Valentine's Day in Cebu is an exercise in patience: hotels bursting at the seams, roads choked with traffic, and cinemas with not a seat to spare. It's a spectacle of effort for Cebuanos, each trying to carve out a slice of romance amid the chaos.
Instead of joining the noise, I chose simplicity.
A can of moist cake for my partner—because nothing says "I love you" quite like dessert in a tin—and a drive with my family to Gullas Heights.
There we enjoyed streetfood dinner of chicken feet and ginabot.
This spot, our Minglanilla secret, offers a retreat from the Valentine's frenzy, a place where the city's pulse beats at a distance.
There, sitting above the world, we shared a modest dinner. The city's lights flickered below, a tapestry of lives in motion.
From our serene vantage point, the chill of the night wrapped around us, it was clear: down there, everyone was scrambling to make the day special, to find their moment of Valentine's bliss.
But up here, with simple food and the company of loved ones, we found ours without the search. In the quiet of Gullas Heights, away from the Valentine's hustle, we discovered that sometimes, the most profound celebrations are the ones that require the least work.
Tonight, with my 350-peso budget, we found joy.
