Gorging in Mactan and Cebu

I wish I had been warned, and had first undergone a week’s fast at least, before our media group was treated by Philippine Airlines and MasterCard to a bacchanalian weekend in Cebu. Nonstop rounds of varied delectation highlighted the itinerary from the word go.

Straight from the airport, we had a luncheon feast at Golden Cowrie with its special feature of “Unbelibaboy” lechon, Cebuano kare-kare, and seafood fare that left the long table groaning, us as well.

It would have been enough to send us to siesta upon being welcomed by our host for the weekend, the Hilton Cebu Resort & Spa on Mactan Island. But each of the Deluxe rooms offered a private balcony with a panoramic view bookended by Hilutungan Channel and Magellan Bay, with Punta Engaño at dead center, curving at the northern tip of the island.

The sight of all that water urged us to descend once more from our tower, pink not ivory, one of twins that rose to 24 floors to offer 246 rooms including Spa Suites and Executive Floor arrangements. 

We crossed the Pink Lobby Lounge and went past a multi-form pool to get to the white-sand beach in a pretty cove shielded by a rock islet and an extended wharf that ended in another pink pavilion, which was Manny O’s Wine and Tapas Bar. Behind us, while sunning on the beach, was a pink gazebo where foreign tourists were getting a public rubdown.

All too soon we had to bid the sun and saltwater adieu, for a quick wash-up before we congregated at Manny O’s for cocktails, and met The Man, Manny O. himself.

A legend by now for his genius at blending wines, Manny Osmeña was simply a wine lover and collector until he waded into the industry and started creating his own distinctive bottles from grapes harvested in the Bordeaux, Languedoc, and Limoux regions of France, Spain’s Yecla and Portugal’s Alentejo.

Last year his Agapitos Branco and Agapitos Rosé, both from Alentejo, received awards at the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirit Competition.

This year his inspired creations soared to new heights, earning him a hat trick. His Bibulus Medoc Cru Bourgeois — Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon aged 12 months in American oak barriques and said to sport “refined tannins” and a “silky, lengthy multi-layered finish” — won last April at the Concours des Grand Vins de France held in Macon, France. Then his Sumiller, which he bills as the “thinking man’s fun in a bottle,” bagged an award at the Arribe 2010 International Wine Competition in Salamanca,

Manny Osmeña has won three international awards this year alone for his excellent wines.

Spain on Aug. 15. Capping it off was a third award gained from the MUNDUSvini Great international Wine Competition in Neustadt, Germany only last September.  

The learned fellow who also popularized the Wagyu burger at Manny O’s says that his lifelong passion for wine started when he was “magnetized by its sophistication, not its ability to intoxicate.” Well, that evening we were all magnetized by his bottles of Bibulus and the entranced, suddenly bibulous company, that was also quite grateful for the lessons on the proper way to hold and handle wine glasses.

We were already quite sated with the cocktail tapas, including the Wagyu burger and Angus steak strips, that we might not have done justice to the dinner spread at Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort & Spa’s Cowrie Cove, as hosted by this great hotel’s director of communications, Mildred Amon. 

But a return to the fabled resort stirred fond memories of several stays in the past. And Shang Mactan’s allegiance to quality service, classy ambience and eloquent cuisine certainly appeared not to have dipped or waned. We still came away burping.

And when we got back to the Hilton to call it a day, we weren’t sure if it was all that fine food and alcohol that rewarded us with a vision of a mermaid frolicking on one end of the water feature at the pink patio. As it turned out, she was for real.

Time enough to frolic in the morning sun the next day, after breakfast, before we hurried off again to yet another feast, and then some, this time at Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort.

I still recall a visit to this place almost two decades ago. It has certainly expanded, and everything within sight and experience has been enhanced to make it so much more enticing.

Spread out over seven hectares, Maribago Bluewater makes for a great family destination — with its ideal crescent beach of fine white sand, with the gently lapping waters seemingly trapped within a cove, what with a man-made island separating it from the dark blue sea. The resort’s Aquamania offers every imaginable water sports activity, from snorkeling and scuba to jet skis and parasailing, and even daily fish feeding at the Marine Wildlife Lagoon.

Five Royal Bungalows, 20 Premier Suites, 50 Anuma Spa Suites, and 91 Deluxe rooms comprise the accommodations, which are complemented by the distinctive services at the Anuma Spa, the Bluewater Art Gallery, and several restaurants — Allegro for international cuisine, Motto Joli for Italian fare, The Cove for jumping-fresh seafood (on display in aquariums), and The Cove Oyster Bar (an open-air cocktail bar by the beach). The last particularly lends itself to breezy recreation, with chess sets and other board games set on the lounge tables.

We had an excellent seafood lunch at The Cove. The prime fare was Stone Fish in Black Bean Sauce, which seemed to be one up in terms of delicacy of taste and firmness of flesh than the usual garoupa.

Whatever toxins we may have built up despite all that burping were addressed at Anuma Spa. Anuma is Visayan for “pamper.” Indeed we felt like children led to mattresses at the pavilion by a pool, where we received a foot soak and rub (the aromatic essence of lemongrass wafting from the wooden bowls), then the deep-tissue treatment that might have been a sampler of the Hilot signature massage. 

The full Hilot course incorporates the traditional pausok, dasal and orasyon ministrations. But we had promises to keep for that Sunday, so it will have to be on a sometime rain-check when we privilege ourselves with those rites, and maybe also samplers of the Swedish, Namikashi Shiatsu, Hot Stone, Thai Foot, and Watsu or Water Shiatsu treatments, not to mention the Malakas and Maganda offering for devoted trophy couples.

There’s also a Sumilon Bluewater Resort operating on a 24-hectare coral island off Oslob on the southeastern tip of Cebu Island, with exemplary features such as a shifting sandbar, a   natural lagoon teeming with mangroves, a lighthouse, and a 19th- century baluarte or watchtower. The resort is reached faster from Dumaguete City. And next summer another Bluewater Beach Resort opens on Alona Beach in Panglao, Bohol. Hmm, can’t wait for April 2011 to try that out.

Our farewell dinner was at BLU Bar & Grill at the rooftop of Marco Polo Plaza Cebu, which is nestled some 600 feet above sea level in the Nievel Hills district. Dining at this continental-fare (I should say gourmet fare) restaurant, on the al fresco side protected by glass walls, comes with a great view of the sparkling lights of the city, and a full moon if one times it right. 

Otherwise one can simply concentrate on the pleasures offered by such fare as the following:

Crab and mushroom embutido with oyster emulsion, apricot puree, jalapeño cilantro relish, ginger oil, and organic sprouts; guyabano and coconut cream soup with scallop pearl, lime drops and red pepper oil; duet of veal tenderloin and lobster thermidor with sundried tomato tapinade, potato pancake, anise cabernet reduction, sambucca foam, and citras marinated asparagus; and dark chocolate tart with cinnamon ice cream, mango compote and dusted thyme sugar, and for enders, assorted friandise.

Our compliments to executive chef Luke Gagnon, and our thanks to resident manager Julie Najar. It was also good to renew acquaintance with GM Johanes “Hans” Hauri, whose company we had enjoyed at a Macau jaunt a year or so ago. We’re glad to hear that this Swiss gentleman has had a wonderful year, having received the 2010 “Executive of the Year” award from the Philippine Association of Secretaries and Administrative Professionals (PASAP) as well as the “Hotel Personality of the Year” award from SKAL Makati in the recent 21st Tourism Awards. 

Well, our priceless jaunt was enjoyed thanks to PAL’s partnership with MasterCard, which gives cardholders the chance to win as many as 180,000 Mabuhay Miles in the Soaring Higher promotion package, or free roundtrip tickets via the Barkada Flights promotion. Prizes can be used for travel to any of PAL’s local, regional or international destinations.  

To qualify for the Soaring Higher promotion, cardholders must purchase a PAL domestic, regional or international electronic ticket (e-ticket) through PAL ticket offices in the Philippines or through the PAL Internet Booking Engine using any Philippine-issued MasterCard until Oct. 31, 2010 and travel until Dec. 15, 2010.

For the Barkada Flights Promotion, cardholders get a chance to win one free roundtrip ticket with the same route and class of service for free. For more details, check out www.philippine airlines.com, www.mabuhay miles.com, and/or www.mastercard. com.

As far as our barkada that weekend was concerned, we gorged on guiltless pleasures, and certainly had a memorable gustatory treat, thanks to PAL and MasterCard.