Wednesday, March 2, 2011

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 18th 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.

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