A Scenic Stop in Lovely Ginatilan

NOTE: I was supposed to post this months ago but then things got a bit hectic. Then, when I finally got a chance to focus all my energy on my blogs, even more things happened. And now I am here in Vietnam for a long-term job assignment. Con: I won’t be able to travel around Cebu! Pro: I can focus on all my back-logs and go back to writing! 🙂 By the way, you may have noticed that the quality of my photographs has changed a bit. I can explain. After around five years of non-stop use, my Nikon D5000 is now finally showing signs of old age — unresponsive shutter button, flash that won’t work, viewfinder that’s darker than normal. The list goes own. You all know what that means. Worry not, though, as I am now about to start the long process of saving up for a new one. Haha.

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So, it was the long summer break. As usual, my whole family traveled to the municipality of Dalaguete for a bit of bonding and relaxation. We normally stay from Maundy Thursday until Good Friday and travel back to the city on Black Saturday so we can spend Easter Sunday at home.

When we arrived in Dalaguete in the afternoon of Maundy Thursday, I got a message from my friend Anne. Anne’s ancestral home is in Malabuyoc, Cebu and her whole family was going home the next day for the long holiday. Not only that, 3 of our friends from work will be tagging along. And she wanted me to join them. So, she’s basically asking me to leave my family in the middle of a family holiday, traverse seven municipalities, and travel at least 40 kilometers just to be with them. Well, I figured that this doesn’t happen very often. In fact, I’ve never seen this small group (of people from work) gather 10 kilometers from home even on very special occasions. Ever. This was a once in a lifetime thing.

So I told my family the whole story and I promised to be back at the end of the day. Reluctant, true, but they ended up saying yes. Eventually. 😀

I left Dalaguete for Malabuyoc on my motorbike at around 9 am. This was going to be a nice, leisurely ride through the Southern towns of Cebu. This was going to be awesome.

After numerous stops, I finally reached the town of Malabuyoc just before 11 am. Anne, her husband Chad, and our friends Gie, Gino, and Edward were waiting for me at the side of the road. We went straight to the beach fronting Anne’s family’s property.

The view was spectacular!

Gie doing a jumpshot

Group shot!

So that’s me, Elma, Edward, Gino, Gie, Anne, Chad, and Anna May.

Anne’s younger brother Alton doing a sunset pose. Haha.

Just before lunch, we all agreed to check out the Binalayan Waterfall (Triple Drop Falls) in the nearby town of Samboan. However, when we reached the reception desk, we were told that we would have to wait for hours. Due to the long holiday, it’s like the whole Cebu also decided to travel to the best tourist destinations in the southern tip of the island. After a quick meeting, we decided to just head back to Malabuyoc and proceed to Kabutongan Falls, instead.

As we were cruising through the town of Ginatilan (all of us were on a three-wheeled tricycle-pick-up hybrid,) we decided to make a quick stop at the side of the road. I guess it was a mix of luck and good fortune. Because out of all the gazillion different areas where we could possibly stop, we ended up stopping at this amazing spot.

Take a good look at that!

We parked our ride along the highway and slowly descended to the seawall below.

In the photo below is Anne, Chad, and their kids.

You see, protruding from the seawall is a fallen leaf-less tree (probably acacia.) The tree probably fell towards the ocean during a terrible storm. And instead of dying, it continued to thrive. Now, it has become part of the seawall (the seawall is now actually wrapped around it) where local kids relax and enjoy.

And also as a great photo op spot for tourists. Like Stacy here. 🙂

Anne’s niece Elma is from Davao but she was in Cebu for the holiday.

Edward is posing like the real deal. Haha.

And of course, I wouldn’t miss this amazing opportunity. Thanks for the photo, Stacy!

When we were done with all the photos (we probably took hundreds!) we continued driving back to Malabuyoc and straight to Kabutongan Falls.

More photos shoots in Malabuyoc. Haha.

Lunch!

Since it was the holy week, it was very hard to find food. Luckily, we found a chicken inasal along the way. Let’s eat!

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the cool and relaxing waters of Kabutongan. By 5 pm we were on our way back to Anne’s family home. And by 6 pm, I was back on the road and headed for Dalaguete.