Even with 2 airconditioning units on at home, it still felt hot. I was starting to feel irritated, so we quickly packed and left for the mountains. Car camping trip!

The last car camping trip we had was a few months back and I remember it feeling nice and breezy. Easy, breezy, covergirl - lol! (couldn’t help but say it). I mentioned it to my husband and he wanted to go back to that same spot but I didn’t want to go somewhere that was too far away (because it was a 3 hour drive away) and where it would likely be too hot (because it was by the beach). So this time, we decided - off to the mountain, we go!

Cebu Traffic

Since it was a Saturday, I thought, okay, we’ll be able to get there in no time, but damn this Cebu traffic. We left sometime past 3 PM and got to our first stop, to have dinner, (which is just 30 minutes away from the campsite) around 6:30 PM! To put things into context, it would have just taken 45 minutes to an hour to get to our “dinner stop” from where we live.

Dinner Stop

Our dinner stop was already in the mountain area, so it was chill. It was our first time here, but after this visit, we’ll likely be coming back here whenever we go up the mountain or just feel like eating somewhere that’s open, cold, with good food choices, and a lovely view.

Dinner Stop Details :

📍Gaslamp District, Busay, Cebu

Camping for one night food prep

We’re only camping for one night, so we decided to eat ahead, so we don’t have much to prep and do when we get to the campsite, and bring some food from here so we can just eat when we get hungry again later. With 3 little kids, prepping anything can be a challenge, especially when it’s just me and my husband.

We stayed ‘till around 8 PM then headed for the campsite. We weren’t sure if we’d actually have a slot in this campsite because when we called earlier, they said they were pretty full but we were still welcome to check and see if there’d be a spot - so that’s exactly what we did.

Arriving at the campsite

We arrived and saw it was pretty full. We circled once and saw a spot but it was right next to a bird cage, so it wasn’t ideal because of all the bird poop and the smell. So the husband went down to get a better look and someone from the campsite assisted him and thankfully helped us find a spot! The one who assisted asked a camper if they could shimmy their car just a little bit so that we could fit in and gladly they did. Thank you, nice camper folks! So we got a spot and it was right by the fence/edge so we had a really nice view of the city lights.

Campsite Details :

📍Gaby’s Little Farm

🎟️ Entrance for day use is P25.00/person

⛺ Overnight fee is P200.00/person, P100.00/Kid 5 years old above (based on how much they charged us)

🚽 They have a Men’s and Women’s toilet (no flush, so you’ll have to get water from outside to flush)

Car Camping vs Tent Camping

I was thinking of whether to actually “car camp” or pitch a tent (since we did have it) - and since it was really nice and cold out, I thought, let’s use the tent! I was really excited too since this would be the first time we’d be using the tent (it’s a new tent we got from Shopee and NO INSTALLATION NEEDED!). It’s a pop up tent! So all I did was unzip the tent cover then threw the tent to the ground! (I literally did that) - and poof! it became Koko Krunch! (lol! again, couldn’t help myself) - and poof! it became a full blow tent! We had only ever used this at home (kids wanting to play camp at home) so this was an experience.

We brought the kids day play tent with us (thinking we would still reach daylight here so they could still play, but boy were we so wrong) and ended up using it as an “extended tent”. Initially, we had it set up right outside our tent. so our eldest daughter could stay in it - kind of like having her “own room” but after seeing it there and giving it some thought, I worried about sudden rain, or creepy crawlies, so I decided to move her tent to the back of the car. So, technically, we did still “car camp” haha!

Dog Camping

Oh, we brought our dog too, and this was a first for her as well - happy to report that she was very relaxed here; curious but relaxed (she’s always been an indoor dog). We had her wear a diaper because I didn’t want to have to think about where she’d poop or pee while I’m watching over the kids and wouldn’t need to tail her around to pick up after her. Sushi (the name of our dog) seemed to love the cold. She’d snuggle with our eldest or go to the kids sofa bed, curl, and just sleep.

Waking up

The night was beautifully cold and the serene feeling of being “just here” made for a wonderful experience with the family but the morning after was the best. Such a beautiful morning skyline and the peaceful morning brought me back to my childhood memories of constantly being on the road to nowhere (my family, mostly my dad, would randomly take us on long road trips - 8-10 hours, to places I don’t know where to but usually somewhere remote or where there isn’t much around; my dad was adventurous like that) and waking up to places where I could see and feel the beautiful sun, or a colorful morning skyline - and sometimes, well often, at sea too.

5AM Skyline photos (take on my phone, the reality of this is far from these photos!)