It would be so wrong of me not to enter the If I had $1000 writing contest organised by Pinmapple. Although my entry won't qualify (I'm part of the team), it's so nice to be able to dream how I would spend $1000. So here goes.
If I had $1000 spend to travel, that would be after Covid has gone away, and I'd probably be back in Taiwan (my second home). The perfect destination to spend my $1000 would be the Philippines.
Source Unsplash
I've only been to the Philippines twice. First for family holiday when I was a little kid, I can't even remember whereabouts in the Philippines we went. Then many years later, which is also many years ago, to Manila. In those days I was working in telecoms, and my main recollection of the city was very busy, with telephone cables flying all over the place across office buildings. It was a business trip, that's why flying cables were a big part of the trip. After that, for some unknown reason there seems to be a lot of negative news about Philippines which put me off from going back again - terrorism and kidnapping, over tourism in their beautiful islands, and general safey issues.
That's until recently, there's been a whole bunch of awesome posts on Hive about the Philippines which has totally changed my impression of the country. Did you know there's over 600 pins on Pinmapple in Philippines, of which over 100 are on Cebu? Maybe I'm missing out on something, and maybe it's time to take a trip there?
The Philippines is very near to Taiwan, and in fact, some of the 7000 islands are nearer to Taiwan than Manila. I reckon I can get flight tickets from Taiwan to Cebu at around USD200 depending on the time of the year. That leaves me USD800 for travel, accommodation and food. Hopefully that should be enough as I don't think the Philippines is very expensive. I'm just going to wing it when I get there. With the bulk of the budget sorted, let's see where I plan to go. My itinerary is inspired by various people on Hive.
CITY
The first stop is Cebu city, preferably the old part of town. The Philippines has a strong Spanish influence due to its colonial past, and this is where the Spanish first settled in the 16th century. There's also a strong Chinese influence, they arrived here even before the Spaniards. This gives a unique blend of east and west culture, as well as the locals who were here pre colonialism.
Source Pixabay
SEASIDE TOWN
Next, I'll move to Moalboal, I'll probably stay here as my base and do day trips. It sounds like Moalboal is quite a vibrant area. @scubahead has a diving center here, and I've seen him post some awesome posts of the seaside. Maybe if I bring him some British goodies, he might take me out on a scuba dive trip (one can only hope), the problem is... I can't swim...
Photo credit @scubahead
WATERFALLS
Cebu is famed for its waterfalls, I definitely have to get around to see a few of them. I've seen a few in Taiwan, let's see how they fare in the Philippines! Kawasan Falls seems to crop up quite often in my research, and this is the river nearby, looks very inviting already..
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@ybanezkim26 posted about it before and he said he's been three times! He seems to know his stuff about Cebu, maybe that's a good guide as to how good Kawasan Falls is. But it's another waterfall called Cancalanog Falls that he posted about I find more enchanting. I stole this image off his post (strictly speaking it's not stealing as I'm being open about my actions 😄). I love the turquoise pool, hopefully, it looks just as mesmerizing in real life.
SIGHTSEEING
Another place in Cebu that has caught my eye is Simila Church. Although I am by no means religious, I enjoy visiting religious buildings, temples and churches. Often they can tell so much about the location. Simila Church doesn't look like any church I've ever seen before. If one didn't know, you'd think this is a castle. It looks so majestic from the outside.
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HIKING
I love a good hike and it sounds like there are plenty of opportunities at Cebu. Osmeña Peak is the tallest peak on the island and is over 1000m above sea level. It looks like the perfect place for a hike, and I love the look of the terrain, the little peaks on the peak. I've never seen anything like that in UK nor Taiwan. And apparently, you can get a real good view of the sunrise. I'll be giving that a miss as no way am I going to get out of bed to watch the sunrise, Never! I would love to do a hike there though, and I think you can even hike over to Kawasan Falls. However, I might be pushed for time, so joining a day tour to Osmeña Peak and Kawasan Falls might be more feasible. It's about USD30, that won't eat into my USD800 too much.
Source Unsplash
LECHON
One must never never forget about food when you travel. According to Anthony Bourdain, Cebu does some of the best Lechon in the Philippines. I have to try that when I'm here. Just the thought of that makes my mouth water now. Lechon is a whole roast suckling pig and is popular in Spain and many of its former colonies, hence the Philippines. I've had it before in Spain, and Cantonese cuisine also does some mean roast suckling pork. I absolutely love its tender meat and crispy skin. This place claims to do the best Lechon in Cebu, but perhaps I can grab the local Hive folks for dinner and see what they recommend. Always eat where the locals eat is my motto when I travel.
Photo credit Rico's Lechon
So I've got city, seaside town, sightseeing, hiking, food and waterfall in my itinerary. What's left are the beautiful beaches. and whatever I haven't discovered yet. @discoveringarni did a great post a while ago about Road Trip to South Cebu. I'm going use that to fill up the rest of my itinerary, and then wing the rest when I get there.
Now my trip is looking pretty real especially I have included lechon in it.
You can checkout all my travel post on the Pinmapple here or click on Mr Pinmapple below
