The next paragraph is a rant, you have been warned!
I think what made this trip most memorable was the fact that I had the worst airline experience EVER!!!
I booked Airphilippines because I didn't want to be late and since Cebu Pacific was well known for delayed flights I thought this would be the better choice. I had agreed to meet my friend at 10 AM because she was going to have a long work day and I was supposed to be in Cebu by 8. Loads of time to prepare and head on over to our breakfast date. However 7:35 came and went and there I was still sitting in the airport in Manila without any advice from the smart Airphilippines crew.
After about half an hour I give up on being patient and head on over to the counter to ask them what time they expected the Cebu flight to leave Manila. They told me it would take another 45 mins for the plane to arrive and another 45 mins after that for it to actually board, she further explained that the plane that we were taking was coming from Beijing then going to Kalibo then going to Cebu then coming to Manila. Hmmm...I wasn't to happy about the fact that it meant I was already 2 hours delayed! Add to that the fact that they didn't even bother to apologize. Where's the service in that? Adding insult to injury, I asked what caused the delay and with a shrug of her shoulders she said, "Ma'am kasi late" Whats? I could obviously see they were late thank you Captain Obvious but why were they late, and don't give me that plane came from China crap cause you should have planned it better. Gah! How annoying!
As the saga of my very difficult flight to Cebu drags on, we finally get instructed to board the plane by 9 AM which I thought was a good thing. Until they let us sit on the plane for another hour and a half. Yup, we were left stewing in that plane for an hour and a half. I didn't feel to bad for myself since I fell asleep quite quickly, but I felt sad for the older people on the flight. Since we were supposed to leave at 7:35 that meant we were there by 6 am at the latest with check-in and all and well, not everyone has the option to buy food at the airport, which means some of them were probably starving and this extremely SUCKY airline didn't even feed anyone. In my book, Airphilippines has the worst service EVER! and I'm telling everyone I meet not to book from them.
So, after I got that rant out of my system my trip went awesome...until my fight home the next day, but wait until the end of the post to find out more about it! :))
My trip to Cebu wasn't a total waste. Want to know why? Because I got to buy everything I wanted to eat and more! :) Yup, that's right. It was a food trip binge. Lovely!
Every time I hear someone is in Cebu there is only 1 thing I want. Leona's Carrot Cake. I am not a carrot cake fan, there was a time when I was in High School that I honestly believed that I got sick cause I ate a carrot cupcake. Yup, I have always been a high-maintenance eater! But when I tried Leona's I fell in love. I will only eat carrot cake if it's from Leona's. And because I have been kept away from this cake for way too long I couldn't help myself...
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| Leona's carrot cake to me is synonymous to Cebu. |
I bought a whole cake! Yup, I HAD to.
A few years back the bu and I went on a long weekend trip with friends to Bohol and Cebu. It was an awesome trip only made better by the fact that when we got back to Cebu we were able to go on a date night. :) A trip out of town with friends is great and all but sometimes you just want a night alone with your significant other. So for our date night we asked our friends where it would be good to eat and they all recommended Casa Verde for the ribs!
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| photo from cebuanddavao.com |
At that time I was still a Vegetarian so I didn't have any but the bu did. The portions are HUGE and the prices are very reasonable. So now that I was back in Cebu I thought it would be the perfect time for me to try this out. So I made my friends have dinner with me and we all had the ribs. The ribs were ginormous, the plate was filled up. Taste wasn't bad either but I'm not really a sweet barbecue sauce kind of person so I'm just glad I did this and now I can say I have. Hehe...
But the food binge didn't stop there. When a friend found out I was going to Cebu he made sure I tried Zubuchon. I'm not a lechon lover but the bu was so I thought I might as well bring him some. I've heard great reviews for Zubuchon and they actually have loads of signs that say "Best pig...EVER!" apparently Anthony Bourdain was the one who said so. And if Anthony says so then it must be true!
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| photo from baktincorporation.com |
Ok, I have to admit, the pig in the glass case freaked me out. I don't think I'm eating Zubuchon anytime soon. But I brought home for my parents, my brother and the bu. What I like about Zubuchon is the fact that they thought everything through. From product to packaging and presentation. The other famous Cebu lechon place, CNT, sadly hasn't gotten into this trend. They just place your food in a plastic bag, place it in a box and hand it to you. Not something you want to give away. So if you're in Cebu and looking for the perfect lechon to take home, Zubuchon is the way to go.
Oh, but I mustn't forget, before we went to Zubuchon we had lunch at Dong Juan. It's a local burger joint that's been getting great reviews. My friends insisted it was something I had to try. So it was inserted into an already extremely full schedule. :)
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| photo from stolenwanders.blogspot.com |
The binge-ing didn't stop there either. Since I love finding new things, I researched and found this awesome chocolate cafe. Yup, you read that right, chocolate cafe. Yum!
Tablea Chocolate Cake was soooo good I will definitely be back for more. But since I am in the business of sharing, I brought this home for the bu!
I am the best girlfriend ever! I am fattening him up! The best part of all this, I'm scheduled to go back to Cebu next month. I can't wait! I will not binge eat until then!
Oh, and before I end this post, let me share with you what happened to me on the way home. As luck would have it, I had problems with my flight again. But this time I had no one to blame but myself!
See, what happened is I had always assumed my flight was at 3:45 PM so I was taking my sweet time buying all the food I wanted to bring home. I got to the airport a good hour and fifteen minutes before my flight. I was safe. But as cranky as I was (having to carry a backpack, laptop bag, handbag, lechon and cake all by myself) I tried to be as pleasant as possible to the check-in counter clerk so she'd give me a good seat. I hand her my ID and politely ask for a seat in front only to be met with a questioning look. She asked for my flight details, my flight time, my reservation code and all that. Peculiar as it may seem I hand everything to her only for her to smile at me politely and say..."Ma'am your flight was at 3:45 this morning" Imagine the embarrassed look on my face. It was horrible. I tried to ask her to put me on the flight but she said I had to go to the ticketing office to get myself a brand-spanking-new ticket!
So off I go to the Cebu Pacific office only for them to tell me a new ticket would cost 4,400++. What a joke! My whole round trip ticket was a little over 3,000. So I suck it up and head on over to Zest Air since their ticketing office is right across the CebPac office. And that's where I book my ticket and homebound I was. Happy.
Until I get to Manila and call the bu who's at the wrong airport. Hehe...oh the saga continues. But everything worked out fine from there. :) I was home, I was happy and that night, I was drunk. See, everything worked out well.
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| photo from tablea.com.ph |
I am the best girlfriend ever! I am fattening him up! The best part of all this, I'm scheduled to go back to Cebu next month. I can't wait! I will not binge eat until then!
Oh, and before I end this post, let me share with you what happened to me on the way home. As luck would have it, I had problems with my flight again. But this time I had no one to blame but myself!
See, what happened is I had always assumed my flight was at 3:45 PM so I was taking my sweet time buying all the food I wanted to bring home. I got to the airport a good hour and fifteen minutes before my flight. I was safe. But as cranky as I was (having to carry a backpack, laptop bag, handbag, lechon and cake all by myself) I tried to be as pleasant as possible to the check-in counter clerk so she'd give me a good seat. I hand her my ID and politely ask for a seat in front only to be met with a questioning look. She asked for my flight details, my flight time, my reservation code and all that. Peculiar as it may seem I hand everything to her only for her to smile at me politely and say..."Ma'am your flight was at 3:45 this morning" Imagine the embarrassed look on my face. It was horrible. I tried to ask her to put me on the flight but she said I had to go to the ticketing office to get myself a brand-spanking-new ticket!
So off I go to the Cebu Pacific office only for them to tell me a new ticket would cost 4,400++. What a joke! My whole round trip ticket was a little over 3,000. So I suck it up and head on over to Zest Air since their ticketing office is right across the CebPac office. And that's where I book my ticket and homebound I was. Happy.
Until I get to Manila and call the bu who's at the wrong airport. Hehe...oh the saga continues. But everything worked out fine from there. :) I was home, I was happy and that night, I was drunk. See, everything worked out well.
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