Vacationista: Labor Day Weekend in Malapascua Island, Cebu plus Sirao Garden and Temple of Leah (Day 3)

I planned on leaving by 10am today since I didn’t want to wait till check-out to go. I got up at around 7am, had some karinderya breakfast, fell asleep again then lounged at the bahay kubo. By 10am, I was already at the boat station waiting for the boat.

Tip: the boat station is different from where we arrived. This is where boats depart going back to Maya port. I saw in their schedule board that boats leave every 30 minutes. Paid P100 for the big boat but since it was low tide, a smaller boat they called a boat-y (boatie?) needed to take us to the big boat.

 Paid P20 for the boat-y. Take note that Maya has two ports: the old and new and where your boat will dock depends on the boat. When I arrived, I left from the new port but upon going home, the boat docked at the old port. For a moment, I was worried: was I in another island? Not to fret though since there was a motor bike waiting at the old port and I asked if he could bring me to the Ceres bus terminal, which is located right beside the new port. That’s when he explained to me the old and new port confusion. Paid P30 for the ride.

 

Arrived at the Ceres bus terminal – I was the only passenger there – and the staff told me that if I wanted to leave right away, I could ride the Deluxe bus (non-aircon). I wanted the aircon bus so he told me I had to wait 40 minutes, which was fine with me since I had my stock of Netflix shows to pass the time. But after about 10 minutes, he said I could go on the aircon bus already. The bus left, picked up more passengers at the nearby new port and thus started the 5 hour journey back to Cebu City. Passed by a cute, pink church and of course, one of the stop overs was at that yummy bbq place so I bought me some pork bbq and puso (rice) for P48. So good!

 

I actually planned on going to Sirao Garden once in Cebu City, given I still had time. Since I arrived at around 4pm in the city, I decided to go forth with my plan. Made my way to JY Square (took the 01k jeep to SM then the number 4 jeep to JY Square) where the motor drivers who will bring you to the garden are located. How will you know you’re at JY Square? Motor bike drivers, even before you get out of the jeep and even before the jeep has fully stopped, will start shouting ‘Sirao Garden’ and annoy the hell out of you. I hate people like that so I actually got off farther down from the jeepney stop. I walked back towards the group of drivers and while the annoying ones were busy with the other tourists, I approached this one quiet guy standing at the back. Joseph (0905 025 7146) offered P150 going to Sirao Garden then P200 if we add Temple of Leah. He also offered to go to TOPs Lookout but I wasn’t interested in that so for the garden and temple, it was P200. Initially, I thought this was roundtrip already – as mentioned in some blogs – but later on found out it was per way. Perhaps they had a price increase? Haha. Anyway, I didn’t stress it since I just keep in mind that I’m helping the locals make a living. With my helmet on and one hand holding on for dear life, off we went for the 45minute drive uphill.

 

Note that this is not for the faint hearted. There were times when Joseph would go really fast, like he was so used to going through the route. An adventure, for sure, but not for everyone especially for those who are a bit on the safe side. View was nice though and air was cool and fresh. Tip: If you want to see an overview of the city but don’t want to go to TOPs for the viewing deck, stop over at the small carinderia right across it for a great view (we didn’t stop though).

 

Finally arrived at Sirao Garden where there were a lot of people and cars. Entrance fee is now P50 (when before it was P30 according to blogs). I think they are open from 10am-6pm. Inside and even right outside the garden are some stalls selling snacks like banana que, turon, buko juice, corn and the like. Had a light snack of turon (P12) which I shared with Joseph and some buko juice.

 

Once inside, you’ll see the vast garden with blooming flowers – from sunflowers to small yellow flowers to the most famous one called brain celosia. They were beautiful though I had a hard time getting a half-decent photo due to the number of visitors.

 

Our next stop was The Temple of Leah. It was already sundown so it was quite dark when we got there. Paid P50 when before it was free. This is to be expected since there has been an increase in visitors. I think this has a huge potential to become a major tourist attraction in the coming years, especially once everything is constructed, though really not entirely original in its theme. I’ve been to Europe and have seen other better tourist spots than this but considering this is in Cebu, I think more people would want to visit it.

 

When I got there, there was still a tractor and some unfinished business but generally, it’s almost finished. So many people though. Can’t blame them as it’s a nice place to hang out at.

 

Around 6pm, I was ready to go home. My flight was at 10pm and when I told Joseph, he offered to take me directly to the airport. In the end, I paid him P600 plus P50 tip for the whole afternoon ride. Imagine going to the airport – driving through Cebu City’s bridge – on a motorbike. Yep, super possible. Arrived at Mactan airport before 7pm. After freshening up, walked around and looked for dinner. So happy they had Zubuchon there because I really wanted to eat Cebu lechon before I leave! Yas! I ordered the lechon meal with rice and atchara (P220) plus 3 citrus iced tea (P80). The lechon was so good! Meat was tasty and super soft while the skin was crispy and yummy. Anthony Bourdain was right. Best pig ever!

 

My flight got delayed for about an hour because they didn’t have parking – who knew that applied to planes too?! – but that didn’t dampen my spirits. I immensely enjoyed the whole weekend of beach bumming, long commuting by air, land and sea and basically just going on an adventure. I’m happy I can make memories like this – memories I can look back to and would only ignite happy thoughts, rainbows and laughter.