Touchdown Cebu! One very early Sunday morning, the plane I was on landed in Cebu. I was equal parts excited and groggy. Their airports’ “international” section was a lot smaller than expected considering the number of flights that come in. You can see the immigration at the end and the luggage claims area on the left. Up front is already the customs area.

I was waiting for my friend to pick me up at the airport, so I hung out at these birthing chairs. Birthing chairs have been around since the time of the ancient Greeks. Evolving history! In the olden days, birthing chairs were meant to be used by pregnant women because the shape was comfortable. During labor, the women would rest their legs on the arms of the chair and wait for a baby to pop out. I guess the regular Juan liked them so much, he decided to incorporate it as regular Filipino lounge-y furniture.

The arms are usually longer, and I find them very useful — they can handle plates of snacks and drinks on one side, and a book on the other. LOL.

When my friend arrived, he drove me over to the Summit Circle Hotel in Fuente Osmeña Circle. I had checked out a bunch of other places to stay in Cebu City and I liked the location of this hotel the most. It was on a main road (thus avoiding the possibility of being located in a girly-bar section of town… you never know) and near the sights I planned to visit.

Downstairs is a mall manned by Robinsons. A mall means that there’s a lot of places to eat, a supermarket to buy pasalubong, and a ready taxi line to take you to the airport.

Summit Circle is a little pricier than usual, at PhP 2,500 (S$73/US$60) a night, but after staying a night, I must say they provide the best service. They let me check in at 6am! It was all worth it!

They gave me a room on the 11th floor. It was a little run down, but I didn’t mind. The bed was comfy and there was even an ergonomic pillow. Good enough for me.

Another important thing to know is that there’s enough space for my stuff and for bike repairs.

My room had a view overlooking Fuente Osmeña; fuente being the Spanish word for fountain. In the morning, the rotunda area hosted a venue for joggers and tai-chi practitioners. At night however, the fountain came alive with bright lights and the nearby benches held a number of dating couples.

You could already see the Cebuano landscape in the distance. No, I did not bike up there.

After a short nap, I prepped the Brompton so we could already start our DIY city tour. The hotel staff was very kind and had no issues with me rolling my bike around the hotel.

This was pretty much my setup the whole trip. I used a Brompton cover bag pouch to hold stuff I needed to grab quickly such as water, sunnies or a camera. The actual cover bag was in the Mini-O bag alongside other essentials. I didn’t think I needed the cover bag in the city, but I had it just in case I needed to take public transport and put the bike in the bus luggage area. If I left it bare, the bike might get scratched.

The real reason I give the Summit Circle Hotel a huge thumbs up is this: I only stayed with them for one night and yet they offered to keep my bike’s transport bag with them for a week while I traveled to other parts of Cebu. And for no cost whatsoever! When I came back the following Sunday, they were kind enough to offer to help me pack my stuff too, even though I wasn’t their guest anymore. I really appreciated that. It may be shallow, but all these small things do count.

Next time you’re in Cebu City, do consider staying at the Summit Circle.