A year ago (it was a Monday), first thing I saw on top of my desk was this dark brown teddy bear . It was a 'surprise' belated birthday gift from a good friend, Lichelle.

That same week I bought her this cute little dress. It was very challenging finding the right fit. As you noticed, she is quite chubby :-) We tried several clothes on her but this is the only one that fitted her perfectly.

Happy Birthday Shaby!

Shangri-La Mactan, Cebu

We took the 6:30am flight and we were just so glad that we were immediately checked-in in the hotel. First thing we did was to go around to check the amenities.

On the Land

Behind me is the Health Club. It's your typical fitness center with Jacuzzis and sauna. The reason I'm standing here is, I enjoy the smell of the grass, very summer-y. It's very well-maintained, as you can see Manong behind me is busy mowing the grass. Good thing he didn't ask me 'not to step' on the grass :-)

Here's another picture just to show to you that I enjoyed their grass :-)

Inside is the E-Zone. They have video arcades, foozball, internet games etc. It's not what I want to highlight here but the chairs. It looks like rattan but I found out that it's only made of plastic but I guess these are of very high quality, don't know what it's called, because it's not hot when you sit on it and it doesn't leave marks as well. Lovely!

Time to take some relaxing drinks by the sea. This is Chill Out Bar where drinks are buy 1 take 1 from 5-7pm :-) Beat that view behind us!

Exploring Nature

Big & tiny fish swarming around the bread that the kid was throwing. The Shangri-La Marine Sanctuary spans five hectares from the beachfront of the resort. No need to go island hopping or go far from the shore just for snorkeling.

I like to take a picture with the beach shoreline as the background. It's almost 12nn and the sun is at its highest in the sky so ayan, tago muna.

In and On the Water

It's 2 out of 10 attempts in basketball while in the pool. Now, let me try water polo. I have to distract Christian just for me to get at least 1 point.

I got tired but I still want to stay in the water. The answer? beach chairs inside the kiddie pool.

View from the infinity pool. There's not much activity here so we headed for the beach.

I really love the architecture of the hotel. Their lobby and other hallway areas are non air-conditioned yet it's not hot & humid. Thanks to the trees that are all over the resort and also these gigantic wooden foldable doors behind me. Yep, there's no glass windows there.