Trip report Jan/Feb 2025 - Cebu & beyond - Research if an elderly gay retiree can live comfortably in Cebu

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CEBU Trip Report – Part Ia (28 & 29 December 2024)

This is my active ongoing trip report for Cebu City in the Philippines.

I am in the Philippines for 62 days as part of my tax minimization plan, as discussed in this previous post:

https://www.gayguides.com/topic/61065-bangkok-trip-report-august-2024/page/5/#comment-419422

The other objective is to see if I can find a retiree place that is similar to what I have back in Jomtien Thailand, in the Philippines.  Consequently, I will search for hirise condos that are on or near the beach with balconies with sea views – as is commonly found in Jomtien.  This will prove to be a difficult task as discussed further on in this trip report.

28 December 2024, in the afternoon, I leave Jomtien in the late afternoon for the Amari hotel via a new car service that Youtube blogger “Pete on Retreat”, my friend’s Thai girlfriend started, Koi Taxi, who drove me to the Amari hotel at Don Muang airport.  My Thai boyfriend was with me to say goodbye and many tears were shed as the car service pulled away. Fee was 1,800 baht.

My flight on 29 December was at 6:30 am, so I wanted to already be at the airport when I woke up at 3:30am the following day.  I chose this Amari hotel because it is physically connected with a pedestrian bridge that crosses the busy Don Muang Toll Way and puts you directly into the international departure area.  I did a test run (walk) before going to sleep – which allowed me to get a good night’s sleep for the journey to an unknown country for me.  The Amari is not cheap but convenient, I paid 4,237.20 baht for 1 night.

    

I chose the Cebu Pacific 6:35am flight, as it is a non-stop direct flight from Bangkok into Cebu (Mactan airport).  This is the only direct flight that I could find and only occurs 1 time per day at this very inconvenient departure hour.  The flight is only 4 hours with a 1 hour time zone change – with the Philippines being 1 hour earlier than Thailand.  Cost was around € 500 euro, as I wanted a flexible ticket with enough luggage allowance for a 62 day trip.

Flight was great and non-eventful arriving slightly ahead of schedule.  I collected my luggage and then headed towards the immigration control.  As I had already registered for my eTravel QR code (and printed it) back in Jomtien I was able to bypass the chaos that those passengers who had not yet done so had to do on their mobile phones.  I presented myself at the immigration desk and the lady was somewhat annoyed with me.  She said, Sir, you cannot stay for 62 days without a proper advance reserved visa.  I apologized and I explained to her that I was not aware of this requirement.  She then wanted to know my purpose for my visit and then agreed to give me the non-Visa maximum of 30 days, which she then stamped into my passport.  She told me that around day 29, I should go to the immigration office in Cebu City and ask for another 29 days ( this will give me 59 days in total – so I am not sure what I will need to do for the final 3 days ? ).

Then I went to collect my luggage and went to eat, as I needed to kill time, as my arrival time was way too early – as my AirBnB check-in time was for 2pm.  So, I ate slowly in some random Filipino restaurant and had my first Filipino meal – lots of rice, some weird pork things with some vegetables.  It was so-so and I was not impressed.

Important notation:  Back in Jomtien, I had already purchased an eSim with my preferred provider = , for which I paid $32 USD for 20GB of data for a 30 day validity. I have used them previously in Vietnam and I was happy with the service.  I activated my pre-purchased eSim while I was waiting for my luggage to arrive.  This allowed me to reserve a car and/or taxi via the  app. You need to remember that the eSim offered by Airolo does not include a local phone number, so you should preload the apps that you might want to use in the Philippines, PRIOR to arriving into the country, as they often require that you have a local phone number for SIM verification.  I found this out the hard way on 20 Jan 2025, when I tried to order a motorbike taxi via the Grab app – when Grab told me that I instead needed to install the Move It app , which allows you to order motorbike taxis.  Unfortunately, the local Philippine version of Grab does not include the Move It capabilities yet – even though Grab has bought Move It back in August 2022.  The only way that I can install the Move It app is if I agree to buy a physical local SIM card that would assign me a Philippine phone number.

Note that to find your pre-ordered Grab car/taxi it is not very clear where to go.  You should exit the Mactan airport international arrivals section and walk to the Domestic arrivals section and then walk past that building following the walkway towards the parking lots Arrival Bay C-1-C4 and then wait there for your car there.  Here is a guide with pictures prepared by Grab:

https://www.grab.com/global/airport-rides/mactan-cebu-international-airport/#:~:text=Arrivals&text=1.,at%20the%20pick%2Dup%20point.

My Grab fee was 572 pesos (~$9.78 USD), not bad for the 45 minute ride from Mactan island into Cebu City. Below map displays the Airport and then my first AirBnB.

It is important to note that I have strategically decided to live in 3 different neighborhoods in the Cebu City metro area as follows:

2 are within Cebu City:

• first in what is known as the CBP = Cebu Business Park,
• second in what is known as the Cebu IT Park.

I am considering the above 2 places as my comparator to living within the city limits of Pattaya city from the point of view as an elderly retiree.

• 1 in Newtown on Mactan island – as my comparator to living in Jomtien from the point of view as an elderly retiree.

As of the writing of this report, I have completed the first condo living in CBP, and now I am in day 5 of my second AirBnB condo living in the CEBU IT Park.

I arrived at the Cityscape Grand Tower and easily checked in with the ground floor security team into my “TINY” AirBnB on the 32^nd floor (there are 34 floors in total).

The AirBnB owner gave me a digital entry on-the-condo-door keypad code.  After opening the door digitally, I was able to then fetch a physical electronic key from the table.  The condo was truly very small (it looked bigger on the AirBnB site – pics are below) but nicely done and had the prerequisite mini-balcony that overlooked the parts of Cebu city that are towards the sea waterway that separates Cebu City from Mactan island.  From the 32^nd floor balcony it is possible to see the sea that is even beyond Mactan island as well as the planes landing and taking off at the Mactan airport.  The views were stunning.

Photo of my Cityscape condo room.

Some photos of the stunning views from the mini balcony:

Note that they built many hirise condominium buildings but without balconies – a true tragedy.  Consequently, to get a condo room with an external balcony was a true challenge.

I paid € 700 euros for 20 nights, at a rate of € 35 euros per night – not bad in my opinion to be located just 2 blocks outside of the CBP – Ayala mall + Avida condo residences complex.  My neighborhood was quite safe, where the only annoyance was the poverty that is on the edges of CBP – as my condo was 2 blocks outside, so I had to often encounter the poor begging families who send their children to play the sympathy card day after day.

Security is a serious activity both at the Cityscape Grand Tower as well as in the entire multiple block enclave of CBP – as it is well patrolled by private security details who are armed – which scares any potential trouble away.

I walked over to the nearby CBP Ayala mall, which is gigantic with 250,000 m^2, whereas, Central Festival back in Pattaya has 200,000 m^2.  I ate an early dinner and I went over to the giant 7 floor Metro store to buy towels to put down on my AirBnB condo mattress – to avoid getting in trouble with the owner (I am referring to a previous incident when massage oil contaminated the AirBnB mattress).

Exhausted from waking up at the crack of dawn, flying, checking in, buying sundries for the fridge it was time for a well deserved in-room massage.  I fired up the apps, as follows:

• Grindr – has the most number of users,
• Heesay – second highest,
• Planet Romeo – third highest,
• Blowers – fourth highest,
• Hornet – in last place – very little activity – unlike back in Pattaya where it is often the number one app with the most available number of users.

After chatting with many of the locals on Twitter (X) and in the above apps, I was told that there are also other modalities to meet the local guys, which are:

• X – just announce your availability and people will DM you.  You need to be cognizant of the hash tags; #altercebu, #cebualter, #saunacebu, hire, masahista, #hilot.

Or, you can use the above tags / search words and search for your type of desired situation.

• Tinder – I have no experience with Tinder.
• Bumble – again, I have no experience with Bumble.
• Facebook groups – I performed a search for CEBU Gay FB messenger and Google returned many query hits.  As I don’t have FB, I could not utilize any of these.

As soon as I entered into PlanetRomeo, a sexy manly masseur with a profile name like, “MasseurJerome” wrote to me and I invited him to my condo.  This being the Philippines, all visitors need to be registered with the downstairs condo security team.  I employed his services for 90 minutes for a fee of 3.000 pesos (~ $51 USD).  I found out later that this was on the high side for Cebu – but I was happy with his massage and the fun afters – as he was able to edge me very well.  Here in the Philippines the concepts of SIDE and EDGING are very well diffused within the various apps and English being one of their primary local languages (Tagalog, Visayan (Cebuano), and English).  I found that when they speak Cebuano, there are many common words with Spanish.

Day 1 (29 December 2024) concluded.

 

 

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Day 2 (30 December 2024)

I broke the frame of my glasses on the night before my departure for Cebu, consequently, there was no time to get them repaired so I had to wear a very old pair for my flight to Cebu. Therefore, I used this day to find a good eyeglass solution, which I found at the Japanese OwnDays franchise shop in the CBP Ayala mall.  I was very impressed as I had an almost immediate eye exam, which was performed by the in-house optometrist.  I then chose my frames and then they told me to return in 20 minutes.  I thought that they must be crazy.  So, I went to have a nice lunch and returned in 1 hour and my new glasses were ready and the nose fitting had to be adjusted, which took 5 more minutes and then I paid and I was out of the shop.  Cost was 10,990 pesos (~ $188 USD), which I found as extremely good value for money, because my previous glasses that I bought back in Central Festival in Pattaya cost me around 28,000 Thai baht  (~ $822 USD) with imported metal frames from Germany.  So, I saved around 440% - so I was quite pleased as this will be one less task that I would need to do back in Pattaya with more money in the bank.

Casual non-eventful day exploring my local CBD neighborhood and starting to create my daily routine – as part of the purpose of this trip is to simulate retirement life in Cebu and if I would be pleased with it.

Later in the evening back on the apps, this time on Heesay a massage guy wrote me and I agreed to let him meet me in my room.  He was not your typical guy, in the sense he was a bit tense.  Massage went well and when we moved to the afters, he still had his underwear on and I asked him to remove them, and I started to fondle with his cock but it never got erect.  He gave me a nice edging and then when it was time to pay him, 2.500 pesos, he became aggressive and started yelling at me that I need to pay him 5.000 pesos because I touched his cock and tried to put it in my mouth.  He argued that I did not put all of these minute details in my Heesay request and therefore I needed to pay him extra.  He was definitely hardup for money because during the massage he told me his poverty story and his need to feed his 2 children and him being abandoned by his wife.  I told him that I would NOT be paying him this exorbitant amount and he refused to leave my room and I opened the door and got near him to assertively ask him to exit my room.  He saw my Armani watch on the table that my ex-Thai boyfriend gave me, and he grabbed it and said that the 2,500 pesos plus the watch would suffice.  I aggressively grabbed the watch back from him – tearing the leather band from its metal hinge and pushed him out the door and slammed it closed.  That was tense and not a fun experience.  I did not want to go downstairs and complain to the security team because this was only my day 2 of my 62 day trip and I still wanted to have the right to have additional visitors.

Day 2 (30 December 2024) concluded.

 

Day 3 (New Year’s Eve - 31 December 2024)

Routine day with my time hanging out in the CBP Ayala mall – it is becoming addictive – this Filippino way of life.  Also, got overloaded with the gazillion of app requests for action, meetings, tours, etc.

Arranged a massage with a guy from Heesay who works in the BPO building in front of my condo.  I paid 3.000 pesos (~ $51 USD) for his massage. He is a great masseur and after the massage we agreed to go and have dinner together as his partner of 8 years is busy with family NYE stuff and they supposedly don’t know that my massage guy is the partner.  We run over to the CEBU famous, “House of Lechon” restaurant to get some dinner but it was completely full and furthermore, they were completely sold out of their house specialty, Roasted Pig = Lechon.  By the way, this restaurant is the MOST famous for Lechon in ALL of CEBU and it was only 2 streets away from my condo.   https://www.facebook.com/HouseOfLechonCebu/

So, we ended up eating in a Chinese restaurant outside of the Ayala mall complex and we were the last customers allowed in.

This massage guy, let us call him Mr. R, shared many interesting stories about life in Cebu, such as:

• The primary occupation for many young gays in Cebu is to work in one of the many BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) centers spread out all over Cebu with a high density of them in CBP and also over in IT Park.  The starting salary is between 12,000 to 14,000 pesos per month ( ~ from $206 to $240 USD per month ).  He told me this is why many of the gays working in these BPOs are also selling their services “for hire” on the apps, to supplement this dismal salary.  But, he told me that his partner of 8 years, holds a more senior position in one of these BPOs and earns 30,000 pesos per month ( ~  $514 USD per month ).
• He told me that the minimum daily wage in Cebu is 501 pesos ( ~ $8.60 per day), versus the minimum daily wage in Pattaya, which is 400 baht ( ~ $11.80 per day).  Consequently, Thai workers command a 37% premium over their Filippino neighbors.  This will become evident throughout this trip as we will see that the daily cost of living for a retiree in the Philippines versus Thailand is cheaper.
• He told me that the gay life in Cebu is mostly underground and/or hidden, as a consequence of the very conservative values found in the Filipino culture and Catholic religion.  I pushed back when he told me this, as I told him that I lived in Italy for 12 years and they are the hosts of the Vatican and even Italy has progressed forward with gay rights, even though the Vatican is in their backyard.  I further told him that Spain, a very Catholic country, has leapfrogged forward with gay rights.  I told him that I was quite surprised to learn this as I had thought that with the Philippines being so far away from the Vatican that it would be more free to move forward – but instead the opposite is true.
• He told me that in Cebu there are a couple of gay bars, 1 to 2 go-go boy bars, some cruising parks, 3 massage saunas, and 1 to 2 mixed disco clubs.  He said that the primary way gays meetup nowadays is via the apps that I already listed above.

So, I learned a lot from him during our pre-NYE dinner.  We said our goodbyes and I headed back to my room so that I could sit outside on my 32^nd floor balcony to watch the fireworks over the sea and I was able to celebrate NYE twice, at 12 midnight in Cebu and again at 1am in Cebu with my Thai boyfriend via a LINE video call where it was 12 midnight back in Jomtien.  After the countdown completed, I told my PMB (Primary Money Boy) the magical words that I rarely express in my life = “I love you”.  We have been seeing each other for more than 6 months now and for the last 2 to 3 months he has been constantly telling me that he loved me.  I just was not ready to say those words until now because:

• I wanted to allow for the completion of the jinx that I received 1 year prior when my previous Thai boyfriend denied me my first NYE kiss and I had to vacate Pattaya in distress – so I surprised him by appearing in his birth town down in Southern Thailand and I instead kissed the iconic seaside mermaid.  With this current NYE countdown of 2024/2025 I was able to allow that jinx superstition to expire – so I felt safe to give my heart to my PMB,
• I wanted him to hear these words from me in the actual new year 2025.
• I have to say that I was also influenced by the love stories shared here in this forum by fellow forum members; @jason1975 and @Min, as they both shared their love for their PMBs – and it gave me inspiration that love can be found with PMBs, when I had previously believed that it is a HUGE mistake to give your heart to a PMB.  If I have in fact made a HUGE mistake, at least I am in good company with Jason and Min.

Day 3 (31 December 2024) concluded.

 

Day 4 (New Year’s day 1 January 2025)

Since the Philippines is a super religious country, today EVERYTHING (other than 7-Eleven) is closed.  So, it was a boring day eating 7-Eleven food in my room.  I took the time to find my next AirBnB condo room, which will be in the CEBU IT Park.  Unfortunately, I failed at finding a room with a balcony.

The remainder of the day I chatted on the various apps and I found someone who will become my primary, go-to Filipino guy to help me out (in a non sexual way) with tours and miscellaneous things as they arrive.  He is still in the closet, and is a young 25 year old who works in the hotel industry.  He is a true gem and a rare find.  For me, his character is truly adorable and when I pass time with him I feel really good.  For purposes of this trip report let us call him, Mr. B.

Some background.  I transformed all of my existing 5 app profile text to read as follows:

In some of the apps, certain words are considered as non compliant with the T&C, so you can use alternative substitutes to get your message across.  Some of the local tagalog + Cebuano words to use are:  masahe, masahista, maxsage, masaj, hilot à which I noticed that the app AI compliance checkers were not checking for any prohibited words that are in any of the local dialects.

This is how I found both Mr. B and Mr. R discussed previously.

This was a non-massage day, so prior to the commencement of the NYE activities, I watched the wonderful Thai movie = “How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies”.  I HIGHLY recommend this heart warming very original Thai film. Title of this film in Thai is, "Lahn Mah" หลานม่า which literally means "Grandma's Grandchild". I found the film culturally enriching as it gives the perspective of death in Thailand from the Chinese-Thai point of view.  Film is available on in Netflix, as well as in Google movies.

It has been nominated for the Oscars international shortlist.  Read more about it here:

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/how-to-make-millions-before-grandma-dies-oscar-shortlist-thailand-1236256031/

On 2 March 2025, we will be told if it has won the actual Oscar award.

Day 4 (1 January 2025) concluded.

 

 

 

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Day 5 (2 January 2025)

Since Mr B had today off, we agreed to meet in the Ayala mall at my favorite cake/coffee shop to start our first tours.

Cebu is a city on the seaside, but behind Cebu there are hills and mountains with stunning views and gardens.  Today we set out to discover these together.

Our first stop via Grab going up into the foothills was the :  CEBU Taoist Temple

Nice view of the city in the background from the Temple, as it is located in the part of Cebu that is referred to as:  Beverly Hills – with nice large homes that overlook the city and sea.  It was built in 1972 by the local Cebu Chinese community.

Fee to enter is free – but donations are welcome for the maintenance and upkeep of this wonderful place.

Having Mr. B with me as my real filipino tour guide, he was able to negotiate with the Grab driver to take us off meter and to allow us to hire him for a fixed price for our journey.  This strategy is very handy when you don’t want to interject yourself into an official tour company and to instead have a private tour with your own dedicated Grab driver.  What the driver did is to settle our trip at the Cebu Taoist Temple site via the app, and then to drive us for the rest of our itinerary for a fixed price of 3.000 pesos (~ $51.30 USD).  Not bad and good value for money in my opinion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cebu_Taoist_Temple

Our second stop going further up into the foothills was the:  Temple of Leah

Nicknamed the “Taj Mahal of Cebu”, Temple of Leah is a humble Roman-style shrine built in 2012 by Teodorico Soriano Adarna in honor of his late wife, Leah Villa Albino-Adarna. It has a Pantheon in Greece feel to it with Doric columns and arches, it is a sanctuary symbolizing a husband’s undying love for his wife.  It also has amazing views of Cebu City and the sea.

For more information about the Temple of Leah, visit: 

https://suroy.ph/temple-of-leah/

The entrance fee is 150 pesos per person (~ $2.60 USD each).  I paid 300 pesos to include the entrance fee for Mr. M.

Our third stop was at the : Sirao Gardens, aka, Little Amsterdam.  As these gardens are on the other side of the foothills and into the mountains, there is no longer a view of Cebu City, but instead the sense of fresh mountain air and the fragrance of many types of flowers.  Truly a large garden to enjoy.

Find out more here at: https://www.facebook.com/siraogarden/

The entrance fee is 100 pesos per person (~ $1.70 USD each).  I paid 200 pesos to include the entrance fee for Mr. M.

It was now late in the afternoon, and Mr. M had to go to his hotel job and I was hungry for an early dinner over in the Ayala mall.  I wanted to pay Mr. M 3.000 pesos today for his EXCELLENT tour skills and lovely company, but he would only accept 2.000 pesos (~ $34.20 USD).  Truly good value for money.  He said to me, look these 2.000 pesos are 4 days of work at my hotel (daily minimum wage is 501 pesos).  This guy is gold.  I told him that he is worth much more but he is a very modest and down to earth guy.

I organized a 2 hands massage with Mr. Rom who I found in Grindr.  He was a good masseur but I found out that his ulterior motive was to sit on a western cock.  I kept telling him that I am a SIDE and to stick to the agreed program – but eventually, he found a way to rapidly just sit on my cock and ride it and not before long he was climaxing.  We cleaned me up and then he finished me off with a slow edging.  Sneaky sneaky, Mr. Rom.  Price was 2.500 pesos (~ $43 USD).

Day 5 (2 January 2025) concluded.

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Day 6 (3 January 2025).

Breakfast at Ayala (Abaca Baking Company – excellent salmon Benedict breakfast).

Meet Mr. M. for our Cebu historic center tour.

First stop was to see the Heritage of Cebu Monument, which was initiated in 1997 and completed in 2000.  It was constructed by the award-winning artist, Eduardo Castrillo, which is made of brass, bronze, concrete and steel. It is located in Parian Park, which a long time ago, was the site of the Saint John the Baptist church which was demolished in 1875.  It is a monument that represents Cebu’s long history, since its founding in year 1521, by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, under the Spanish forces of that time.

For more information, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritage_of_Cebu_Monument

Admission was free.

Our second stop was the Archdiocesan Museum of Cebu, which features a collection of exhibits related to the Catholic faith, some dating back to the 16^th century, which provided us a walk down memory lane to learn how religion has shaped the country’s culture and people of today.  Learn more here at: https://cebuinsights.com/explore-cebu/museums/catholicism-cebu-cathedral/

Admission was 100 pesos per person (~ $1.70 USD each).  I paid 200 pesos to include the entrance fee for Mr. M.

Our third stop was to see the Magellan’s Cross, which is the MOST visited tourist site in Cebu, as I believe that it is the oldest site from Cebu’s founding in April 21, 1521, which represents the birth of Christianity in the Philippines.  The original Christian cross planted in Cebu in 1521 by the Spanish expedition, is housed inside this structure.

We need to remember that the original capital of the Philippines was here in Cebu, until the year 1571, when it was then moved to Manila.

For more information, visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magellan%27s_Cross_Pavilion

Admission price is free.

Our aborted fourth stop, was to see the nearby MOST important Basílica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebú.  Unfortunately, I was wearing shorts, which are prohibited.  I asked Mr. M. if there were any vendors (like there are at most Catholic sites where shorts are required) that would allow me to wear wrap around pants.  Mr. M. looked at me as if I was from Mars – I had to explain to him that this is a common money making practice in many countries.  He said that such a thing here would be sacrilegious and would never even be thought of.  I told him that in the Catholic headquarters, The Vatican, that this practice is very much alive. Another hint as to why the Philippines is kind of stuck in time and has not evolved as much as its other Catholic peers; Spain and Italy, due to the Philippines super adherence to religious discipline.

Additional information can be seen at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_del_Santo_Ni%C3%B1o

Our fifth stop was to visit the National Museum of the Philippines – aka Malacañang sa Sugbo.  Visiting this place was literally very REFRESHING, as it was the only place on this historic center tour with amazing airconditioning.  This museum features five galleries, which displays exhibits on Cebuano culture, maritime history, World War II artifacts, and archaeological treasures.  I being a map lover, enjoyed all of the maps of how the city of Cebu progressed into what it is today.

Amazingly, admission to this wonderful museum is FREE.

For more information, visit: https://suroy.ph/national-museum-of-the-philippines-cebu/

Our sixth stop was to discover, Fort San Pedro, which was founded by the Spanish conqueror, Miguel López de Legazpi in 1561.  Originally made of wood, it was then converted into stone in 1738.

The fort is right next to the primary harbor for the many ferries leaving for the nearby islands.  Consequently, when you climb up onto the upper portion of the fort structure you have a great sea view of the port as well as a nice salty breeze.

The entrance fee is 50 pesos per person (~ $0.86 USD each).  I paid 100 pesos to include the entrance fee for Mr. M.

For additional information about the fort, visit: https://suroy.ph/fort-san-pedro/

Our seventh stop was to enjoy the Cebu Ocean Park.  It is the only marine-themed park in Cebu and its main feature is the Deep Tank Lagoon, which allows for you to walk through a 360-degree viewing tunnel.  I’ve seen these in other parts of the world and the Cebu one is one of the better ones. 

I truly enjoyed the special exhibit that they had for the penguins

and then the “Birds of Prey” show, which truly engaged the audience – as there were stray pigeons flying around which were tempting the birds of prey to not follow their choreographed program, but to instead attack and kill the pigeons – so sometimes during the show it became intense.

Another cool feature of this place is the Aqua Dining, where an entire wall is in glass with complete high wall views into the Deep Tank Lagoon – truly amazing.

The entrance fee is 650 pesos per person (~ $11.13 USD each).  I paid 1,300 pesos to include the entrance fee for Mr. M.  It was good value for money and worth the visit.

Our eighth stop, by now I was very exhausted, was to quickly visit the SM Seaside City mall, as it is directly across the street from the Cebu Ocean Park.  It was important to visit it, because in the Philippine culture, MALLS are a very important part of their daily life.  Since this trip report is to present retiree life in Cebu this is a salient point to be aware of.  The SM malls are the main competitor to the Ayala malls.  It is a huge 5 floor mall that was constructure in a giant circular structure (like the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California).  The top floor offers amazing views of both the city and of the port and an upclose view of the famous CCLEX Cebu-Cordova bridge.

Admission was free.  You can visit the official FB page at: https://www.facebook.com/smsscitycebu/

Our nineth and last stop was to eat dinner back at the outdoor Street Food by Sugbo Mercado located right outside the back of the Ayala Mall in CBP.  Note that there are more than one Sugbo Mercado – in various parts of Cebu city to avoid confusion.

Mr. M. and I, we both ordered a healthy plate of Lechon (roasted pig) after a long day of touring the historic center of Cebu.  I paid for Mr. M. – but I do not remember the price, as it was peanuts when compared to what we pay back in the west.

For more information, visit: https://www.facebook.com/SugboMercadoCBP/

Once home hot & sweaty, I took a quick shower and jumped onto the apps and I found Mr. Ren on the Grindr app.  To date he was one of my HOTTEST massage guys, he is 22 and in the Police Academy = WOW!!  He needs extra money to support his student life.  He only wanted 2.000 pesos (~ $34.30 USD).  When he left I gave him 1,000 pesos more as he was so worth it as he had great massage and edging skills, a nice cock, and super manly.

What a great ending to a long and fun day.

Day 6 (3 January 2025) concluded.

 

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Day 7 (4 January 2025).

Disaster strikes – my boyfriend back in Thailand has a serious motorbike accident where he collides with a ladyboy back in Pattaya while I was sleeping.  Her injuries are kind of serious and she is sent to the hospital, as she has a fractured arm and some bruises.  Thank God she was wearing a helmet, as her injuries could have been much worse.  My boyfriend received some slight scratches and damaged his friend's motorbike that he was driving.  The ugly news is that he is desperate to help the ladyboy with her expenses, because if he does not agree to pay for the ladyboy’s injuries, hospital bills, damaged motorbike, and 2 months out of work to recuperate, she will press charges.  I agreed to help out, and this was definitely NOT pre-budgeted in my financial plans, but I do not want him to be put into the monkey house (jail).

Can I be sure that it is not a hoax?  I believe so, as I told him that I will only start to pay the various bills after I see the hospital invoice, have me meet via LINE the ladyboy in the hospital, see pictures of her smashed up motorbike, etc. – and I can see with my own eyes that it is all too real.  He stays all night with her at the hospital and ironically, he creates a friendship with her – as this is his common trait – that he can make friends with almost anyone and is super popular in the Supertown complex in Jomtien, as well as on soi 4 and soi 12.  I told him that when I return to Jomtien that I want us to take this ladyboy out to dinner, as I now feel to be intertwined in this strange new friendship.  Outch $$ it hurts to be in love.

Now back to Cebu.  I meetup with Mr. M after our breakfast in the Ayala mall and he sees that I am quite upset.  He calms me down and says to me, let’s do something relaxing.  I was intrigued.  He says to me, I remember that your 3^rd destination in your Cebu odyssey will be the Mactan Newtown – he says, let’s get a day pass to the Shangri-La resort over on Mactan island.  I was like – YES – I need this.  So, we take a taxi over to the resort for 528 pesos (~ $9.10 USD) and is a 45 minute ride. 

It being the weekend of the 2025 New Year, the resort is extremely busy and there is a lot of chaos at the main entrance.  At first, they do not want to let us have a day pass – as they state that since they are already operating at full capacity, that it would be unfair to the paying guests to have non-guests using the already crowded facilities.  Well, Mr. M., he works in a hotel and starts to talk in tagalog and there is a lot of back and forth between the security team and the facilities management and with someone on the phone.  After about 20 minutes of back and forth, Mr. M. convinces them that we are not your ordinary low life day trippers and that we will not disturb or upset any of the 5 star guests and wahla – they let us in.  I am going to say it a million times – this Mr. M. find in Grindr as a result of my tour guide ad is worth 3 times his weight in gold.

We were guided to an area where we could pay 2.000 pesos per person (~ $34.30 USD each) and then receive our complimentary lounge chair towels as well as arm bands that identified us as “day use” clients.  The resort is huge and Mr. M. asks me what do I want to do first and I say that I want to lounge on the beach and take a swim.

I was now happy as a pig in mud.  Finally, my first Philippine beach experience in wonderful white sand with clear turquoise water.  We both went for a swim and then relaxed for a while underneath the grass kabana.

Not knowing what to experience at a Philippine beach, I did not pack my wallet in my backpack and I only brought 10,000 pesos with me and we already spent 4,000 pesos to gain access to this wonderful place.  So, I was kind of reluctant to offer Mr. M. lunch at the resort because when I saw the prices I became afraid that we might not have enough money to return back to Cebu city.  It was truly a pity, because I have plenty of money – but being afraid of the unknown I was not prepared to bring more money.  I told Mr. M. that when we return to Cebu city that I will take him to dinner because with the remaining 6,000 pesos in my pocket that is more than enough money back in the city.  I was quite embarrassed – but even when I go to Koh Larn off the coast of Pattaya, I never bring my wallet, and I just put some cash in my pocket for a day at the beach.  This is my security tactic so that if someone steals my stuff while I am off swimming – it won’t be the end of my life.  With all of the security measures and type of rich clientele that I saw at this resort, there is NO way that anyone was even interested in pilfering our stuff.

After about 90 minutes at the beach, I asked Mr. M. what did he want to do and he asked if we could move to the pool side.  I said yes and we relocated over there underneath a shaded area and then we both jumped into the pool for a swim.  It was truly lovely and refreshing.

Before heading back to Cebu, we took a walk around the grounds of the resort and we were quite impressed.  There was even a heliport that was right next to the golf course for the 5-star arrivals.  For more information about the resort, visit: https://www.shangri-la.com/cebu/mactanresort/sports-recreation/

Lastly, the next complex on the southbound part of the resort is Mactan Newtown, where I will move into at the end of this month – as this is the area that I have given the pseudonym of Jomtien to.

We took a taxi directly from the resort back to Cebu and the fee was 550 pesos  (~ $9.40 USD) and we exited at the SM J Mall in Mandaue (city next to Cebu) to eat dinner at the American Kenny Rogers Roasters franchise.  This is what Mr. M. craved for his dinner. Then a Grab car for 230 pesos  (~ $4.00 USD)  to drop off Mr. M. at his hotel living residence and then me back at my condo at Cityscape Grand Tower.

As it was only 6:30pm, I fired up the apps and I met Mr. Nor from Grindr for a nice 2 hands massage at 9pm.  All was good – not fantastic but not poor.

Day 7 (4 January 2025) concluded.

to be continued in the next few days.....