Sea, spa, piña coladas–and riveting tennis
My relaxing Davis Cup weekend in Cebu also made me proud to be Filipino
IF YOU SAY fun, sun, good food and tennis, I might be thinking about an upcoming tournament at Palms Country Club in Alabang. But if you say the Queen City of Cebu, that can only mean one thing—Davis Cup weekend at Plantation Bay.
As always, Plantation Bay is a great place to get away from the foul weather in Manila, and while we were hit on occasion with a sudden downpour, the weather was generally great. Getting to watch world-class tennis was the bonus.
Arriving in the resort was, as always, painless. This is one of the areas Plantation Bay excels in.
Accommodations are big rooms with two double beds big enough to accommodate three to four guests. Rooms are all air-conditioned, and have LCD TV, mini-ref and WiFi access.
The resort was designed as a vast plantation, so rooms are spread out across structures inspired by the 18th-century colonial plantation.
My only issue is that thewalls are either a little too thin or need better soundproofing to provide guests a really quiet atmosphere.
Davis Cup matches started at 4 p.m., so there was ample time to enjoy the lagoon pools and other facilities like the Mogambo Spa, which gives one of the best Shiatsu massages on the island.
Going around the resort was just as relaxing, by bike, horse-drawn carriage or golf cart. But walking through the lush vegetation and lagoon pools allowed one to experience the beauty of the landscape.
Finding good food was no problem. On my last visit, I practically parked myself at Savannah Grill, enjoying its amazing hotdogs and burgers.
Palermo was right next to my room, so it was convenient to try out its wide variety of tapas with a good glass of wine. Unfortunately, with Kilimanjaro under renovation, it was a little too crowded formy taste.
Exciting tie
The next option was Fiji, Plantation Bay’s seaside restaurant. It had fresh seafood, from lobster to scallops. I couldn’t forget the “Kissing Cousins,” a unique appetizer pairing prawn and lobster chunks in a tangy sauce.
The signature drink, the Plantation Bay Colada, was a refreshing take on a traditional drink using bananas instead of pineapple.
As for the tennis, this was one of themost exciting ties I have ever seen. From the very first match, the action was furious. Big serves, amazing rallies and killer shorts were the order of the day.
Ruben Gonzales put up an amazing fight, coming to within one point of winning the match, but Michael Venus proved too much to handle over five sets.
Despite the straight sets score, the second match between Johnny Arcilla and Rubin Statham was not without its own drama. Statham cramped up severely in the second and third sets, almost throwing in the towel, but the Kiwi no. 1 toughened it out to help New Zealand start with a 2- 0 lead.
The second day was all Philippines, as the amazing doubles pair of Treat Huey and Niño Alcantara took down the New Zealand pairing of Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniell in three sets.
Huey really showed us that his recent quarterfinals finish at the US Open was no fluke, almost dictating the match like a general. But the highlight was really Alcantara, whose play the Kiwis really had no answer to.
Pumped up by the home crowd, the Filipino cupper played like there was no tomorrow, hitting passing shots and putting away volleys left and right.
When it was all over, the crowd lingered around the court, rushing to the players and coaches as if we had already won the tie. But who could blame them?
The next day was the perfect scenario for a dramatic come-from-behind win. I guess amazing tennis brings out that nationalistic feeling in all of us.
Unfortunately, I would not be witness to one of the most exciting endings to a Davis Cup tie, as I had to get back to Manila. As it turned out, we actually almost pulled it off, with Gonzales redeeming himself by winning the first match in an epic five-setter and Treat barely losing the fifth rubber match to Michael Venus, who I guess was the hero of the tie.
Well, congratulations to New Zealand for progressing back to Group 1 and a big hats-off to our Davis Cup team of Treat, Ruben, Niño, Johnny, and coach Roland Kraut and Chris Cuarto. You make us proud to be Filipino.