weekend getaway

whew!! what a great experience that was!!

our recently concluded island getaway adventure in cebu was certainly one of the most wonderful experiences that my husband and i were able to have! thanks AOL for making this dream possible!!

let me share how this exciting adventure unfolded...

it all started a month ago, (actually second week of september), when our Rewards and Recreations Manager announced the winners for MFAS (Member First All Stars) in our company. i was so happy to learn that my husband Marc was able to make it to the roster (him - for the MOST Department). he immediately informed me about it and advised me to file a vacation leave already so I can come with him.. prize at stake was a 3 day all expense paid vacation trip to Cebu for two..

wow!! cebu! one of the most beautiful islands in the Phils. i really love to go visit this place..

of course, i did the next best thing to do, and that was to check our e-Scheduler and made sure that I would be able to get that day off. Lucky me, my request was granted..

the next day, i went to my OB's clinic to inform her about my pending airplane ride and vacation to Cebu.. i asked her if it's still safe for me to travel (i'm on my second trimester already).. and my lucky streak did not waver... Dr. Bernice gave me a GO.. yipeee!!

forward 3 weeks later: maricar sent e-mails informing us about our upcoming trip.. city tours, kayaking, parasailing and snorkeling were among the activites awaiting us.. i was really getting much excited at that time.. i've even asked my kumare (dei) for her digicam so we could take pictures in cebu.. a week before the event, marc and i were actually going gaga over what to wear and bring to the queen city of the south.. we were acting like dreamy eyed, soon-to-be-honeymooners.. (for the third time) hehehe...

then came the big day.. october 27. we received a phone call from maricar informing us about our assembly time and brunch session. marc and i readily registered our names on the contact list when we arrived at AOL premises. we were later joined by emil (magz) and his father (his guest).

and then something funny happened to magz.. he told us that he needs to pee first so he excused himself, while marc and i took some pictures... 10 minutes has passed, magz was still nowehere in sight.. i wondered what happened to him.. i then felt "the force of nature" so i decided to go to the restroom. there i saw magz, all looking sweaty and exhausted.. i asked him what happened.. and he burst into laughter.. while laughing, he was able to tell me that he was trapped inside the men's room because the doorknob malfunctioned. he said he texted me and miscalled me for about three times already.. but i wasn't aware of that because i had my cellphone turned off. hehehe.. so he spent almost 10 hours banging the door crying for help to whoever might pass by the room.. soon, a security personnel heard his plea and informed the janitors about what happened in the restroom..

poor magz... he was already perspiring hard when the adventure hasn't started yet!! what i way to begin the day.. hahahaha !!

anyway, an hour later, we all rode our service coasters which brought us to Clark DMIA (Diosdado Macapagal International Airport). from there, we had our baggages & hand-carry bags checked, got our plane tickets and the usual picture taking began.. we waited for about an hour more before we boarded the plane. (we were on board Cebu Pacific Air Bus 5J568 at exactly 12:10pm.)

okay... now.. dont make fun of me when i narrate to you my experience on the airplane... it's actually my first time riding plane and i was really feeling jiggy with it.. random thoughts were on my mind.. like what if there's an engine trouble, or a weather disturbance or a terrorist on board?? my husband told me to think about positive things instead, like thinking about our son, Kyle and what his reaction would be if ever he could tour with us..

with this adverse thought, i was pacified and i almost forgot that i was flying like a bird, until i looked upon the window and saw the clouds drifting just a couple of feet above me.. i took pictures of the clouds and got really excited when i looked down and saw Clark in its mountanious entirety.. i was even able to pinpoint Clark EXPO because of it large canopy which looked like a small umbrella from up above. with the clouds floating just beside me, i feel like i'm in heaven!

marc had his own restroom experience too, up above! hehehe. he complained that he kinda ate a lot during brunch and that his tummy was acting strange. he then went to the lavatory and stayed there for about 7 minutes.. i thought he got stuck up too because he came out perspiring hard amidst the cool aircon breeze, hehehee.. he just said that he took his time out there.. lol!

cebu pacific is known to give free items while inside the plane, by means of playing games with the passengers.. the flight stewardess started the "Bring Me/Show Me" game asked for certain items. i didn't join in the fun because i was busy taking a look at the clouds down below.. hehehe.

we were up in the air for a rough estimated time of 1 hour and 10 minutes. of course, we experienced momentary turbulence too, as this is usual in small planes. marc was holding my hand the whole time while we were up there so i didn't shriek when there was turbulence.

it was already past 1:30 when we landed at Mactan International Airport. after getting our personal belongings from the baggage claim area, we were picked up by 2 rental coaster-buses and then we're off to Mactan Shangri-La Hotel (Resort and Spa).. there was a heavy security checkup at the entrance of the hotel and canine dogs were everywhere, sniffing out luggages. we were then led to Jasmine Function room where we had an Express Check In and got our hotel room number and activity agenda list.

the cebuanos in general are so accomodating and friendly.. when the hotel staff served us with drinks, they were all smiles all the time.. and the fruits - oh so delicious!! i love the fruits there... especially the mangoes and pineapples.. so sweet!!

anyway, we wntered our hotel room (9073) after the refreshments and decided to take a few winks before marc joined other MFAS winners for their team building.. but before that, something funny happened when we entered our hotel room..

it's like this.. i know that 5 star hotels use swipe cards in order to enter the room. so we swiped in our key card on the door and we were able to get through. however, everything was dark when we entered.. marc kept turning on and off the switches but still there was no light.. then i saw a device attached near the door that read: Keycard: Help Conserve Electricity... then a picture of a swipe card was drawn there. i decided to insert the card and presto!!! everything got lit up! hahahaha.. we really looked like fools upon learning how to use the keycard.. hehehe.. soweeee mga kapatid, walang ganun sa bundok eh.. hahahaha..

okay.. so that was funny.. and i'm still embarassed narrating this so don't laugh at me when you see me, okay?.. hehe..

at 5pm, marc and the rest of the MFAS awardees went to the Beachfront and had some team building activities with our Partner Sites (AOL Cebu and Makati).. i just stayed in our room and watched LOST in cable and slept for about an hour. when marc arrived at 6pm, we changed our clothes to casual beach attire and joined the others for our Welcome Dinner (held at Mactan 4 Function Ballroom).. before eating, our ever hyper manager, Doreen, shared some thoughts and danced with other managers (from cebu and makati) to the tune of Willie's Boom Tarat-tarat... we were forced to dance with them in the end... else, we will not eat.. hehehe..

anyway, the food served were very succulent and yummy!! my favorites were the chicken adobo, the big lobster and large tuna ensemble.. so tasty and mouth watering!!

the next day - we had our early breakfast buffet at Tides Restaurant, one of the many restaurants inside Mactan Hotel which served different specialties: Filipino, Italian, Chinese and American cuisine. After breakfast, we then all gathered at the Lobby and waited for our Tour Guide for our City Tour itenary. our tour guide was a native and spoke in a very Visayan accent English!!! i'm really sorry but i can't help laughing during the entirety of our trip because she really had a hard time speaking in English and at the same time, her accent was so stiff!... sample: Ledis and jintelmin, we have just passed by the house of our pormer prisidint Serhio Osminia, which looked like a kasul... {translation pala is: Ladies and gentlemen, we have just passed by the home of our former president Sergio Osmeña, whose house looked like a castle! } basta.. sumakit ang ulo ko sa tour guide!!! waahhhhh..

okay... these were the places that we toured: Lapu-Lapu Shrine, Guitar Factory (Alegre Guitars); where my husband had a lot of fun since he's really into guitars and stuffs...then to Pasalubong Center (which consumed most of our time!), Magellan's Cross & Sto. Niño Shrine, Fort San Pedro and we had late lunch at Sugbahan Restaurant.. it was already 3pm when we returned to Shang Hotel.

and because of the exhaustive city tour, marc and i decided to stay and cuddled in our hotel room until 5pm.. it was relaxing!!

later, marc joined the others for their blocking rehearsals (for the Awarding Ceremonies at 7pm). after their practice, we dipped into the luxurious ocean pool and snapped some pictures.. after 30 minutes, we went to the beach and swam with the fish! yes, we swam along with our aquatic friends.. Cebu is well known for its white sand beach and i'm so honored to have experienced that! {sorry, i still don't know the name of those fish that were frolicking our feet and swam in between our legs.. hehehe..}

here's a view of the beach.. doesn't it look relaxing??

when we were done swimming, we passed by garden area and there we saw a crying boy who seemed lost.. i thought the boy was chinese, so i started speaking in chinese (lucky me, i know a few mandarin words, thanks to my F4 friends!) but the boy just shook his head, indicating that he was not chinese. i searched for words on my mind as I try to verify if he is japanese or korean.. when he said "abeoji", that's when i realized that he is Korean and he is looking for his dad.. we took the boy to the front desk and asked for help from the receptionist. luckily, after about 30 minutes, the boy's father arrived and soon they were reunited.. what a touching scene!! {marc was proud of me because i was able to recognize the boy's race and we were able to help.}

forward: one hour later... everyone was getting ready for a Hawaiian party. Magz and his father wore identical flower-patterned blue polo shirts while marc and i wore green ones.. we were welcomed by girls wearing grass skirts and bikinis... marc & magz and the rest of the male population feasted their eyes on them! hehehe.. oh yes, they loved every moment of it! i even snapped some pics of them.. just take a look at marc's & mags' proud looks.. hehehe..

a very upbeat hawaiian dance opened up the Awarding Ceremonies for MFAS Grand Prix winners.. after that came the usual speeches by our Managers and Leadership team. by the way, the hosts for the evening was no other than the very flawless, Ms Ludy and her escort, Pogs. i should've taken a pic of Ms Ludy wearing short shorts! you gotta believe me, she's got flawless legs! anyway, the winners were awarded with an MFAS Jacket (nice!) and MFAS Cap and a heavy glass MFAS trophy.. the trophy is really beautiful!

after the award night, everyone scampered out of the function room and had a grand time outside the pavillon.. some went swimming (sa beach & ocean pool) while others went to the Entertainment area and played billiards or did videokes.. others still went out to buy tiangge items (at 9pm!) while the rest went back to their hotel rooms (including us). it was a hectic day indeed but very exciting!

when my honey and i got back to our room, he decided to watch a movie (i forgot the title) in HBO before going to sleep.. but about halfway of the film, i aw his eyelids already closed so i turned off the tv.. then the phone rang at 12 midnight and a very sweet voice said "hello!" i thought i was dreaming or maybe a ghost was talking at the other end of the phone.. when the lady again said, "hello maa'm, is this ms. claire santos?" that's the time i breathe a sign of relief... whew! turned out that Obet, our security assistant and close friend asked if marc was still awake so they can take some "san mig shots" at the bar.. when i told him that marc's already sound asleep, he said he's gonna try inviting magz instead...

the next day was the free day for us.. there were no other activities lined up for the awardees and guests, so we savored every minute of it by taking a shower, having a buffet breakfast at Tides, then joined the rest of the gang swimming at the beach then at the ocean pool. magz, obet, ronald (my fellow mac agent), sir bryan, sir bong, coach mon and my hubby, marc were in for some treats because there were a lot of bikini babes in front of them, literally!

yes, there was an assortment of korean, american and chinese ladies stripping off their robes, revealing only their bodies with skimpy swimsuits... and our boys were just a few feet away from them... oh boy, they surely had a lot of fun watching those ladies stripping and dipping into the pool.. hehehe..

u might wonder: did claire feel a little bit insecured when she saw these ladies ramp off their sexy bodies in front of her husband?

the answer is... NO.. hehehe.. yep.. i didn't feel even a lit bit insecured when i saw them.. i know that it's normal for these girls to take off their clothes in front of anybody else.. i was threatened by them just because i am pregnant who looked kinda fat and heavy.. my reason is: i used to have a body like them before i got pregnant, and i can easily go back to that curvy body after i give birth.. .. sounds fair enough, right? hehehe..

anyway, we stayed there at the pool until the sun shone brightly on us (so bright that i actually felt my skin burned! ick!) so we transferred to the other pool (main lounge where the pool is as deep as 7 feet!) and the guys played a little water basketball, while i stayed with the "ladies" - angie, maricar and pin.. it was already 11:30 when we all decided to go back to our rooms, changed clothes, arrange the bed, went to Rosal Function to have Tropical Lunch and finally checked out of the hotel at 2:30 pm..

we then headed back to Mactan Airport, got our boarding pass and bought more pasalubong items at the Duty Free centers.. our plane took off at 4:50pm (due to another delayed flight, grrr...) and arrived NAIA at 6pm.. but due to congested runway at domestic ariport, our plane cant descent particularly on it's area so the pilot decided to give us a "joy ride" up in the air, encircling manila bay for at least 30 minutes... (by the way, manila looks great at night! so many lights!)

it was already 9pm when all of us finally reached our final destination (Clark Pampanga).. although we're so exhausted during the trip, i still managed to stay up until 10pm when we got home coz i really missed our son a lot!! oh Kyle!! how i wish you could have joined us... maybe next year, if Marc wins again, then we would be able to bring you and your kid bro to cebu again.. hehehe..

so that's all for now folks.. that was how marc and i spent a wonderful weekend in cebu!!

don't we look like we just got married? hehehehe..

to the Cebuanons, daghang salamat sa inyo! we hope to visit your place again soon!!