Europa Mansionette Inn, Cebu City

We stayed in Europa Mansionette in Cebu on our last night,we booked 2 rooms and this was because of the metrodeal voucher bought by my friend for only 745 per room, good for 2 paersons with breakfast, not bad di ba? And of course, like what I always do, i take pictures and blog, because pictures taken by someone who stayed in someplace is always better (in terms of reality) than what you can see from their website.

I was satisfied with the room because of the discounted price, it's old but it's clean. Below is our room

queen size bed

in our room the aircon is working well but not in my friend's room so they have to transfer them in the middle of the night due to broken aircondition

the CR- I find it a bit small but again with the price it's a OK 

this is where you can have your breakfast but we opted to have it in our room  instead

going to veranda which I think is nice except that it is not being  maintained, seats are not clean, and there are  scattered whatevers around :(  it will also be nice if they add more outdoor chaise lounge chairs here

the ceiling (I loved the design)

looks like a queen's crown turned upside down :) it's a chandelier in the dining area

the reception area

One thing I didn't like about them though is this incident,

we were trying to get one more room in their regular price because another couple is with us that night, of course I was trying to get the cheapest one (1,200) because we will only sleep and leave for the airport the next morning, one lady said, yes and that they will just ready the room but another lady came and said there was no available room in that category and said that the only available room is the de luxe which is 1,800.00 to my dismay :( anyways, we didn't get the room and have the  couple shared the room with us which for the reason I do not know they did not allow at first,  even if we reiterated that we will pay the additional fee for each person which is by the way 300.00, they said the room is too small for 4 persons and guess what? they  said that the 2 persons can stay with us provided the other one will have to be in another room (really I did not get the logic there) so they set up  two separate extra beds in both rooms even if we insisted that they don't need to set up another one in the other room because the two will only stay in one room.

to cut the story short, when they learned that the aircon in the other room is not working, they transferred them into the same room that the lady said earlier is being ready  for us but later wasn't available na. and of course the couple stayed with us in our room and we paid 600.00 additional (they should have given that room to us and paid them 1,200 pesos which I think is more beneficial to them di ba?)

oh well, our sleepover is pretty much good and the breakfast is okay and again due to the discounted price, I can still say it's still a good deal  for us.

But if you're getting it at the regular price, think twice first and check the location because it is quite far from the city proper. Exact location is at M.L. Quezon St., Cabancalan, Cebu City and the hotel is not in the main road.

Did I have a taste of Europe? I can't say that because I've never been to Europe :)

What else is to visit in downtown Cebu?

We are going to Cebu. This will be my fourth time to visit the Queen city of the South and my husband's second, although my first two trips were work related. I only had the chance to visit interesting places in Cebu during our first official pasyal visit last 2009. It was a birthday trip/treat for my dear husband :)

This time, it's not work related nor pasyal but it's ministry related. Our church worship team is leading worship in a Global Prayer Conference on March 22-23 and many of them will be first timer in Cebu.

So I was thinking of nearby places (if in case we have spare time)to see in between breaks :) or maybe during night time.

I remember we went to this famous historical place: Magellan's Cross which is located in downtown Cebu.

and we also went to visit the Taoist temple located in Beverly Hills Subdivision

we're not fond of dragons but we ended up having pictures with dragons in the background (scary)

and another historical place which name slipped my mind (senior moment) oh wait..I'll google it :)

old cannon

so there's the name, no need to google it..hehe! Fort San Pedro is the smallest and oldest tri-bastion fort in the country. And if even if you are not a history buff, this place is still worth a visit, every corner is a worth a picture.

One thing I'll definitely do there again is to devour their ever famous lechon cebu  (goodbye diet!) and the rice wrapped in coconut leaves?

think I can finish a plate? let's see..
with that last picture..I really can't wait to be in Cebu again :) PG ako...hehe!

And of course, a Cebu trip is not complete without the visit to danggit market where you get yourself immensely covered with lots od dried fish/pusit products...and so you smell like dried fish/pusit afterwards :)

I don't even know why am I posing  and smiling in the midst of the smelly (but yummy) danggits :D

One place we went to which I so enjoyed if you talk about the view is the mountain view park, we rented a taxi which cost us I think more than a thousand pesos because it is quite far from the city but it's worth it I think. From there you can see the whole Cebu City.

So there you go. This trip happened September 2009 so it's been a while. I hope we'll have extra time to visit different places naman when we go again next next week. But what else is to visit in downtown Cebu? I wish I can go to Bantayan Island but that is 3 hours away and we don't have much time.

SKYWATCH FRIDAY-Bridge

Taken from our recent CEBU trip while on our weay to the airport, if I am not mistaken this is the Mandaue Bridge.

For more skywatch photos. click HERE.

SKYWATCH FRIDAY

We took a lot of sky photos when we were in Cebu. These ones were taken by my husband at Fort San Pedro.

For more skywatch click here

Tuxedo Business Suites in Cebu

And because we are not the "rich couple having their vacation in Cebu while the business is doing well in Manila" long before we had this trip I scoured the internet for cheap hotels,inns and hostels in the entire Cebu over and over just to make sure we don't regret it.

But sad to say I failed. And this is the point where I have wished na sana we are rich and that we could afford a five star hotel everywhere, yes even the gulf shores Alabama hotels and not worry of the expenses.

So I booked " Tuxedo Business Suites" because it's the cheapest place I found. Room for 4 person is at 1,300.00 but really the service is so bad. There is only one man, one receptionist and one guard when we get there. The room smells old. The aircon is surprisingly good. You have all the basic, like towels, slippers and a soap which is fine with us but the fact that they don't give you free hot water for coffee does not sit well with us and they said they have 24 hour convenience store but it is only like a "sari-sari" store which only sells noodles and coffee . Oh well for its cheap price I guess you just get what you paid for. So I should stop complaining now no? It looks good though in the picture.

the lounge upstairs

our room

The toilet

The hallway

I've seen a lot of nice but not too expensive place to stay in Cebu, I hope I can post them also so it would be of help to those who are thinking of traveling in a budget to Cebu in the future.

Taoist temple

Location : Beverly Hills, Cebu City
No entrance fee
From where we stayed (downtown) we took a taxi and paid 77.00 only.

The main entrance

View from the top

You can not take pictures of saints inside the temple, you are also to observe silence there.

Magellan's Cross

In front of Cebu City Hall. just 5 minutes away from where we stayed. We took the jeepney and fare is 7.00 per passenger.

Us in front of the shrine

The city hall

Quick post from Cebu

yes, we are in Cebu now and I'm posting from internet shop here at SM while dear hubby is there at the music store. The trip so far is good, it's tiring but I think we're done with the city tour. I'll post photos of course as soon as we get back to Manila.We've eaten the famous CnT lechon this lunch and you won't believe that we finish a kilo of it. Good luck with our diet and hope there is a good acne medication just in case we get it for eating so much of oily and fatty foods. We're bringing some back home, it's funny cause all we think are the food we will be bring home with us..hahaha!

Anyways, got to go now, hubby is here already.

Enjoy your weekend!

Traveling light to CEBU tonight

We're leaving tonight for Cebu ( I know I've mentioned it too many times already) but I am excited people so please bear with me. It would be a nice break for me and hubby especially at this point in time where dear husband needs all the thinking and relaxing before making one big decision for a major change.

Thank God the weather is not too bad as t has been these last few days, my friend from Cebu said it rain occasionally in there but only on afternoons so we can bear that.

We are traveling LIGHT because our plane fare is only 450.00 per passenger round trip. Got that last March in one of Cebu Pacific's lowest promo. Obviously that does not include a check in baggage and we are fine with that, we don't need much clothes anyway and certainly no UGG boots or any rubber shoes for hubby there.

Again, like any of our other trips, this will be a budget trip as we don't have money to splurge but I assure you that won't hinder us from enjoying.Hope I can post details with all the expenses we will incur, who knows it might help those who wants to travel in budget too.

Have a nice weekend everyone!!

Preparing for CEBU!!

It will be hubby's first time in Cebu, my 3rd but the first two trips are both work related so it's also my first to go and just enjoy the place. I bought our tickets last March when Cebu Pacific went on sale (as in really seat sale) The ticket price? 450.00 per pax, all in for round trip. Good deal no?

Anyways, so I am in the process of doing our itineraries, we will be leaving Sept. 11 (evening flight) and will stay there till Sept. 14 which will be hubby's birthday. So technically we have 3 days to enjoy the Queen City of South.

Any suggestions on where to stay and what to do there?

So far, these are what I have seen and searched over the internet

1. Magellan's Shrine
2. Fort San Pedro
3. Taoist temple
4. Old houses in Carcar
5. Guitar factory ---> hubby would love this for sure!
6. Kawasan falls
7. Bantayan Islands
8. Moalboal

And I know there's a lot more. I just hope we can visit them all but then we don't want to exhaust ourselves and go home tired.

Can't wait for our Cebu trip!