Nostalgia

Cebu in My Mind

Being a proud Malaysian and a Sabahan, I have never thought of any more beautiful islands and seas as ours. We have the best of everything especially where sun, sea and sand are concerned. And our islands? Superb! But that’s just the patriotic me speaking. We all know however that each island destinations has its own unique features and beauty. They are attractive and beautiful in some ways other than what we are used to and I might add, take for granted.. When I was in Cebu Philippines, a few years ago, I never thought I would gasp at the beauty of an island. But I did. Many times. Actually I was told by a guide that island hopping is one of the most interesting things to do in Cebu and that it should be tried if one was vacationing in there. “It is quite simple actually, just hop on a banca, (a boat that looks like a catamaran, and is one of course) and cruise to some small islands around Cebu Island,” the young man said. So some Malaysian sojourners and I decided to go island hopping. We took a banca and chug off towards the blue sea yonder. Our first destination was to snorkel and feed some fish on the shallows off a small island. The boat crew was very helpful and put down ropes and ladders for us to stand on as we feed the fish. None of us was inclined to dunk our face in the water however, loving the deck too much, and we just watched as our friendly crew pointed out some fish swimming around. Because of our reluctance to get wet, we arrived early for our lunch at Olango Island. This island actually boasts beach villas and some seafront eateries. The beach was just like ours, white and sandy; plus it was populated; although still boasting its status as a marine and bird sanctuary. So we opted to go to Pandanon Island before lunch. Pandanon was the island that evoked gasps. Off the coast of Getafe, Bohol, the island looked more like a huge sandbar with an attractive seaside chapel. This was interesting as the chapel was so near the beach, the waves actually crashed at the steps. There were pillars there called The Pandanon pillars. I was not sure what the purpose was but they looked quite imposing; being part of the landscape like that. There are cottages for rent, ideal for day use in beach outings, picnics and private parties there. But I was not too interested in that, being keener to go for a walk around the quaint island. Time constraint however made this impossible. What we did was buy souvenirs from a stall by the chapel. A nice although standard activities for tourists. 

 After taking in as much as possible, risking sensory overload, we hopped back on our banca and made our way back to Olango. We chugged back and were welcomed by our host and cold food, which we did not mind a bit. We were too hungry to care. The food was mostly sea derived. There were shells of various shapes and sizes, fish cooked to perfection and crabs just waiting to be devoured. While wolfing down our food, we were serenaded by three musicians. To the tunes of ‘Anak’, ‘Dahil Sayo’ and ‘Pangako Sa yo’, we enjoyed our fare. The serenaders were so good that some of us wished they had a pub here and bring these talented trios in. They were that good. And to think that one of their musical instrument were improvised from water containers, woods and rope. After lunch we cruised back to Cebu. The sea had turned rough so all of us were eyeing the life buoy. However we arrived back to the shore none the worse for wear. Needless to say we enjoyed our cruise thoroughly. Malaysians going to Cebu should experience island hopping. Fun!