PhilFAQS

Castle Peak Hotel, Cebu, Philippines.

Here’s an interesting, well-recommended destination location I came across recently.  Please note that this particular property is not one that I have stayed at, yet, but several trustworthy friends have.  I thought it was well worth featuring because so many hotels and resorts don’t bother to have a website, especially with complete contact information, so I want to take a little time and highlight those which I have found who have taken the time to smooth the path for a visitor

Castle Peak Hotel F. Cabahug corner President Quezon Streets Villa Aurora, Mabolo, Cebu City 6000, Philippines Trunkline: +63 32 233 1811 Fascimile: +63 32 232 6838 Email: reservations@castlepeakhotel.net

• 15 minutes from the Airport
• 5 minutes from the Port / Pier
• 20 minutes from the nearest Beach
• 2 minutes from the nearest Mall
• 5 minutes from Downtown or Uptown - Cebu
• 2 minutes from Cebu Business Park

Here are their latest posted room rates and a location map.  They will also be marked on the PhilFAQS Maps page for easy trip planning.  Stay here or stay somewhere else, but make the trip, you’ll be glad you did.  Cebu City is a great place to visit.

CAWAYAN PORT, Masbate — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sent off on Monday the roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) ferry that was on its maiden voyage from this port, but did not board it.

The Super Shuttle Ferry 12 was the third ferry she sent off for the day as part of the Ro-Ro caravan to promote anew the Strong Philippines Nautical Highway that linked various islands in the country from Luzon to Mindanao…. more of the article here.

What the heck is Ro-Ro and why do you care?  Well, here’s a picture of one that I like, taken by a friend of mine during one of his drives from one end of the Philippines to the other.  Drive?  Where there are no roads or bridges between islands?  yep.  Roll on-Roll off ferries provide the answer.  Another friend, Bob Martin, put up a nice video of a trip he makes almost daily on a smaller Ro-Ro.  It’s well worth watching if you aren’t familiar with this form of transportation.

One of the things the Philippines needs is more tourism.  An often over-looked resource is internal tourism.  Filipinos themselves and folks who live or visit here.  You can get almost anywhere you want to … but you often have to really do some digging to find out how.

As of now, there’s no central source a person can go to find out about inter-island ferries.  I sincerely hope one becomes available soon.  For now, keep in mind you can go places by car, even if you have to make a lot of local inquiries, and it can be a really fun way to travel. The Philippines Nautical Highway … something you won’t see every day you sit at home, wondering.

Here’s a map I threw together just to show how long a trip you can make using roads, bridges and Ro-Ro.  I’ll be glad to add more information if folks want to forward it to me.

Shopping is a big thing here in the Philippines.  It’s big culturally in that many Filipinos love to spend a day at the mall, and it’s big to Westerners as well, because malls are often the best bet when trying to find that certain something you miss from back home.  SM is the largest chain of malls in the Philippines.  It’s far from the only one, though.  But SM has taken more risk and spread themselves farther geographically than any other chain.  Might sound silly to some but checking out how far you’ll be from a mall is one important factor in choosing a place to live. Here are all the SM Malls (as of today, they spring up pretty fast!). Just click on any mall’s location symbol for exact locations and contact information.


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