Sep 23

Travelling to and around Cebu, Philippines: Plane, Ferry and Taxi

Travelling to and around Cebu is hassle-free. Here are some points to take note of.

Travelling to and from Cebu by plane

Arrival by plane, and going through immigration was a breeze at Mactan Cebu International Airport. To look for a taxi, see the section below on taxi.

After all the fun and when it’s time to go home, do leave some cash for the terminal fee. You would need to pay a terminal fee of 750 peso per person at Mactan Cebu International Airport before departure.

Peso and US dollars are accepted. If you ran out of peso or US dollars before departure, don’t worry as there is a money exchange at the airport. ATMs are also available.

Mactan Cebu International Airport Terminal Fee

Mactan Cebu International Airport Terminal Fee of 750 peso per person

Going to Bohol Island by ferry

Ferry to and back from Bohol Island will be at Pier 1. There will be crowds of people and taxis before you reach the pier.

Pier 1: Going to Bohol Island

Pier 1: Going to Bohol Island

To go to Bohol Island, the destination is Tagbilaran, which is the capital of Bohol. We took SuperCat, but there are other ferries available. Read about my experience of SuperCat Ferry here.

Ferry to Bohol Island

Ferry to Bohol Island: Tagbilaran is the capital of Bohol Island.

SuperCat: This is the ferry that I took to Bohol Island.

SuperCat: This is the ferry that I took to Bohol Island.

Travelling around Cebu by taxis

Travelling by taxis around Cebu is affordable and easy.

When you exit from Mactan Airport, turn right and walk straight for about 200 m. Here you will see the white taxi and yellow taxi stand. Some websites recommend going for the white taxis instead of yellow taxis. I wondered if it’s more of just a cost issue as seen from the board.

Taxi Bay: Yellow and white taxis.

Taxi Bay: Yellow and white taxis.

I googled and this website states that the yellow taxis are more expensive as it provides more safety for the passengers and luggage.

When we board the white taxi, an attendant passed me a sheet of paper with the taxi plate number. As seen from the sheet, there are telephone numbers to call if we need to lodge a complaint. Do note that the taxi runs on metre.

When you board a taxi from taxi stands at the malls, for example Ayala Center or SM City, similarly, you would be given a sheet of paper with the taxi plate number.

Taxi Passenger Information Slip, in case you need to lodge a complaint.

Taxi Passenger Information Slip, in case you need to lodge a complaint.

This is a great feature, so that tourists know how and where to lodge a complaint if necessary. It helps to deter bad service from taxi drivers.

If you return late from Bohol Island around 9 pm, you might notice that there would not be many taxis around the pier. Or those taxi drivers near the pier will quote you a high price for their service. If their prices are unreasonable, refuse and walk further towards the main road. There are bound to be some other taxis passing by if it’s not too late at night. In our case, my mum and I walked towards the main road which is about 3 minutes away and managed to flag down a taxi that charged by metre within 5 to 10 minutes.

 

Sep 19

Cebu, what’s There To See or Do? 6 Reasons to Visit Cebu, Philippines

When I mentioned to two friends GT and May that I was going to Cebu with my mum, they were puzzled why I chose this destination. Philippines usually don’t come up as a holiday destination for Singaporeans.

Why Cebu?

There were a few reasons why I picked Cebu. Firstly, I had not been to the Philippines even though I have travelled to majority of the Asean countries. Of the Asean countries – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam – hooray, I’m now left with Brunei as I’m happy to say that I have just returned from a solo trip to Myanmar just a few days ago. Secondly, several countries could not be considered at that time in mid-July because the weather was not ideal. Countries like Taiwan, Hong Kong and China were experiencing typhoons, so options of affordable travel destinations were not plenty. Thirdly, air tickets were reasonable. For each person, the air ticket for Tigerair/Scoot was $242.54, inclusive of seat selection (2 x $7) and travel insurance ($29) for 10 kg of carry-on baggage.

Cebu is a province in Philippines in Region VII (Central Visayas). According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, as of June 2016, Cebu City was the most populous city in Cebu with 923,000 people.

Bohol Island has a population of 1.3 million based on 2015 census. You can visit it for a day trip or stay overnight.

Flying From Singapore to Cebu

The total flight time was 4 hours 50 minutes by Tigerair/Scoot [including a stopover at Kalibo (Boracay) for 40 minutes] from Singapore Changi Airport to Mactan International Airport on Mactan Island. There is no time difference between Cebu and Singapore. The exchange rate was 1 SGD = 35.5 peso when I changed some cash from a money changer in Singapore on 24 July 2017.

Cebu R Hotel Mabolo: Is this hotel good?

We stayed at Cebu R Hotel Mabolo, in Cebu City. I booked this hotel because of the many highly positive ratings given by guests, with many giving an 8 or higher rating. However, my experience was not fantastic and I rated the hotel a 5.8. I guess it depends very much on the room that you got. The hotel is located inside a small alley and around slums so it might not be safe if you decide to stay out late and walk back to the hotel. But if you travel by taxi, it’s fine. Breakfast is included and there are many choices for breakfast. The restaurant serves food until 10 pm. The food was delicious so on evenings when you choose not to walk to the main road for food, you can eat at the restaurant.

You can read my review of the hotel at www.booking.com under K_sg. In short, I think you should consider other hotels instead.

Cebu R Hotel Mabolo

Top left clockwise: Cebu R Hotel Mabolo building – see the air pollution; Cebu R Hotel Mabolo Reception; Cebu R Hotel Mabolo Breakfast – one set with toast and egg and one set with pancake.

Our Cebu Trip Itinerary in Summary

Ours were a 6D5N trip from 26 July to 31 July 2017. As I was with mum, I chose a more relaxed pace, so that it would not be too tiring. We reached Cebu in the late afternoon so for the first day, we went straight to our hotel and had dinner at a Korean restaurant along the main road. For the second and third day, we spent time in the malls and visited Basilica del Santo Nino, Magellan’s Cross and the surroundings. For the fourth day, we visited Bohol Island and the fifth day was for the whale shark trip at Oslob. It was an afternoon flight on the sixth day.

6 reasons to visit Cebu

1. Basilica del Santo Nino and Magellan’s Cross

Marvel at the buildings and glass panels of Basilica del Santo Nino as well as the statues and beautiful roof drawings.

Basilica del Santo Nino

Basilica del Santo Nino

The Magellan’s Cross is just next to Basilica del Santo Nino.

Magellan Cross

Magellan Cross

Just next to both of the monuments, there was a group of Filipinos dancing near City Hall. We chanced upon the Farmer’s Market with vendors selling fresh vegetables and fruits on a Thursday.

City Hall and Farmer's Market

City Hall and Farmer’s Market

2. Shopping and eating at Ayala Center and SM City

Big malls in Cebu where you can eat, shop, and watch a movie. Both malls are much bigger than our usual heartland malls in Singapore. Need a bite? You are spoilt for choices with restaurants, food court and fast food outlets. If you need toiletries, you can get it from Watsons or the supermarkets. Money changers are available here and we book our day trip to Bohol Island at Ayala Center.

An unusual fast food outlet, ‘Chow King’ operates like a fast-food outlet. However, the ‘fast food’ are not burgers and fries but noodles and rice. The chocolate bao was the unusual item from our orders.

Ayala Center and Chow King

Top left clockwise: Ayala Center (2 pictures); Chow King Restaurant; Our lunch with the chocolate bao between the drinks.

3. Take a ferry to Bohol Island and let tasiers, the smallest primates, charm you

A 2-hour ferry will take you to Bohol Island. If you are prone to sea sickness, take some travel pills with you as the sea can become rough. It was a rough journey when we took the SuperCat Ferry in the morning and during the trip, many people were vomitting. It was alright for both mum and myself, until I walked to the toilet. While I was going to the toilet, the sea became rough, so using the toilet and walking back to my seat were difficult. The trip caused a mild headache but luckily, I didn’t vomit. So, do remember not to have a heavy breakfast before taking the ferry. The return trip at night was smooth though. The guy in our group at the whale shark trip told me that he and his girlfriend were taking Ocean Jet Ferries as website reviews mentioned that this ferry was more stable. So, you might want to check this out if you decide to go to Bohol Island. However, if you book through a tour agency like we do, I guess you might not have a choice of the ferries.

We booked the day trip to Bohol Island at Ayala Centre at one of the tour agencies. The original price was 7000 peso for both mum and myself but the manager in-charge gave us a discount and the final price was 6500 peso (SGD183). This tour included the ferry tickets as well as transportation by small van around the island’s attractions. It includes visiting tasiers sanctuary, lunch on river cruise, chocolate hills, butterfly sanctuary and church/museum.

Take a look at these tiny creatures, tasiers, which are just the size of your fist. They are nocturnal creatures, so when you visit, they are likely to be sleeping. We were not supposed to touch them or make loud noises as these actions would scare them. Grelims or Yoda (Star Wars) – that’s what they reminded me of.

Tasier

Tasier: This was one of the highlights of the Bohol tour.

4. Enjoy buffet lunch on a river cruise

There were food, entertainment and a slow river cruise. What more could we ask? This was the other highlight of the Bohol day trip. The food was delicious, and during the journey, we were not only entertained by the singer but also the guests who chose to sing for the rest of us. Before the cruise ended, local villagers performed some dances and you could donate if you like their performance. The cruise took about an hour.

River Cruise

River Cruise: Entertainment on the cruise; One of the guests dancing with the villagers.

5. Whale Shark at Oslob (okay, this is controversial)

From websites, I read that the journey from Cebu City to Oslob takes around 5 hours. However, we set off in the early morning around 4.45 am and managed to reach the destination and had our breakfast at about 7.30 am. It could likely be due to the light traffic in the early morning.

We booked this trip through the hotel. I saved some money as my mum pointed out to a card in our hotel room desk. Upon a closer look, it was for shared tours. The cost for the whale shark trip was cheaper than the private tour price given by the hotel reception (ranging from 2850 peso to 4650 peso per person depending on itineraries) as this was a shared tour (ie, we will share the van with other people). If you don’t need private transport and guide and don’t mind sharing with others, do check with your hotel if there are shared tours available. This would help to save some money. I opted to stay in the boat and we paid 2500 peso (SG70) for each person. If you want to swim with the sharks, you would need to pay extra.

Initially, I was in a dilemma as participating in this tour means encouraging such tours to continue on. From what I read from the internet, the whale sharks originally passed by Oslob because of migration. But these sharks are now staying at Oslob because they have been feed by the fishermen. This is disrupting the migration patterns of the sharks and the feeding might have detrimental effects on the sharks as the sharks are not having their normal diet. The sharks might also become totally depended on being fed.

However, I decided to go ahead with the tour as this might be the only rare chance for my mum to have close encounters with whale sharks. I decided not to go into the water though. Seeing the huge groups of people, on afterthoughts, I feel it might be best not to go for the tour. Although people were warned that they should not touch the sharks and they would be fined if they do so, I saw some people trying to touch the sharks while swimming with them. It is likely that enforcement would be difficult, especially when they are large numbers of people in the water. If you do like to go for the tour, I think it would be best to just stay on the boat and not jump into the water to swim with the sharks, so as not to cause further harm to the sharks.

Whale Sharks

6. Fish spa in the cool waters at Tumalog Falls

Free fish spa, anyone? Dip your legs into the cool water and let the small fishes nibble at the dead skin on your feet. Put your hands in and the fishes will come too 🙂

Although fish spa is common in Singapore, I had never tried it before. So, I grabbed the chance to try it for free. It was ticklish when the fishes nibbled at your skin.

Just dipping my legs into the water let me know how cold the water was. The guy in our group went into the water and enjoyed a swim.

Tumalog Falls

Tumalog Falls: Enjoy fish spa. That’s my feet 🙂 Waterfall.

 

 

Sep 01

幸福的偶然: Dr Shigeaki Hinohara’s Book on Serendipity

What is ‘serendipity’?

‘Serendipity’ (幸福的偶然) is the theme of the book. ‘Serendipity’, according to the oxford online directory is ‘the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way’.

日野原重明医生将它解释为“发现意外事物的能力”- 幸福的偶然，善于挖掘。

Dr Hinohara defines serendipity as the ability to discover something surprising. To him, the ability to go deeper to discover something surprising and beneficial is to him serendipity.

“人生，没有人知道会发生什么事。但我们也没有多余的时间抱怨自己不幸或运气差。看一个人如何面对事实， 化解难题，就可以了解他的生存价值。以我为例，在遇到意外状况时，大多时候我都能乐在其中。”

The paragraph can be translated as, “In life, no one knows what will happen. But we don’t have time to complain or grumble about our misfortunate. By looking at how one handles difficulties and resolves the issue, we would understand that person’s value. When I encountered difficulties, most of the time, I am able to take it as it comes.”

I believe Dr Hinohara’s optimism helped him lived to an old age of 105 and contributing to the medical profession up till the last few months before he passed away.

One would have thought that Dr Hinohara’s early life might have been a happy and carefree one for him to develop the habit of looking at experiences in a serendipitous manner.

Dr Hinohara’s childhood

However, Dr Hinohara’s had his fair share of difficulties. When young, his family lived in poverty. Dr Hinohara’s father was a priest and the meagre salary was used to support a family of nine (six children, wife, mother and himself). Dr Hinohara’s childhood goal to become a doctor was because his mother was ill when he was young. When he was in his first year medical university, he was sick with tuberculosis meningitis (结核脑膜炎), and for 10 months, he was having fever and had to be in bed. Although after his serious illness, he wanted to become a musician as music gave him comfort during that depressing period, in the end he followed through with his first childhood dream to become a doctor.

Learning from Nobel Prize winners

Dr Hinohara shared what he has learnt from the Nobel prize winners in the scientific field and their discoveries. Many times, great discoveries happened by chance, like how penicillin was accidentally discovered by Dr Alexander Fleming in 1928 from a contaminated petri dish. Often, recognition could come decades later. Which is why he advocates living a healthy and long life, so that there are better chances of you seeing the fruits of your labour.

He detailed his childhood, growing up and education years, what his first patient had taught him about patient care, as well as what he has learnt in his long established career in medicine in the book. If you understand Japanese, you might want to look for the Japanese version of the book.

Xing Fu De Ou Ran front cover

Xing Fu De Ou Ran back cover

Aug 06

Tian Tian Xiang Shang by Danny Yung

When I saw the big sculpture of a boy pointing, I glanced up and there was nothing interesting that the boy was pointing at up there. So, I wondered what the sculpture was all about?

Tian Tian Xiang Shang big sculpture

As I walked into Raffles City Mall, I saw smaller versions of the boy sculpture, with different designs.

Tian Tian Xiang Shang small sculpture

Then I read the write-up about Tian Tian Xiang Shang (which in Chinese means improving every single day) and was amazed that the creator Danny Yung had such creativity 40 years ago as Tian Tian Xiang Shang was created in 1970s.

Tian Tian Xiang Shang Write-up

Apparently, Danny Yung’s creative spark came elsewhere. I watched the interview of the creator Danny Yung about Tian Tian Xiang Shang and he spoke that the idea was originally initiated by Mao Zedong in the 1950s called graceful kids. It was to bring about reform and a better society in China. Danny Yung created a white sculpture of the child called Tian Tian in different sizes, and collaborated with other artists to allow them freedom in designing the sculpture.

To Danny Yung, the creator of Tian Tian Xiang Shang, creative means ‘action in participation’ and being engaged in more intelligent debate. While people worked on their design on Tian Tian, they reveal their concern, their thoughts, their feelings and personality.

I like the phrase ‘action in participation’, because sometimes, when we have ideas, we did not take action to fulfil our ideas. And sometimes as time passed by, the creative spark could died away, or being replaced by more urgent matters of life. This is my reason for writing this piece – to take action by sharing creative output at the very moment when the idea is still fresh.

Jul 22

Numbers for Wellness: Three High, Five Low and Seven parts of Fullness

Numbers for Wellness: Three High Five Low Seven Parts Full

What are the numbers for wellness? This article summarises how we can use the numbers 3, 5 and 7 for wellness.

Three high

Eat food high in fibre, freshness and protein. Fruits, vegetables and nuts are high in fibre, freshness and good protein sources. The soluble fibre helps to lower cholesterol levels and provides vitamins and minerals.

Five low

Low in salt, sugar, cholesterol, fats and alcohol. Choose lean meat, and remove the skin before cooking. Choose healthier cooking methods such as steaming, boiling, grilling, stir frying, baking and stewing to lower fat and cholesterol levels. Use minimum salt and sauces when cooking will help lower sodium intake. A little alcohol is good for the body but we should not drink too much.

Seven parts of fullness

Instead of eating three big meals, it is suggested we have more meals but eat less per meal. There is a Chinese saying that the ideal time to stop eating is when we are about ¾ full (about 7 parts of 10).