I just got back from a Cebu and Bohol trip with Abe, Aileen, Sasha, Rico, Sharm, Marc M., and Chris. Unfortunately, my husband couldn’t join us—he was being enslaved by not being allowed to take a leave during the last 30 days of his employment. It was fun though, and I was able to get to know these bloggers I consider my closest friends (aww…).

So… What have I found out while in Bohol?

1. Never, and I do mean never, be late for your flight. From the evil look Sharm was giving Marc when we picked them up at the port, I don’t think you should dare miss your flight especially when you’re traveling with a girlfriend/wife. I won’t elaborate, Marc might prefer to “explain himself” on his own for this mishap. Hehe.


The Band of Bloggers being inconsiderate by
occupying four rows of seats at the Cebu seaport waiting area.

2. Have presence of mind, or you’ll end up trying to get inside the wrong tourist van. Again, the Macalua strikes! Hehe. He opened the door of another van and almost went inside until he realized that it was full of old people. Ok, fine, I almost (take note, almost) made the same mistake too. There was this group in a van who also had a big, bald guy with them. I followed, thinking I was following Abe. Good thing the door was open—I was able to see it’s the wrong van before making a total fool of myself. Later, I found out that a very amused Abe was behind me watching the whole time. Grrr….


Loboc River


Chris on the Loboc River Floating Restaurant

3. I cannot take a dump properly anywhere but home. ‘Nuff said.


Sharm pretending to fly while at the BILAR Manmade Forest

4. Aileen likes putting catsup on everything. The sight of her catsup-drenched breakfast wasn’t pretty. Ugh.


Me with the Chocolate Hills. Thanks for the pic, Sharm!

5. My friends are nerds. I think this is already pretty obvious, but my god. You should have seen them! (Ok fine, I had my one teeny-weeny nerdy moment of checking my email via my mobile phone, but that’s just one instance). Abe doesn’t consider the day complete without turning on his laptop. Laptop in the airport. In the evening. In the car. At the resort. I don’t think he ever brought his laptop in the toilet, but still. Rico wasn’t as bad, but he was blogging during our first night in Bohol. Sharm was checking her email at the Metro Cebu airport on Marc’s laptop. I think the only “untarnished with Internet” people in the group were Chris, Aileen, and Sasha. Well, unless they took a peak without me knowing!


Spot the difference!

6. Smoking can make hiking very entertaining. Aileen and I went ahead with Chris during the hike up the stairs to see the famous Chocolate Hills. Chris looked like he didn’t even sweat (gosh, what do they feed you in Utah?!), and though Aileen and I were gasping for breath, we’re nothing compared to the real smokers in the group. I’m just a social smoker, so my breathing wasn’t that bad. It was so funny seeing Marc drag himself up the hill while a couple of elderly women were comfortably chatting while hiking in front of him.


Baclayon Church


Sasha and Rico at the Baclayon Church Museum entrance

7. If you want your things to squat on somebody else’s bag, dump them in only one bag. We aren’t allowed to have liquid stuff in our hand-carry bags, we had to check those in. After a bad experience in Thailand years ago (I spent two days with no deodorant, no toothbrush, and no clean underwear in Bangkok while my luggage was lost somewhere in Manila), I tried to cram as much as possible in my hand-carry. Miraculously, everything fit, so I just dumped my very few toiletries in Sasha and Aileen’s check-in bags. But by the time we got to Bohol, I totally forgot where I put my stuff and spent the evening looking for my deodorant (turns out it was lurking somewhere in Sasha’s bag).


Magellan’s Cross in Cebu

8. There is no such thing as “Boholians.” That was just Abe’s little joke. He chided Chris that he needed to have his Pesos changed for “Boholians.” Abe knew a lot of trivial stuff in history and biology (he was like a walking encyclopedia), and it was really hard to discern when he was just pulling your leg or was really telling the truth. There were some instances when it was pretty obvious he was just kidding, like telling you that the two doors on the Fort San Pedro gate (in Cebu) were for hobbits and the other for humans. I probably would have believed him about the “Boholians” if I wasn’t wide awake at that time.


The scary Hinagdanan Cave

9. I “conquered” my fear of enclosed spaces. There are three things in this world that would scare me (in order of intensity): snakes, enclosed spaces, and injections. Two out of three of my fears were present in our trip. Since I didn’t want to pee on myself and I knew my fear was just overwhelming, I didn’t dare to see the python. My fear of enclosed spaces was a bit more tolerable than of snakes, so I went down with the group to the cave. I was in tears by the time I saw the hole in the ceiling (Abe said I was really shaking), but seeing sunlight calmed me down… A bit. I spent the trek back up with my eyes closed and Abe guiding me. I can tell you that that was one hell of an experience for somebody who has an irrational fear of enclosed spaces. If we had to crawl into the cave I probably won’t have dared to go in, but I already consider this an accomplishment. It’s not everyday that I get to do a Fear Factor thing, you know.


BoB’s most documented snore

10. Sleep after everyone else is asleep. Or you’ll end up having your sleep videotaped. I think each one of us had our sleep documented by the Macalua. Of course, we got back at him for it and documented his snore! Haha 😛 There was one instance though, when I was so tired I didn’t care about getting documented and slept the whole afternoon away. I missed a lot of fun at the beach (ie. Abe’s photo shoot with the girls), but I was at least able to get that much-awaited relaxation (just thinking about the work I had to do in Manila made me want to doze off even more).

This trip was actually the first time where my husband and I got “separated” since we got married. It was really weird not having him there—ok, fine, I missed him a lot—but somehow I was able to share with him snippets of trip through MMS, and got to talk to him at least every day on my mobile phone.

The most important thing I’ve probably learned in Bohol and Cebu is the role of technology in our lives. I know I sound like a corny Nokia ad, but really, “connecting people” brings a whole new meaning when you’re far away from the people you love. Through pictures, videos, instant messaging, and low long distance rates, I was able to share my trip with my family even if they couldn’t be with me. Technology does enslave us at some point, but it also does keep our connections closer.

Hmm… Maybe I ought to get a laptop of my own now, huh? 😛

Anyway, if you want to learn more about our trip…
BoB flies to Cebu (Abe)
Is technology slowly enslaving us? (Abe)
BoB bids goodbye to Bohol (Abe)
BoBCast Ep. 7: Tarsiers & a Geek’s Guide to Traveling (Abe)
Travel: Bohol and Cebu (Aileen)
What are Boholians? (Rico)
The Band of Bloggers in Bohol (Chris)

More photos?
Aileen’s Gallery