Tuesday 11th March 2008
Cebu Yacht Club
Maktan Island
Cebu, Philippines
Position : 10.19.73N 123.58.59E

We didn't leave Maasin until Friday morning (7th March) after an uncomfortable rolly night. It seems the wind had picked up causing waves to rock Valiam from side to side like a violent cradle. We left at 8am in wet overcast conditions and motor sailed all day until we got to Cebu. It was a slightly uncomfortable passage with short choppy waves and 1 knot of current against us. We had to be on constant watch for small canoes, ships, ferries etc. We had emailed Cebu yacht club well ahead and booked a berth. We had been given the co-ordinates so Bill plugged them into the chart plotter. This was confusing because we thought the yacht club was near the first bridge but the co-ordinates placed it near the 2nd bridge. As we rounded the corner towards the first bridge with fast ferries wizzing by us we noticed a few yacht masts behind some larger ships near the first bridge. This didn't match the position given by the yacht club so Bill gave them a call. The woman couldn't tell Bill which bridge the yacht club was near and said she had given us the co-ordinates. She said for us to see a Mr Sipik when we arrived. We kept going into the shipping traffic as it got closer to dusk. Valiam's mast just made it under the bridge so we kept going towards the 2nd bridge. As we got to where the yacht club was supposed to be according to their co-ordinates all we could see were a whole lot of shacks at the water's edge. This couldn't be it! So nothing for it but to do a U turn in a busy shipping channel in Cebu harbour back to where we saw the yacht masts. As we got closer we could see the yacht club was quite small. A fellow who must have been Mr Sipik was waving over the far side beckoning us in. Bill did a beautiful reverse park between 2 motor cruisers. A couple of lads jumped on and assisted with the ropes.
Desperate for a shower we stepped ashore towards the yacht club restaurant. The shower was past the kitchen behind a messy pile of mops and boxes. It was a bit grubby, tiled and consisted of a partially blocked shower nozzle coming out of the wall spurting cold water. At least it was a shower of sorts. Feeling a lot better we sat in very comfortable chairs with a view of the harbour. Many diners/drinkers chatted to us constantly which was a bit much after just having each other for company for the last few days! We also recognized a fellow we saw frequent the Palau yacht club bar. For a moment we were confused as to where we were! It's the same when we wake up each morning in our own comfy bed. It takes a few moments to remember where we are!
SCAMS :On Saturday morning Bill went to see the woman in the yacht club office. She informed him that we had to have a Quarantine inspection and phoned straight away. Within half an hour a man saying he was an officer arrived looking very dapper in his neatly pressed uniform. We sat and chatted for a while about the trip. He didn't seem to be interested in asking us what we had on board or a stores list. Eventually he said that there was a fee of 2500 pesos. We expressed our surprise as the Philippine embassy in Palau said there wouldn't be any further fees. I showed him a copy of noonsite's 'formalities' for Philippines where no fees for quarantine were mentioned. He said it was overtime fees for him. The conversation was very friendly and he seemed very nice. He did offer for us to pay at the office on Monday as we didn't have enough pesos. But a little later he said he would accept US$ to save us the trouble of going there on Monday. (taxi etc into Cebu finding the place). We relented and I gave him the money. I asked for a receipt but looking at it now it isn't a proper one - just a blank invoice with his name signature and "Quarantine Medical Officer' Port of Cebu. I think we were had. He mentioned 2 other yachts we knew from Palau so I think he was a pretty smooth operator. We have learned from this and will take the motorbike people's advice and take the persons name and details to check with authorities before we hand over any money. It's annoying as we thought we were pretty switched on but realize he probably did extract much more money than he was entitiled to(if any at all). The port fees for Manila are around 900 pesos so 2500 for quarantine seems far too high. We intend to check with immigration this morning. If we have been conned we will warn other yachties on noonsite.com
Another scam around here is the taxis. The metered ones approved by the authorities are supposed to charge the correct fare. Again we were overcharged getting a taxi into town the first time for 200 pesos. Trips since then in metered taxis have been around 120-130 pesos. Last nights taxi driver said that even some of the metered taxis are tampered with. He pointed a few out in the street and said "Bad taxis. Not go in them!"
FLAG ETIQUETTE : We managed to get a small Philippines flag from the embassy before we left. When I managed to hoist it up Bill said it had to go higher because at half mast it means someone has died! When we arrived in Cebu the local lads were laughing at our flag because I had hung it upside down. Red side up means 'War' apparently! I hastily rectified this so now the blue side is up.
SHOPPING MALLS: Philippinos love their shopping malls. They are everywhere! We decided to go to one of the biggest ones in Cebu for the 'experience' - The Ayala mall. Wow! The noise was unbelieveable! Music from each shop, noisy electronic game rooms, eating halls etc. We also watched a fashion show with huge loud speakers blaring. We lost count of the number of escalators and there are at least 6 floors and nearly 400 shops. Linda just had to buy something! In a department store a few bargains were found. Whilst Bill fell asleep waiting outside on a bench Linda emerged with 2 tops and a skirt for the equivalent of $3.47! Retail therapy nonetheless!
We eventually found somewhere to eat that had walls around it and didn't give us a headache. It was a Mexican place called Tequila Joes. Lonely Planet describes it as 'truly excellent Mexican'. We would have to disagree. The nachos and pizza we ordered were flavourless and dry. The wine however was superb. The smiling waiter informed us after showing us a couple of bottles that it was 100 pesos a glass. One was a 2003 bottle form Chile. It seemed excellent value and after 5 glasses between us helped wash down the terrible meal. When we were presented with the bill we were shocked to see 1500 pesos for the wine! Bill argued with the waiter and he said we had chosen the more expensive wine. (no wonder it was nice) We refused to pay the extra because obviously the waiter had made a mistake telling us it was 100 pesos a glass. He went off to talk to his boss. He took ages so we just left the amount of money we thought the whole lot should cost and left. As we were waiting outside the doors in the rain for a taxi the waiter appeared with my shopping bag of clothes I had left behind. He was trying to explain that we still needed to pay another 300 pesos and that he did make a mistake and he had to pay the 900 pesos difference himself. We felt sorry for him and especially as he brought me my forgotten shopping (I would have been cross with myself leaving that behind!) we gave him the 300 pesos.

2 pm, 11 March
Internet Cafe, Cebu
SCAMS CONTINUED:
The bureau of Immigration wasn't much fun. When we first got there we were redirected to a photocopy woman and had to pay for copies of all our papers....that was ok but seemed unnecessary. We were lead upstairs to a small office crowded with 3 desks, 2 men and a family being interviewed for something. We thought having our Visas already would make things fairly straight forward but the man we had to deal with said it was going to cost 500pesos each to get our passports stamped and another 1500 pesos to clear Valiam into Cebu. This seemed excessive so we argued politely saying that the emabassy in Palau told us there would be no further fees. After talking about overtime fees etc I explained that it was Tuesday during business hours so how could there be overtime fees. "You misunderstand madam - I meant fees for your yacht...bla bla..." We said several times that it seemed expensive seeing we had already paid 2500 pesos for our visas. Bill asked whether people at the airport had to pay to get their passports stamped. They pretended not to understand. As it looked like we weren't going to get out of there without paying we emptied our wallets and only had 2000 pesos between us. We said that is all we had and that we would have to walk to an ATM otherwise. Immediately he said 2000 pesos was fine. I then asked for an official receipt. He sighed and pulled a piece of letterhead out and typed a receipt with a manual typewriter. We knew the whole thing wasn't quite right but we were stuck in there and wanted our passports stamped. Very unhappy we walked out of there. We noticed the man we gave the money to was already out on the footpath also.(probably ready to spend our money) We also noticed a sign on the door outside the building about only paying the cashier. I could see Bill getting quite angry. He said to the guy "What's this?" He said that's only for visa extensions. I said that's not what the sign says. Next thing we are ushered into the Chief of Immigration. We explained we were not used to paying large varying amounts of cash for non official receipts. They had no clear reason why there were no set rates other than they were a separate organisation and could charge what they liked and each port was different. (This was after I said that other yachts had cleared into Manila for a lot less) We said it was far too expensive and that we would be contacting yachting organisations to see what the rate should be. Apparently the little office upstairs with these 2 guys are for clearing yachts and jobs quite separate from the usual tourists. We noticed on the receipt that the fees were for overtime, meals and transportation to inspect the vessel. They didn't even come to the vessel! We went to them which cost us taxi fares etc. Anyway we couldn't do anything so we set off in the hot sun without money in 'down town' Cebu (described by Lonely Planet as the 'seamy' side of town') to look for an ATM.
The first ATM didn't work. The next one was out of order. After walking in the heat and fumes dodging traffic we were getting more cranky and discouraged. The 3rd ATM didn't do visa. Bill had US$10 in his wallet so we changed that instead at a money cahnger who gave us a terrible rate. We were beyond caring.
Calming down we found a taxi and went to the Basilica and Magellans cross. Both places had beggars and hawkers selling candles, guitars, carved crucifixes etc. Once in the basilica it was beautiful, peaceful, cool and quiet. Now I know why it's nice to go to church. We found the peace within ourselves and wandered around admiring the beautiful 500 year old paintings and architecture.
We studied the Lonely Planet for a lunch place. We tried to find one near the basilica but it really was the seamy side of town. However we did find an ATM that worked. Jumping in a taxi we went 'up town' to the Sideline Garden restaurant and had a nice meal of bbq chicken salad and beer. Now we are at an internet cafe with private booths, air con and local radio going. Bill has just informed me that on noonsite.com other yachties were scammed by corrupt officials even worse than we were (3000 pesos each official) They refused to pay at Peurta Princesa, Palawan (thats where we will be clearing out) and went to straight to Malaysia. Apparently in Malaysia they don't care if you haven't cleared out officially from the Philippines. They are used to yachties complaining about the corrupt officials in the Philippines.
The sooner we are out of Cebu the better. We look forward to beautiful islands, white sand beaches and fresh air and water. Malapascua Island has no cars. Just walking tracks. That will be lovely. First I have to winch Bill up the mast to repair/check our navigation lights. Then we'll do some food shopping in the mall opposite the yacht club.
Oh yes we have discovered what the 'musty' smell was - it actually smelt worse this morning - more like something rotten. Our eggs had gone off and were crawling with maggots! Yuck!!!! I have been burning aromatherapy oils to get rid of the smell.