Backpacking Adventure: Cebu Solo Flight and Road trip to Bantayan Island

It was short planned when I thought of having a vacation in Cebu since I got bored about waiting for my visa LOL. It wasn't serious but then my husband said "why not?"since I know it'll take a little while before I could get back here when that finally happened.
And yeah, seemed like a positive thought to think of it in advance that it'll really be approved.
Well it should. 🤣

I have a friend who studied and now is working in Cebu, whom I've never seen for over 5 years. So I decided to message her so we can meet again also for touring me around. Since she's reachable through facebook she messaged me right away that she has other plans for Holy week with her friends, they were planning to go to Bantayan island since one of her friends live there. So I asked if would it be okay to join since  I can get along anyway with at least 88% of people lol. So yeah, that's what happened.

Davao International Airport

My flight bound for Cebu was at 10:00 and to my surprise, as heartbreaking as it sounds, my plane left me.Yes I was late, I arrive less than an hour and the plane actually was advanced, could've still get in with the last call if only. But yeah no biggie. What I did was to re-book the flight as for me to save from the actual cost. The next flight was for 1:00 PM. And I surely didn't miss that one anymore.

So the deal was, we're gonna go to Bantayan island by a motorcycle (of course through a ship) since two of her friends have motorcycles and I'll contribute for the motorcycle's fee in the ship as well as for the juice which was okay since I was supposed to rent a motorcycle so I can go wherever I want but then having a driver would be more convenient though. 😊

Crossing the bridge that connects Mactan to the main land

I arrived in Cebu an hour after. I took the Shuttle bus that picks up passengers from the airport going to the main land. Prior to that I booked a pension house for a good price in Mandaue. I loved the feeling of doing this on my own. And since I can speak their dialect it's more convenient to me. It's really different than doing this in Manila. I would never dare.

So I decided to be dropped off in the Parkmall just in the same city where my hotel would be to have my pretty late lunch. After that I took a cab to go to the Hotel.

Front Part of the Pension house

With a luck I'd say, I find my room pretty comfortable and very affordable for a short stay. Unfortunately I won't be staying for the whole duration of my check in since we planned to meet up before dawn because the port was still far from my location.

My room

At around 3:00 AM  a friend of hers which I will ride together with, fetched me from my hotel and we then waited for the other two who were also taking a scooter to Bantayan. It took us for about 2 hours or more to reach Hagnaya Port. And to my surprise we found ourselves in a pretty long queuing of passengers, since they were too are going to Bantayan for the long weekend Holiday It took us 3 hours to finally get to the Ferry and it was so hot during that time. We ended having our brunch in there.

For more info about the fees and schedules, refer to this website. 

I find the ferry more comfortable than the one's my husband and I had going to Siargao during our honeymoon and I didn't had the ship rocking lag feeling maybe because it was bigger and also it was only less than 2 hours. The only disadvantage for me during the process of getting in is how unorganised when it was bombarded by a huge numbers of passengers,and if you didn't know anyone who worked in their probably we ended up waiting longer.

So my friend whom I never met for too long didn't seem like she changed that much. LOL. But yeah I was glad to be see her again. Her friends are cool to so it didn't feel awkward. Her friend which was the resident of the said island and her was already in the terminal before we arrived, they took a bus because we'll only be bringing 2 two-wheeled-vehicles to the island.

I was so happy when we finally arrived seeing how turquoise blue the seawater was. The weather was also good and I was really ecstatic to explore the Island.

My Visa Journey: Family Reunion Visa Germany

Just few weeks after our wedding I looked up for an available appointment schedule in the German Embassy's website just so I wouldn't be shocked on how far the next appointments will be. Since the prior year when we were only planning to get the same visa for marriage in Germany, the available schedules was too hard to catch, so that served as a lesson to me.

Three months after our wedding, I finally got the most important requirements for my visa application which are the Marriage Certificate and the Cenomar. Don't confuse this with the document that was required for the marriage license because they're completely different.

For complete list of the requirements please refer to the website as sometimes it changes which I noticed from last December to February. (Requirements for marriage in Germany)   (Requirements for married applicants)

I'll also state the documents that I've presented. Those are the following:

• Application form
• Birth Certificate
• Marriage Certificate
• Cenomar
• A1 Certificate
• Passport 
• Declaration forms according to AufenthG
• A letter stating that he's inviting me to reunite with him (Informal and in Deutsch)
• His Passport photocopies
• His Federal Identity card
• photocopies of those
• and make sure it's organized well

If you were not informed that having the visa alone can get you smoothly through the immigration, you're mistakin', a certain certificate and a sticker are needed to present to them just so you won't experience being offloaded during your flight. This happened to a co Filipina who attended the same seminar schedule for the CFO sticker. This certificate is actually needed for changing your surname in your passport.

Having that said, I managed to find a schedule that is close to my visa appointment together with a colleague of mine who was planning to get married in Germany. When I gathered all of my documents, it was already a week before the appointment, so I then booked our flights and the hotel.

My friend who's getting married this June 23 only waited for less than a month to get her visa.

So when we arrived in Manila on the day f my scheduled appointment the hotel almost ruined my day, but I'm not gonna talk about it. My schedule was 1:30 - 2:00 pm. I was already prepared one hour before that, since our hotel was just walking distance from the hotel, it didn't bother me with the time being spent reaching the embassy.

When I got there, of course they're all not the ''smile type'' of employees but don't let that ruin your momentum, give them a big smile rather. Hahaha. At last I was called from the 1st window, without wasting any body movements, I immediately unload all of my documents from my folder and gave it to the consul. There'll be a lot of questions to be asked, like how did you meet, how many times he had visited you, yada yada. It's not solving algebraic expressions so, no sweat. It didn't take long, she said my documents were all complete. I only get to sign a waiver and was informed to wait for a month or three to be called by them. I went back to the hotel and called it a day.

By the next day, it was the schedule of our seminar for the certificate in the Commission on Filipinos Overseas. It wasn't that far from Makati but it'll be far when it's morning and rush hour!

Gosh, our schedule was 9:00 am and we gotta get ourselves there two hours before that at least.

When we got there, we weren't late. What'll usually be the intro of everything like this is filling up a form, then you'd be photographed, one on one interview for about 50seconds but it took me 2 minutes, lol,then wait until it starts. Bring your own pen, for real. 

So we were kinda a lot during that time, almost 15 if I'm not mistaking, and the funny thing was that the most numbers of wives are married to Germans, so the woman who conducted the seminar thought we were all friends and that we planned to marry Germans so we can all meet there.

It really took four hours, and I we were all kinda hungry. Good thing I brought my skyflakes. After that, you'd get the certificate only and not the sticker yet. That's only until when your visa is already attached to your passport. My friend and I made friends with those Filipinas that were married to the Germans, since my friend's return flight was on the same day of the seminar, she was accompanied by those ladies that are bound for Davao on that day. Meanwhile I was accompanied by the two wives too that are from Bicol. At least we didn't get to be alone, and they tour me around Pasay and Paranaque since I had to wait until the sun goes down because I'll crash at my old friend's place in Taguig.

Newly found friends from CFO seminar. Both of them got married in Hong Kong

So after waiting for almost two months, I finally received a call from the embassy! Yes it kinda took awhile but it still happen.

Wandering in the Wonders of Surigao: Enchanted River

For about 4 hours or less of rest in the hotel that we stayed in, my boyfriend and I woke up at around 1:00 am to prepare for our next trip in Surigao del Sur where the Enchanted River is located. Along in our trip,was my mom and a friend of mine, Melissa. Actually, none of us know the way to get there except for Mel, who had been there for almost 2 years ago.

The supposed plan of our egress from Davao to Surigao was at 2:00 since we won't be staying there for the night we have to go there early as possible so at least the 5-7 hours road drive will be worth it. So we fetch Mel, then headed to our home to get my mom. But unfortunately we left at 4:00. Still no worries since I have the coolest driver who had never driven the Philippine terrain ever since..

So, what we used was the best help that technology has to offer, the Google Map.

Estimating 5 hours of road trip from Davao. So here are the towns/Cities that you'll have to pass through to get to Surigao:

Panabo

Carmen

Tagum City

Mawab

Nabunturan

Montevista

Monkayo

Bislig

We followed the top directions without knowing that the road was under construction. So it sort of delayed our peripatetic semi prepared trip also it made the car dirty. The weather kept on changing, it rained and it suddenly stopped. But it was fun, the way, our GPS, excitement and whatsoever since we had a hard time finding the Enchanted River!!! I felt like a nomad for more than a week.

It was past nine o'clock when we got to our destination. To be honest, we almost got lost, good thing we bought enough gasoline for the long trip. The GPS made it more complicated for us. Hahaha. In case this happens to you, you can just ask people roaming around. Just like what we did, we asked a total of five people until we reached the place..

The place has some "carenderias" or eatery along the road that was close to the said river that offers food for those people who didn't bring any "baon". So we ordered food in there and they are going to
deliver it in our table and the delivery is free.

When we headed to the place of which the river was located to pay for our entrance fee and a table (since there were only 4 of us we don't need a cottage) we didn't know that the parking area was a little bit far from the said location therefore we have to go back then walk under the sun to get back there.
But it was fine, since I really don't care if I'd get sun burns. Just that, the heat of the sun was really different from my normal encounters. LOL.

When we got to the place, we immediately wander around the area, then we washed our faces in the shallow part of the river. The first thing that we thought when the water touches our faces was how
dirty our faces was as it was pretty salty. We really looked at each other and joked around about how the road all the way to Surigao made our faces dirty. Little did we know that it was the river's water that was salty since it connects to the sea. ^_^

Then we decided to do a little island hopping. We headed to the floating restaurant where in they cook fresh sea foods, but we didn't had our lunch there since we already ordered for our food. So after passing by the floating restaurant we headed to a cave.

We were supposed to go to the Britania island where in we'll have our chance to swim but then it was a little bit far.Too bad we haven't had the chance to go there since we only have a short time for this trip. Maybe next time. Hahaha. So if you planned to go to Surigao, please, please, make sure to know all the hot spots before planning to visit here because a day wouldn't be enough to truly enjoy.

We then headed back to Davao after a quick swim in the river, and got back at 6pm when we left by 1pm. We changed our route which was a little better than the other route we passed through in the morning. It was really tiring, more for my boyfriend's part. Since he has been driving since our trip in Kapatagan. But the important thing is that we both enjoyed his vacation here. Before him and I gets back to our work. Haha

Thank you for reading!!!

Zipline @Camp Sabros Mountain Resort

Another first time. ^_^ So I was riding this female horse

 because they said that females

are easier to managed. She

was pretty docile.

So the journey continues and this was the last activity that I have stated in our list. The way to Camp Sabros Mountain resort was 700 meters or was it 750, from the main road (Sorry I'm a bit forgetful now). I was supposed to do a horseback riding in the area which was close to where the Virgin Falls was located but unfortunately it was closed during weekdays. That was actually in a stable, where in you can ride the horse around the said area.

But our guide told me that I can still do horseback riding on our way to Camp Sabros which I bravely did! ^_^

So here's like half of the way, the climate was pretty different, There are fogs everywhere that covers the view below.

So the owner of the horse was assisting me. I know I was a little

inconsiderate for making him walk but I'm scared of the horse.

But during that time there was only one horse available.

This is where they're going to hang you and push you ^_^

 

Add caption

It was cold, in spite of having a little bit of sunlight

One of the cabins for those who wanted to stay overnight.

Another cabin suitable for 6-8 persons.

Prices ranges from 2k-8k depending on

the numbers of the guests.

Mountain view

We took the longest zip line as what this dude demanded. It was the 44 seconds one, measuring 820 meters. Damn, even before paying for the ticket I feel like fainting already. I was even telling him " can we get the 320 meters?" Hahaha.
So I was dared. Good thing I am not a coffee drinker.

So in the picture, you can see that the staff were setting up the gears and the suits and everything.

I really can't describe how I felt that time. But I wasn't that so scared since I'm gonna do it with him but our way back is more challenging for my part as we have to go back one by one.

I was covering my mouth and asking myself

"am I gonna do this?" hahaha

 So this was the point of no return, I can no longer back out nor get a refund for my ticket because I fear heights and I might puke while I'm efinly flying from this side to the next mountain.

Our guide took this picture and we actually had a video. The fun part was that I closed my eyes. Hahaha. Then I opened one, then he held my hand so it made me open the other eye of mine. LOL. I was in the air, and I was just stoned. I wasn't moving nor doing a superman position because I'm scared that I might fall!!!

It was fun, that I even forgot, was I screaming??

Over all, our visit in Kapatagan was a combination of a wild, relaxing and thrilling adventure which I won't dare to do alone.

You gotta try and see for yourself. If you're into nature tripping, this place is perfect for you..



Before heading back to our room to rest in Lake Mirror, we dropped by at Highland resort again for our late Lunch, almost luncher though.(+Dinner) and ordered something for a take out. But anyway, Lake Mirror doesn't have it's own restaurant since they said that guests that usually go there bring their own food. It was raining when we got back. And we were so tired.

We left early by the next day since we needed to have enough rest in the city because we're set to go to Surigao the next day.

His first marang!!

 On our way out of the mountain, we passed by this fruit stand along the high way that sells Marang, it's a fruit that has an extraordinary taste. Hahaha for me it is.
So I've had this one for only 25 pesos. The seeds of this can be eaten after roasting it or just boiling it with salt. It taste like peanuts.

So we stopped by for a sight seeing in the nearby sea in Digos. Then headed back to Davao City to
prepare for our things for our next trip.
The Enchanted River.

Hiking Challenge Accepted: Exploring the Mountain 1st day Adventure

                   
 

                                                                                           Checking out from Mt. Apo Highland Resort

Lake view from our room.

If in the Highland Resort cottages has hammock and benches under

this one has a bed under. ;)

my boyfriend and I decided to check in to the Lake Mirror resort instead of spending another night  in the same resort.

Before heading to Lake Mirror, the guy from the resort provided us a guide that would take us to whichever places we wanna go.

In the map that I have posted prior to this blog there was  Three Falls delineated. My boyfriend and I wanted to go to the falls since I personally haven't gone so close to one,only from a far. So we chose the Virgin falls to go to.

The lake, where u can do boating

We parked our car in the the campsite and immediately left for our little adventure.

So here are the list of our activities for that day:

Hiking to the Virgin Falls

Going to the Hotspring

Zipline at Camp Sabros

         We opted to ride on the motorbike of our guide headed to the Waterfalls. 

       Heading there, we've witnessed how remote the place was with people who uses horses for transportation and the primary source for the living is by farming. However, knowing that  these people gets little pay from the works that they do from their day-to-day living, I have come to realize that they actually have contributed more in general for the maintenance of the environment compared to some urban areas that provides enough pay or even more to those people who inhabit the area which mostly has not contributed or may not be enough for a contribution for the land's rehabilitation.

 Despite the inequitable way of living, the smile on their faces are very bonafide.

This is how the way down to the falls looks like

Hiking under the  vehemence of the sun, capturing pictures of the surroundings had completely omitted from my mind. We hiked for almost an hour or more together with our guide (which we forgot the name again) I never anticipate that it would be that far and it was pretty challenging for my part as I was wearing slippers. The cool part about our hiking is that the path is steep.And every time I'd feel pain with my legs, I'd tend to ask to our Kuya guide, "Are we almost there?" or "Are we there yet?" hahaha

 You would need a long stick while your doing this which never passes our mind when we had our chance. Also you should bring water because it's not just the kind of walk like roaming around the mall from the ground floor until the top for 10 times. Hahaha.. I never thought I could do this in my entire life!!

     So here it is, the Virgin falls, the water was icy cold, but my boyfriend forced me to soak myself in the water. I was really shaking. But it was sunny, so I soaked myself to the area where sun strikes its ray. Over all, the long walk was worth it. What we had when we got there was a tetra pack of fruit juice and our strawberries. And my better half just enjoyed his morning swim. While I was just observing the water. But nothing to worry, there are no snakes.

VOILA! The Virgin Falls!

     We didn't stay for long in the falls since we still have two more activities to do and we want everything to be accomplished. Hiking back, it was the hardest for my part. So I asked my boyfriend to piggy back carry me. Since I can't take it anymore. But that was from I think 3/4 of the way when my legs decided to give up.

A fifteen to twenty minute drive from the falls to the next destination which was the hot spring, my boyfriend and I have seen people harvesting their crops. The weather wasn't so sunny anymore but that doesn't meant it won't make you dark.

There was an entrance fee for this resort also for cottage rent which isn't that much, it's for the maintenance and improvement of the area. 

There's this hose that came from the top that directs to each basin which makes it warm. I think it's connected to where the spring is.
There are lots of hot springs by the way. You just have to set a proper schedule for your plan trip because each tourist spots aren't just close with each other.  Same as with the falls.

The cottages are just the usual bamboo huts that are very common here in the Philippines. But every hut has different techniques to be created. 

So after this, we headed to Camp Sabros because he really wanted to try the zipline. Well I was actually having second thoughts about it but I'll just try to face my fear.

Contact Number Highland Resort/Lake Mirror: 275-7955

Room Rate: 1800php 

Additional Note: Make an advance reservation during the peak season which is summer here in the Philippines. From March- May.

We visited the said place January of this 2015.