February 14, 2020
Jake followed the instructions given by the GPS. With his left hand on the wheel and his right hand on the clutch, he sped along Punta Engano until he reached the end of the road. Coming into the hotel's driveway, he parked the sedan in the designated parking lot. They walked into the lobby, passing a huge wall that said "Dusit Thani Mactan Cebu Resort."
Jake and Bella led the pack with Taehyung and Jimin bringing up the rear. Yeontan was tucked safely in his bag, slung over Taehyung's right shoulder.
All three idols had their own hats and face masks on. Jake had his black bucket hat on, Taehyung wore a brown cap and Jimin had on Hobi's yellow cap. They momentarily removed them as they passed through the security checkpoint but wore them right back as they walked into the lobby.
The lobby had high ceilings painted white and an open-air concept. The floor was made of brown hardwood. Towards the front of the lobby, two brown and white couches sat parallel to each other. A lone square table with two round high stools was placed towards one side. A row of chairs was arranged on another side of the lobby.
Continuing forward, Jake and Bella approached the check-in counters. It was arranged in an arc with alternating raised rectangular structures and depressions of black marble in between. Jimin, Taehyung and Yeontan lay back, opting to sit on the two high stools.
"Hi, Welcome to Dusit Thani Mactan Cebu Resort. Do you have a reservation?" A lady at the front desk welcomed them.
"Hi, Flora!" Bella greeted her, reading her name tag. "Yes, we do. It's four rooms under the name Leila Ysabelle Torres." She handed Flora her UMID (Unified Multi-purpose ID), which was originally one of the Philippine government's projects for a Unified ID system.
Jake presented the Agoda voucher as proof of the reservation. Flora received it with both hands, thanking Jake. She punched a few keys into the computer and in a few short minutes she was explaining some of the ground rules. Flora made sure to highlight the regular check in and check out time, the freebies and inclusions for each room, where the breakfast was going to be and what time they served it. She informed Jake and Bella that they were each given a Seaview Room. A keycard packet held the guest's name, which was Bella's, the Building number, which was three and the room numbers, which in their case were 3514 to 3517. It also included the WIFI username and password for each room.
Flora motioned for them to turn to the right for building number three if they were now ready to head to their rooms. Jake and Bella thanked her and followed the directions they were given. Taehyung and Jimin joined them. All four walked past three different sized pools situated one after the other. A fourth one was hidden by shrubbery and trees near the entrance to building three. The largest one, the infinity pool, had white wicker chairs aligning its entire length. Wide beach umbrellas were stationed beside the wicker chairs to give permanent shade. A lifeguard station was nearby, doubling as the towel redemption center. Water fountains housed in shells were found in regular intervals around the pool, as were coconut trees. Since it was getting late and the day was turning into night, lights illuminated the pools.
The gang of four entered building three and walked towards their elevator. A security officer dressed in white greeted them and asked for their keycard. Jake, who was holding on to the keycards, handed over one of them. "Good evening, which floor are we going to?" He asked the group.
"Fifth floor palihug, kuya." (The fifth floor please, sir.) Bella answered.
The security officer touched the button for the elevator and it opened with a ding. After scanning the keycard, he pressed the button for the fifth floor. "Enjoy your stay!" He said as the doors closed on him. All four gave him a smile, although technically only Bella's smile could be seen.
