My Cebu : Eating & Dining Out Part 2 (AA BBQ)

What better way to end my month-long stay in Cebu than to visit the famous "D Original AA BBQ" place in Lahug! It was a pre-Halloween dinner and a post bday dinner for my bro in-law. If you visit Cebu and miss out eating in any of its famous BBQ places, you haven't been to CEBU at all! Of course, you can visit the Larsian BBQ near Chong Hua Hospital or visit the famous AA BBQ place (they have several branches in the Metro) and they have parking.

So off we went to Lahug and I made sure we were enroute by 6pm because parking may be a problem if we come in later. When we arrived there were only 4-5 cars parked and the place was decorated with halloween stuff already. We placed our orders and each one got a fruit shake!

When eating in Cebu, there is no such thing as sinigang, and paksiw is not limited to day-old lechon but also to fish which we call "inun-unan". Soupy dishes are pochero, "nilat-an" or "nilaga", tinola or "utan bisaya" with malunggay leaves. And "subga" or "ihaw" is the name of the game! That's the reason why there are a lot of BBQ and Su-Tu-Kil (Sugba-Tula-Kilaw) places in the metro. To complement the BBQ and sugba, Cebuanos love to eat a variety of seaweeds soaked in a concoction of vinegar and other spices or version of local salad.

So the four of us had full dinner of squid, pochero, liempo, ribs and etc and just had a great time! I guess we Filipinos really enjoy our food more with family around.

Am looking forward to my next visit this November and eat more ... and yes bring to Manila our local Cebuano chorizo!

Mrs Jane B.

Driving Along Cebu's SRP Road -- Photos

Taken near the midtown cebu intersection

Max speed 60kph?

The SRP near midtown Cebu

Driving Along Cebu’s SRP Road

This has been my longest stay in Cebu after 10 years of living in Manila. It’s been quite an experience for me, re-discovering my home island and appreciating its beauty now that I’m older (ehem) and wiser. We’ve lived in Talisay City since 1985. It wasn’t a city back then and I remembered my friends in high school not wanting to visit me at home because it was too far! As Cebu province and Cebu City progressed, the traffic congestion from Cebu City to Talisay could sometimes take more than an hour. Mind you, in Cebu where anywhere is 30 mins away, that’s totally far! And if you drive, good-luck! Because, its not just the volume of traffic you have to deal with but buses, motorcycles, v-hires, everything goes along N. Bacalso Ave, the only road that leads to the south of Cebu.

Now with the SRP (South Reclamation Project) Road, from the Carmen node (Talisay City portion of the SRP), my parents place is only a good 15min away from Cebu City! Amazing and you can run at more than 80kph! It’s really fast and it has changed the way we in Talisay City live. We can easily go home, have lunch and siesta, and be ready to “gimik”. That’s the beauty of Cebu, island lifestyle in a highly urban city.

In my early morning drive, I really love seeing the sun rising above the serene waters and birds flying about ... the Spanish looking building (relic) at Kawit Island really reminds you of Cebu’s rich history. And as you reach the midtown (mid-section of Cebu City), the City Gov’t has constructed a sort of viewing area with benches that one can drive through from the South going into Cebu City. My husband and I stopped by one lazy Sunday afternoon and just sat there mesmerized by the sea and the calm surrounding. Truly priceless considering its free!

And as the sun sets or in Cebuano we call it “kilum-kilum”, your drive will be transformed to that of seeing a city coming to life with lights lining up the city mountain slopes --- these are the lights coming from the private subdivisions and residential areas being developed by local and Manila-based real estate companies. Truly Cebu has attracted a lot of people coming from it’s neighbouring islands to settle in its sunny and bustling metropolis.

I promised myself I would take time to document the SRP as I see it now and share it with people who have been to Cebu, or are planning to visit or are like me, who have left the Queen City and re-discovering its beauty and charm. I will post my pics, and even if there might be other blogs who have published their stories about the SRP, mine is from the eyes of someone who has left and seen it with new eyes! Will post it before I fly back to Manila. Hope it will inspire people to come and visit Cebu.

Mrs Jane B.

Hanging Out in Cebu at the Prana Medi Spa, Club Ultima

I’ve written about my spa experience in Manila, and after being in Cebu for a time, I wanted to check out the spa scene in the Queen City of the South. Of course, there are a lot of spa’s in the city (you can have a 30 min foot massage for P50 at Thewi – near Dunkin Donuts at Fuente O), but I wanted to go to destination spas, pampering spas. I remembered my friend a couple of months ago showing me PRANA at the Club Ultima. The spa boasts of its wide array of spa services from foot, to body wraps, to facial treatments and even to its non-invasive slimming treatments! You have to check out their service menu as they have quite a lot to offer.

Being a Cebuano at heart, I wanted to try what Cebu can offer and with the booming spa business all over the country that is not only attracting the locals but foreign visitors as well – I’ve nothing to lose. So, off we went. I really suggest that one calls in first for appointment to make sure you have a ready therapist and have the courtesy to call as well if you’re running late. PRANA has high weekend traffic so if you’re late by 15min, you may have to re-sked within the day.

The spa is located at the 16th floor of the Crown Regency Hotel near Robinsons Cebu Fuente O. Upon entering the reception, you will be greeted by fushia clad women who will facilitate preparing you for the treatment. The receptionist gave us our locker and service no. The reception wasn’t that efficient and was a bit noisy for a spa – too many greeters, I think. My sis and I went to the locker rooms and prepared to go to the steam room prior to our full body massage treatment. A lady assisted us right away and ushered us into the steam room, which was huge and could possibly accommodate 25 ladies. Thing was since no one was using it, the room wasn’t heated up as desired ... so we decided to leave and switch to the dry sauna instead. And boy, the sauna was great! Well, very hot but relaxing! We had customary cold drinks and cold towels inside the sauna room.

Then we were ready for our Swedish massage! The strokes used by the therapist were really relaxing though more kneading-to-rolling strokes would have made the whole massage more fluid and would lull you to deeper sleep! He he he! After an hour, I felt refreshed and ready to go to Ayala Mall to meet up with my high school gal pals! I’ve always written how happy I am with the Suriya Spa – massage service and all, but from a scale of 1-10, Prana is a 7 at the right price! The spa could have improved their ambience with more aromatherapy within the spa lounge area and more relaxing music.

I still have 3 more weeks to go before going back to Manila, I’d probably have to try their SPA JET and Oxyjet facial treatments soon. Or I can hunt again for other spas in the Metro, too bad my hubby and his friends closed down their own medi spa in Cebu -- seems the spa scene is truly booming here!

Mrs Jane B.

My Cebu : Home Appliance Shopping (SM Appliance)

I stayed for another 10 days in Cebu recently and was tasked by my family to purchase a simple washer. My mom didn’t want to burden the house-help so much and wanted her to have an easier life. We agreed to just buy a small washer (5kg or so) minus the spin dryer. We have a very reliable clothesline area at home. Brian (my hubby) who was my partner in this task asked me if there were appliance centers alongside the Cebu South Road. I told Bri there are lots of appliance centers in Cebu, big ones are Citi Appliance, Gillamacs ... but I’ve never bought in any of these places.

So past experience in setting up our place in Mandaluyong told me the best place to go was SM Appliance Center. So off we went and was at SM City Cebu by 10am. We browsed through the displays and an SM attendant answered our questions. Unfortunately, for our top 2 choices, they didn’t have stocks and only have items on display – NO I’m not buying display items unless its discounted. But SM as they are, they couldn’t give me that discount which other smaller appliances in the city would have given. So we bought option 3, a Sharp washer. The SM attendant told us that delivery to our place is P520, just as I thought, pay P520 delivery for a 3k product! We told her we have an SUV and we can just bring it home. She replied saying, that the people working at the warehouse were not available yet and we should come back at 11am. So to make things faster, we paid in advance and browse around looking for refrigerators.

Time passed and by 11am we gave our receipt to the claim counter. The lady told us, item is not available yet and they don’t know how many minutes more it’ll take for the item to be brought in the store from the warehouse. To really show more incompetence, this lady called up another attendant and asked what time ... she was answered maybe 15 or 30 mins more while cutting paper in front of us. There you GO! INCOMPETENCE at the core. In instances like this, I look for the manager to get what I want. Well, the manager was able to have the item brought in, in 15 min. Boy, I sure was mad as hell by this time, we were already in the store for more than an hour and purchased a freaking 3k washer! My bag is more expensive than this! Grrrr ...!

Lesson learned, never buy in impersonal stores like SM Appliance Center in a place like CEBU. In impersonal Manila, maybe it works best but in Cebu, stick with the locals! I should have went to the downtown area and went to the many appliances stores there, they would have been more attentive and fast! Ah the problem of the big retailers, loyalty maybe low because service is just terrible ... no wonder my dad never bought any of our appliances at SM Appliance Center! Dad knows best!

Mrs Jane B.

My Cebu : Fresh with a new look -- Robinsons Smkt Fuente O

Before the days of Ayala Center Cebu and SM City Cebu, the uptown area was the “in” place in the City. People and teenagers would flock the Rustan’s area where the first National Bookstore branch is also near and Robinsons Mall Cebu was the mall to be seen in. Of course this was in the early 1990’s. In those years Robinsons was more known for its dept store more than the supermarket (and the snake that lives in the spiral complex!). They had a wide array of clothes, shoes, accessories and even baby items. With the rise of the malls and the mini-malls, boutiques and specialty shops have challenged the existence of the dept store format and probably (I don’t have insider info) but the Robinsons Mall Cebu changed with the times and downsized its dept store to give way to space for boutique stores.

But my recent visit yesterday showed a newly renovated supermarket area. Mind you, despite the downsizing of the dept store, Robinsons has not reduced the size of its supermarket. This is really because this is the only supermarket in the Fuente O area that caters to communities around the capitol, Jones, Ramos areas. The nearest one would be Foodarama in the Mango Ave side, SM’s supermarket at the Elizabeth Mall which is quite far already and caters more the shoppers going south.

The newly renovated store reminds me of our very own Robinsons Otis near our Unilever Office at UN Ave. It’s small yet very complete with fresh food items, packaged food, personal care and home care products. The colors and the layout have made the store looked cleaner, more spacious than before where one can hardly push a cart inside the aisles. I’ve noticed that the personal care and the snacks area had more shoppers milling about and the fresh section. The wine and the fresh fruit section were pretty dead areas – note that just outside the mall there are fruit vendors everywhere selling mangoes, apples, now lansones, so I guess buying at the smkt isn’t so appealing. But it pretty much looks like any big supermarket.

Ah but the crux of it all, is parking. I find the mall parking inconvenient specially if all you want to do is do grocery shopping. One has to drive up into the spiral ramp and go down into the basement where the smkt is located. The mall compensated though via having a taxi lane and the jeepney stop pretty much near the smkt entrance/exit but for those shoppers w/ cars, this may prove to be a hassle. Dont know this can be solved though.

But Cebu residents rejoice, for Robinsons is building next to Chong Hua hospital its Cebu Cybergate Mall which I believe would have another smkt and would probably be really like the Otis Mall where there are offices in the complex. Forgot when the project completion is though but if they can build fast, Christmas 2008 might be the target.

Cebu is indeed changing to the times, yet still keeping its island charm ...

Mrs Jane B.

My Cebu : Eating & Dining Out

Ah, years ago when I was 8 or so, I remembered that eating out was truly a treat not just because we were kids that time but even for my parents. I remembered going to the same Chinese resto year-on-year. In fact, my dad, used to come home during lunchtime to eat and have siesta. Even my mom (who worked full time too) would come home for lunch and she would tell us stories before we have our afternoon nap. Life was simplier then, not sure how many parents now get to come home for lunch and see their kids.

Now, if you visit Cebu, with the advent of malls, a lot of families, groups and two-somes now meet up in a resto not just to eat but really to socialize. You know, the Cebuanos are the hardest market to crack in the Phils. We believe in quality products and services but we want the best bargain/price for it. Sorry, a P60 shake won't really sell in Cebu years ago. A P100 meal is too expensive, what with Larsian BBQ place at Fuente O and ngohiong at P10/pc and hanging rice, "puso" -- one can eat at P50 w/ drinks! When SM City opened, Wendy's was one of the fastfood chains that opened but had to close down because the offering wasn't as competitive. Racks even closed down -- with ribs that expensive, nobody would buy it in Cebu. That's how picky we are.

I think, with more non-Cebuanos in Cebu, the resto and fastfood business are making money. With the advent as well of the call centers (the major ones have operations in Cebu), eating and dining out is really "IN". So, if your non Cebuano, check out places like Chika-an, Golden Cowrie, CNT Lechon place (we have the best lechon in the Phils), or check out SU-TU-KIL restos that abound in the metro that specialize in "sugba" - grilled/bbq, "tula" - fish clear broth soup, "kilaw" - raw food usually fish our version of sashimi.

For more modern, metro eating places, visit the BTC area, the IT Park (near Waterfront Lahug) has buildings with eating places at the 1st floor and the newly revived "THE Walk" -- the "in place" right now. Check out my pics with HS friends in our latest meet up at THE Walk 2 wks ago.

So when you're in Cebu, remember, its where you can eat great food at great affordable prices!

Mrs Jane B