Delayed flight to Cebu
Fearing that I would have trouble sleeping last night due to the early flight, I took an antihistamine that’s now being use as a sleeping aid. It was the first time I’ve tried this medication and it works reasonably well.
I did wake to hear torrential rain through the night and on my 0620 taxi ride to the airport, I could see a few patches of shallow flooding on the road.
I got to the airport around 0645, some 2h before my 0850 flight to Cebu. With no luggage, I went airside with my mobile boarding pass. I had allowed some time for delays in getting a taxi that early in the morning but all went well.
I was supposed to have lounge access here but I learnt that the lounge didn’t open till 0900 or about 2h away. I grabbed breakfast at the only place that was open. It was going to be instant noodles or a sandwich so I opted for the latter, washed down with a coffee.
The flight looked doubtful when I realised that the inbound aircraft wasn’t tracking on Flighradar24. Sure enough, it was stuck in Cebu due to engineering issues and we finally departed just under 3h late at 1145.
This allowed me to use the simple lounge to sit comfortably and edit some underwater snorkelling videos. Worse things can happen in travel than a 3h delay.
Why Cebu?
I was in Cebu many years ago when I learnt to dive. The idea for this nights top came up when I was investigating going from Davao to Camiguin, both in Mindanao province.
That journey would involve a 7h30 bus ride (or a flight) from Davao to Cagayan de Oro, an overnight in Cagayan de Oro, a 2h bus ride to Balingoan and finally a 1h30 ferry ride.
In a moment of weakness, I investigated flying from Davao to Camiguin which requires a connection in Cebu. I opted for the cheapest flight which had a self-connection and I de-risked it with a Cebu nightstop to revisit some sights.
Making sense of the rideshare
Landing in Cebu around 1245, after 40 mins in the air, I was picked up by the van of the Sempre Premier Inn.
I settled into my room for a couple of hours. I had planned to do some morning sightseeing but it made sense to avoid the heat of the afternoon and shift it to the evening.
Having learnt that Grab rideshare isn’t cheaper or necessary, I walked downstairs around 1545 to hail a taxi to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño. There wasn’t one to be found when I needed one whereas from my window earlier, there were heaps!
Sure enough, as soon as I ordered a car with Grab, a taxi went past. When my ride arrived, the driver spoke enough English for me to clarify the difference between the taxi rate and the Grab price. He said there was a PHP60 surcharge on the metered rate. This wasn’t disclosed like in Davao but was probably included in the fare estimate though.
There’s also an option for Grab private cars here, unlike in Davao, but the price is higher than that of Grab taxi. I wonder why Grab even exists here!
Revisiting the sights of Cebu
First up is the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, the oldest church in the Philippines. First built in 1656, the present form was built in 1737 after three fires.
Nearby was Magellan’s Cross. It supposedly contains remnants of the crucifix that Magellan planted on the shores of Cebu when he landed in 1521. The Spanish, since then, have these South East Asian isles a flavour of Spain or Latin America.
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- Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, the oldest church in the Philippines. First built in 1656, the present form was built in 1737 after three fires.
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- Inside Basilica Minore del Santo Niño.
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- Outside Basilica Minore del Santo Niño.
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- Open-air mass outside Basilica Minore del Santo Niño.
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- Magellan’s Cross. It supposedly contains remnants of the crucifix that Magellan planted on the shores of Cebu when he landed in 1521. The planting of the cross is depicted on the left hand side of the mural.
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- City Hall near Magellan’s Cross.
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- Metropolitan Cathedral and Parish of Saint Vitalis and of the Immaculate Conception. It’s also one of the oldest in the country, built in 1565. However, most of what we see in is from rebuild after the destruction of WWII.
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- It’s also one of the oldest in the country, built in 1565. However, most of what we see in is from rebuild after the destruction of WWII.
I visited this area 15 years ago with my oldies in tow, so couldn’t go explore the surrounding area. So, today I wanted to go see the Metropolitan Cathedral and San Pedro Fort as well.
The cathedral is officially called the Metropolitan Cathedral and Parish of Saint Vitalis and of the Immaculate Conception. It’s also one of the oldest in the country, built in 1565. However, most of what we see in is from rebuild after the destruction of WWII.
Fort San Pedro was built in 1565 as well. It’s surprisingly small inside. I took a quick walk in the courtyard and atop the walls before evaluating my dinner choices.
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- Street scene in the historic area.
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- Fort San Pedro.
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- Fort San Pedro.
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- Inside the walls of Fort San Pedro.
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- Evening walk on the walls of Fort San Pedro.
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- Evening walk on the walls of Fort San Pedro.
There were only a few dinner choices around the old city. It wasn’t a happening commercial area with lots of run-down buildings, some used as warehouses. In case the mall across the hotel wasn’t very good, I decided to taxi to the SM Mall on the way home.
It proved to be a good choice and I had a delicious Korean Bibimbap. It was probably the tastiest meal I’ve had since arriving in the Philippines.