Cebu - my second home

There's a second home that beckons me to go back several times...if not for rest and recreation...just for the feeling of being relaxed and rested...is the Queen City of the South of the Philippines called Cebu.

One of my favorite places is Plantation Bay. Not that it's fantastic or superb, but because if offers so much serenity in spite of the fact that the place needs a major make over already after several decades of existence! The mere fact that I keep going back to Plantation Bay says a lot about the character of this resort.

The endless lagoon of salt and fresh water, the small but clean beach, the fact that when you step out of your rooms, you're right in the pool already...they're just the perks to make you feel so relaxed in spite of the heat.

And because it was a vacation for me, my partner and my family, it was sleep, eat, rest, play and eat, sleep, rest, play...but I guess what got the most part was the eating in spite of our arrival on a Good Friday.

There are many things to do at Plantation Bay, which does not mean swimming and water sports alone. You can enjoy a good rub down at the Mogambo Spa, or shoot some arrows or guns or climb a wall or play some table tennis - one will never run out of options - whether you enjoy the vast pool or jet skiing at the beach.

There are also a few good restaurants and I would recommend Fiji more than the rest. But of course, you can dine at Savannah (burgers, fries and hotdogs) or have a regular meal at Kilimanjaro (so humid and hot that the Halo Halo melted instantaneously), or settle for some Italian cuisine at Palermo. The upside here is the food at the resort is good. Not excellent - just good. The downside (which I reviewed in TripAdvisor) is that it's really expensive! I mean, who gets to drink mango juice (Del Monte in can) for P240? What a rip off. (You may want to serve the juice without the can so that it looks more authentic because we all know how much the canned juice costs.) And the pictures on the website of Plantation Bay on the food are not what they actually look like when the food is on the table. They're actually more delectable! But a vacation is a vacation and you need a really deep pocket to contend with the small dishes and the price for them.

Of course, going to Cebu isn't just about Plantation Bay.

There's a new discovery I made in Cebu and it's Zubuchon. Their lechon is the BEST!!! While all the food there mostly revolves around the pork called lechon, one should try the deliciuos Kamias Shake. It literally removes the fat you eat from the lechon. I guess you need to give in every guiltlessly once in a while to the sin of having to eat a bit more than we could chew. After all, we can all go on a diet when we're dead!

There is something about Cebu that makes you feel the laid back life and yet enjoy urban living. And my Cebuano friends have the best of both worlds in my fave second home - Cebu!

Truly...everything is more fun in the Philippines!

Judgment day - the VSMMC scandal

I thought I was just going to keep quite about the whole issue.

But then Monsignor Achilles Dakay, spokesperson for the Archdiocese from Cebu had to open his big mouth and on live radio gave his opinion regarding the issue surrounding the gay patient who had a body spray cannister shoved up his rectum during sex. It was the opinion of Dakay that it was the "fault" of the gay guy who engaged in "indecent acts" that resulted in the gay guy's "unfortunate incident" at the hospital and that the "media and people" had lost focus on the issue. Dakay had passed judgment that the gay florist was initially to blame for all this! I don't know how many of you have seen the UNEDITED version of the video taken at the operating room of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, a government hospital in Cebu, south of the Philippines.

Click and paste on to the link at
http://www.flixya.com/video/1163689/CEBU_DOCTOR_SCANDAL_-_CAN_STUCK_IN_ANUS

After watching this complete version, I fell off my chair and really felt bad over the gay florist, who apparently had picked up a callboy for a one night stand. Never mind the sordid details in between December 31, 2007 and January 2, 2008.

Granted that the sexual act was not within the purview and dictum of the Catholic faith, the gay guy may not have been Catholic at all Msgr. Dakay.

Granted he may be a Catholic, that does not excuse him from committing sins of the flesh, in the same way as it does not excuse those who wear the robe from stealing from the coffers of the Church in guise of "giving to the poor". Msgr. Dakay has no right to judge the act committed by the gay victim in the video or the circumstances that led to the insertion of the body spray cannister into the victims rectum. Passing judgment is not within your purview Msgr. Dakay. Your robe and your role supposedly allows you to look at the situation with empathy, love and an open mind. The day you opened your mouth, you sealed more of the faithful to look the other way from the teachings of the Catholic Church. Not even Jesus Christ castigated Mary Magdalene for being a sinful woman. Who are you, Msgr. Dakay, to judge the aftermath of the "sin" without sympathy to the the victim? Where is the sense of empathy and morality of the priesthood when Msgr. Dakay has already crucified the victim to the cross? With so many sex scandals by church officials in the US alone (we've not counted the Philippines), I cannot imagine how Msgr. Dakay can malign this victim.

Msgr. Dakay has cast the first stone and I cringe at the stand the prelate makes on behalf of defending the doctors. The sexual practice of the victim in this case is irrelevant Msgr. Dakay. While the Filipinos are appalled by the act of those who supposedly should keep the patient-doctor relationship a private one, you on the other hand have passed judgment by discriminating the sexual orientation of the individual. Even the Catholic faith implies that discrimination should be abhored, yet Msgr. Dakay has bashed even the basic right to decency by espousing that the victim was equally to blame in this unfortunate video clip.

The actual video is graphic and sickening. It sickens me to know that there are animals in the medical field who have no respect for human dignity. The video taking in itself is an offense against privacy, whether the material being used is that for academic purposes or for personal satisfaction. Without a written informed consent, this goes against the very rights of human dignity.

Judgment time for Msgr. Dakay and the medical staff behind the scandal.

Msgr. Dakay should preach from the pulpit and be more forgiving and understanding. Otherwise, he loses the very essence of his cloak.

The medical staff behind the scandal should be remorseful and hope that the victim finds it in his heart to forgive them. The very least, they should be disciplined. After all, the doctors can always take a nursing course and leave this country. Good riddance.