We decided on this trip to forego the niceties of a hotel or resort. Though I had initially booked a room at Movenpick, I came upon a really cute and inexpensive new condo in the new township of Newtown. It was close to the airport, the resort area and the tourist sites with more restaurant options. Plus the idea of having a bigger space complete with a kitchen, washer/dryer, living room, dining area and a separate sleeping area along with a fitness center and a beautiful massive pristine pool for a mere $45 per night appealed to me on every level. 

Christmas Eve ended up being the perfect day to lounge at the condo. After two days’ of back-to-back activities, we deemed it a “down” day, a day of leisure, with no specific agenda, free to do something or nothing.  

I took my time making a special Christmas Eve meal of broccoli, mozzarella and egg scramble. Brunch was served at 10:30. It consisted of the scramble, 3 strips of crispy bacon for me, some potatoes, jasmine rice and orange pineapple juice.

Since it was a fairly substantial meal, we opted to make our way down to the fitness center. It was fairly basic, with a few ellipticals, stationary bikes and treadmills. There were free weights and a handful of machines. Luckily, we brought our TRX to subsidize the equipment and our workouts. 

During our workout, we began chatting with a woman who works for the building. I saw that the separate onsen rooms adjoining the gym had massage tables. She offered to call two massage therapists for us and just like that we booked 2 2-hour massages for 750 pesos an hour. Janice and Alisa arrived 30 minutes later.

After two hours, we staggered back upstairs and continued the afternoon of self-care. We had leftovers for our late lunch after which I proceeded to work on my manicure while Troy lounged on the sectional watching movies on Netflix. 

It wasn’t long before we had to get ready for dinner and head back out into the real world. We grabbed a taxi and headed off for the Christmas Eve dinner at Tides in the Shangri-la Resort. I had opted for the buffet dinner in lieu of the four-course meals at the other on-site restaurants for the variety but mostly because of the entertainment which that restaurant offered. At 7 p.m. they had a children’s choir singing some of the traditional Christmas repertoire. They were followed by a flash mob of dancers which ended up being many members of their staff performing previously choreographed dance moves to popular pop songs in the middle of the restaurant. At the end of the night, we were serenaded by strolling musicians. 

However, the primary reason for our visit was the exceptional variety of food. Troy, upon doing an initial inspection, made it his mission to sample food from each station which was essentially a gastronomic journey around the world in one evening.

I was a bit more conservative and started off with a seafood platter consisting of shrimp, mussels, tuna and salmon sashimi. I derailed when I saw they had a pasta station where I could get a bacon, mushroom, garlic spaghetti carbonara made just for me. To add a bit of color, I grabbed a lobster tail. After two plates, I was full but I still walked around and nibbled on as much as I could. By 8:30, it was time to throw in the towel. Troy had accomplished his mission and I was able to sample some amazing food.

All smiles to end our day of treating ourselves right!

Our Airbnb: https://abnb.me/XJ3CNP96US

Tides at Shangri-La: http://www.shangri-la.com/cebu/mactanresort/press-room/press-releases/shangri-las-mactan-resort-and-spa-cebu-celebrates-yuletide-bliss/