Pampanga: Hot Air Balloon Fiesta tour on Valentine's Day! Book now!

After last year's successful run of Up, up and away! Huffing, puffing and pumping in Pampanga, we're at it again. It's another ultimate experience on February 14, 2009 as we romance up for Valentine's Day and be amazed by the high and mighty in Pampanga!

Gawk at the giant hot air balloons of the 14th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Festival! Savor the delights of an authentic Italian breakfast at the best cafe this side of Clark. Finally, we'll while away the afternoon in a soothing retreat while stuffing ourselves silly over a sumptuous Kapampangan feast at rustic farm setting! A feast for the body, mind and soul!

This tour leaves Makati at 3 a.m. and includes entrance to the 14th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta, a sumptuous breakfast by Chef Chris Locher at C' Italian Dining (they don't usually open for breakfast but made an exception for this tour), and a hearty Kapampangan lunch at Abe's Farm owned by the LJC Group of Cafe Adriatico. Package price is PHP4,500 all inclusive. Only 30 slots are available on the tour on a first-come first-served basis. E-mail info@ivanhenares.com for bookings.

Spa treatments at Nurture Spa Pampanga are optional but highly-recommended! We'll e-mail you the Nurture Spa menu of services and price list if you are interested. Treatments have to be pre-booked due to the number of tour participants.

Speaking of tours, you all might be interested in this...

The BIG Binondo food WOK! Nibbling our way through Chinatown
(Special Chinese New Year Weekend Edition)
Oh yes, its that time of the year again when we BINGE ourselves silly as we welcome the Lunar New Year with a BIG, BIG BITE! It's the BEST time of the year to do the BIG Binondo Food WOK as we say goodbye to a RATTY year and welcome the YEAR of the OX! COWabunga!

Take a WOK with us! Tour dates are on January 24, 2009, Saturday (8 a.m. & 2 p.m.) and January 25, 2009, Sunday (8 a.m. & 2 p.m.). Chinese New Year this year falls on January 26, 2009. Rate is P999.00 per head inclusive of tasting menu. Limited slots and reservations required. Details at (0917) 3291622 or fun@oldmanilawalks.com. I joined the tour in 2007.

Cebu: Visita iglesia to Northern Cebu churches

Cebu's northern side has a good number of heritage churches. It's the churches in southeastern Cebu which are always mentioned. So here are the churches we visited on the way back to Cebu City.

Our bus from Hagnaya passed by the church of Bogo. I saw it was an American colonial church but it was too late to stop the bus when we realized it. The first scheduled stop was in the town of Catmon with a coral-stone church perched on top of a hill. Except for the added portico, the structure is relatively inctact.

Next on the list was Danao City. It had a preserved facade but uglified interior.

Our last stop before we reached Cebu City was the town of Liloan. Church was relatively intact as well. The town also has an American colonial lighthouse (built in 1904) in Bagacay Point which you can reach via tricycle. You can also see ruins of the Spanish lighthouse.

Part 1: Bantayan Island, Cebu is rich in heritage and great beaches!
Part 3: Lechon, chicharon and more from Carcar
Part 4: Visita iglesia in Southern Cebu

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Cebu: Bantayan Island, Cebu is rich in heritage and great beaches!

Bantayan Island has always been on my wish list. So I made sure to visit the island when I found out I was going to Cebu. As soon as the conference was over, we rushed to the North Bus Terminal in Mandaue to catch a ride to Hagnaya Port in San Remigio. Take note that Metro Cebu had two bus terminals and the North Bus Terminal services the towns and cities north of Metro Cebu. The bus ride was three hours and we got a preview of some old churches along the way which we planned to stop by on the way back.

From Hagnaya, you could easily purchase a ferry ticket to Sta. Fe town on Bantayan Island where most of the beach resorts are located. The ferry ride was a little over an hour. Take note that prices of tickets vary depending on whether the competing ferry company also has a trip at the same time. If there are competing trips, prices are slashed by as much as half!

Anyway, when we got there, there were a lot of agents touting the available resorts. We chose the resort nearest to the port which was the Sta. Fe Beach Club, so that we did not have to rush the next day if anything happened. I was surprised they accepted credit card payments.

As soon as we dropped our bags in our rooms, we rushed to make a round of the island before sundown. We had arranged for a habal-habal to take us around and went straight to our first stop, the ruins of an old fort in Sta. Fe. Unless you are really interested in these old fortifications, there's nothing much to see and not worth the stop for now.

From there, we sped off to Bantayan town where an old church still stands. We were pleasantly surprised that there were a lot of old structures all over the town despite a big fire in the 1970s which wiped-out a lot of Banatayan's old houses.

The Bantayan Church itself was amazing! The bas-reliefs on the exterior and interior of the church were very intricate. So I made sure to walk around and appreciate these works of art.

We made one last stop in Madridejos where there is another ruined fort. But again, if you're not into fortifications, it's not worth it since Madridejos is really far.

We were advised to have dinner at this restaurant called D'Jungle where they serve sumptuous buffets every Friday and Saturday. When we got there, we were in food heaven! They have more than fifty dishes in their buffet spread which included a wide variety of seafood, meats and greens cooked in various styles. At PHP295 per head which includes bottomless iced tea, how could you go wrong? It’s most definitely worth it to come back to Bantayan if only for this buffet.

The next morning, the weather was not good. So I decided to cancel my trip to the caves and Kota Beach Resort and went back to bed. We had to leave the island early since our next overnight would be in Carcar, Cebu on the opposite side end of Cebu!

Part 2: Visita iglesia in Northern Cebu
Part 3: Lechon, chicharon and more from Carcar
Part 4: Visita iglesia in Southern Cebu