If you've lived in the Philippines, I'm pretty sure you've heard of Plantation Bay. But to those who don't, it's the premier resort and spa situated in Mactan, Cebu. After a stressful but successful grand wedding, we needed a beauty rest and some "us" time alone. Both me and Jeff love to be in the beach even if I can't swim, lol! There are plenty of pretty beaches in the Philippines but we wanted some place close and with excellent amenities. Now, when you think of luxurious resorts in Cebu, Shangri-la and Plantation Bay come easily to mind. We've already been to Shangri-la for our pre-nuptial photo shoot so we thought of exploring Plantation Bay this time and see if which place is really the best.

I must say both offer luxury and comfort, but with slight differences. I was so impressed with Shangri-la's customer service. The staff everywhere are ever-friendly and they greet you all the time whether you're in the restaurant, lobby or even when you're just walking around. Shangri-la also has a wider beachfront line than Plantation's. It is more accessible and closer if you're coming from the city. Both of them have very good and fancy restaurants but of course expensive. Plantation Bay, on the other hand, has a very impressive layout. The man-made lagoons and freshwater pools were beautifully designed. The view inside the resort was simply breath-taking and unique. But I think they could have done a better job in keeping the place clean and refreshing. The seawater lagoons are not that inviting to swim around because it doesn't look that clean. All I wanted to do really was take pictures, lol! The room rates significantly differ as well. Plantation Bay is more expensive than Shang but not necessarily better. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the whole stay and it was a very fun experience. Now as for my opinion on which resort is better, I would choose Shangri-la. Below are some photos we took at Plantation Bay.

My sister Jingle with hubby and Bren arrived in Manila 2 weeks ago. Mom, Dad, nephew Andrave, Andrave's mom and dad met up with Jingle and they went to Mall of Asia, Star City and Manila Ocean Park. They stayed in Manila for 3 days and they've bonded with Bren and they all had fun. Some of these photos are taken during our beach outing last weekend. I'll post more beach photos soon. As always, I'm pretty busy but I'm doing very well as far as the wedding preps is concerned. Jeff is gonna arrive on Sunday and right on the next day, we're going to Shangri-la Mactan for our pre-nuptial pictorial. They say all work no play makes you dull so I took a break. The family went to Moalboal for an impromptu beach outing. It was a nice breather. I'll talk about it on my next post.