Marian Visit and a Roadtrip

The Church celebrates the Immaculate Concepcion every 8th of December. At least, for the Catholics and Marian believers. I'm a Catholic but I wasn't able to go to church yesterday because my brother has this arthritis which gave him severe ankle pains and he couldn't walk. I stayed with him at home while my parents went to hear mass.

Anyways, it was fine with me since last Monday, we went to Simala (I mentioned the place before here) and paid Mama Mary a visit. It was the first time we went there alone as a family (sans my sister who's already based somewhere else). 

What I like about this place is the wonderful view -  perfect for prayer and meditation. Sometimes though I wonder if a place dedicated to the Virgin Mary should be this grand. I understand though that the money used for the construction was from devotees who wanted to give back. Well anyway, we each have our views, the important thing is our faith and devotion.

After leaving Simala, which is about a two-hour drive away from home, my father decided to go to to this steakhouse he used to frequent went he was still working in the South. It was another 20-minute or so drive down south.

The bar had that rural Filipino feel, having walls out of bamboo and overlooking the highway. However, when you open the menu, you get to quickly realize that it's probably owned by an expat. True enough, upon checking their website (they have free wifi), the place is owned by an German couple (Pinay wife).

I ordered the Australian Porterhouse steak. I like it medium rare. I also ordered the mushroom sauce and some fries. I shared it with my brother though since the waiter said he (my bro) might not be  able to finish one serving. Hmph. We shouldn't have listened to him since I still wanted more. But I was full though since I finished my father's soup. haha It was a pricey meal, considering we were 2 hours away from the city. Or was it pricey because we were away from the city. :/

Anyway, if any of you happen to drop by Alcoy, Cebu, do visit Bodo's Bamboo Bar. You wouldn't miss it, it's just by the road.

While we were eating, we were discussing as to what place was located at the southernmost tip of the island of Cebu. We all thought it was Oslob. And so my father said, how about we go to Oslob, and maybe even ride the barge to Dumaguete? Dumaguete didn't seem to be a great idea since it's am island away and we weren't prepared. 

But still, we headed south. And upon reaching the end of Oslob, we found out it wasn't the last municipality of Cebu. HAHA! There was stil Santander. So when we saw the sign "Welcome to Santander", my father said we should head back home as he was already sleepy. haha :D

Google Map says that the road trip would be about 103 km and would take only about an hour and twenty minutes. I beg to disagree. What's that? Driving at about 70km/hour? You can't do that here with small roads and big buses around.

Well, that was a great unplanned roadtrip with the family for me. We finished a whole CD of 72 Pinoy Rock songs and brought home torta from Argao and chicharon fron Carcar.

For the first time in a long time, I actually puked on our way back since my mother and brother wanted to turn off the aircon. I was at the back seat (back of the shotgun, so I didn't have any view and air!). I eventually begged for them to roll down the windows instead and thankfully they agreed. I felt better then.

 

My father said we should plan a next trip and this time really head for Dumaguete. I hope it pushes through since planned trips don't usually happen! And also, he said we're going back to Bodo's since he was on a no red meat diet when we went there. He's the one who super loves steak and I felt sorry for him that he couldn't eat one. :P We're surely going back!

Any roadtrip tips you've got there? :D They'll surely come in handy during our next family trip!