It was intended to be another one of those business trips to the Queen City of the South that my Boss, Anthony Q. wanted me to set up. You know, the "fly-in then fly-out the same day" type of business trip just to let our Borrowers know we haven't taken our eyes off them and to meet up with the local Legal Counsel. Anthony wanted us to fly down for November 18 but we couldn't get accomodations due to the opening of the Ad Congress. A big event, this Ad Congress is. So, we decided to fly down the week after, November 25.
And waddya know. My Cebu-based Partner in Crime and Tagaytay Buddy made plans to go diving with his friends to Malapascua Island for that long weekend and invited me to tag-along for some sun, sand and sea-water. Super-duper!!! I told my boss I wouldn't be flying back with him to Manila after the meetings as I've made arrangements to stay in Cebu for the long-weekend, to which he answered, "sure, but the Company will not cover your stay," Aahh, hello?? Garci?? Duh!!! Of course, no!
Malapascua Island is about 8km north off the tip of Cebu and is known for Tresher sharks and Manta Rays sitings that have made the surrounding Islands its home.Tagaytay Bud and his friends were very excited about diving the next day and seeing them Treshers and Mantas. Malapascua literally means "Bad Easter" because as the story goes, the ships of the arriving Spaniards arrived on the Island on a stormy Easter day.
Going to Malapascua entailed close to a 2-hour drive to the tip of Cebu, then a 30 minute ferry ride to the Island, ala Boracay. I've never had motion sickness but riding a van for close to 2 hours in winding roads with a driver not a care on the bumps along the road and his penchant for overtaking and stepping on the brakes a bit harshly, made me terribly nauseous. I understand that he wanted to make good time but I was nearing embarassment as I couldn't hold it for much longer and all I wanted to do was retch. Good thing we were nearing a Jollibee restaurant so he slowed down and we all trooped inside for a welcome break. 2pc chicken joy and a chocolate sundae meal after, I opted to sit in front of the van beside the driver so I could see the road. No more motion sickness. =)
We arrived on the Island past 3pm and went our separate ways to rest after the long trip. Past 5 pm, we met up on the beach and started taking pictures of the sunset.
White sand...clear waters...friendly locals (with curious kids), but without the humongous crowd, put Malapascua in your "places to visit" list for next time.