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

[fuessstueff]

On 2/5/2025 at 7:43 AM, bkkmfj2648 said:

Day 39 (05 Febuary 2025) 

Construction worker news.  At 10:30pm the previous night, they stopped their work.  I went to bed around 11:30pm so no loud noises for me.  They restart working around  7:30am, so that is a pretty long period to rest and have peace.  I can report that even when they are working in the 2 adjacent distinct construction sites, the noise is tolerable – but I am from New York, so I already have a high tolerance for noise.

Photo taken this morning from the One Manchester Residence courtyard

 

Ate breakfast and then I went out to look for a taxi that I could hire so that I could follow the taxi car to the motorbike rental place – as it is in that area that is like the most intense part of Dhaka, Bangladesh.  Also, the taxi would be able to take me back to Mactan Newtown after I dropped off the motorbike.  I go to the taxi stand where I found the original taxi guy from 2 days prior and one of the taxi drivers aggressively intervenes as I am trying to look inside each taxi car – as I wanted to identify my original driver as I had told him that I would use him to return my motorbike rental.  This aggressive taxi guy got on my last nerve and I turned around and yelled loudly – “Back OFF buddy -  I am looking for a specific taxi driver from a couple of days ago!!…”  He took a step back and then I felt bad and I explained to him who I was looking for and he told me that he was out on a taxi run at the moment and that one of the other taxi drivers could take me to return the motorbike.  Now I was feeling like an ass – but once my anger gets triggered I just can’t hold back my rage.  He explains to me that there is a queue system and that I should go with the first taxi car in the line up.  I say ok and I say that I am sorry.  My taxi guy charges me 300 pesos to go and 300 pesos to return.  It was the same price as what I paid to go and get the motorbike originally, so I just agreed.

So, I follow my taxi driver and all was easy on the main road but once we turn onto the narrow side road that meanders towards the beach it is slow moving, as the volume of people walking (there are not sidewalks) on the street prevents 2-way traffic, so it is a constant game of give-and-take to get through – just like in Dhaka.  I really do not know how the people can live like that every day.  There is no danger as everyone is friendly – but my fear is that I would hit one of the gazillion pedestrians or hit a jeepney or car.  We make it back to the Q Adventures motorbike place and I realize that I forgot to top-up the gas – so I tell the attendant and he only charges me 50 pesos more – as only 1 click was used up on the gas gauge.  What I found amazing is that they did not check the bike for damage or anything – they just took my word for it.  So, I would highly recommend this Q Adventures place if you are out here on Mactan island and you want to drive around on a motorbike.

https://www.youtube.com/@QAdventures

Derek, the owner of Q Adventures told me that his business out here on Mactan island is booming and they are thinking of expanding by opening a 2^nd motorbike rental shop in Cebu city – so stay tuned.  I told him that he should open a motorbike rental shop in the Mactan Newtown township – because this morning when I went to the parking area to get “my” motorbike the key would not work.  I was like totally confused and then I realized that there were more than 1 motorbike in the parking lot with the Q Adventures insignia.  Eventually I found mine.   Hahahahaha….

Extract from Google map from the main road onto the Buyong road

 

I really liked my taxi guy so I already reserve him for my ride to the airport tomorrow afternoon at 3pm.  We exchange WhatsApp so we can keep in touch.

Then I walk to the Mactan Alfresco open air food court and I eat a typical Filipine dish = Pork Belly Sisiq – it was very yummy, but I am not sure how healthy it is.  I seem to love dishes that are served to me in piping hot cast iron skillets.

On the way back to my room I stop at the X10 office to ask if they are truly opened 24 hours as indicated on their website at:  https://luggagestoragecebu.com/

But, the 2 Filipina ladies pasted the above typed sign onto the shop window.  I said to them, are you aware that the official web page states that you are open 24 hours?  They look perplexed as if they have never seen the official web page of the company that they work for.  I then tell them that they need to tell the owner(s) [ from their web page they appear to be Dutch with their primary business being real estate and to rent and manage their 28 condo units in AirBnB in various buildings throughout the Mactan Newtown township ].  They just smile at me, and I then realized that probably nothing will happen, as it has been this way for almost 1 year already.  I just feel sorry for the poor soul who might need to leave or retrieve their luggage after 9pm and they are trusting the validity of the official X10 webpage.

I am harping on this trivial fact, because it is having an impact on my decision as to where I should go to live/reside from 10 February 2025 forward, and that I want to already do that booking before heading off to Boracay – as I don’t want to worry about this on fun and relaxing Boracay.

I believe in the fate of the universe – so, the universe forced my hand, as our flight back on Monday 10 February arrives at 9pm – the same time as the luggage storage shop closes – so I will be forced to stay in Mactan Newtown to retrieve my steamer trunk in the morning after.  Mr. B. had been pushing me to return back to Cebu city – so, I will stay one more week in Mactan Newtown and then for my last 2 weeks in the Philippines I will go back to Cebu city.  In this way, I can use that week in Mactan Newtown to explore nearby Olango and Bohol islands.

Back to my room to dissect my steamer trunk into:

• What will go with me to Boracay,
• What will go into the X10 storage.

But more urgently, I start looking through the AirBnB and Booking.com websites for accommodation from 10 Feb – 18 Feb.  The biggest headache is that 14 February is a Friday and everything is mostly booked for that Valentine’s Day weekend.  Also, I am struggling to find rooms that overlook Olango island – as mostly everything here only faces the Magellan Bay.  I write to the X10 guys – as they have 28 AirBnBs and of course they do not respond.  Hahahaha.  Excellent customer service between their baggage storage operating hours and helping customers into one of their 28 AirBnBs as stated on their web page at: http://www.airbnb.com/p/x10

I find a nice AirBnB accommodation back in the One Pacific Residence (OPR), the previous condo building that I really liked, as it is very luxurious and the balcony view looks like it could be looking towards Olango island.  I write to the owner and after 9 hours she still has not yet responded.  AirBnB gives them 24 hours to respond – so let us see my fate at 11am tomorrow morning.

All of that consumes most of the afternoon and it is time to eat dinner and like a loyal dog I return to my favorite place to eat at:  An’Dale –

https://www.instagram.com/andaleeats/?hl=en

 

As you may have noticed, I keep saying that I want to have a room with a different sea view. 

Well, today I find out where this internal impulse of mine originates from.

The Magellan Sea – looks somewhat like a ship graveyard – which detracts from its natural beauty.  Every morning when I wake up and look out towards the Magellan Sea, the tide is low and these stranded abandoned ships, that seem to be strangely parked (moored) are a result of the Super Typhoon Odelle, that struck this greater Cebu area in December 2021.  So, I discovered that this is the reason for this eerie dismal look – as these huge ships were pushed into their current shipwrecked positions by Odelle.  Whereas, when you look over in the Hilutungan Channel that separates Mactan island from Olango island there does not appear to by any shipyard graveyards like there is in the Magellan Sea – thus rendering the Hiluntungan Channel in a more appealing natural way.

Example of one of the 6 stranded ships sitting on the coral reef after super typhoon Rai “Odelle” passed through in December 2021

 

However, there is hope as the Philippine Coast Guard has ordered that these 6 vessels be removed.  In my opinion, this will make the Magellan Sea to look less gloomy.

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/coast-guard-orders-firm-to-remove-stranded-vessels

 

Back to my room – prepare this update, chat in LINE with my Thai boyfriend and call it a night.

 

No massages or extra-curricular activities today.

 

Day 39 (05 Febuary 2025)  concluded.

I can state that sisig is definitely not a healthy dish.... usually its the go-to late night bar food, as it's good alongside some beer and rice. Usually it's made of pig ear/skin so it's very fatty. Your sisig looks like the egg just cooked before you had time to mix it; next time you get it, highly recommend mixing the egg the sisig is served in. Trust me.

A slightly "healthier" version is a tofu sisig, but usually add mayonnaise to substitute the fattiness that the pig fat brings...

[bkkmfj2648]

5 hours ago, colmx said:

i stumbled across this thread last night and binged on it, thanks for all the efforts @bkkmfj2648, its a pity that most posters will miss out on this extended TR with it being buried on the Philippines forum. Perhaps ts worth creating a cross post on the Thailand forum to help readers find this gem

Many thanks for your kind compliment.  I put a lot of effort into this TR so that if anyone else may need to make that hard decision to:

1.) leave Thailand as a retired expat and resettle somewhere else - in this case the Philippines,

2.) they are relocating from their home country as a to-be retired expat --> into the Philippines, where the Cebu area might be that desired retirement destination.

Your idea about creating a cross post into the Thailand forum is a good idea - I can do that when I complete this trip at the end of the 62 days were I will make the assessment of retiree living in Jomtien vs. Cebu - I can post those results and findings in the Pattaya section of the Thailand forum.

You wrote:  

• 3 hair cuts in 35 days, your hair must grow crazy fast!

It is called vanity.  I keep my hair short - almost military style and I also color it (as it is now completely white and I don't like that "father Christmas" look on me).  Consequently, the fake color (chocolate brown) grows out quite quickly and usually within 15 to 21 days I need to get it colored / cut again.  In this instance, the 2nd haircut was a need to fix the damage done from the 1st haircut that was done by the guy that I referred to as Mr. Edward Scissorhands - his haircutting performance was fantastic and exhilarating - but my hair then had an uneven look that I did not like and so, I returned earlier than normal to get another haircut.  Normally in 35 days, only 2 haircuts/hair coloring should have occured.  This time it was 3 haircuts and 2 colorings.

 

5 hours ago, colmx said:

That botched (from a western perspective) Pinoy circumcision has always put me off their cocks. Traditionally they don't remove the skin and instead perform a dorsal slit, a single incision along the upper length of the foreskin from the tip to the corona, exposing the glans without removing any tissue.

As I am not a medical doctor can you describe how a western circumcision is performed ?  Naively, myself being from the USA, I thought that all circumcisions were done in the same manner.  Having had both Muslim and Jewish friends in my life I noticed that their circumcisions were identical in nature to what are most American circumcisions.  It was only when I came to the Philippines, that I encountered circumcisions that were different than ours - in that they can have this extra "turkey gobble" type of extra skin - which you describe perfectly above.

Would you say that this extra skin, what I call the "turkey gobble", is a result of what I highlighted above in bold ?  Whereas, the rest of the world removes this excess skin during the circumcision medical intervention and some of the Philippine doctors do not?

I note that only like 10% of my encounters had this "turkey gobble" type of circumcision.

 

You also asked,

I notice that your body count went from an average of 1 a day to an average of 0 a day when you were in Mactan Newtown.

• Why do you think that was?  

I would say that it is the result of:

• my decreased libido in my Mactan Newtown days,
• my shame - as the Mactan Newtown condo buildings that I have stayed in are more "upper class" and elegant, the security ID process to get someone into these buildings is more intense.  Firstly, when a non-Mactan Newtowner enters into the township, there are these types of private police that are patrolling the main street and perimeter of the complex.  They remind me of the Canadian Mounties - here is a random photo from the internet of 2 of them:
• 
• A random covid period photo - hence the masks

I have personally witnessed these private security guys chase away what might appear to be riff-raff that may have slipped in unnoticed into the Mactan Newtown complex.  So, this can be kind of intimidating - as I tend to like rough looking construction types of guys.

Secondly, the security desk at these luxurious buildings are also intimidating and so, the "shame in me" keeps me from attempting new entries.  To date, I only had 1 entry, which was the guy that I referred to as the "kindergarten teacher", he was a nice guy but on the feminine side.  The security team was kind but you could feel some uncomfortableness - which I did not experience back in Cebu city - as those security teams were much more relaxed and not intimidating - as if they want to keep a certain type of prestigious image.

5 hours ago, colmx said:

was it distance from the mainland, lack of quality available? And if so would this factor into a decision to live in Mactan Newtown?

This also played into it.  When I open both Grindr and Heesay - the 2 primary ways to meet guys on the apps - there are less to choose from and the distances are further away.  However, there were always between 20 to 30 guys available.  Remember that my selection criteria greatly reduces my chances for a good encounter, as I am usually looking for:

• a not too intimate,
• non anal sex,
• massage + edging happy ending

type of meeting. 

Many of the guys online want someone who is intimately available to start a relationship and/or just want to bottom for a western dick, and I am just not game for that, as I already have a boyfriend back in Thailand.

I am replying from Boracay - and after we finish here - early next week - I will return to Mactan Newtown for 8 days and I will try to push myself more to make some new encounters.

cheers. 

M.

[floridarob]

2 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

I tend to like rough looking construction types of guys.

me too... Imagine the staff at the Conrad Manila when I show up with various guys during my stay at the Executive lounge, they stay professional, but aren't stupid either, lol

[colmx]

18 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

It is called vanity.  I keep my hair short - almost military style and I also color it (as it is now completely white and I don't like that "father Christmas" look on me)

Some of us are very jealous (myself included) as we have none left to cut or dye!

 

19 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

As I am not a medical doctor can you describe how a western circumcision is performed ?  Naively, myself being from the USA, I thought that all circumcisions were done in the same manner

Nor am i, but in the US and elsewhere they use a clamp and cut around the penis in a circular motion, leaving that scar all around the glans

in the Pinoy version they slice along the top of the foreskin, poke the glans out and leave the skin dangling

Links below not for the faint hearted!

Western version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision

Pinoyversion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorsal_slit

19 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

Would you say that this extra skin, what I call the "turkey gobble", is a result of what I highlighted above in bold ?  Whereas, the rest of the world removes this excess skin during the circumcision medical intervention and some of the Philippine doctors do not?

Yes turkey gobble is the exact term i was trying to think of (my Irish friend uses it) and its due to the excess skin

I have noticed that a lot of the younger Pinoy guys on twitter have a cleaner cut, i assume that this is because it has been done by a medical professional and not the village witch doctor like in bygone times.

This clip below is def NOT for the faint hearted!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jkCFxFPP0M

19 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

Secondly, the security desk at these luxurious buildings are also intimidating and so, the "shame in me" keeps me from attempting new entries.

Sounds to me like Mactan Newtown is definitely not the best place for a regular gay sex tourist to stay so!

 

[bkkmfj2648]

Day 40 (06 February 2025) – Night 1 on Boracay.

 

Eat breakfast in my room.  Finalize the packing of my luggage.  Bring the larger 62 day luggage and Metro shopping bag (now filled with massage towels and sheets to black out the sun) to the X10 luggage storage facility in the NewTown Blvd. 8 building.  Negotiate the 5 day storage price to be 4,000 pesos (~ $68.89 USD) for the 2 bags, instead of the requested 5,000 pesos.

https://luggagestoragecebu.com/

Return to my condo to wait for the AirBnB attendant (Estela) at 11am to perform the check out activity.  While I am waiting for Estela I try to find another AirBnB / Booking.com arrangement for the 8 days from when I will return to Mactan Newtown.  I already have a pending AirBnB reservation in the One Pacific Residence (OPR) building that I had made 24 yours prior, which will expire at 11am, if the owner does not accept my request. 

Consequently, when Estela arrives I ask for her kind permission if I can stay in the room while I sort out this AirBnB problem before I become homeless.  She agrees.  I explain the annoyance that AirBnB already debited me for the reservation that the OPR reservation which has now expired.  This sucks and I need to pay for the alternate AirBnB solution with another debit card.

The lesson that I learned is if the AirBnB app system displays the message, “Typical response time: a day or more” – only attempt to reserve if you have a lot of free time on your hands and already have a place to sleep.  I have been using AirBnB since it was born as an entity and I NEVER had this kind of problem before.

The good news is that this alternate AirBnB reservation allows me to find a better condo in the One Pacific Residence (OPR) building (my favorite building in Mactan Newtown), on the top floor, with what looks like an amazing view of perhaps Olango island.  So, I am very happy.

I say goodbye to Estela and while I was sorting out my AirBnB problem I see Estela ironing the bed sheets for the next AirBnB client.  I told her that I was very impressed, because it is at least 20 years since I saw someone ironing bed sheets – so I gave her a big compliment, as this tradition has been long lost in the world that I come from.

Now I have 3.5 hours to kill, as I am now homeless, it is 11:30am and the taxi does not come until 3pm to bring me to the airport.  I slowly walk back to the X10 storage place to temporarily store my luggage that will come with me to Boracay – leaving me only with my backpack, which contains my laptop and other important documents.  Fee is 300 pesos (~ $5.17 USD) for up to 4 hours of storage.

I then go and have a very slow coffee at the Civit Coffee shop  and afterwards I have lunch at the Mactan Alfresco open air market and I intentionally eat very slowly. This gets me to 1:30pm, so I walk outside the Mactan Newtown complex over to the LG Garden Walk mall and then I walk the entire Mactan Newtown main street = all the way to the beach and perimeter wall with the adjacent 5-star Shangra-La resort.  Hallelujah!!  Finally it is 3pm and I meet the taxi in front of the X10 shop and we are on our way to the airport – but, we arrive too quickly, we are there in 17 minutes.  So, I stand outside the domestic terminal waiting for Mr. B to arrive from Cebu city.  He arrives shortly before 4pm and we do our check in with CebGo , the short haul regional subsidiary of Cebu Pacific (which was formerly SeaAir and TigerAir).  All is good and we go to wait for our flight to leave, which after checking in, was delayed from 6:05pm until 6:35pm. 

Our CebGo propeller flight is short,

after around 1 hour we are already landing at the Caticlan (Boracay) airport, which is situated on the island of Panay, in the municipality of Malay, in the province of Aklan.

Now the fun begins, as I was totally confused as to how we get to our hotel upon exiting the Caticlan (Boracay) airport.  I literally thought the plane was going to land physically onto Boracay island.  Hahahaha.  I was so unprepared and thank God that I had Mr. B. with me.

We exit the airport and it is raining and we need to decide on the modality to get onto Boracay island, as there are a plethora of entities requesting that we go with them (or you can choose to do the complicated process by yourself and save some money).  We decided on using the all-inclusive services of Layod’s Travel & Tours, to have peace of mind:

https://www.facebook.com/layodstransport/

where the fee was 1,050 pesos for foreigner + 850 pesos for Filippino =

   1,900 pesos (~ $32.72 USD), which included the following services:

• Group van transfer from the Godofredo P Ramos Airport (Caticlan) to the Caticlan Jetty Port – which takes between 10 to 15 minutes and you need to wait until the van fills up and everyone’s luggage is onboarded,
• Payment of the Environmental fee (300 pesos), and Terminal fee (150 pesos) – which takes 10 to 15 minutes – depends on how many people are arriving into the bureaucratic processing center at the same time (our transfer agent took care of this for us),

 

• Walk over to the Ferry departure pier - Ferry fee (50 pesos) – with a 12 minute crossing the channel time,
• Another agent from Layod’s was waiting for us as we exited the ferry and collected our luggage and he took us to a nearby van.
• We were the third stop (from the random passengers that were assigned to our van), and this elapsed time was around 25 minutes.
• We check in to our hotel (Royal Park Hotel) at around 9:30pm.  Our hotel is near Boracay White Sand Station 2.

https://royalparkhotelboracay.mydirectstay.com/

Total elapsed time from Cebu Mactan airport to hotel check-in was approximately 3 hours.

Below is a good write-up prepared by TripWis, that compares using a bundled airport transfer provider service (like what we did) versus trying to do it all by yourself.

https://tripwis.com/getting-from-caticlan-to-boracay/

We were famished and thirsty, so we ate outside in the hotel restaurant almost on the lovely white beach sand – unfortunately, it was still raining.

We head for bed exhausted around 11:30pm.

 

Day 40 (06 February 2025) concluded.

 

 

[khaolakguy]

You are very intrepid. Loving all the details, thank you!

[NIrishGuy]

@bkkmfj2648 Thank you so much for taking the time to write and upload such an enjoyable post, I've spent a nice relaxed Sunday morning reading the whole lot from start to finish and loved your detailed content. I'm actually heading to the Ph's / Cebu / Boracay with my Flipino BF for a month in July and your detail info re flights, hotels, areas and eateries, along with all the links you posted has already been REALLY useful and there was actually stuff in there my PH Bf wasn't even aware re travel details and the online visa links and thinks so thanks again, really really useful ( as well as a great read too of course.  You come across as a really sound bloke ( as we say here in the UK and Ireland )

[fuessstueff]

13 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

Day 40 (06 February 2025) – Night 1 on Boracay.

 

Eat breakfast in my room.  Finalize the packing of my luggage.  Bring the larger 62 day luggage and Metro shopping bag (now filled with massage towels and sheets to black out the sun) to the X10 luggage storage facility in the NewTown Blvd. 8 building.  Negotiate the 5 day storage price to be 4,000 pesos (~ $68.89 USD) for the 2 bags, instead of the requested 5,000 pesos.

https://luggagestoragecebu.com/

Return to my condo to wait for the AirBnB attendant (Estela) at 11am to perform the check out activity.  While I am waiting for Estela I try to find another AirBnB / Booking.com arrangement for the 8 days from when I will return to Mactan Newtown.  I already have a pending AirBnB reservation in the One Pacific Residence (OPR) building that I had made 24 yours prior, which will expire at 11am, if the owner does not accept my request. 

Consequently, when Estela arrives I ask for her kind permission if I can stay in the room while I sort out this AirBnB problem before I become homeless.  She agrees.  I explain the annoyance that AirBnB already debited me for the reservation that the OPR reservation which has now expired.  This sucks and I need to pay for the alternate AirBnB solution with another debit card.

The lesson that I learned is if the AirBnB app system displays the message, “Typical response time: a day or more” – only attempt to reserve if you have a lot of free time on your hands and already have a place to sleep.  I have been using AirBnB since it was born as an entity and I NEVER had this kind of problem before.

The good news is that this alternate AirBnB reservation allows me to find a better condo in the One Pacific Residence (OPR) building (my favorite building in Mactan Newtown), on the top floor, with what looks like an amazing view of perhaps Olango island.  So, I am very happy.

I say goodbye to Estela and while I was sorting out my AirBnB problem I see Estela ironing the bed sheets for the next AirBnB client.  I told her that I was very impressed, because it is at least 20 years since I saw someone ironing bed sheets – so I gave her a big compliment, as this tradition has been long lost in the world that I come from.

Now I have 3.5 hours to kill, as I am now homeless, it is 11:30am and the taxi does not come until 3pm to bring me to the airport.  I slowly walk back to the X10 storage place to temporarily store my luggage that will come with me to Boracay – leaving me only with my backpack, which contains my laptop and other important documents.  Fee is 300 pesos (~ $5.17 USD) for up to 4 hours of storage.

I then go and have a very slow coffee at the Civit Coffee shop  and afterwards I have lunch at the Mactan Alfresco open air market and I intentionally eat very slowly. This gets me to 1:30pm, so I walk outside the Mactan Newtown complex over to the LG Garden Walk mall and then I walk the entire Mactan Newtown main street = all the way to the beach and perimeter wall with the adjacent 5-star Shangra-La resort.  Hallelujah!!  Finally it is 3pm and I meet the taxi in front of the X10 shop and we are on our way to the airport – but, we arrive too quickly, we are there in 17 minutes.  So, I stand outside the domestic terminal waiting for Mr. B to arrive from Cebu city.  He arrives shortly before 4pm and we do our check in with CebGo , the short haul regional subsidiary of Cebu Pacific (which was formerly SeaAir and TigerAir).  All is good and we go to wait for our flight to leave, which after checking in, was delayed from 6:05pm until 6:35pm. 

Our CebGo propeller flight is short,

after around 1 hour we are already landing at the Caticlan (Boracay) airport, which is situated on the island of Panay, in the municipality of Malay, in the province of Aklan.

Now the fun begins, as I was totally confused as to how we get to our hotel upon exiting the Caticlan (Boracay) airport.  I literally thought the plane was going to land physically onto Boracay island.  Hahahaha.  I was so unprepared and thank God that I had Mr. B. with me.

We exit the airport and it is raining and we need to decide on the modality to get onto Boracay island, as there are a plethora of entities requesting that we go with them (or you can choose to do the complicated process by yourself and save some money).  We decided on using the all-inclusive services of Layod’s Travel & Tours, to have peace of mind:

https://www.facebook.com/layodstransport/

where the fee was 1,050 pesos for foreigner + 850 pesos for Filippino =

   1,900 pesos (~ $32.72 USD), which included the following services:

• Group van transfer from the Godofredo P Ramos Airport (Caticlan) to the Caticlan Jetty Port – which takes between 10 to 15 minutes and you need to wait until the van fills up and everyone’s luggage is onboarded,
• Payment of the Environmental fee (300 pesos), and Terminal fee (150 pesos) – which takes 10 to 15 minutes – depends on how many people are arriving into the bureaucratic processing center at the same time (our transfer agent took care of this for us),

 

• Walk over to the Ferry departure pier - Ferry fee (50 pesos) – with a 12 minute crossing the channel time,
• Another agent from Layod’s was waiting for us as we exited the ferry and collected our luggage and he took us to a nearby van.
• We were the third stop (from the random passengers that were assigned to our van), and this elapsed time was around 25 minutes.
• We check in to our hotel (Royal Park Hotel) at around 9:30pm.  Our hotel is near Boracay White Sand Station 2.

https://royalparkhotelboracay.mydirectstay.com/

Total elapsed time from Cebu Mactan airport to hotel check-in was approximately 3 hours.

Below is a good write-up prepared by TripWis, that compares using a bundled airport transfer provider service (like what we did) versus trying to do it all by yourself.

https://tripwis.com/getting-from-caticlan-to-boracay/

We were famished and thirsty, so we ate outside in the hotel restaurant almost on the lovely white beach sand – unfortunately, it was still raining.

We head for bed exhausted around 11:30pm.

 

Day 40 (06 February 2025) concluded.

 

 

Enjoy Boracay! I had such a great time there when I last visited. They did a huge cleanup campaign a while back and its so much cleaner than it was before!

[floridarob]

5 hours ago, fuessstueff said:

Enjoy Boracay!

EVERY Filipino I know insists I must to to Boracay.....I'm a city guy not much for the beach. 

Early for me is going outside at 5pm....More of a vampire.

[fuessstueff]

4 hours ago, floridarob said:

EVERY Filipino I know insists I must to to Boracay.....I'm a city guy not much for the beach. 

Early for me is going outside at 5pm....More of a vampire.

If you're a "modern city" kind of person, I'd definitely recommend BGC or Makati in Metro Manila; very modern and lots of nice shopping/nightlife.

If you're more of a "historical city" kind of person I'd recommend doing an Intramuros/Binondo excursion in Manila. I believe Intramuros also has night/ghost tours and you'll get to hear all about the FIlipino superstitions. There's also Vigan in Ilocos Sur, which is more Spanish colonial style.

[floridarob]

3 hours ago, fuessstueff said:

Makati in Metro Manila

I've been a few times, there and Pasay near MOA

[NIrishGuy]

6 hours ago, fuessstueff said:

If you're a "modern city" kind of person, I'd definitely recommend BGC or Makati in Metro Manila; very modern and lots of nice shopping/nightlife.

If you're more of a "historical city" kind of person I'd recommend doing an Intramuros/Binondo excursion in Manila. I believe Intramuros also has night/ghost tours and you'll get to hear all about the FIlipino superstitions. There's also Vigan in Ilocos Sur, which is more Spanish colonial style.

Ha now where were you guys when I needed you for back up last night ! - This as my BF and I were sitting down to book our full itinerary and internal flights for our month long Ph's trip - for him to be sitting booking 5 nights in Davao ( where he comes from and is boring as shit) plus 4 nights in Cebu ( again nothing special) plus 4 nights in El Nido ( great beaches snorkelling - I don't snorkel !) and 8 nights in Boracay with another few nights seeing friends elsewhere up Country- all with also great beaches and a few beach bar areas - so me, I'll get bored by day 3 I'm guessing ) and then finally jsut 2 nights in the flesh pots of Manila = and it was only around midnight as we tired and heading going to bed that I realised I'd been hoodwinked and out maneuvered in my "flesh pits over beaches" please request !  So looks like I'm going to have to suck it up on this one for not paying enough attention. I'd look over it but out trip right before the PH's is to Dubai where I'm guessing there'll be even less flesk pit activity going on !   I think my BF is trying to sneakily turn me STRAIGHT and he hasn't even been really gay this last 11 years and his true boring self is now starting to show itself as he's getting older - FUCK THAT !!  lol 

 

 

[NIrishGuy]

Advice Cebu hotels - ???

Guys - just while we're talking about Cebu, can someone maybe give me some quick updated advice re that. On my last visit I stayed close to Mango Square  area ( where the gay bars / red light area was  - with my kind of people lol ) but I recall talking to a local from there a while back who'd mentioned a lot of the ( gay) bars had now closed down and that whole area was a shadow of it's former self ( and it wasn't that great to start with lol).  They also mentioned that they thought some of the gay area / bars had now moved somewhere around "the docks" area but they weren't sure about that.

I seem to recall the traffic in Cebu could get pretty backed up so if staying there ( for 4 nights) would anyone have ny general tips or advice re that re "yes staying in Mango area is still a good idea - or elsewhere in the City  - or the nightlighe there is all a bit of a bust now and you'd just be better staying in some nice resort hotel with a good pool and taxi'ing to whereever you fancy or an evening ( I can already hear my BF saying that resort hotel and pool is a GREAT idea ! lol

Likewise if I may - same question re our two nights in Manila - I'd previously stayed in the Makiti area when there we several gays bars there, but again believe that's a thing of the past now too, with the likes of O Bar etc now moving to Pasig. I understand the ( quite ropey) gay go go bars are more situated in Quezon City, so might I just be better staying that side of two and being down with it ( or again a standard corporate hotel in the centre somewhere and taxi'ing it ( which is probably never a great idea when in Manila for 100 different reasons).

PS this isn't me planning hooking up or bringing back action ( much to my disgust  -just more for a good night out with a bit of fun and viewing action going me around us while there. 

Any tips or advice greatly appreciated. thanks.

 

       

[fuessstueff]

3 hours ago, NIrishGuy said:

Advice Cebu hotels - ???

Guys - just while we're talking about Cebu, can someone maybe give me some quick updated advice re that. On my last visit I stayed close to Mango Square  area ( where the gay bars / red light area was  - with my kind of people lol ) but I recall talking to a local from there a while back who'd mentioned a lot of the ( gay) bars had now closed down and that whole area was a shadow of it's former self ( and it wasn't that great to start with lol).  They also mentioned that they thought some of the gay area / bars had now moved somewhere around "the docks" area but they weren't sure about that.

I seem to recall the traffic in Cebu could get pretty backed up so if staying there ( for 4 nights) would anyone have ny general tips or advice re that re "yes staying in Mango area is still a good idea - or elsewhere in the City  - or the nightlighe there is all a bit of a bust now and you'd just be better staying in some nice resort hotel with a good pool and taxi'ing to whereever you fancy or an evening ( I can already hear my BF saying that resort hotel and pool is a GREAT idea ! lol

Likewise if I may - same question re our two nights in Manila - I'd previously stayed in the Makiti area when there we several gays bars there, but again believe that's a thing of the past now too, with the likes of O Bar etc now moving to Pasig. I understand the ( quite ropey) gay go go bars are more situated in Quezon City, so might I just be better staying that side of two and being down with it ( or again a standard corporate hotel in the centre somewhere and taxi'ing it ( which is probably never a great idea when in Manila for 100 different reasons).

PS this isn't me planning hooking up or bringing back action ( much to my disgust  -just more for a good night out with a bit of fun and viewing action going me around us while there. 

Any tips or advice greatly appreciated. thanks.

 

       

Can't really give you good hotel advice in Manila since the only hotel I've stayed at there is the Manila Hotel, since when I usually visit I stay at my family's condo or at a cousin's house in QC. However, with regards to getting around, you might want to look into Grab (the PH version of Uber) or just hiring a driver through Klook while you're there. I never had an issue with Grab drivers, and we usually get a driver when there's a bunch of us since it's much easier for them to figure out how to get to places in Manila!

[NIrishGuy]

2 hours ago, fuessstueff said:

 you might want to look into Grab (the PH version of Uber) 

Thank you, I will do that as bot Grab and Uber are my go to taxi's in nearly every city I visit now as just SO much handier ( and cheaper) than the local options usually.!

[bkkmfj2648]

15 hours ago, NIrishGuy said:

Guys - just while we're talking about Cebu, can someone maybe give me some quick updated advice re that

Regarding hotels to stay in Cebu - I cannot help you much as my 62 days here are all in AirBnB - as I am trying to simulate what a gay retiree would experience living in the Cebu area in a high rise condo with balcony and seaview.

I agree with your assessment regarding the Mango Avenue area - it is kind of low key as the 3 long years of the covid nightmare by the local government kind of killed off many businesses that could not survive without locals and tourists partying the night away.

You can find in this trip report my review of 3 gay venues that I visited here in Cebu / Mandaue:

• 8th Avenue comedy club:  my post is here: 
• Censored bar:  my post is here: 
• Club X - gogo bar.  My post is here: 

For hotels, I would suggest that you search in the CBP - Cebu Business Park - Ayala Mall area - as it is a very nice area and easy to get to any of theses bars and clubs.

Enjoy.

[bkkmfj2648]

Day 41 (07 February 2025) – Day 1 / Night 2 on Boracay.

 

Wake up and eat our breakfast in our hotel, Royal Park Resort.

Decide to start to explore the very lengthy White Sand beach and we head south towards Boat Station 3. 

Our hotel is situated directly in front of the principal Pontoon Bridge, which sits on the border of where Boat Station 1 ends and Boat Station 2 starts.  This Pontoon Bridge (pier) is the main gathering point for the gazillion boat tours, snorkeling and scuba diving adventures.  From our hotel balcony each morning we watched the assembly of large groups of tourists who would gather in front of our hotel prior to starting their journeys.

Pontoon Bridge – as seen from our hotel balcony

Along the way we see our first group of sandcastle builders – as they all wear official, “Boracay Sand Castle Maker Association” t-shirts.

These guys are very talented in their artistic skills, as shown below:

At this point, we reach the extreme end of Boat Station 3.  It is truly beautiful and picturesque.  By this point we have walked 2.5 kilometers.

Extreme end of Boat Station 3

Note:  In most of our photos you will notice a green tinge to the sea water, because:

Now we start the trek back towards our hotel and we notice this interesting place with the name = “Real Coffee”, which is situated about ½ the way back to our hotel.

https://www.facebook.com/originalrealcoffeeandteacafe

We are happy to get a seat upstairs at the bar that faces outwards to watch the people passing by and to have a great view of the sea.  This place would become our daily go-to place for an afternoon coffee and/or bite to eat because of:

• Its Million Dollar View of the white powder beach and sea,

https://www.instagram.com/itsmejaysee/reel/DFMITEnTApz/

• Its Calamansi muffins    

•  I also liked the Mango muffins and their yummy omelet breakfasts

We return back to our hotel for a siesta (nap), as by now we have clocked 5 kilometers walking on the beach sand.

After our nap, we decide to walk to the end of Boat Station 1 and to go beyond, as the distance from Boat Station 2 to 1 is less than the morning walk of Boat Station 2 to 3.  We are so glad that we did because we were able to discover 2 additional Boracay jewels.

The walk from where Boat Station 1 terminates requires you to walk on some steep rock ledges with one portion that circumvents a rock cave that houses a religious Madonna statue and requires the use of a holding-on rope – not too difficult or dangerous for me as an old fart 63 year old retiree.  Of course, for 26 year old Mr. B., it is a breeze and often he is waiting for me to catch up.

Holding on for dear life – hahahaha – actually it was easy and adventurous.  This is the narrow passage way from the end of Boat Station 1 onto Diniwid Beach.

In the next photo, Mr. B. takes my photo at the entry to Diniwid Beach (note the lovely villas up on the hillside), and I have to stop walking for a few moments to respond to my Thai boyfriend back in Jomtien.  While I am chatting with my boyfriend, Mr. B., is chatted up by a kind AFAM (farang) gay Italian retiree that we should continue beyond Diniwid Beach onto what he described as a 50 year old mysterious ruins.  He peaked our interests and perhaps titillated Mr. B.’s curiosity – I was teasing him as perhaps he found his sugar daddy AFAM….hahahaha…

Diniwid Beach

As told to us by the AFAM Italian guy, we stumble onto these mysterious ruins.  This area was kind of hazardous and a bit difficult to maneuver in and we decide to stop our trek at these 3 manmade objects, as shown in the below photo:

Later tonight and in the next days, I become obsessed with this strange place – stay tuned as its alarming story / history is revealed later in this trip report.

One last photo (below) looking back onto Diniwid Beach, and all of the 3 Boracay White Sand beach stations 1, 2, 3.  I would say that we walked around 11 kilometers today round trip – between the morning 5km trek and this afternoon 6km trek.

Amazing the distance that we walked today

On our journey back towards our hotel, we see that the beach has already transformed with many people playing volleyball and paddle ball on the beach.

By now we are famished and we stop to eat at the Kolai Mangyan restaurant, which is situated in front of the famous “Willy’s Rock”, which houses a grotto of the Virgin Mary, just offshore from where the seashore stops and the sea starts.

https://www.facebook.com/KolaiMangyanBoracay/posts/dine-with-a-viewcome-visit-our-new-branch-at-station-1-front-beach-just-in-front/731465645673044/

https://boracayinformer.com/blog/willys-rock-boracays-seaside-marvel/

Back to the hotel room to rest, shower, and to prepare to enjoy the famous Boracay White Sand nighttime walk when things become very lively.  Many people are out and about, restaurants are busy, shows are being performed in some of the bars and restaurants, vendors are selling their wares --> creating a general good energetic and positive tourist energy.

In the nighttime, the sandcastles that were built during the day (everyday), are now illuminated with candles.  Representatives from  “Boracay Sand Castle Maker Association”, monitor these masterpieces and will take your photo for only 20 pesos, around 34 cents in USD, truly the bargain of the century.  They gladly take more than one photo – usually a dozen asking you to strike different poses.

https://www.facebook.com/BoracaySandCastleMakersAssociation

 

After walking around for a while to see the nightlife, unfortunately, it starts to rain, so we dash back to our hotel.

Exhausted from our very productive first full day in Boracay, we call it a night and go to sleep.

No massages or extra-curricular activities today.

 

Day 41 (07 February 2025) – Day 1 / Night 2 on Boracay concluded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bkkmfj2648]

10 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

You can find in this trip report my review of 3 gay venues that I visited here in Cebu / Mandaue:

@NIrishGuy, oops, I forgot to link to the 4th gay venue that I visited in Cebu - the Cave Bar.  How could I forget, as I had a great time there.  Here is my review of the fabulous Cave Bar:

@NIrishGuy, Mr. B. - featured in most of these Cebu trip reports (my wonderful 26 year old Filipino tour guide), he works in the Sarrosa Hotel in Cebu - and from this hotel you are within a 10 minute walking distance to the below 3 gay venues:

• Censored bar,
• Cave Bar,
• ICON disco - mixed with many of Cebu gays frequenting this place - there is no review yet from me as I have not yet gone there.

Here is the link to the hotel that Mr. B works at:  https://www.sarrosahotel.com/

Lastly, a random guy wrote to me in Grindr today - as I have amended my normal profile to be a looking for tour guide, bar hopping buddy etcetra and he asked me where I have been and he added 4 additional gay themed venues, which are:

• Cartel,
• Barrio,
• Icon,
• Uptown

I cannot vouch for any of the above 4 places - but this may help you with your Cebu visit.

So, in summary, there are the following 8 places for gay entertainment in the Cebu area:

• Censored,
• X Club,
• Cave Bar,
• 8th Avenue Comedy Club,
• Cartel,
• Barrio,
• Icon,
• Uptown

In the sauna/spa area, I have been made aware of the following 3 places that gays frequent:

• Infinity Spa,
• Sandia Massage Spa,
• Watermelon Health Spa.

I have not been to any of them yet - but I intend to visit the Infinity spa, as it looks really nice and is part of the larger spa franchise with branches in Manila.

I hope that this additional information helps with your Cebu trip planning.

 

 

 

[macaroni21]

Alrighty, I did a quick Google search of the thre new venues you mentioned. I don't know about you @bkkmfj2648, but I don't see myself checking them out.

Barrio bar has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BarrioCebu?mibextid=LQQJ4d. Page has lots of young women dressed and looking alike, like clones. Takes some scrolling to see a handful of malse in the photos, but they all have their arms around females. Also, this video clip https://www.facebook.com/BarrioCebu/videos/1180599116955650 - all standing room, ear-splitting music, flashing lights, nearly everyone less than half my age (maybe one-third).

Cartel Studio https://www.facebook.com/cartelstudiocebu/. Scrolled its Facebook page for exactly two seconds when my eyes got assaulted by these boobs. 

Shocking violation of my sense of aesthetics. Closed page almost immediately before I was further traumatised.

Finally, there's Uptown. It has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/uptowncebu, in which there are a few video clips that will give you a flavour of the place, such as this clip: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=601380819268405

While there are more males than females in the crowd, it looks more like one of those late-night venues for young Thais around Third Road in Pattaya. Also, all standing room, no seats, ear-splitting music, flashing lights. Probably only gets going after 1 a.m. In short, the kind of place I flee from rather than gravitate to.

All three venues: Not my scene, 🤩

[macaroni21]

Watermelon Spa. Oh my, read the Google reviews (the one-star ones are always fun to read):

2 months ago
The place is filthy. The masseuse are busy with their cellphone while you fall asleep. The beddings are old and re use over and over again. The smell of the whole place is like a urine.
The small towels smelled-pretty bad. This place is disgusting. I am very disappointed.

2 years ago
❌ Super Dark Rooms and barely lit Common Areas
❌ Smelly beds both in faux Turkish bath area and massage rooms
❌ insistent therapist offering EXTRA SERVICE
❌ beware of PICKPOCKETS as they don’t have lockers to keep your belongings safely in their very dark vicinity
❌ Government agencies must look into their sanitary permit. I don’t think they passed in accordance to spa standards.

2 months ago
Horrible. She used her phone the whole time, I’m shocked worst I ever had. I should have checked reviews. Deeply regret I feel vilolated after

8 months ago
Woke up with even more pain in the shoulders. I booked an massage for 1,5 hour but it was not even an hour.
The whole massage the therapists where talking to eachother and of when they were not talking to eachother they were at their phone during the massage, very unproffesional.
The salon was very very dark and to cold.
I understand why you had to pay directly when stepping in to the salon.
Wouldn’t recommend.

2 years ago
Disgusting unchanged sheets / was asked to wait for more than 5 mins after I changed and when we went to the spa there was more of like caressing that happened instead of actual massage. My company and were placed together with half curtain opened and the towel that was used by my company was just folded and placed back in the bed. VERY UNHYGIENIC. Worst massage ever. With all the caressing that happened made me wonder if their specialty is offering ES?

2 months ago
Use your mobile phone while having a massage?
Why are foreigners so casual?
It was the first time I had such a casual massage. Even though I wanted to be very gentle, I didn't feel like he was doing a massage at all. He just kept applying oil to my feet and just kept doing the same steps.
I've been gone for so long and I don't know what I'm doing.
I really don’t want to come here. Fortunately, I only used my feet.
Remember to read the comments again in the future

Note by macaroni: The above was translated from Chinese. In Chinese, the 3rd person pronoun is not gendered, so the "he" used in the comment could well have been a she.

 

6 years ago
Worst massage I've ever had. Wish you could do -5. Music was definitely not relaxing and was too loud. Shouldnt call them therapists at all. The people kept talking to each other whilst performing something they call a "massage". I booked an aromatherapy oil massage. Which is meant to be relaxing. She used her elbow for most of it. Booked 90 minutes and was only given 60 minutes. Luckily the owner was there so we only paid for 60. Come to think about it luckily they did 60 minutes as I would have had to throw away more money and I'd definitely be in more pain. The person seemed inexperienced, incompetent, in everything apart from a maseuse. Slapped and elbowed more than massaged. Would have preferred to be elbowed by The Rock. I feel more stressed than relaxed. I have no idea why they call themselves a massage place or even a therapist. I need sessions from a therapist to help with the mental trauma!!!

Note by macaroni: But hey, this place has been in business for six years, so they must be doing something right.

[bkkmfj2648]

26 minutes ago, macaroni21 said:

All three venues: Not my scene,

I agree, they are most likely NOT my scene either - but I know some of our forum members here are night owls and enjoy to dance and party into the wee hours of the morning.

Over in Twitter (X), I performed a keyword search = #altercebu barrio 

and many hits came back with Cebu guys talking about the Barrio club.  This guy, TourJake is VERY popular here in Cebu - his post is from June 2024 - but there are many other more recent posts that satisfied the above query.

https://x.com/i/status/1796939131467235733

Regarding Cartel Studio - the following query in Twitter (X) returned less hits than the above Barrio query.

#altercebu cartel studio

https://x.com/i/status/1883160955821142056

 

And Club Uptown received even less hits in Twitter (X)

#altercebu club uptown

https://x.com/i/status/1802365465161023753

 

[bkkmfj2648]

10 minutes ago, macaroni21 said:

Watermelon Spa. Oh my, read the Google reviews (the one-star ones are always fun to read):

And when I asked about the Sandia Massage Spa in Grindr, Heesay, and in Twitter (X), I did not receive positive comments.  I won't post them, as I don't like to post something about a place unless I have personally experienced it.  However, I have used this "gossip" hearsay information to avoid visiting both Watermelon and Sandia.

Instead, I will focus my sauna/spa visit with only the Infinity Spa establishment.  The only negative that I heard about Infinity is that it is too small.  That 1 criticism is not enough to keep me from going there - as I think for purposes of this thread that I created, "...research to see if an elderly gay retiree can live comfortably in Cebu...", it warrants a review for said purpose of this forum thread.

 

[NIrishGuy]

11 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

 

 

You can find in this trip report my review of 3 gay venues that I visited here in Cebu / Mandaue:

• 8th Avenue comedy club:  my post is here: 
• Censored bar:  my post is here: 
• Club X - gogo bar.  My post is here

For hotels, I would suggest that you search in the CBP - Cebu Business Park - Ayala Mall area - as it is a very nice area and easy to get to any of theses bars and clubs.

Enjoy.

Thank you for that info - I'd actually read every line of your previous posts and so had already spotted your three reviews and googled them and they're already down on my to do list to form part of our evening activities so thanks for that useful info 🙂. And all noted too re the CBP and again from your posts and videos on there it looks spot on for what Im looking for too - you should work for the PH's tourist board as your posts give better info than their websites !! 🙂 

[NIrishGuy]

"Here is the link to the hotel that Mr. B works at:  https://www.sarrosahotel.com/"

 

Again thanks - and I thought that was me all sorted as that hotel would have suited me perfectly, but just went on to book and I see it's block booked as sold out for almost five months !!?  So there's either a problem with their website or their closing for renovations perhaps, I'll drop them an email to check. Thanks again. 

 

 

[NIrishGuy]

 "I thought that was me all sorted"

I'm assuming that must have been an issue with the Sarrosa website maybe just as I was able to go into Agoda ( and Booking. com) and see availability there, so booking now made  - and after a quick google maps recee you're right, perfect location for all the things we'll be doing ( mainly thanks to this post I have to say !