Tips to Make the Most out of your Business Trip

A trip to Cebu City can be fun regardless of if you don’t have a budget or if you have one.

For both choices, it might be hard for you to stay away from the company’s planned itinerary. But a trip to Cebu might become more interesting if you follow our tips below.

To help you get started on having a more fun time in Cebu City, consider doing our tips below:

Those who prefer to splurge can have the luxuries offered by the high-end hotels like Quest Hotel and Conference Center, Harolds Evotel, Seda Ayala Center, Seda Central Bloc, Radisson Blu, Marco Polo Plaza, Summit Galleria, Waterfront Cebu Hotel and Casino, Bayfront Hotel, Red Planet Cebu and more. Hotels sometimes provide chauffeurs leading you to locations they have pre-determined.

For the budgetarians, you can stay in nice hotels for affordable prices. They usually offer free breakfast meals but sometimes there are none at all. There are nearby carenderias or local restaurants that provide a hearty meal.

There are a lot of activities offered by Cebu. In nearby municipalities there are plenty of natural attractions, but in the city proper itself there are nice places you can go to for an hour or two with business associates or by yourself.

To avoid a hotel-meeting-hotel lifestyle for the rest of your business trip, visit some of the malls in the city. There is Ayala Center Cebu, SM Seaside, SM City, Robinsons Galleria, Parkmall, SM City Consolacion, Mango Square Mall, Gaisano Country Mall, Raintree mall, APM Malls, and Emall.

If you don’t want to blend into a crowd but instead wants to relax in a cafe, you can go to the Ayala, Banawa, IT Park, Cybergate, Crossroads, Cyberzone Cebu, Cebu City
and check out Abaca Baking Company. It might be better if you go for cafes found in Downtown for easier access. Yolk Coffee and Breakfast, Starbucks, Bloom Cakes and Coffee, Wallstreet Coffee+Bar, Bo’s Coffee Club, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Micky’s Japanese Cakes, Barako Haus, Bake and More, and Workplace Cafe are some local favorites.

Plenty of first-time travelers can underestimate the roads and routes of Cebu City. Some abstain from exploring even Downtown thanks to the confusion they can get from the public transportation system. The humid air and traffic at peak hours is not very inviting to those who just want to explore the city.

On times that you have an appointment far from the city, it is good to have your own rental unit that you have all to yourself. Unlike public transportation where you have to wait for the entire vehicle to get filled before traveling, a self-drive rental gives you freedom of movement.

A good rental car from Cebu Rent a Car can be easily arranged. With our diverse selection of rental vehicles at affordable rates, you can go to your business meetings in style and have more liberties when exploring Cebu.

Explore the local options and skip from the fast food chains. When you’re in a new location, the best way to get to know the place is through their food and people.

They say the best way to get to know a new place is by exploring it through food. Cebu is a city that is famous for its laid-back lifestyle. But the locals do take their food seriously. Cebu delicacies are often made of simple ingredients, but they are given a uniquely Cebu-esque gastronomic twist.

Cebu is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Philippines because of its beautiful beaches, exciting nature activities, and friendly people. Not only that, but one of the other factors that draw people to the province is its tasty dishes. Here’s the following delicacies you must try in Cebu:

When you say Cebu, Filipinos will automatically think of lechon. It is a whole pig roasted above an open fire, which results in crispy skin and tender meat.
However, Lechon de Cebu is very different from the ones you can get in Manila. The roasted whole pig from Cebu is known to have a saltier taste, which means that you should forego the sarsa and go for the vinegar instead.
If you want to know where to find the best-tasting lechon, you will have to explore different restaurants before you can decide. Tourists love Rico’s Lechon for their original and spicy options which are made with organic ingredients. It is said that they pioneered the spicy lechon recipe.
Another famous choice is Zubuchon. The roasted pig prepared by its founder, Joel Binamira, was praised by the late Anthony Bourdain as “the best pig ever”. They pride themselves on using local ingredients and they ensure that no MSG or other chemical preservatives touch their dishes.
If you want to taste lechon in a different environment, you can try going to Carcar Public Market. The eateries there serve affordable lechon which is mixed with roasted pork drippings that make it even more flavorful.

Carcar is a city in the southern part of Cebu. It is home to many heritage sites that were built when the Spanish and Japanese colonials were in the country. There are many delicacies in Carcar, just like the lechon mentioned before. But this time, we will talk about chicharon.
Carcar is the “Chicharon Center of Cebu”. In this city, you will always find them freshly cooked, which is when they taste the best. If you buy them here you will also find them at more affordable prices than anywhere else in Cebu.
The chicharon in Carcar comes in two variants: one is made from pure pork skin and the other has both skin and meat. Both are crispy and can be dipped in vinegar. You can either eat it as a snack or pair it with rice for a hearty meal.

Filipinos like to eat chorizo or, as they commonly call it, longganisa. It is typically made from pork meat which is mixed with different spices and stuffed into a thin intestine casing.
Most types of chorizo in the Philippines have an elongated shape which is similar to a sausage. The difference between chorizo de Cebu is its circular shape and its different sizes. Its taste is sweet and also a little bit spicy. Like all Filipino viands, it is perfectly paired with a steaming cup of rice.
You can find chorizo de Cebu in local public markets and groceries in its raw form. Restaurants and eateries serve it cooked already. It is typically cooked in a pan or barbecued on a grill.

Lechon, chicharon, and chorizo are best paired with rice. In Cebuano restaurants and eateries, you will typically see it wrapped in woven banana leaves and shaped similarly to a heart or “puso”. This gives the rice extra flavor and makes it easy to eat without a spoon and fork.

The Philippine mango is famous for its sweet taste. Due to this, it is used in many desserts. One popular variety is the dried mango. You can see this in pasalubong stores all around Cebu and also in Asian shops abroad. Tourists from all around the globe and across the country buy packs of these as gifts for their loved ones. It can be eaten alone as a snack or used in recipes such as cakes and fruit tarts.

Budbud is Cebuano’s version of suman or sticky rice cake. It is made from glutinous rice, coconut milk, sugar, and ginger. All these ingredients are found locally in this province. It is then wrapped in banana leaves and can be served with ripe mango and hot chocolate.
Budbud is typically eaten as a quick breakfast alternative or as a snack. You can find it in most public markets around Cebu.