January 25, 2019 | Friday
Took a 3-day unpaid leave (cons of working remotely) from work for this trip, but who cares? A vacation was what I needed the most. I was so happy to be away from home and to be back in Cebu! Cebu is such a small island but definitely has a lot to offer and I can’t wait to be back again, and again.

Happy kiddos about to board on the plane // Found a nice seat on the ferry

I was glad our flight was smooth and punctual. We arrived in Cebu around 5 AM (earlier than expected), and after we bought breakfast from Jollibee at the airport we immediately booked a grab car to drop us off at the North Bus Terminal. We took the Ceres Bus to Hagnaya Port (175/pax) and it took us 3 hours or more to get to the port. The bus seats were uncomfortably small but thankfully, I got to sleep instantly. We arrived at the port quarter at 10 AM and the ferry (185/pax) was scheduled to leave at 10:30 AM. The travel time from Hagnaya Port to Bantayan Island almost took 2 hours, so be prepared to be seasick!

Finally arrived on the island around 12 PM and were fetched by the caretaker of the place we booked via Airbnb (click to view the place details). It was pretty far from Sta Fe proper, but it was nice and quiet. It was near the beach too, but don’t expect too much since it was not maintained. There were fishing boats around the area but still, I liked that it was near the shore. All our basic needs were there too. We got air conditioning, water (the water pressure was weak but we were still grateful no water interruption happened unlike some parts of the island. We even got a water heater), a kitchen where we can cook, a sari-sari store just in front of us, and not so great wifi.

After we settled in and rented 2 scooters from the same caretaker, I messaged my cousin who was already on the island days before with his friends to meet up at the food court and grabbed some lunch.

After we filled up our tummies and met my cousin’s friends, we decided to just meet up again for dinner. We headed back to our temporary home and finally caught up on our lost sleep. Dudeee, we were all so tired from all that traveling. It was exhausting, really. We were dead once we hit the bed. Haha! Anyhoo, we had some fun that night. Drank beer and did karaoke. Also, we did not expect the weather to be that cold and windy at that time. Thank goodness, I brought a jacket and long sleeves polos with me. So yea, it was one heck of a looooooooooong day. And it was really nice meeting new people and making new friends! Okay, laters. ♡