FINALLY BOOKING A TRIP TO CEBU AFTER YEARS OF FANTASIZING

Grand Superior Room, Castle Peak
Hotel, Cebu City, Philippines

My wanderlust came early.  At first it was simply running through the woods in western Washington, pretending to be native American guide Chingachgook of the "Last of the Mohicans," then, at age 16, taking my '59 VW to Penticton, British Columbia, eating at a Chinese restaurant, and, at 17 buying a Bohemia beer at the Texas Bar in Matamoros.

I'm no world traveler, like TSC Trustee Ruben Herrera trekking through South America, Board President Adela Garza going to various places or Martin Sarkis doing his thing all over the world.

Nena and I did travel all over the U.S. during our 49-1/2 year marriage, a trip through Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, Mount Rainier and Seattle in 1982 and  a "silver cities" run through Mexico in the 90's, but, in recent years, seldom ventured outside Brownsville.

Several years ago I became infatuated with YouTube videos on retirecheap.asia by JC, a native of Oregon, living in Thailand for the past 17 years.  Chiang Mai, Bangkok and rural areas had their fascination.  The effervescant JC, with his broken sing-song Thai language, came close to getting his point across to Thais with his Thai girlfriend typically bailing him out.

View of Cebu from the Deck of Castle Peak Hotel

The language thing got me thinking more about the Philippines.  No Thai food, but, at least most there speak English in addition to Tagalog and Cebuano.

Reekay Velez

On YouTube, I shifted my attention to Reekay Velez, an Hispanic from Southern California with six years experience in the Philippines.  Reekay, like JC, had become an expert in traveling, living in southeast Asia.

So, after Nena's death, I took the plunge, ordering a round trip ticket to Cebu, Philippines after some phone negotiation with ASAP tickets.  Yes, I know, ASAP, the cheapest, has a bad reputation for not transferring tickets if need be, without sizable penalties.  I'll take my chances, but I did order so-called trip insurance.

Castle Peak Hotel Pool

After several nights reading hotel reviews on Travelocity, Expedia, Priceline, etc., I settled on the Castle Peak Hotel in downtown Cebu, liking the fact that it is close to the Ayala Mall and has a swimming pool.

From the editor:  Meanwhile, during the 100 day interim before my trip to the Philippines, I've stopped cooking and turned into a BW-C style foodie. 

Fully intending to stop at Trey Mendez' Dodici, I saw John Woods and wife entering.  The place was full.  As I peered throught the window, I witnessed a pretty waitress telling some waiting customers a table was ready. 

So, I turned to tacos.  I've been ordering the same thing at each place, not for a story, but just for my own research:  3 tacos de bistek, frijoles charros and a limonada.

After the initial surge of the grand opening, I will stop and see Trey and his partner at the Dodici, check out that 800 degree oven and watch Trey monitor the bake.