like i keep bragging over and over again, cebu really has the best of both worlds. here we have mountains and beaches that you can go to in a matter of hours. and it’s rich in historical landmarks too — old churches, old houses — we have it.

one of the things i love about road trips is the freedom to stop whenever and wherever you want to and explore the place a little bit. photo shoots would always be in order. that’s a given. but i kind of like the feeling of actually feeling the place. know what i mean? i don’t wanna just breeze through the towns and cities. i wanna feel what living there feels like, even if it’s only for a couple of minutes. i just want the experience to be something personal, that’s all.

carcar boasts not only of chicharon and ampao, but of history too. we made a quick stop there to grab some breakfast and buy stuffs we needed for the trip so we didn’t really get to visit museums or whatever, which was fine with me because i’ve been to most of their historical sites before. however, we did have our photos taken in the famous colonial kiosk right in the middle of the rotunda, something i’ve always wanted to do for years!

next stop was argao nature park, a small eco-park offering several activities like boating, ziplining, wall climbing, and archery for a minimal fee. even broke people can afford it. seriously. they also had this mini zoo where you can see rabbits, monkeys, snakes, and that lizard thingie. i forgot what else was there, if i missed any. the zoo wasn’t really all that significant, to be honest. gayle loved the bunnies, though. and the monkey tried to grab my camera when i got a little too close! other than that, it was ho-hum for me. i didn’t even try to look for the snakes. i’m not big on snakes. i hate snakes.

the boating was okay. didn’t really get to row around much because there wasn’t really much space to boat around. the other half of the pond dried up because of el niño. so we were virtually just going round in circles.

i had a lot of fun ziplining, though. it wasn’t really that high or that long and i thought it would be a piece of cake having experienced ziplining in danao, bohol, but turns out i still get kind of nervous at the start, which i gather must be a normal thing. otherwise, everything you ever do would never be fun enough and it would always be boring no matter what. so yeah, it was fun. short, but fun.

i tried wall climbing without the harness and omigod, my feet hurt!  i did get to the top of the wall (a short distance from the ground considering that it’s for those who wouldn’t be using a harness) but it was still hard work trying. the guys all made it to the top (the very top. harness mode.). gayle was the star of the show, looking all sporty and adventurous in the photos but not exactly so in the videos. really funny. i got a kick out of that.

dalaguete has a beautiful view of the sea. the water was turquoise and clear. inviting. the only downside to that is the lack of shorelines. nevermind that the sunset also isn’t that visible in that part of the world. maybe it’s just not west enough. but the sea was breathtaking during the day. i could stare at it for hours. no kidding.