Pink Beach, Sta Cruz Island, Zamboanga

Not even the existing terrorist threats can stop us from enjoying the Pink Beach of Sta Cruz Island in Zamboanga. 

The pink sand is supposed to caused by the red coral sediments mixed with the white sand. 

Definitely breathtaking, it was a good decision to kick off summer in this island.

My bestfriend's sister acted as a chaperone and our military escort ensure everyone was safe while having fun.

Adding a little spice to our visit were the Balikatan officers who spent a day from their camp to relax in the Pink Beach. They played football, tug of war, wrestled and  were totally nice to everyone. 

And of course, thank you Donald for taking us around Zamboanga. My visits have always been memorable... Will definitely come back within the year. 

Better Late than Never

I'm sorry I haven't been posting lately. Business has been good and we've had more bookings than we expected for the last two months. I have also been travelling, in fact for the last two months, I flew in and out Cebu around 5 times and flew out of the country for my birthday last month.

Previously:
In my entire travelling history, I have only missed one flight, this was last month, when I decided to sleep on my domestic flight to Dumaguete and ended up taking the bus so I can catch the birthday dinner my friends put together for me home.

Just yesterday:
To officially start summer, my friend Kent and I booked tickets to Zamboanga to visit the famous Sta Cruz Island (been hearing a lot about the pink sand). I gave the hard copy of the airline ticket to Kent two days before the actual departure date. I never looked at that ticket after I printed it for more than 30 seconds. I just handed it to Kent for safekeeping.

Fast forward, 3PM we started heading to the airport still not looking at the ticket with the assumption that we were scheduled to fly out 4:55PM.

We went through usual airport scanning stuff and we didn't see any check in counter for Zamboanga when we arrived.

I still didn't feel alarmed. I told Kent, check in counter may open an hour before the flight.

We sat on the nearest bench and Kent took out the ticket and that was when we realized the ETD was 0455.
Kent looked at me and folded the ticket again, as if he didn't see it. We looked at each other and screamed, "It's in the morning!!!!!".

We hurriedly left the check in area to the nearest airline ticketing office to book the next flight to Zamboanga which is a day after (airline flies to Zamboanga once a day).

Today:
I'm leaving in two hours and yes, I got it right this time. See you in a few Zamboanga...

My Wishlist for Cebu for 2012...

I was in Manila overnight for a very short Holiday break/shopping with Mama. Given what she wanted to do, I had to make sure I'm able to manage our time so both of us get to do what everything we want by the end of the trip. 

Since most of the trip was about going somewhere to buy this and that... Here is a list of things I wish we had in Cebu so I can stop my craving and have more shopping time while in Metro Manila; instead of making sure to include these places in my itinerary to try and get a taste of what they offer.

1. ARISTOCRAT - The barbecue chicken, honey garlic fried chicken, sotanghon guisado; Aristocrat can definitely add more excitement to Cebu's dining experience. 

Taken from the Roxas Blvd branch which is open but undergoing renovation after being hit pretty bad by the last storm in Manila.

2. BINONDO - I want a Chinatown in Cebu. Somewhere we can get hopia, and all those other delicious Chinese delicacies.

I was too scared to take pictures in Binondo, I took this photo of the Starbucks Binondo before stepping out of the cab.

 3. BON CHON CHICKEN - Thanks Karen for going with me to Glorietta to eat here. Definitely must have in Cebu.

4. DAIRY QUEEN - With Krispy Kreme, Cebuanos have proven they don't really care about weight gain. Someone bring Dairy Queen to Cebu and in IT Park, please? 

5. MRS. FIELD'S CAFE - Who doesn't love Mrs. Field's????

6. CINNABON - Thanks for being so conveniently located in NAIA but maybe Cinnabon can put up a stall somewhere in Ayala Center Cebu, I will willingly wait. I promise.

Well, that is more or less my Manila trip. The rest of the time were spent in Divisoria, Tutuban, Greenbelt, Sofitel, MOA, etc... Don't get me wrong, but i love Cebu and I can live with Ayala, Colon, Manalili, SM, Marco Polo, etc... but I do hope seeing some of the things above opening here in 2012, that would make not want to leave CEBU at all... 

Bicol Adventure--- The Cebu Pacific Way - where low cost flying is Poor and Cheap Travel

I admit, my attitude toward's writing and blogging should change. Here I am waking up at 3 in the morning and doing some catching up on entries I was supposed to write a month ago... While these are all over due, I still want to share how I got myself to Bicol despite the challenges of a tropical depression and the poor customer service of a low cost  cheap airline ---- yes, Cebu Pacific Air!

The actual departure day from Cebu was all about being out of luck and a couple of misfortunes, most of them I attribute to the airline's lack of customer service. It wasn't poor, there just wasn't any. We were informed via airport PA system that the flight got cancelled due to deteriorating weather condition. The more frustrating part was nobody from the airline came, the next instructions, on where to go, what to do, who to get help from there where really no instructions on who get help from --- was also announced over the PA system. 

Nobody from the airline came, everybody had to figure out based on PA System instructions, where customer service area was which turns out to be the boarding counter. As if the the frustration wasn't enough, we arrived to an empty customer service counter. The airline person arrives and starts shouting that everyone should line up so we can get the help attention we needed. If they were there when we arrived, maybe they could have organized the crowd, but of course, you don't really expect that from Cebu Pac.  Of course it's not their fault that the weather was bad and they were telling us we can re book within the next 30 days. Another frustrating thing was that rerouting as an option wasn't disclosed until a lot of us asked if we can reroute that day. We were then informed that the only option was to get the last flight out of Cebu to Manila at 11:15PM, earlier flights were not possible, even as chance passengers. This they were firm about. And yes, Mactan Internation Airport Administration, your air condition unit in the departure area was under maintenance that time - for how long already? that I don't know. 

So we went spent a few more bucks for airport transfer going home, and decided that while waiting we can call the customer service hotline to ask "AGAIN" if we can take a chance on the earlier flights to Manila that day. And we did get confirmation via phone, that the chance passenger option is possible, this was after being told the opposite earlier in the airport that day. 

There is a reason why Cebu Pacific is assigned the letter D in the signage above.

And so we went to the airport and waited, finally got accommodated in the 8:15PM flight, and yes, I had to lie that I had an important wedding to go to in Legazpi to get some attention. Another interesting note that was highlighted to us by the airline people in Cebu was that they cannot guarantee that we won't have to pay for the Terminal Fee in Manila, and that we can try to ask the Manila Team of their airline to help us with it, and they kept saying it over and over --- NO GUARANTEES.

As expected, we arrived to an empty Cebu Pacific Customer Service Counter in NAIA. After a minutes of waiting, two ladies came and confirmed they had no idea  they we're not informed that Cebu - Legazpi passengers are rerouting that night due to a flight cancellation, we even told them that the rest of the passengers from our flight are going to be arriving in the next flight at 11:15PM. Of course, the low cost airline doesn't have a passenger lounge we can stay while waiting, they told us to sleep on the benches or even the floor until the check in time at 5:45AM. 

Rather than sleeping in the airport benches and floors, I went and met my best friend in The Fort. And moving on to the only good part, I did get to Legazpi at 7 AM most of which was because of my own effort and never the airline. It is also interesting, how when we asked for consideration on many and several things, like checking in our hand-carry luggage during the half day wait in NAIA, we were told that they can't help us because they are a LOW COST Airline. 

YES Cebu Pacific, I still have a pending complaint from last year. I booked Cebu-Dumaguete Flights and NOBODY told me they stopped operation/flying to Dumaguete from Cebu for a while already. Everyone acted as if I was expected to find that out on my own. After telling me through email that someone will call me, nobody did. You can check your email for complaint number : GSAS0000645996-11. You will see how many follow up emails I have sent without getting any response. (just in case, this does get to Cebu Pac and they give it some attention, help isn't really in their vocabulary and budget as a LOW COST airline).

CAM SUR...

Being around a group of professional wakeboarders can be very intimidating. I have always had this "try anything once" attitude, but when I saw how the Pros do it, I must admit, I kinda thought twice. 

 First time boarders are encouraged to do kneeboarding first, doing it standing can be rather difficult and pretty dangerous. I have done long boarding in Siargao but given the number of people around the 4.5 hectare lagoon, I wanted to do it as recommended. I saw some people who have been doing it for a few days and they cant get past 5 meters from the starting ramp standing. LOL.

There is actually a beginner's lagoon you can go to but I figured it was boring there so I decided to do it where the Pros are. PAK!

The thing about doing it where the Pros are is that the cables drag you so fast. Strong arms and legs really useful in this activity. My running and biking training helped me a lot.

I managed to do a full circle of the 4.5 hectare area on my second try. It is not just boarding around the area, you have to pass through a certain route and navigate your way to make sure you are in between two parallel buoys in certain points of the lagoon. This is where most people fall off the board.

This is my after boarding peg. PAK! 

And yes, a can of COKE was waiting for me after a few rounds of boarding...

 

Some of the rather interesting personalities while I was in CWC.

Food was good. I had this Chinese Pork Adobo for around Php 200.00. It had the Bicolandia taste of Chili and Coconut Milk. I finished the rather big bowl in a few minutes. 

I still can't locate the data cables for the camera I used during the trip. All photos here are from Kent. 

 DIOS MABALOS, Cam Sur! 

See you again soon!!!!