Just returned from a wonderful 18 day vacation, mostly in Cebu and stayed at the above mentioned places. This was my second trip to the Philippines and once again I had a wonderful trip and already looking forward to my next trip.
After a long trip from California, I stayed the night in Mandaue and then the next morning, my g/f and I made our way to Plantation Bay resort on Mactan island
We had a great time there. I had read both good and bad reports about the place so I was a little worried as to what to expect. It's a great place and despite being told that it was over 80% full we hardly saw anybody else there. Sometimes we were the only people in the lagoons as I think a lot of the people staying there went out on day trips. The staff there are unbelievable, so helpful, so friendly and yes,
they will not accept tips!!! I tried, even offered cnady to some of them at the end of our stay and they would not accept it. Anything you wanted they would help you with. I even needed the assistance of the nurse during my stay and she called round and helped me out. The only possible downside to the place is that if you have no transport then you will have to eat in the resort and it is expensive, or rather, after all the taxes are added it can add a lot onto your final total. Facilties are great, gym, climbing wall, tennis courts, pools are all clean and well looked after. The food we did try was great and of high quality. I will certainly go back there someday, mainly due to the friendliness of the staff. They are a credit to the resort!!!.
The only downfall to the place for me was the smokers in the reception. But that's just me. We had to wait there for 30 to 40 minutes when we arrived for our room and it seemed like everyone else there was a smoker, so we had to move out and wait elsewhere. I really hope they pay the staff well!!!
Second trip was down to Moal Boal and to try and get my g/f to try scuba diving. I'm going to jump to the end of our trip to when we went to pay our account. Firstly, we had 1300 pesos added to our account for a meal we never had, and my g/f spotted this and the manager then noticed that it was not our signature on the receipt. Next, my g/f got billed for damaging her wetsuit. There was a smalltag attached to her zipper and this came off when she pulled her zipper up, and in my opinion this was not her fault and would have come off no matter who had used this suit, but they still added 175 pesos onto our account for damage to the suit. I told the manager that this was not her fault but he would not listen and said we had to pay it. For me it was not the cost, even if it had of been 2 pesos I would still have complained. My g/f and I had talked about returning there for her next birhtday and bringing some friends with us for her party and letting her complete her diving certification. We will not be returning there because of the managers attitude, he has lost a lot of business over a 175 peso zip. I will say that Mark our waiter was superb and a really nice guy and this report would have been different had it not have been for the bosses attitude!!!
The agency I use to book my hotels give you points for all your hotel stays and I had earned enough from my two trips to the Philippines for a stay at the Marco Polo at the end of the end of my trip. A very nice hotel, unfortunately, as most of you from Cebu will know the weather was terrible on our first day there so we never got to use the pool. The staff again were amongst the friendliest I have ever come across, always smiling, always greeting you when they see you. It certainly makes you want to stay longer. The food was great, they have a wonderful gym and nice rooms. My only complaint is that the baths are too small for two people!!!!
The people who work in the hotels and resorts where I stayed are first class, great service and always seem to have a smile on their faces. I loved my trip and had a great time. We visited metro sports in Lahug using the badminton courts, gym and climbing wall. It's a great leisure center, great value and very helpful staff.
Both of us also helped out at a charity I support in Cebu every Sunday. This was the first time we actually helped out and it was great to see the work being done to help the homeless kids. The kids have unbelievable spirt despite the harsh lives they lhave. They love having their photos taken. I think I went through a 512mb memory card in about 10 minutes taking everyones picture. Anyone wishing to help out and meet the kids on Sunday can contact me and I will pass on the name of the boss of the charity and she would love to have help out.
http://www.mercyinaction.org.uk/Proj...8/Default.aspx
This is a brief description of the charities work in Cebu
Currently we have three mayor projects running in Cebu area. The first, as you have seen, is the Colon street families feeding program. It started in January with just 15 kids whom we had met that where living in gangs on the streets. The program has grown alot since then. We have over 20 local volunteers and last sunnday we had the most we had ever had of 160 homless children and adults attending. As well as giving food and guidance we also give out soap, washing soap etc on a regular basis. We are about to put 5 children onto our schooling program. Some of the girls we have been working with whom where run aways we have been able to reunite with their families and are off the streets. And one young couple we have been able to build a small house for to get them off the streets. So we are seeing small victories and just continue to love the children and see where else we may be able to help individuels in the future.
In the mountains of Talisay city we are running a schooling program in Brgy. Tapul. The farther most mountain Barangay of Talisay city. We run a scholarship program for 30 of the poorest children attending the local elementary school. We feed the children a nutritional lunch every school day and provide their notebooks, pencils, uniforms etc. In return for the help they recieve the children, with the help of thier parents, have each grown 10 mango or jack fruit trees. A three hectare plot of de-forested land was donated to us by the local goverment. So there the children have grown the saplings which, 5 years from now will start to reap a harvest. The parents of the 30 children have formed an organisation so they can mannage themselves and divide profits from the trees between themselves.
This project has four main benafits education, nutrition, enviromental and small buisness creation.
The third project we run is a group called The Source. We run mother and baby groups for single teens who are either pregnant or have children. We provide free health care for the children and mums. Offer counceling, family planning and run seminars to educate teens.
We have just purchased a plot of land in Brgy.Dumog, Talisay City to build a children home
[img width=500 height=375]http://donesa-87.smugmug.com/photos/219975793-M.jpg[/img]
Plantation Bay, Club Serena and Marco Polo
Originally Posted by watch
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