I was in Cebu City during the last weekend of May to take part in a heritage event called Gabii sa Kabilin. Meaning “Night of Heritage”, this annual event is patterned after Lange Nacht der Museen or Long Night of the Museums in Berlin, Germany. Now on its 6th year, this cultural event spearheaded by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Incorporated (RAFI) brings together museums and cultural institutions in various places towns and cities in Cebu, to open until midnight.
The concept of this cultural event of its kind in the Philippines is simple – visitors pay for a common events ticket which gives them passes to almost 20 museums, institutions and heritages sites. There, the public is encouraged to take notice of the museums not as dark and dusty places to visit but as an interactive and enjoyable way to experience heritage and culture.
But I’ll be blogging about it separately for this one will be dedicated to the wonderful breakfast buffets and the grand stay we had at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino in Lahug, Cebu City. From a distance the hotel is very imposing as it can be seen almost anywhere plus its Disneyland-like design is recognizable from any angle.
And it gets grander upfront especially as one enter the grounds – the majesty of the hotel beckons. Inside is a vast, newly renovated lobby that is for receiving the guests for functions, concerts and those checking in. There are two café-restaurants in the lobby and a row of specialty restaurants and bars on one side – that
Haagen Dazs store almost hypnotized me.
Good thing, I was taken back to reality when we were told our rooms were ready. I got a double room - all to myself, with a king-size bed – too big that even if I am spread eagled on the bed, I can’t touch the corners.
I also got four pillows for myself and it’s a room with a view – though not that much since it’s more of rooftops with patches of greens. Good thing the mountains beyond offered something good in the horizon.
Even better was the buffet breakfast we had for two days at UNO Restaurant. With different stations serving salads, rice and other carbs, breads and pastries, soups, main courses, drinks, fruits, desserts – I didn’t know where to start.
Of course, in my mind are those that would look good in photos so I took a pancake, waffle, French toast and croissant. I teamed it with ham, salami, cheeses and bacon bits (I haven’t found the bacon strips then). It was a lot of fun and it was the French toast I enjoyed the most.
I also got another piece of French toast on my second plate that had sausages, real bacon, egg, waffle and more. I stuffed myself with more of these on my third plate downing them all with freshly made watermelon juice. It was a refreshing drink as well as balancing what was inside my stomach.
Finishing off my first day of indulgent breakfast were cheese ensaimada, choc doughnut, a Danish bread and a delectable white chocolate cupcake. It was indeed a fresh and filling start for the day that had three more bountiful eats. But at least we burned them all as we raced around Cebu City during the 4-hour
QR CODE HUNT coinciding with the
Gabii sa Kabilin.
The next day started with almost the same indulgent set up – still had bacons, French toast and croissant on my plate. But this time, there were hash browns, corned beef hash and a lot more (
first photo of this blogpost).
There was even more like congee, soups, noodles and more dishes on the main course station. I even had a second serving of corned beef hash with pineapples on the side, just in case.
After almost two hours of getting back to the ones which made our palates burst with gastronomic joy, we had desserts – blueberry muffins, cinnamon rolls, ube ensaimada, another Danish roll and banana bread. Of course, the watermelon juice was still top on my beverage list as I had almost 5 glasses that time.
It was one grand stay at the
Waterfront Hotel and Casino – though we never got to the casino part since we were very during the day and very tired at night. At least we enjoyed al the amenities it offered, the food it served, view it gave and the service it brought in that 3 day and 2 night stay in Cebu City.
A very big Thank You going out to SMART COMMUNICATIONS for giving us this wonderful place to stay as we took part in various activities it sponsored during the Gabii sa Kabilin like the QR CODE HUNT (with Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Incorporated and mycebu.ph) and the PISTAYM exhibit at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel.
