Holiday jewels of Northern Cebu

With all eyes focusing on the Asean Summit this week, no doubt its participants will be curious what the province has to offer aside from the danggit, the lechon, and spicy chicharon they've all probably heard about. About 3,000 delegates are expected for the four-day high-level meet and greet, and most hotels and resorts have already gussied up since last year, eagerly anticipating the arrival of their very important international guests. Cebu has always been one of my must-go places, especially for vacations. Despite its immense popularity among tourists, both local and foreign, it has yet to get crowded, as say, Boracay island. Resorts are scattered all over the island province offering all levels of facilities, amenities, food, and recreation designed to fit every vacationer's budget. While most tourists stay in the city hotels and the resorts on Mactan, there are still other jewels to be found to the north of this province which offer more than just the usual breathtaking sites. Happy to be in Alegre In Sogod lies Alegre Beach Resort, long considered the industry standard among Cebu resorts. Nestled amid greenery and facing a wide expanse of open sea, Alegre's casitas are distributed over a wide expanse, such that privacy among its clients are protected. The only time you will probably see your neighbors is at the gorgeous infinity pool or at the main dining area, The Pavilion. Each large villa is tastefully decorated with wood furnishings in a contemporary design. Guests are welcomed with a generous fruit basket with local biscuits, playfully decorated with orchids grown in the resort's garden along with local biscuits. The room has two large very firm beds, ample pillows that make sleepy bums like me feel well rested. A folding wooden louvered door separates the main sleeping area from the oh-so-spacious bathroom, with a bathtub as centerpiece. Outside the sliding doors to the main quarters is a comfortable lounging chair where one can sip one's favorite poison and soak in the stunning seafront vista. One of the selling points of Alegre is its small but very distinct spa area which offers an extensive array of unique spa treatments from Indonesia. A curious and interesting service which I promised to try on my next visit is the Royal Princess treatment. This includes a traditional Javanese smoking of the female's netherparts, a ritual particularly used in Indonesia by women before their wedding day. Okay, lemme find a groom first. Therapists at the spa are lithe Indonesians who have strong hands that can break up the various knots and gnarls in your body. The Aromatic Bliss first calls for the exfoliation of the skin to better absorb the benefits of the almond oil to be used during the traditional Indonesia massage or "pijat." The massage basically starts with medium pressure (although you may request for deeper pressure) at the feet and ends at the head using a combination of deep fluid strokes, rolling pressure and acupressure. Finally, a relaxing facial follows using soothing aromatic spice compress, a softening mask made from herbal rice, and ending with a rich almond moisturizer. I awoke refreshed and reinvigorated by the whole experience. Fusion of East and West The food is also one of the wow factors of the resort with its kitchen expertly handled by Chef Martin Przewodnik. Chef Martin's delectable dishes are ingenious, as he was able to infuse some European touches to basic local ingredients. Memorable was the grilled lapu-lapu on egg noodles with sesame chili sauce, balsamic reduction, with green jackfruit spring rolls. Another exciting dish was the roast ostrich vegetable tomato ragout and fillo pastry. For dessert, we were served the to-die-for red wine ice cream with rum-marinated banana. All these while being served a good selection of red and white wines from Alegre's cellar and from the personal collection of affable general manager Fritz Kahler and his gorgeous Filipina wife Cynthia "Cha-Cha" Valmonte. Every moment spent with the lovely couple was a riot as they just regaled us with their stories of their adventures living abroad along with bits of chismis about famous people along the way. For Sunday Mass, the couple took us to the little known hillside Church of Our Lady of Manaoag in Carmen. Believers from the area stream inside the little chapel praying to her holy image, and put prayer requests in envelopes for the priests running the nearby seminary to ponder on. A touch of Thai Further to the north is the sleepy island of Bantayan where Hoyohoy Villas, in the municipality of Sta. Fe, has raised the bar among the area's resorts. It is a blessed little spot, with facilities that could rival the best resorts in the top tourist destinations in the country. All six villas are inspired by Thai rice granaries on stilts, with an open-air lounging areas featuring comfortable sofas and large pillows underneath. Each villa is tastefully decorated combining Filipino or ethnic touches with modern amenities. Wood furnishings are used all throughout, especially for the bedrooms, side tables, cabinets and dressers. The linen used on the firm queen-sized mattresses are a clean crisp white, accented by colorful ethnic fabrics and pillows that gently cuddle the sleepy head. A huge magnificent modern painting adorns the wall over the bed in our room, while the side tables prop up lamps in individual eclectic designs which are supplied by a store at the local Ayala Mall. (The lamp in our bedroom was shaped like a teardrop, in the color of dark salmon, carrying beaded accents. It hung on a black metal frame on ropes of colored stones and amber. The cost? A mere P10,000.) The blue and white-tiled bathroom is spacious, with a bathtub, a first by Bantayan standards!, while a Varifold separates the main dressing area from an outdoor shower with a floor of smooth stones and granite tiles. "I am so particular about my own bathroom I made sure the bathrooms at the villas I could use myself," says Hoyohoy's Inday Rimaz, a former nurse who hails from the island. Like the Kahlers, she has traveled and lived in many parts of the world with her American husband and only daughter. Surprisingly, despite each regular villa's pricey tag, her guests are mostly locals, and some Japanese. While Sta. Fe's beachfront is shorter than those in the Bantayan municipality where most of the resorts are, Hoyohoy (Visayan for "sea breeze") makes up for it with its simple but modern facilities. Each villa is fully air-conditioned, equipped with IDD and NDD telephone facilities, satellite-fed cable TV, among others. There is also a restaurant at the grounds called Ang Simoy with inexpensive yet tasty dishes. While going to Bantayan can be tiresome as it is a three-hour plus ride from Cebu City, plus a 30-minute ferry ride, I consider this a blessing. Bantayan reminds me of Boracay some 20 years ago, before the hordes of loud partying tourists from Manila discovered it, and before poverty and garbage became a problem. As such the island is quiet, the people are kind and accommodating, their smiles making each visitor feel at home. - GMANews.TV