Lost Books Cebu: A Magical Borrowed Hour Inside A Fairytale

Spontaneous trips are not always a regret by the end. Sometimes, these kinds of trips are the ones that create the best memories and travels in our life. They also don't require laborious planning, and there is a fun in the immediate packing of things and meetups at the exact spot where the bus starts its engine. I have been missing this kind of trip these days, but just yesterday, we had a spontaneous trip to Cebu City, in a random minute of yesterday's afternoon. My boyfriend messaged me to prepare myself and meet at the Hagnaya Terminal where we would ride a bus towards the city. Little did I know he had a surprise for me, and that was the reason why he decided to bring me to the city.

I am always a fan of cafe hopping; almost all cafes in the north of Cebu carry a footprint of me and are already used to me for the past years. My boyfriend knows I love to go to new cafes and experience the true beauty of coziness and calm. Not only do I love the cafe and its interior, but also the coffee and pastries they offer. And sometimes, if you are fortunate enough, some will offer you more than that. More than what you're expected to see.

Such is this cafe where my boyfriend brought me in the city. We had four hours of travel from the province to the city because heavy traffic occurred in Danao City, so it took us longer than usual to reach the city where this cafe is situated. We ate in Ayala Mall, hopped to SM, went to IT Park, and searched for a Sony camera since we are planning to buy one. Afterwards, my boyfriend booked a taxi and told me to just be patient with the travel because he would bring me to a cafe. When I heard the magic word, I was so happy and enthusiastic to visit another one. My excitement really did escalate when we arrived at Lost Books Cafe.

Photo from Lost Books Cebu's website

Welcome to the Lost Books Cafe. Lost Books Cebu is an independent, aesthetic bookstore, bookbindery, and cafe on Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City that carries a stretch of literature in Cebuano, self-published authors in the Visayas, and a well-selected collection of new and secondhand books from all around the world. When we arrived, it was already closed and the maintenance staff were preparing to lock the cafe. We arrived just as it was being locked, and the owner also went outside and asked us what we were searching for. We explained how far we went to reach this cafe because it was a surprise from my boyfriend and that we are from the north. The owner was so considerate that he told the staff to open the cafe again, turn on the music, display the aesthetically pleasing designs for photo opportunities, and create a calmer and more realistic experience inside the cafe.

We were given enough time to explore this fantasy-like, aesthetically pleasing, child-like cafe, and I scanned the books they had displayed. Many books were displayed inside, and it was what captured my attention when we arrived, especially because I spotted The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in Cebuano version. I have always loved his book, and seeing it once again in another version made me fall in love with it even more.

I read some verses in the book but couldn't read more because I was so overwhelmed by the quantity of books surrounding me that I wanted to read them all at once. The staff, who really have a good fashion sense, kept throwing questions at us, and one of them lives in the same town as me, so we had a long conversation inside while exploring the cafe.

The books here are stunning and there are so many that I couldn't help but keep complimenting the owner on how good his cafe is. It is like one in a children's book, and the design has this magical atmosphere. The choices of interior design, the shelves' vibrant colors, the books, the arts, the paintings, and everything are pleasing to the eyes, and all I can say is that this cafe is pretty.

To share with you my best finds in the area, some of which are tiny and hard to spot, but I have a keen eye and I believe in magic—I have seen it—here they are in photos:

We left the cafe after buying these postcards containing Ernest Hemingway and A Letter From My Old Self. My boyfriend bought me these two postcards and had them marked by the cafe's official mark, and paid $4 for the two postcards. If we had enough time, I wouldn't have left the cafe that early, but still we had to leave since it was closed beforehand and we were only borrowing time.

Since a cafe is always a place that interests us, we moved to the next cafe near Lost Books and spent an hour there before going to the terminal to go home. I also had to review for an exam today, so we bought coffee while I was studying and my boyfriend met one of his friends. This cafe is different from the cafes we used to experience because it is wide and elegant. The staff are very formal and they accommodate a lot of customers every hour, with this elegant interior, lights, and souvenirs.

They have cakes and pastries displayed with prices below, and they offer wine drinks served by the crew. I also saw woven baskets displayed in their back cabinet, and I assume they are for sale. We ordered Oreo and cream drinks and a tiramisu cake.

We also went out of the cafe for a minute to buy a chicken meal outside for our dinner and got back to the cafe to start my review and talk again with the close friend my boyfriend invited for a moment.

Spontaneous trips may not always come with detailed itineraries or perfect timing, but they arrive with something even better—stories. Stories of traffic that delayed us, of closed doors that were opened just for us, of books rediscovered in another language, and of postcards that will soon carry memories between pages. Yesterday was unplanned, unmeasured, and slightly rushed, yet it felt full. And maybe that is the beauty of it: sometimes the best days are the ones that begin with a simple message saying, prepare yourself.