A Day In My Life: Cebu Food Tripping

Okay, I went there to conduct a training for our field associates as part of my corporate job based in Makati. It was a full day training, however, my part ran for just two to three hours. Trainings for the rest of the day was all operational that I was not involved in anymore. I stayed there, listening and observing, for a couple more hours then I finally got bored and excused myself. I know they didn’t want a Compliance person there anyway. Charot.

I’ve been doing the same job for six years already (as of writing) in different industries, so I am used to short travels and quick stays (or long, I don’t actually mind). This time, I reached Cebu in the morning and was booked for a flight back to Manila the next afternoon. Yep, that quick.

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Hey there! My name’s May and you can view more about me here. I travel a lot for both work and leisure. Thanks to being an auditor and a content creator and, of course, to my love for travel, I barely feel I’m actually at work when traveling. And if I’m actually off work, I usually am with friends or family, discovering places and trying out new food. I’m juggling three jobs – the two mentioned + being a single mom. You think it’s easy? Of course not! But what glues me together is my passion and love for these three. More about my story here.

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Cebu is located in the middle part of the Philippines, Visayas. Similar to Manila, Cebu has a very rich history and culture. Cebuanos are also known as one of the kindest and fun Pinoys. If I’m not mistaken, their cuisine is also one of the bests among all Pinoy food – and I’m talking not only about the roasted pork, lechon.

I can still remember the first time I visited Cebu City. I didn’t know a thing at all, I didn’t even bother doing a quick research on how to commute and roam around the city. I just learned these things with the help of the locals I was meeting every day during my four or five-day stay there. To be honest, I was scared someone would do something bad to me (lol wth).

I’ve been here few times already, but it seems like I have a lot more places to go to and a lot of restaurants to try. But this time, I just had 24-hours (less training hours) to enjoy Cebu. Special thanks and shoutout to one of my best childhood friends, Dan (@danensalada) for sponsoring my food trip on my second day!

One night stay at Harold’s Hotel, Cebu

Just after the training, I spent the rest of the afternoon just lying on my hotel bed, catching up on my emails because it was still work day, right? (Also checking my social media on the side, I mean it’s 2019, guys, who doesn’t check their socmed??).

I was checked in at the Harold’s Hotel – the best affordable hotel to stay in and conduct company meetings and trainings. It was chosen by the FF team, however, my department paid for my stay (lol thanks).

It was nice and cozy, and I slept really well that night I never thought of any ghost or anything creepy. The bed was really comfy. I thought “oh than God I don’t have a room mate”, not that I don’t want a roommate, but I am just more comfortable when I’m alone in the room.

I got myself one deluxe room for a night including breakfast. The room has a nice bathtub and shower which I really enjoyed, coffee making facility which I loved, iron and ironing board that helped me a lot for my lecture, and what I really noticed is that almost all their staff from hotel sandals to flatwares to mugs are HH-branded which they don’t usually do in other hotels.

If you are planning to visit Cebu, looking for a comfy and affordable hotel room, you can check other rooms and their updated rates on their website or book directly on their page: www.haroldshotel.com.ph/

Dinner at the famous House of Lechon

I heard from people in Manila that House of Lechon has must-try menu items and a must-visit when you’re in Cebu City. I was just super lazy before but this time, hunger won. When I knew (thanks, Google map) the restaurant is just 6-minute-walk away from my hotel, I thought to myself “sh*t sige na nga gutom na ko (fine, I’m really hungry!“. So walked 450 meters at 7 or 8 pm that night and fortunately I didn’t thought of just ordering online.

The food was soooooo YUMMMMMYYYY, I can now vouch for everyone who’s saying House of Lechon is a must-visit. I ordered my favorites – baked scallops, ginisang munggo, and sisig – because I was being cautious, tbh. But it was soooo good, my order was for three or four persons (I think) but I ate it all. (G, how to discipline myself po?)

RELATED STORY: House of Lechon: carcar and beyond!

It was a nice “me” evening indeed. I ordered another platter of baked scallops which I enjoyed in my hotel room while watching a Marvel film. (Don’t judge me, please. I’m just a nice foodie.)

The next morning, I finally met my friend Dan, but I had only 5 hours left before I needed to go to the airport for my flight so we just decided to eat and drink wine. Yep. Wine was my coffee that morning. Don’t worry, I wasn’t that drunk, but do not EVER copy what I did.

Sweet breakfast at Tablea Chocolate Cafe

Dan was craving for champorado (sweet chocolate rice porridge) that morning and the only champorado shop he knows was Tablea Chocolate’s. If you’re from Cebu or if you just happen to know other restaurants or cafe that serves champorado, please let us know!

All the chocolate-flavored dishes in Table Chocolate Cafe is made of, of course, tablea. So what is tablea? Tablea is a Spanish word, which literally means “tablet”. Tablea chocolate is specially made of cacao balls and usually molded in square or rectangular shape. Since it’s made from cacao, it’s particularly delicious and best for flavoring hot drinks, cakes, and champorado.

Early inuman at La Vie Parisienne

Right after breakfast (at H Cafe in Harold’s and Tablea Chocolate Cafe), we busted La Vie exactly one minute before opening. We literally opened La Vie’s doors that morning. I mean, Dan literally had the key and opened the doors of La Vie. (Scroll right to the last photo of below slide!)

Disclaimer: I had less than a glass of wine which is totally safe for travels, but please do not do the same and stay nice and sober!

Yep, we had wine at 9am. I had less than half of white wine, while Dan enjoyed the whole bottle. I’m not really a fan of wines, except red and when partnered with steak or any meat. Anyway, La Vie offered pastries and other dishes as well, but since I was already super full, we just ordered cheese and wine and a nice cup of ice cream. Tip: best ice cream flavor at La Vie: dark chocolate! (Or I just love chocolates unconditionally?)

I am used to packed-up itineraries and adventures and road trips. Though I do food crawls in Manila, it just feels nice doing the same in another metro without worrying what to do next or where to go next. This one-day trip made me realize I want to do that more and explore more not only the places of Philippine provinces but also their local cuisine and maybe local street food!