Hey, you! 👋
You read the title right - we only stayed in Cebu City for 3 days. 😭😭 Of course, I would have loved to stay longer but with the whole passport fiasco, our original plans were shortened by a week. Better than nothing, right?
As you can imagine, the 3 days went by in a flash. And It didn't help that my period decided to invite itself on the last day. Hayyyyy.
As soon as we arrived at One Pavilion Place (click here for the post), we told our nephew who lives in Cebu to come stay with us. We chilled, ate good food (Steamed Fried Rice and more Chicken Feet for me!!🤤) and waited for my sister-in-law and her kids to arrive.
A couple of hours later, they finally arrived and the festivities began. There was hugging, kissing, massaging, yelling, laughing ... it was all good!
The next day, the Husband, our Daughter, and our Nephew (let's call him N) went on an adventure to the south of Cebu. The plan was to take a bus to Oslob and go whale shark watching and if possible canyoneering. Sadly, the last one didn't push through because they were dead tired after the whale shark watching activity.
Whale Shark Watching is one of the most popular tourist attraction in Cebu. This is in a town called Oslob, about 3-4 hours from the city of Cebu. One has to go super early for a chance to be able to get up close and swim with whale sharks in the sea. The Whale Sharks are free in the water and come and go as they wish, but here's the catch.
Are they really free? Because as long as people feed them, they'll never leave the area, which they used to before. Apparently, in the past, they would come close to shore because they would naturally feed on small planktons and then go into the wild. Nowadays, they are given planktons by feeders on a particular schedule, but the question is - do they still leave and go into the wild as they used to? Or have we turned them into lazy creatures who have lost their hunting instinct?
Anyways, from a "tourist" point of view, the Husband, Daughter, and Nephew had a great time and you can be sure when they came back home, they had lots of stories to share.
My sister-in-law, her kids, and I took the time to catch up and talk about everything and anything. We packed and unpacked our bags. LOL. Then in the afternoon, we took the kids to the swimming pool for them to enjoy as well as the playroom (they didn't enjoy this one very much!). Haha.
Before I forget, this was also our wedding anniversary. Fourteen years. Twenty-one in total. Where did the years go, right? Such a amazing ride!
And because we had so little time and so much to do, I invited our daughter's Godmother to come over for dinner with her husband and children. We have been friends since we became seatmates in high school and I love her to bits! Our husbands get along so well too! I love that S her first Godchild and I'm so glad we were able to hang out even for just one evening.
So yeah, we celebrated our anniversary with my sister-in-law, our close friends, and more kids that you can count with one hand, but I definitely wouldn't have wanted it any other way!
The next day I was feeling really unwell so I basically stayed home. I needed to rest because we were taking the plane the day after and I knew I needed all the energy I could have. While I was resting, the whole family went to the Basilica de Sto. Niño. This holds a special place to all Cebuanos as Señor Sto. Niño is the Patron Saint of Cebu. Ever heard of the Sinulog Festival?
Well, the Sinulog Festival is a traditional celebration in Cebu City held every third Sunday of January to honor the Santo Niño (Child Jesus). Basically, the festival is done by a dance ritual, in which it tells the story of the Filipino people’s pagan past and their acceptance of Christianity. The word “Sinulog” means “graceful dance”, wherein it all started in 1980 with a simple dance that represents the “sulog” (or current) of a river in Cebu. This is a highly awaited festival and millions of people attend every year.
In the afternoon, my sister-in-law and her kids joined me at One Pavilion while the Husband, S, and her cousin spent the afternoon at my brother-in-law's place to take care of stuff.
Once again, my sister-in-law and I packed and unpacked our suitcases. We were leaving the next day for another destination so we had to make sure everything was alright. Travelling is cool but no one talks about the backstage stuff. LOL.
The apartment came with a balcony which we never opened because we were scared for the kids. But on the last day, we decided to take group photos there. For my part, I know I will miss the view very much. I might not have been able to be out and about in my city, but the fact that I had an eye on it makes up for it a little.
As I said earlier, I would have loved to stay longer, but this was the cards we were dealt with. As I'm getting older, I've realized the importance of being flexible and to easily adapt to any situation one might encounter. That gratitude journal does indeed work. Haha.
Off to another island we go! Out of the 7,000+ islands in the Philippines, can you guess which one we're going to?
xoxo Elodie