The Shang Experience

Brr! Spring has taken a detour and winter has decided to prolong its stay in Copenhagen this week! And here everyone thought we could pack away our heavy boots and overcoats... Dagnabbit!

Times like these is when I like to let my thoughts drift back to our wedding and honeymoon stay at Shangrila's Mactan Resort and Spa in Cebu, Philippines. Aaaah! 
Sunshine, sea, excellent food and great service---definitely a place I can recommend checking out if those things are to your liking. 

My husband and I had a fantastic Panorama Suite in the Ocean Wing. Being in the Ocean Wing also gives you all-day access to the Ocean Club Lounge on the top floor. It offers you a great view, private breakfast buffet, all-day snacks and drinks as well as evening cocktails and canapes.

Let me tell you about our suite and hotel wing...

What's a luxury resort without a bright blue shimmery pool? We enjoyed this pool closer to the beach as it was quiter for us newlyweds.

We had a fantastic living room/office/dining room area...

... a wide balcony facing the beautiful waters of the Mactan channel...

...a heavenly bedroom with an extra wide bed for this tall husband-and-wife team...

...a huge bathroom with a tub, shower and lots of lovely, lovely L'Occitane toiletries...

...our very own Nespresso machine for that late night java fix...

...and a walk-in closet! This has to be one of my personal favorites of the room. It's a girl thing! Excuse the mess...but I just had to show a photo and how thrilled I was with the closet. There was even room enough to shove a suitcase and a wedding gown inside and still have room for a 360 degree dance move.

I must say I loved waking up to this view from the balcony in the morning. Makes you feel that heaven really does exist, doesn't it?

The Shang, as it's fondly called locally, provides excellent service from its warm and friendly Filipino personnel.

And dare I mention the food?

Whether it was jonesing for room service burgers---beautifully served, I might add....

...or a visit to one of the seaside hotel restaurants, Cowrie Cove, the dining was excellent. 
If ever you go, make sure to try Cowrie Cove's seafood coconut soup. Ok, that isn't the official name, but I'm sure your waiter will know what it is as ours recommended it as a must-try. And he wasn't wrong! 

Cowrie Cove's seafood platter was great, too! Nothing like dining right on the beach on fresh seafood.

And the skewered prawn dish was simply beautiful!

The international breakfast selection at the Tides restaurant is fantastic as well. Who said you can't have sushi for breakfast?

There are a ton of aqua activites to choose from, like diving, island hopping or jetskiing. 
And you can meet this friendly fella when you're booking your activity of choice.

I chose to do parasailing because I've always thought it looked totally zen to be all the way up in the sky.
Here, we sailed out from the dock by the Ocean Pavillion where we held our wedding the night before (more on that another time).

A view from Shangri-la from further out to sea.

Back to parasailing: Here, I'm getting the basics. Well, what I could hear from above the waves and the boat engine.

What a fun experience! Too bad I didn't have a camera because the view was fantastic up there! I could see the entire Mactan Channel, the tip of Punta Engaño (which is the part of Mactan Island that the resort was on), the city of Cebu and the mountains past the city. 

Chilling by the beach with cocktails is also highly recommended. 

Or under the palm trees by the pool. Either way, it's great for leaving the humdrum of daily life behind for a while.

Different vacations for different folks. I sure didn't mind my days in the lap of luxury. And I'll take those memories to keep me warm while spring is still battling for domain over Copenhagen at the moment.