguio City, especially among Catholics. There were vendors in the area if you’d like to buy some candles and flower garlands to pay homage. The grotto is located uphill so one must climb the 200+ steps to reach the top. Yeah, it’s quite a long hike but who says we can’t stop to catch our breath and took some photos?! After reaching the top, we had our moment of silence and said our prayers. We also spent some time appreciating the view uphill of the City of Pines. And yes, we had our photo op with the natives also. Charged is Php5 per person, Php5 per native and Php5 per shot!  And if you’d like to wear head dress like us, it’s another Php5! So, how much we paid with this photo?...

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Posted in: Baguio