In the article  “The 50 best things to eat in the world, and where to eat them” by Killian Fox, the Lighthouse restaurant was described as a favorite and its staff “so friendly and welcoming.”

According to the article:

“The Lighthouse in Cebu in the Philippines is my favourite restaurant. We always eat bulalo (beef stew), banana heart salad, adobo (marinaded meat), baked oysters, pancit noodles, lechon de leche (suckling pig) and, to drink, green mango juice – my daughter is addicted to it! The staff are so friendly and welcoming. The chef has been there for more than 20 years, so the food is very consistent.”

Coming months after Anthony Bourdain’s endorsement of the Cebu lechon or slow-roasted pig as the best in the world, the article bolsters Cebu’s reputation as a top tourism destination in Asia.

Choose from any of the following establishments — Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Gloria Jeans, Seattle’s Best, and UCC Cafe Terrace at the first level and Bo’s Coffee, Pancake House, Postrio, and Starbucks at the 2nd level — that open at 7 a.m. daily.

Pancakes, waffles, Filipino breakfast choices, desserts, and coffee are served at the Pancake House at reasonable prices. A cup of cappucino is at less than a hundred pesos, and prices of pancakes and breakfast meals that include rice range from one to a few hundred pesos.

Pancakes at Pancake House come in big two-piece and three-piece servings and different flavors. The kind we chose had crushed bananas mixed in the pancake. It was delicious. The Spanish omelette also did not disappoint.

Aside from Pancake House and Postrio, the other establishments that open at 7 a.m. in The Terraces are coffee shops.

Gelatissimo’s two-scoop serving of gelato at 150 pesos is just about enough to satisfy my craving for this frozen Italian treat. The nearest comparison to gelato in popular dessert is ice cream, though the two couldn’t be more different.

Gelato is made from milk and sugar combined with flavorings and fruit, chocolate, spices, or nuts. It does not contain cream like ice cream, and could be more aptly described as ice milk.

Gelatissimo has two branches in Cebu: one in The Terraces, Ayala Center and another, a stall, in SM City. Both branches serve a scoop of gelato at 90 pesos, two scoops at 150 pesos, and three scoops at 180 pesos. The Gelatissimo in Ayala also serves sundaes, which combine gelato with whipped cream and other ingredients. An example is Gelatissimo’s “nuts about you” sundae, which has five scoops of gelato in the flavors of “pistachio, roasted almond, hazelnut, choc hazelnut, and chocolate layered with whipped cream, flaked almonds, chopped peanuts, hazelnuts, pistachios; drizzled with chocolate and hazelnut syrup; and crowned with Ferrero Rocher chocolate, fan water, Poco stick, and Maraschino cherry.” It’s priced at 475 pesos.

Other sundaes are Bellisima Banana (3 scoops of gelato, 280 pesos) ; Chocolatissimo (3 scoops, 300 pesos); Skrunchy (3 scoops, 320 pesos); and Death by Choc (5 scoops, 475 pesos).

Another brand serving gelato is Eliseo. There’s a shop that serves this brand at Parkmall in Mandaue City and the Elicon House cafe in Cebu City also sells it by the cup for 40 pesos and pint for 150 pesos. At Parklane in Cebu City, the Eliseo gelato is among the choices for dessert in the lunch buffet.

I have a bias for the Gelatissimo brand, though, and I’ve tried almost almost all flavors–there’s biscottino, tiramisu, Belgian chocolate, chocolate truffle, green apple, strawberry, pistachio, mango, bloody orange, raspberry.

Other facts about gelato taken from wisegeek.com:

* It melts faster than ice cream because of it’s semi-frozen consistency, and it is placed in freezers different from those that store American-style ice cream.

* Ingredients are combined and cooled and the resulting gelato contains little air so it is denser and tastier.

* Gelato made from water and soy milk is called sorbetto, and it originates from Southern Italy and Sicily. Northern Italy makes the famous dairy form of gelato.

With Gelatissimo in Cebu, I don’t think I’ll ever eat ice cream again.

My friend and I had trouble finishing our order of pork chops, which came with TGI’s original Jack Daniel sauce and served with either mashed potatoes or rice pilaf, and fish and chips.

The fish and chips surprised us because the “market fresh fish” that was battered and fried to golden brown did not come with chips but with fries.

We called one of the waiters over and asked why it was called fish and chips and he pointed to the fries as the chips part of the order.

The pork chops were good, though, and the serving was more enough than for the two of us. I love the corn cobs that came with the chops but I did not relish eating them not using my hands.

It was my first time at TGI’s. I had long wanted to try it out but the astronaut at the entrance had repelled me, in an illogical sort of way. But I see now that TGI Friday’s promote American culture in its choice of the white and red stripes and display of American icons.

When we had lunch there Thursday, they were playing music videos of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. We asked the restaurant staff to turn it down a little, though, because we were simply not hearing each other in the din. We wanted our lunch to be relaxing, but it probably served us right for doing it at 3 p.m.

My first TGI Friday’s experience did not disappoint but it was not exceptional, either. I don’t think I’ll go back unless it’s not me who’s picking the tab.

“Below zero” refers to Formo’s ice cold beer; its potato crisps come in either spicy or original flavor.

Formo also serves Mediterranean-inspired dishes.

Located at Banilad Town Centre, Formo pioneered the resto-lounge scene in Cebu. It is open daily for cocktails, dinner, and after hours from 6 p.m. onwards. It can also host private functions.

Formo’s sliding walls open wide to connect the resto-lounge’s indoor space with its lobby, where tables are also set up. The space is bigger and allows for more breathing space.

You can either take your drinks at any of Formo’s two bars or at tables for four to 10 if you come in as a large crowd.

Call (032) 420 7070 (office hours) or email FORMO.Cebu@gmail.com for inquiries. Visit www.formocebu.multiply.com for additional information.

Participants to the activity will be cleaning up White Beach in the Cebu town of Moalboal.

The scuba clean-up move is initiated by environmentalists in cooperation with the Moalboal Tourism Organization and Club Serena alongside other dive resorts in the town. Club Serena said it is estimated that over 600 pounds of garbage make their way to Philippine waters and it is in the public’s best interest to help clean the country’s seas.

For the event, Club Serena is offering a two-night accommodation package costing P2,500 per person. Included in the package are free buffet meals, 2 free dives (divers must still bring or rent scuba gears), and souvenirs. Additional dive will cost P300 per person.

Schedule for the two-day event is as follows:

July 27: Dinner briefing for divers and guests
July 28: Beach clean-up event in White Beach

Prizes will be awarded to groups that bring in the most garbage. The clean-up will end in a party that will have Aiza Seguerra as special guest.

For more information about the activity, email aquaholics@instructor.net or call 0917-7173333, (032) 5161847, or (032) 4740050.

Check out the resort at www.clubserenaresort.com or www.clubserenaresort.multiply.com.

Water around the island is shallow so big boats like yachts can only anchor a few meters away from the shore, but snorkeling is possible at this deeper part since this is where fishes congregate.

Small outrigger boats can dock at certain areas of the island, for those who wish to explore it or sunbathe at its white sand beach.

View from Pangan-an Island in Lapu-Lapu City. The island is three nautical miles from the main island of Mactan.

You can also dive to a depth of 50 members at the eastern part of Pangan-an. KI Marine Sports Center offers diving services in the area.

Pangan-an is three nautical miles from Mactan island and is south of the smaller island of Olango. It is an hour and 30 minutes from Barangay Maribago in Mactan. Locals say that when it is low tide, a sand bar connecting Pangan-an to Olango appears and it becomes possible to walk between the islands.

Pangan-an’s shallows stretch 1-2 kilometers from its shores. Big boats like yachts can only stop at the deeper part but smaller outrigger boats can dock at the island.

Pangan-an island has a household population of 302 as of the 2000 census. Most of the people living on the island are fishermen.

The island has electricity courtesy of the Pangan-an Island Solar Electrification Project. Its photovoltaic mini-grid system gets electricity from around 500 solar panels that trap light energy and turn it into 90 kilowatts of power available daily.

Electricity in Pangan-an island is provided by around 500 solar panels connected to a mini-grid system.

How to get there

Those who wish to go island hopping may rent outrigger boats at a wharf beside the Hilton Cebu Resort and Spa, Barangay Marigondon beach, Karancho beach resort in Maribago, or through Islands Banca Cruises.

Rhian, born Rhian Denise Ramos Howell, was in Cebu City for the PLDT MyDSL hotwires SM City event. The actress is an endorser of PLDT’s MyDSL.

The actress first started out as a commercial model, in particular of McDonald’s McJelly Trio. She’s now one of the big stars of GMA Network, appearing in such shows as Captain Barbell (2006), Lupin (2207), My Only Love (2007-2008), Bubble Gang (2008), Pinoy Idol Extra (2008), Codename: Asero (2008), local version of LaLola (2008-2009), and zorro (2009).

Rhian, 18, was born on October 3, 1990 in Alabang, Muntinlupa.

Saturday’s Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan will start at 1 p.m. with a parade of participants from the different schools in Cebu Province. The parade will mass at Capitol and head for the Cebu City Sports Center where the Sinulog dance competition will be held at 2 p.m.

On Sunday, Cebu City contingents will take their turn, their parade starting from Plaza Independencia at 1 p.m. The contest proper will start at 2 p.m.

Awarding of winners for both Saturday’s and Sunday’s contests will be at 4:30 p.m. Winners will receive cash, trophies, and will get the chance to compete in the Sinulog Grand Parade on January 18.

The less difficult or more enjoyable way of getting to Bugasok Falls would be to trek through the riverside starting from the bridge built over the river in the mainland.

But since we were pressed for time, we chose to ride the infamous or dangerous “habal-habal,” which is what they call a motorcycle for hire (popular in mountain areas not reached by other means of transport) that can seat as many as five people in a single ride.

In our case, though, we paid two habal-habal drivers to bring the three of us to the farming village of Cansuje, from where it was only a 15-minute walk through a winding, oftentimes uphill footpath to the river that feeds the falls.

However, reaching the river is only one part of the effort. Since we were on the upper side of the river, the waterfall was a little farther off and hidden from our view by a cliff on one side and the mountain on the other.

We, therefore, had to cross the river, taking time to choose an area where the current was its tamest. We then went up some part of the mountain and came down on the other side to get to the falls.

Crossing the river and going over some part of the mountain were by no means easy tasks. But the breathtaking view of Bugasok Falls was reward enough for our difficult and tedious excursion.

How to get there

To get the most of your trip to Argao, I recommend devoting some time to following the trail upriver to get to the falls. This way, I’m told, is an enchanted walk along “forested cliffs and solid rock boulders” where you get to see unique plants and birds.

I don’t know if this is still existing today but there is supposedly a regular tour to Bugasok Falls organized by the Argao local government through its tourism council. Check details of that tour at the official website of the Argao tourism council.

If you want the faster way, then hire a motorcycle for hire. In our case, we paid the drivers of two motorcycles-for-hire 800 pesos each to take us around Argao for the whole day.

The things you should include in your whole day itinerary: Bugasok Falls, view deck in the mountain (if you don’t mind some rough uphill ride) where you are afforded a view of the surrounding countryside, tablea factory (a local industry that involves roasting, grinding, and forming cacao beans into dark, bitter chocolate), weaving industry, torta making, old houses (some over 50 years old), and the walled pueblo (Spanish settlement with some of the original structures existing up to this day). Articles on these attractions coming soon here.