TODAY I GOT TO RIDE A HELICOPTER from Cebu City to Oslob to see the whale sharks. My bosses from Strategy Solutions gave it to us for free! Here’s the rundown of the entire adventure.

On August 19th, 2016, I received one of best work freebies ever – a helicopter ride to the south of Cebu. The usual grueling land trip to Oslob takes 6-hours, but the chartered helicopter took a mere 1.75 hours. With my bosses Brett and Michelle, and three colleagues Ione, Marian and Sherry, we were treated like kings and queens for the entire duration of the afternoon adventure.

My eyes bulked seeing the price of the Airtaxi. It was truly a deluxe experience: a Toyota Super Grandia drove us to the airport, a personal guide waited for us in Oslob, Brumini hotel reserved a room for us for a day-use, and the hotel staff packed sandwiches including a bottle of champagne.

Although I’ve seen the Oslob whale sharks three times now, I have never swum with them or brought an underwater camera before. The result is this stunning footage of me being just a few inches away from what they call “friendliest animals on Earth.”

Despite all that, nothing beats the helicopter ride. I loved every minute of seeing Cebu’s coastline from 10,000 feet. I cannot believe all my luck to get to experience this at least once in my life. Everything was caught on video below. Enjoy!