Family Getaway at Moalboal, Cebu

Our Moalboal vacation is very memorable for two reasons:

First, it is my mother's 59th birthday.

Second, this is our family's first ever outing / escapade together.

I am proud to say that I came from a very poor family. My mother and father did not reach high school and had to work really hard, 7 days a week, just to put food on the table. There were years when we live with no running water and electricity. But despite this, my mother always made sure that we are never hungry. She always managed to feed us three times a day and had always encouraged us to pursue our education, something she wasn't able to do.

My mother enjoying the sands of Moalboal. She asked me to burry her feet in the sand, believing it has health benefits.

Fast forward, now that my sister and I already have jobs, we figured it's time to give back to our parents. On April 5, 2018, we decided to go on an overnight stay at Moalboal to celebrate her birthday. All expenses were paid by my sister and me (though my sister paid more because she's got higher salary).

It was my sister who really wanted to push the idea of family outing. The two of us have travelled to different places already either for work or team outing with the company. But we've never travelled together with the whole family. We wanted them to experience what we've experienced too.

So we rent our neighbor's multicab (a four wheeled pick up vehicle) and off we go!

![IMG_20180405_112427.jpg](From left ro right- Me, my sister and our friend Anne at the back of the multicab.

The Rough Ride

Our adventure started the moment we embarked on the multicab. There were no seatbelts, no roof, and no built in chairs at the back! To other countries this may seem dangerous but this is The Philippines! It's more fun in the Philippines!

We went out at around 11 am in the morning. We only stopped twice, first at a local department store in Lawaan to buy sunblock, second was at Carcar to buy a kilo of their famous Lechon (roasted pig).

I waited patiently until the buildings and electrical wirings in the skies were slowly replaced with beautiful and gigantic trees as we headed further south of Cebu.

It was a very hot morning, but when we reached Barili (60 kms away from Cebu City) heavy rain suddenly started to pour. We hid under the blanket, laughing whole heartedly at our "misfortune". Luckily the rain did not stay long, and when we headed to the next town, the sun started shining again.

The Beach

We reached Moalboal at around 2 pm in the afternoon. We stayed at Basdaku beach resort and rented a room good for 8 people. The room includes a bathroom and a cottage which served as our kitchen as well.

After arriving we immediately prepared our lunch. Before coming to the beach, my mother already cooked Filipino food such as humba, kinilaw (Filipino style Ceviche) and others. I don't eat pork so I stick with eating fish the entire trip.

It was a lovely lunch. My mother made a wish and blew her birthday candles. We rested for a while before checking out the beach.

Moalboal is a wonder, a long stretch of fine white sand beach, crystal clear waters and uhm, dogs! Yes! You read it right, I don't know but this is the only beach where I saw a lot of dogs happily running on the shore.

When my mother came to lay on the sand with us, she quickly made friends with them. The next thing I knew, she was already petting and lying next to the dogs! I never knew my mom is a dog whisperer.

We went swimming for a while until the sun disappeared in the horizon. The water's very nice, not too cold, not too warm. Just perfect for swimming. My mom stayed with her new found friends.

Evening Chill

At 6 oclock dinner was already served. We had dinner and rested for a while again. At 10 pm my sister, me and our friend Anne went back to the shore for star gazing. We bought a huge bottle of beer and chip with us. We laid on the air bed and talked about life and plans until 12 midnight.

The stars seem brighter in Moalboal. I basked at the sound of the waves gently crashing against the shore and the distant laughter of other beach goers having fun a few meters away from us.

Day Two

Moalboal early in the mornig.

The next day, we woke up at five in the morning to witness the sunrise. We laid on the air bed again, waiting for the sun to turn the dark sky into a beautiful and subtle orange. My mother went with us and her dogs greeted all of us good morning.

Good morning selfies.

The beach was still quiet. We took family photos then went swimming. The water is refreshing. It was very clear and we could see schools of bright blue fishes underneath. Not surprising, Moalboal is also famous for diving and snorkeling activities. The only funny thing was that I saw two beautiful jellyfish. I was so amazed. Though I stayed far, I didn't realized that there might be some other smaller jellyfishes around. I end up going home with a bunch of jellyfish stings on my body.

At 8 am we headed back to our cottage and had breakfast. Exhausted, I went back to the room to catch some sleep. I woke up at around 10 am to help prepare lunch. There were two kids selling two buckets of fresh sea urchins. I looove sea urchins. We bought all of them and prepared them for lunch. I will be teaching you how I prepared sea urchins on a separate blog. :)

I love Moalboal so much. We had a splendid vacation. I would miss the sound of the waves, the dogs and their paw prints on the sand, the bright blue fishes, the crystal clear waters and the whole feeling. Hope to be back soon.

P. S. I would like to thank @leeart for introducing me this wonderful website to edit photos.

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Hi! I'm Janice Mars and thanks for checking my blog! I'm a writer, beauty queen and model from Cebu City. I write about travel, culture, beauty, food, adventure, and random fun stuff! All words and photos used on my blogs are original, unless otherwise stated. Follow me for more interesting stories!

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