Valentines Day at Sunburst, Cebu City

Sunday, February 14, 2010 I invited my wife to eat out. Since she is not willing to go to a restaurant who serve chili in their dish, we decided to eat at Sunburst, because this is one of the original or one of the longest staying eatery in this part of Visayas, ika nga mayroong history.

I remember that when I was still working in Cebu City with the Bureau of Customs, we have the habit of going out every friday to unwind (drink). Part of our destination is Sunburst, for the chicken dish they serve.

I also invited my eldest daughter Michelle to join us thinking that since I was not around during her birthday last January 24, 2010 she should treat me for a repeat of her b-day bash. We went to Sunburst Mango early, afraid that the restaurant might be full of people celebrating Valentine's day. Luckily the resto was half empty when we arrived.

Together with their usual fare of fried chicken, we ordered soup of "sinigang" shrimp, a vegetable dish, leche flan, ice cream, drinks for them and a bottle of pale pilsen for me.

It was a simple but still filling meal. After a short rest we immediately went back home even if my wife is asking to see the movie "Avatar". I told them to just a buy a DVD copy of the film and together we could see it in our own living room.

Photo by GME courtesy of Nokia N95

I'm not really in the mood of going out late because I wanted to rest my aching body and get a good and sound sleep. 

On my return home I took the "Supercat" to Ormoc at the early hours of the morning. We are about halfway in our travel when this beautiful sunrise between  Mactan and Camotes islands caught my eyes.

 I am still half awake and still sleepy when I suddenly gaze outside and see the sun slowly coming out of the horizon. I immediately took my ever loyal Nokia N95 and started shooting through the glass pane of the Supercat vessel.

That's why you can see the flash reflection at the upper right portion of the picture which seem to be

another sun hiding in the dark clouds above the deep

blue sea.We'll this is not a phenomenon, because sunrise and sunset are called dime a dozen in any part of the Philippines. Bye for now..........

A Day in Calanggaman Island...................

A day after our very successful MARILAO CLAN 2010 reunion we happily proceeded to Calanggaman Island which as of this date is becoming famous not only for local tourist but foreigners as well. We started our busy day by agreeing to rise at about 4 AM in the morning to begin our travel at 5 AM so as not to encounter the hot sun going to the said island. Our trip is almost perfect except for a small miscalculation of the boatman relative to the slicing of waves which should be taken seriously and attentively. For those who are new travelers, they might say that they almost capsize, but for the frequent travelers, they will say that its but a normal happening to see.

About an hour ten minutes, we arrived at Calanggaman Island safe and sound. Upon arrival we were greeted by a personnel of the LGU requesting to sign and register in the Record Book. Because we have paid the registration fees in the tourism office in Palompon, we were just ask if we need anything. When we answered in the negative, we were given the customary table and accompanying four chairs for fifty pesos as rental fee. 

Then after making sure that the things we brought in were in order, we decided to tour the island immediately and see again what changes had happened since we came to the island about seven years ago. Well, as far as the cleanliness of the island is concerned, it is not passable, meaning there is still a big job to be done. Tourist are very much concerned about cleanliness, so to attract more tourist in the island, we have to make an honest to goodness clean-up of the island for our own good and other visitors who are attracted to clean waters and environment. 

On the other side of the island is pictured above where rock formation abounds. This side is much cleaner because human beings seldom stays for a swim. They prefer the sandy beaches on the other side where dirt of every kind abound. Tourist local and foreign alike should be thought to take care of the garbage they brought along from the towns and cities they came from, like the plastic containers and other non-biodegradable materials that would take years to assimilate naturally in the soil.

In my tour of the island, where it took me more than an hour to finish. I was saddened to find so many fire embers as a sign of human negligence and wanton disregard of the natural ecology that should be maintained to preserved the balance of the natural habitat of birds and other nocturnal animals that shelters from time to time in the island. People should confine themselves in areas that would not scare the animals to give them the freedom they need to assimilate in the surroundings and multiply as necessary for their own survival.   

Pictured above are cottages being rushed for the benefit of would be tourist who want to spend some time in the island especially those who want to stay overnight. Some tourist bring their own tents to rest their tired bodies after taking a dip in the cold/hot waters of the island. They even cook their own provisions in a portable stove they brought along with them. Some even brought along portable generators to use at night and even to charge their cellphones, since the signal of all IT providers are very much available because the island is sandwhiched between Bogo City, Cebu and Villaba/Palompon/Isabel, Leyte. 

Before going home, I made sure that I can bring with me some fresh fish that I believe is available in the island since it is the melting pot so to say in that part of the island's fishing grounds. Most of the fishermen came from various parts of Palompon, Villaba, and Isabel, Leyte. Others came from the nearby city of Bogo where most of big time fishermen abounds. I was even lucky to see some fishermen relatives from Baranggay San Pedro, Palompon, Leyte who incidentally sold me their catch of about 300 pesos worth.  

The sad part of this saga is when it is time to go home and you still want to stay for a little while. Though we are already satisfied for the day long escapade, we cannot but miss the island, just promising to ourselves that there will be another time and for sure we will stay a little bit longer to appreciate the natural beauty and surroundings that won't be found in our own dwelling place. To Michelle who did not join us in this trip. Maybe next time na lang, tutal you have been to different places already. But Calanggaman Island is a better place to go to as can be seen by foreign tourist coming from Malapascua Island seeing to it that they are also brought to the beautiful island of Palompon, Leyte. We have seen some Korean tourist and some divers from Malapascua Island. Bye for now and till we visit you again "Calanggaman Island"..