During our trip to Cebu, we spent a day in the city. There aren’t a lot of tourist spots to visit in the city so the next best thing is to try the country’s only sky attraction, the Skywalk Extreme and the Edge Coaster at the Crown Regency Hotel & Towers.

The Crown Regency Hotel in Cebu is the tallest building in the city spanning 38 floors. On the 37th floor is the Sky Walk where you will walk around outside the building and get a view of the whole city. The Edge Coaster on the 38th floor is a ride around the edge of the building where you can tilt your seat downward for a vertigo-inducing view.

We took a cab to Crown Regency at Fuente Osmeña and entered the hotel. The receptionist told us to head to the 19th floor to inquire about the rates.

Rates

Since we went there after lunch, we didn’t avail of their buffet with rides rate. There’s also a 4D theater available but we only opted for the Sky Walk and Edge Coaster ride.

The rate for the two rides is Php600 per head inclusive of a light snack. Not bad I might say considering how expensive the sky walk in Macau is. For complete rates and packages, check out their site.

After paying, we head up to the 38th floor and went outside to check out the view of Cebu city first before doing the rides. You can already see Bohol from the hotel.

Skywalk Extreme

This is the first and only Sky Walk in the country so it’s something you might want to try when you’re in Cebu. You will go outside for a 10 to 15-minute walk around the walkway with a cord attached to the ceiling and into your harness.

You need to wear a flight suit and rubber shoes. No slippers nor any loose items. No cameras allowed as well! They will give you a locker for you to place your belongings. If you don’t have any rubber shoes on, you need to buy a pair of socks (Php20) and they will lend you the shoes.

Once on your suit, you will put on your harness. There’s also an instructor who will brief you on some safety procedures. He will also lead you during the walk and act as some sort of tour guide. There’s also another personnel who will be taking photos during the walk.

As you do your walk, your guide will make you stop at certain points for some photo op. You can walk near the edge and look over below if you want.

Make sure you ask the photographer to take lots of photos with different poses. Take your time at each stop. It’s probably going to be a once in a lifetime thing so make the most of it.

When you’re done, you have the option to buy your photos on a CD or have it printed.

Ok I’m going to take some time talking about claiming the photos. I was surprised when I learned that the CD costs Php550!!! It gets more expensive if there are more of you so splitting the cost won’t do any good. Unbelievable! The photos were amateurish despite using a DSLR camera (there were a big speck on the lens) and we only had 10 shots. You can’t say no because you want to bring home something from it. Having a photo printed costs about Php200+. What a rip off!

Ok that’s enough ranting… for now.

Edge Coaster

Back at the 38th floor is the Edge Coaster. This is a 3-minute motorized ride around the edge of the building so you can get a nice view of the city in all angles.

No need to get into any harness here, your seat will keep you secure. You can control how your seat is tilted. Backward if you’re afraid of heights and just want to enjoy the view from the top or forward until you’re literally facing the pavement below.

Just like the Sky Walk, you are not allowed to bring your camera with you. You can ask a friend to go outside and take photos of you while on the ride though.

I was hesitant in buying our photos because it’s another Php550 for a CD of amateurish shots. They won’t even put your Edge Coaster and Sky Walk photos in one CD so you have to pay more than the rides. Geez! We settled for a 6×8 printed photo for Php230 because Tia insisted on it.

Afterwards, we headed back down to the 19th floor for our included snacks. It’s just a choice of a donut, dimsum or sandwich and an iced tea for your drink.

It wasn’t really a thrilling experience especially if you’re not afraid of heights. If you are then it’s best that you go at night. You won’t see the ground but you’ll get to enjoy the city lights.

If I’m going to do it again, I’m just going to go for the Sky Walk and have more photos taken. If not for the absurd cost of the photos I would’ve enjoyed my time in the Sky Experience Adventure.

Wait, there’s more!: Send Money to the Philippines Remit2Home – it’s fast, easy and reliable.

Ok guys, here’s a contest just for you where you can win a date with Enchong and Erich plus Sony HD Bloggie Cams courtesy of Real Leaf Green Tea. It is going to be like a treasure-hunt game running on a Facebook App. Check out the details of the Word Master Challenge below.

Each day, a new question will be posted on the Facebook App (here). The answers to the questions are found in the participating blogs (FlairCandy, Yugatech, Starmometer, Kubiertos and GMTristan). Once a question is correctly answered, you earn a letter which you use to solve the puzzle. There are a total of 23 letters but you only need the missing 20.

For the complete mechanics, go to the FB App here and click on the Contest Mechanics button on the top right corner.

Once you compete the puzzle, you’re qualified to win the top prizes: 1 male winner and 1 female winner with a Sony Bloggie HD each plus 6 months supply of Real Leaf Green Tea. Did I say you will also win a date with Erich Gonzales or Enchong Dee?

If you’re also a big fan of Real Leaf Green Tea, I’m going to give away 2 cases of this refreshing drink. Two winners with a case of Real Leaf Green Tea each to drink to your heart’s content. How could you win?

Twit the message below:

“Contest ba kamo? Check out the Pinoy Travel Blog’s Real Leaf Word Master Challenge. Win a Sony Bloggie HD & more! – http://bit.ly/bYwm11″

Or share this post and link on your Facebook:

“Contest ba kamo? Check out the Pinoy Travel Blog’s Real Leaf Word Master Challenge. Win a Sony Bloggie HD & more! – http://bit.ly/bYwm11″

http://www.pinoytravelblog.com/promos/1480/pinoy-travel-blogs-real-leaf-word-master-challenge

After you’re done with either of the two (or both), leave a comment here and be sure to use a valid e-mail so I can contact you if you’ve won. I will be picking two winners at random.

While the Word Master Challenge on Facebook will last for 4 weeks, I’ll be picking the winners of the 2 cases of Real Leaf by end of September 3, 2010 (next Friday). This is open only to people residing in Metro Manila by the way.

One of my best vacations this year was our recent trip to Miniloc Island at El Nido, Palawan. It was a sweet 3 days and 2 nights stay at one of the best island resorts in Palawan, and probably the entire Philippines.

To get there, easily, you might want to take the direct flight (chartered) to El Nido and land straight in the nearest island airport. Then you have to take a speed boat ride to Miniloc for about 45 minutes.

The place is one of the smaller islands in the dozen of islands along the northern end of Palawan. There are close to a hundred rooms. The speed boats will dock about a hundred meters away from the dock to avoid hitting the rich corrals. A smaller banca will fetch the passengers from the speed boat and bring them to the docking station.

The place is amazing from the moment you step off the banca. The staff will welcome you will all smiles and sing festive songs to celebrate your arrival. The entire staff will heard you to the restaurant and serve cold fruit drinks and cold towels for you to relax while you check-in. The relations manager will then orient the visitors of the facilities, activities and some ecological rules and policies around El Nido.

From there on, it’s all relaxing time, buffet meals and a lot of tours around the islands of El Nido You can go snorkeling at the from beach where they’ve made a small lagoon, go kayaking around the island, or scuba diving for the more adventurous and just spending a nice relaxing afternoon bathing under the sun.

Wait, there’s more!: Get cheap domain & hosting from plogHost Powering this blog since 2005.

This could be one of those times when you want to book your plane tickets with Cebu Pacific. Get 50% off on all domestic and international flights from the carrier until August 1, 2010.

After flewtheir 45 millionth guest from Incheon (Seoul, South Korea) to Cebu just recently and they want to mark this milestone with a 50% off seat sale to all 33 domestic and 16 international destinations. The 50% off seat sale begins now until August 1, 2010, for travel from October 1 to November 30, 2010.

The seat sale includes destinations such as Boracay (Caticlan), Puerto Princesa, Bacolod, Iloilo and Davao, as well as Osaka, Incheon, Singapore, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Bangkok, Kota Kinabalu, Busan and Jakarta.

Wait, there’s more!: Don’t have Paypal yet? What are you waiting for? Sign up now!

Grandbay Resort is known to have one of the biggest pools in the whole of Laguna — about 1,350 square meters all in all. The place is very accessible and is just a few minutes away from Calamba Exit at the South Super Highway (SLEX).

They also have a hot spring swimming pool that is helps to relax and detoxicate our bodies while enjoying the water. The resort can accommodate a total of 2,000 persons. For those wanting to stay overnight, they have aircon rooms, fan rooms, pool room, cottages and pavilions.

Room Rates:
Aircon Rooms: Php3,150 up to Php4,550 (2 – 6 people)
Fan Rooms: Php2,050 up to Php2,850 (2 – 8 people)

Wait, there’s more!: Send Money to the Philippines Remit2Home – it’s fast, easy and reliable.

Dive Solana is one of the more popular destination for people who want to get a taste of the Philippine underwater scene. It’s basically a regular hot spot for diving or snorkeling.

Problem is, a lot of tourist and visitors often get lost when going to this Batangas resort. So here’s a quick guide on how to go to Dive Solana.

1. Take the South Super Highway.
2. Pay the toll at the end and turn right at the Batangas Lucena Exit.
3. Go straight until you reach the Star Tollway entrance on your right.
(Star tollway is 40kms/24mi from start to end of toll)
4. Go to the end of the Star tollway and pay the toll fee Php 55.00 (approx US$1.15).
5. The road will split into three in 200meters/.1mi. Take the one straight ahead that will lead to the Batangas pier.
6. You will see a Toyota car dealership on the left.
7. Keep going straight until you see the flyover. Go UNDER the flyover and turn right at the intersection.
8. Keep going straight on this road for about 4.5km/2.7mi until you see Jollibee (fast food restaurant). Turn right.
9. Follow the road until it curves to the left.
10. Keep going, you will see Metrobank on the left, then Petron gas station on the right.
11. Shortly after Petron gas station, you will cross a short bridge.
12. Right after crossing the bridge, turn left towards the shipyards. You will pass AG&P and Keppel Shipyards.
13. In about 8.8km/5.4mi, your will reach the circular Mabini shrine, turn right.
14. Stay on this road which heads out to the Anilao pier.
15. Turn left before the pier, you will start seeing resort signs along the way.
16. Continue on this road which will take you to the Anilao resorts. Solana is approximately 10 kms (6.21 miles) from this point.
17. Solana will be on your right.

Wait, there’s more!: Earn money from your blog! Sell link ads and blog your way to the bank.

On July 3, 2010 with much anticipation of our weekly “coffee break”, the team decided to spend the weekend in one of the resort hotels located at the foot of Mt. Makiling in Los Banos, Laguna.

We droved about 50 to 55 km. from Makati southbound, took the last exit of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), Calamba Exit. And since it was Saturday, and the usual traffic situation in the metro is moderate, we hit the place in just about 2.5 hours. We had our brunch at David’s Tea House which is five minutes away from the resort.

Splash Mountain Resort is a hot-spring resort in the area, enjoying the nature-supplied hot water from Mt. Makiling. The resort houses three hotels in a one huge private compound which is on the left side of the national highway. The three hotels in the compound are Splash Suites, Splash Hotel and Splash Oasis. We choose Oasis for obvious reason – the lobby has free internet access, and just beside our room downstairs is a 5-feet swimming pool with mini-slides for kids.

Oasis has three different types of rooms to offer, the Superior Room for the VIP’s. It can accommodate 4 persons, with 2 large beds and costs P3,810.00, they got 2 of these rooms. The second type is the Deluxe rooms, they got 34 of these – can accommodate up to 4 persons with 2 beds, and located at the 2nd and 3rd floors of the hotel, costs P3,510.00 for 4 pax and P2,800 for 2 people. We chose this room since the VIP is no longer available when we checked in. The last is the Standard room which is best for couples has one double bed, they got 3 of these and costs P2,110.00. All rooms have cable-TV, mini-bar, of course hot shower, and internal telephone system.

The resort has lots of swimming pools — all hot! It has two giant and crazy slides, but too bad it wasn’t operational anymore when we went there because it’s no longer the summer season. When we were toured, we brought the wrong lens, so I apologize we don’t have picture of the giant slides.

Check in time is 2:00PM and check out time is 12:00noon. Upon check in, all guests will be issued some sort of tags which will identify if you are just a day visitor and want to go swimming or picnic, or a hotel guest, a color coded tags allows you to go swimming on designated pools only.

The Splash Suites which is the newest hotel in the complex has very nice rooms with indoor pool. Rates in this hotel with the indoor pool starts at P1,800++.

The complete rates can be found in there website, or you simply click this link. You can visit the resort without staying in the hotels, you can just go swimming – they have this swimming package.

DigitalSpidey has more photos, click here to view.

The Zoom Treetop Adventure at Circulo Verde, Bagumbayan, Quezon City is the latest and newest zipline opened in Metro Manila. We tried it out this afternoon and checked the place.

The place opened just this June 11, 2010 and we were one of the first ones to try it out.

The zipline is around 200 meters and costs Php400 per trip. The place opens at 2PM until 10PM. They currently have two lines — the higher one is called Superman and the lower line is called Silver Surfer, all based on the position when you ride the cable lines.

Wait, there’s more!: Buy her a gift this Valentines! It’s not too late. Send her flowers!

El Nido is one of the more popular cluster of islands in Palawan and is home to several top beach resorts in the Philippines. Despite its commercialization, a lot of the areas in El Nido is still heavily protected for natural conservation.

As such, a lot of the smaller islands are either un-inhabited or are in a very pristine condition. This makes island-hopping in El Nido, Palawan a great experience — you personally see and witness it and wonder in amazement.

And while a few of the islands are privately-owned, they have been taken cared of a lot and preserving the beauty of nature.

Just take a look at this picnic island we hopped into which is still part of El Nido resorts.

You don’t get to see places like this very often. Sometimes, just sitting down and looking at the scenery is more than enough.

Wait, there’s more!: Don’t have Paypal yet? What are you waiting for? Sign up now!

There are a lot of really nice places to go when looking for beaches and resorts in Palawan. The entire group of islands is practically a huge resort in itself with hundreds of untapped small islands to check out. The most prominent though is Lagen Island in El Nido.

Our recent 3-day trip to El Nido was spent on Miniloc Island. However, we were able to visit Lagen Island on the second day just to check out the place and try their swimming pool.

In an island surrounded by white sands and sparkling waves, the pool is a nice contrast and is a favorite among visitors.

Lagen Island is just awesome and the resort is positioned to give visitors the best view of the sea. Cottages on stilts line the row of a small lagoon and scores of fishes and sea creatures populate the shallow water.

Like its sister resort, Minoloc Island, Lagen is a bit more private and secluded which caters more to couples who want a little lone-time and privacy. Of course, that comes with a price.

Wait, there’s more!: Don’t have Paypal yet? What are you waiting for? Sign up now!