Final thoughts on my trip to Shangri-La Mactan

While my trip turned out great, it started out very rough. A couple of days before, I was notified that my return flight from Cebu to Manila was cancelled. Unfortunately, Cebu Pacific didn't move me to any other flight; instead, I was instructed to select a new one. The problem was there was no option to just replace the return leg. To rebook, I had to select both the flight to Cebu and the return flight to Manila. But because my flight to Cebu was just two days away, the flight costs were now very high. I decided that it would just be cheaper to book a new return flight (I could get one at about ~P3000) than to replace both legs because just the Manila to Cebu leg would cost me P5000 more than what I originally paid! I was later able to talk to someone from Cebu Pacific thanks to a friend who works there and I was told that I could have replaced my full flight without any additional cost. I said that it wasn't clearly indicated in the email notification that this was the set-up and I was afraid to cancel my original flight just a couple of days ahead of my trip. Thankfully, they converted my new purchase to a travel fund. Now I guess I just need to decide when I can travel again haha.

The other problem I had was that I couldn't check in online before my flight. I was worried that having two different flights, including one that had a cancelled leg, was causing problems. I decided to arrive at the airport 2 1/2 hours before my flight so that if there was a problem, I would have time to sort things out. Thankfully, there was no problem and my check-in was smooth. I'm guessing that because I got there very early, I was placed in an exit row. I was so happy that after my booking-related stress in the previous days, I had a lot more leg room to relax during my flight.

Extra leg room at the exit row during my flight to Cebu

This was my first trip since the pandemic started and also the first time I got on a plane in almost 3 years. I gotta say, it was strangely comfortable being at the airport.

My return flight was in the early evening on a Friday and since I checked out of Shangri-La Mactan at 3pm, I decided to go the airport about 2 1/2 hours earlier as well. (I wasn't sure how bad the traffic would be in Cebu during rush hour so I decided to arrive at the airport a lot earlier than needed.) Upon checking in, I requested to be seated at an exit row. Surprisingly, I was put in the front row of the plane. Wow!

Even more leg room at the front row of the plane on my flight back to Manila

A friend who saw some photos I shared said that she remembered the resort having more trees. Maybe Typhoon Odette brought down many of them. Another friend told me that she planned to visit Shang Mactan last February but it was still being renovated at that time. I'm guessing the resort must have just reopened to the public. I'm glad it was already operational by the time I went to Cebu.

I mentioned this in my previous post but once I checked in, I looked for a supermarket so I could buy supplies. Based on Google maps, there was supposed to be one about 500 meters away from the hotel. However, when I got to where it was supposed to be, I couldn't find it. I looked for the next nearest one and I saw that there was a Shopwise Express about a kilometer away. It was quite far but I started heading there anyway since it would be good exercise. Along the way, I spotted a 7-Eleven so I decided to shop there instead. I ended up going to that same 7-Eleven a couple of times during my trip.

The Promenade Mactan is practically across the street from Shangri Mactan. Each time I headed out the resort to buy supplies, I also passed by the Tom N Tom's at the Promenade to get coffee.

Breakfast at Tides restaurant

I also mentioned in my previous post that I bought wine from 32 Italian Deli and Kitchen which is also at the Promenade and that I got one with a screw cap bottle because I didn't have a corkscrew. I thought I would get to consume the whole bottle over my four nights at the resort but in the end I only drank about half of it. It wasn't expensive but I didn't want to throw it away. Because it had a screw cap, I decided to just take it home with me (I had some bubble wrap with me so I covered the bottle in bubble wrap) and placed it amidst my clothes to protect it from being broken.

Wine selection at 32 Italian Deli and Kitchen at the Promenade Mactan

I probably didn't drink as much wine as I thought I would because I drank a lot of decaf each night while reading my book. I brought some ground decaf with me as well as my plastic pour over dripper in the hopes that there would be an electric kettle in the room. And there was! I ended up enjoying decaf coffee each night I was there. Oh and if you're wondering why I drink decaf, it's because my doctor advised me a couple of years ago not to drink too much caffeine so I now have drink decaf in the evenings.

Shangri-La Mactan lobby at night

I initially thought about spending one day of my trip sightseeing and maybe enjoying local restaurants and doing a food trip. As it turned out, I didn't do that. I felt that it would cost too much for me to sightsee and eat out alone (if I was part of a group, we could all split taxi or Grab fares). Besides, I was having such a great time chilling at the resort and I wanted to maximize the limited time I had there.

Cultural show at Buko Bar

Since I didn't go out, I thought I thought of maybe buying pasalubong at the airport on my way home, specifically lechon and dried mangoes. I thought about getting lechon for my family but I knew that after 1 or 2 days, it wouldn't be as good anymore. Also, Rico's Lechon and Zubuchon are now available in Metro Manila so I had the option to buy lechon from those places instead. The dried mangoes at the airport also cost the same as dried mangoes at the supermarkets in Metro Manila. As such, I didn't buy any pasalubong from the airport anymore.

I'm really happy that things have gotten better pandemic-wise. While many other people have already been traveling quite a bit over the last couple of years, it's only recently that I considered going on a trip. I'm really happy that I did . As someone who loves traveling, this holiday at Shangri-La Mactan was exactly what I needed.