The Island Explorer

Blu Bar and Grill is the rooftop dining experience in Marco Polo Cebu. At first, it may seem that the place is pretentious, but after passing some time here, I realized that it's a perfect place to chill out. The rooftop venue gives you that outdoor feel, and the fresh cool breeze from the hills descend while you savor on great food. Marco Polo for me serves the best hotel food in Cebu, especially desserts. As Marco Polo is already situated in the hills of Nivel, Blu provides you with the sweeping and unobstructed views of the city, especially at night. Blu Bar is a recommended spot to go to in Cebu, where you can enjoy great food and of course, sweeping views. Its ambience sets the mood for an unforgettable dinner experience, high above a city that is brimming with energy. TIP: Have a drink here from 5 to 7PM and get another one for free.

This destination will definitely land in my yearend list. It is one of the most breathtaking landscapes I have seen. And it's here in our magnificent country. Know this place? Let me take you there soon.

We had a great short time in Siquijor, our 2 day stay wasn't enough. We were supposed to head to the mountain side to visit the faith healers in the morning of the third day, but we decided to just relax in Princesa Bulakna before leaving at 10AM for our 12NN ferry. From Maria, it took us a long 45 minute multicab ride again to Siquijor town, where the port was located. And since we arrived in Siquijor late night, we weren't able to see this: Imagine how our jaws dropped when we saw this as we were crossing over the jetty. Yes, this beach was just beside the jetty. We were looking for a nice beach in Siquijor, and we found it here, near the port. Actually, we found another beach nearby the port as well after visiting Coco Grove that also looked like this, but we arrived past sunset already there. We passed some nice beaches in Enrique Villanueva as well, while on the road to Siquijor town. The ferry took 1 and a half hours again, and we docked in Dumaguete. From there, we had a...

Because it is the best resort in Siquijor, Coco Grove is always fully booked. When we stopped over here to look at the place, we asked about vacancies. The friendly receptionist told us they were booked for a month. When we were inquiring, foreigners arrived and asked for vacancies too. They were also turned down. So what makes Coco Grove attractive? Well, I think it is one of the best independent resorts I have seen in the Philippines. Like Chemas by the Sea in Samal, Coco Grove is a resort built around nature. It was splendidly designed as a resort that blends with the trees and the beach. It also had a lot of open spaces, and sometimes reminded me of Alona Tropical in Bohol (my recommended value resort in Panglao). There were cabanas in corners, where one can dine, drink or just read a book. I didn't know if they had good food, but when we arrived, the kitchen was preparing a Filipino buffet for its guests. The buffet was sold out, so we couldn't be accommodated as well. As ...

One of the resorts that could accommodate us for the night when we arrived was the Danish Lagoon Luxury Resort in San Juan. We opted not to stay there because Salagdoong was our first choice. And besides, this resort was more expensive, at P3,000 per room at average. I really thought that the place was not worth the price they were charging. It wasn't a luxury resort for one. I think there were other cheaper resorts that looked even better and more luxurious. Although still under construction, the place was bare and uninspiring. Of course, the theme was Danish, so the rooms were themed and named after the characters of Hans Christian Andersen, the popular Danish writer. We filled up ourselves with a heavy snack here of burgers, crepes and sandwiches. The food was quite good, though their cocktail drinks were a rip off. All the rooms had sweeping views of the sea, and even had a lounge deck, which was very pleasant. There were a few trees, which contributed to the "bare" l...

After having lunch in Princesa Bulakna, we drove off on our small multicab to Cambughay Falls, one of the main attractions of Siquijor. The drive didn't take long, as we were already in the town of Maria. There was a waiting shed and a sign board that marked the entrance of the path going down the falls. The stairway was concrete, though it took us around 300 steps going down. Yes, you will take the same route going back. We saw the turquoise blue reveal itself against the foliage as we descended carefully. There were some foreign tourists going back up, who seemed pleased with what they saw. Finally, we saw the first level of the falls, a simple, low drop that created soothing sounds. The water was cool perfect, not too cold, not hot. We couldn't see the bottom as the water was opaque. I moved up to find another drop, a very small one. The third level looked the same as well. The surrounding was very peaceful. There were a lot of locals diving from the top of the first level a...

From Salagdoong, we then moved on to our next resort, Prinsesa Bulakna, which was around 10 minutes away, still in the town of Maria. We hired the same multicab that we contracted when we arrived the night before to go to Salagdoong. We got the multicab since we planned to go around the island that day. It set us back P1,500 with gas. At first, we thought Princesa Bulakna was deserted. It was a bit dusty going here, since it also hadn't rained for the longest time. We caught a glimpse of cottages lined up along the road, and headed downwards to the beach front where the reception was located. Turns out that we were the only guests in Princesa Bulakna. The owner, an Italian residing in the Philippines for 15 years now, told us that they had to turn us down last night (we called them up a well) because there was no electricity in the resort. Now that they have fixed the problem, he said he was ready to accommodate us. Princesa Bulakna reminded me of a resort I stayed in Malaysia. It ...

We arrived in Siquijor late night, and we had a bit of a trouble looking for a resort to accommodate all of us. We tried to call up resorts as we were on our way to Dumaguete, but most of the highly recommended ones like Coco Grove were all fully booked. So, we took a risk in finding one when we arrived. It was a bad move, but fortunately, the other recommended resort, Salagdoong Beach Resort was available. We spent the night at this government owned resort. It was also one of the oldest resorts here, however, they had a newly built hotel building on top of its hill. The rooms of Hotel Agripino were very basic, and very cheap as well for around P800 to P1,500 a night. Everything worked well in the room and they were surprisingly clean. Our room had a problem with air conditioning though during the night. The older ones, which were the beach cottages, were also recently renovated, but they were still not entirely finished, so we opted to stay up in the hotel. These beach cottages will s...

Yes, you've guessed it. The next destination is the mystical island of Siquijor. As usual, after an event in Cebu, we found ourselves packing up and on the road for a new island wonder. We were supposed to go to Camotes, but after some deliberation, we set that aside and decided to go further South. Getting to Siquijor from Cebu City is relatively easy, but long. From Cebu City, you can take a bus all the way to Dumaguete from the South Bus Terminal. That trip will entail a 30 minute ferry crossing to the island of Negros, and into Dumaguete. Since we were 13 people all in all, we hired a van to take us all the way to Liloan in Santander, South Cebu and took a ferry to cross to Dumaguete. I actually think it's better to take the bus straight to Dumaguete, but I think it's the same way. The ferry crossing to Dumaguete was rather rough and dizzying, even though it only took us 30 minutes. From Dumaguete, we took a ferry to Siquijor in the Dumaguete port. The sea was very roug...