Cebu Chronicles: Day 1 - Arriving at Cebu

Day 1 at Cebu

We arrived at Cebu as scheduled and we went straight to our hotel. We settled in and decided to go out for lunch. We asked the hotel staff how to get to the main city.

After two jeepney rides (P8 from hotel to Highway and P9 from Highway to Cathedral) we visited two of the six oldest churches in Cebu. The Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral and the Sto. Nino Basilica Church.

The Sto. Nino Basilica Church is the oldest church in Cebu built in the 1500’s. Inside the Sto. Nino Basilica Church is a small museum holding artifacts of different kinds of Sto. Nino's and other relics such as donations to the Sto. Nino, Sto. Nino idols, old money (from different currencies around the world), church items and many more.

The entrance fee to the museum is P10 only while kids' fee is P5. Very young kids can enter for free. What drew my attention inside the museum is an 18^th century bench. Imagine, this bench has survived two centuries of history. I maybe just few of those weird people who will get sentimental over a bench but just the thought of how many people have passed this bench who may or may not be alive anymore amazes me. This antique bench is still present in this world for not just one but two centuries now.

We entered the two churches: Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral and Sto. Nino Basilica Church and each one is maintained in pristine state. There were more people inside the Sto. Nino Basilica Church being the most popular church in Cebu. There was also a line at the Sto. Nino Basilica Church leading to the patron saint Sto. Nino. Falling in line gives you a chance to see the miraculous Sto. Nino to touch him or to pray to him. However, the line was too long so my companions and I decided not to see him anymore.

The patron saint of the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral is St. Visalis. If I were to choose where I would go and spend some solemn time in I would probably choose the Cebu Metropolitan Museum because there were less people, the wind is just perfect to cool you off in a hot sunny afternoon and the vibes I get from the place (I don’t know I can’t well explain it) makes me feel closer to God. Suddenly, it gives me the urge to pray.

We ended the day buying some Cebu delicacies in front of the Sto. Nino Basilica Church. We got tsokolate morcon for P20 for 3 pieces; sweet fried noodles for P15 and rice crispies for P20 for 6 pieces.

I bought my own breakfast which consists of one can of chicken Vienna sausage, 1 bag of Ruffles, two cans of dole sliced pineapples, 6 liters of water, 1 pack of yakult, 1 pack of 6 hotdog buns, 1 pack of skyflakes (6 pieces), 6 milo sachets which cost me a total of P550. For the entire trip, I was able to to consume most of the items I bought (which is about 4 breakfasts and snacks). The only thing I was not able to finish was my Milo and about 1 liter of water.

My friend’s hotel room also has provision for cooking so we decided to cook our own meal for our first night. For one whole chicken, isda na may sampalok and rice I contributed about P50.

Total expenditures for the day: P699

Breakdown

Transportation - P34.00 (round trip hotel to Cathedral and back or about 4 jeepney rides)

Entrance Fee to Museum - P10.00

Cebu Delicacies - P55.00

Breakfast for entire week - P550.00

Dinner - P50.00

Thought at the end of the day: Happy to have taken this trip but I've got to avoid doodads.

Cebu Chronicles: Deciding to Go to Cebu or Not?

Can I really afford to go on a vacation espcially now that I am a freelancer? Who am I kidding? That's the point of being a freelancer, right? So sometimes, you just have to leap. When the opportunity arises and you have the chance to grab it, what do you do?

I had two options...
Do you say yes because you know it will be good for you? Well you assume that an opportunity is good for you. Or is it really an opportunity or a mistake?

Or do you say no because you still have to analyze the situation and think whether if it will be good for you or not. Or will you regret not doing it and missing a chance of a lifetime?

Crowne Regency Mactan Poolside Where I Swim in the Morn'

So when a good friend of mine asked me to go with her to Cebu to spend a week, the usual things came to my head like “what’s my schedule”; “do I have a budget for this?”. “What am I going to do in Cebu”. Yeah those things entered my mind but it did not persist. The call of what I might discover, what new things will I see see, new people I will meet; something new to take me away from the mundane everyday things of my life. That call was stronger than just staying in my comfort zone.

This chronicle of blogs is the product of that decision. With three thousand pesos in my pocket, I want to know how long will I survive in this little adventure of mine.

Below the historical Casa Gorordo Azotea

Till the next blog post...

Dust if You Must - My Cebu Expedition

A house becomes a home when you can write " I love you" on the furniture."

Crown Regency Mactan

I can't tell you how many countless hours that I have spent CLEANING!

I used to spend at least 8 hours every weekend making sure things were just perfect - "in case someone came over".

Then I realized one day that no one came over;

They were all out living life and having fun!

Now, when people visit, I find no need to explain the "condition" of my home.

They are more interested in hearing about the things I've been doing while I was away living life and having fun!

If you haven't figured this out yet, please heed this advice.

Life is short. Enjoy it!

Cebu Carbon Market

Dust if you must...

but wouldn't it be better to paint a picture or write a letter,

bake cookies or a cake and lick the spoon or plant a seed,

ponder the difference between want and need?

Cebu Cathedral at the break of dawn

Dust if you must...

but there's not much time with beer to drink, rivers to swim and mountains to climb,

music to hear and books to read, friends to cherish and life to lead.

D' Pond Family Grill

Dust if you must...

but the world's out there with the sun in your eyes,

the wind in your hair, a flutter of snow, a shower of rain.

This day will not come around, again.

Happy Children at the Carbon Market

Dust if you must...

but bear in mind, old age will come and it's not kind

And when you go - and go you must - you, yourself will make more dust!

Zipline at the D' Pond

Note: The author of Dust If You Must is unknown. "Dust if You Must" was sent to me via e-mail by a good friend of mine. I think it is a good introduction for the chronicle I am preparing for my Cebu Trip as it explains why I chose to go to this trip.

Trip or Treats: Goodie Giveaway #8: Cebu Pasalubong Gift Hat!

I read a blog from Trip or Treats Goodie Giveaway #8: Cebu Pasalubong Gift Hat! which inspired me to write this blog. The blogger who made the post is giving away goodies from her Cebu travel. After reading the post, I remember how great was my Cebu travel last Christmas 2009. So I decided to post here my precious Cebu travel pictures which I will be adding comments regarding consumerism. The blog post I mentioned having a contest right now is from http://www.triportreats.blogspot.com/. Check out her blog as the contest ends on November 20, 2010.


For family fun, the best activity we did as a group is to take the Skytour at Crown Regency Cebu. Each of us paid P888 to enjoy the skywalk, edge coaster, 4D movie and a buffet dinner. As a family, we thought it was a really great deal. I think the only downside of the tour is that photo opportunities is monopolized by the service provider thus we were surpised to find out that pictures cost thousands of pesos for each sky treat. Take note each sky treat has a different rate for pictures. And so if you want to remember your adventure you have no choice but to pay for the bloated price for the pictures. Unless of course, you know how to haggle with the hotel staff. wink wink. Still, in terms of experience and bonding moments this is really a great thing to do in Cebu. As for the 4D movie and the buffet, I can say that it was mediocre. It was not bad but it was not amazing as well.

To go to city tour in Cebu, we decided to rent a cab for the day! Don't try to fit everything in your itinerary in one day or you'll end up really exhausted. When we went to Cebu, I was surprised that traffic can be compared to Manila traffic at times. Not the heavy kind but it was still traffic. But the best thing is that you can go to several historical sites in half a day or if you really want to finish it in one day I guess you can do that as well. So we went to Fort San Pedro, Casa Gorordo, Guitar factories, Lapu-Lapu-Magellan Sutukil, Magellan's Cross, Basilica de Sto. Nino, and many more. We paid about P2000 for renting the cab for a day or P200 per hour. We were told it was expensive but the experience and convenience was worth it.

I many not be able to give you a chance to get a Cebu travel package but if you want to get a taste of these Cebu delicacies, check out to join the contest from Trips or Treats:

Trip or Treats: Goodie Giveaway #8: Cebu Pasalubong Gift Hat!