It’s More Fun in the Philippines: CEBU

I notice that most of my visitors are from all corners of the world, I decided to showcase my country, Philippines. Read more about our country here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines

Thinking of which province I will blog about, Cebu popped up. Mainly because it’s my hometown where I was born. My family stayed there for 3 years then we transferred here in Manila which is the capital city of our country. What you will see below is just southern part of Cebu. See how rich this province is.

If you want to stay at a nice resort, we have all sorts and please do visit here, ever reliable trip advisor. http://www.tripadvisor.com/SmartDeals-g294261-Cebu_Visayas-Hotel-Deals.html

My sis-in-law inside the plane heading to Cebu

Mandaue City is located on the middle eastern coastal region of Cebu, bordering to its right-side are Mactan Island where Lapu-Lapu City is located. Mandaue is connected to Mactan Island via two bridges which includes the Mactan-Cebu Bridge and Marcelo Fernan Bridge and is bounded south and the west by the Provincial Capital, Cebu City and north by Consolacion which is linked with Cansaga Bay Bridge.

The Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral is the ecclesiastical seat of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cebu in Cebu, Philippines. Cebu was established as a diocese on August 14, 1595. It was elevated as a metropolitan archdiocese on April 28, 1934 with the dioceses of Dumaguete, Maasin, Tagbilaran, and Talibon as suffragans.

A sign below the cross describes the original cross is encased inside the wooden cross that is found in the center of the chapel. This is to protect the original cross from people who chipped away parts of the cross for souvenir purposes or in the belief that the cross possesses miraculous powers.

Puso rice or hanging rice is consists of rice wrapped in coco leaves which is then boiled. It is served by slicing the coco leaves in half exposing the rice. Puso rice pieces are strung together and servers just cut them off and slice them in half for serving, hence the term “hanging rice.”

This is in Alcantara, Cebu where we stayed. View from the house of my aunt.

Since the 1970s, Moalboal has developed a tourism industry based on diving and beaches. Panagsama Beach, which was blown away by a typhoon in 1984, is where most resorts are established and White beach, which still has sand, in Barangay Savedra, which used to be a quieter beach that locals frequent, has only recently developed.

My mom at a local market in Moalboal, Cebu

old woman selling tobacco leaves

We were heading to Kawasan Falls. Just 130 kilometers southwest of Cebu City and about three hours bus ride, the Kawasan Falls is located inside the mountains of Barangay Matutinao, Badian.

A cozy trek… A peaceful river.. A gentle hush of rushing ice cool water.. All this and more in Badian’s Kawasan Falls!

Pause for awhile…. need some rest

From the entrance you will have to trek uphill for about thirty minutes, depending on your pace, to get to the first waterfall.

Kawasan has three waterfalls. The first one is mainly the largest of the three, and is usually the most crowded.

An uphill climb for fifteen minutes will take you to the second falls, and another, to the third.

With its lush tropical trees and plants everywhere, peaceful flow of the river as it gracefully rushes to the distant sea, the sound of the waterfalls on the background, friends and loved ones enjoying the cool and deep fresh water, everything around just seems so relaxed, simple and very serene.

Moalboal town pier

They have this new attraction at Crown Plaza Hotel, the ‘Sky Walk Extreme’, which we did not try. But here’s a link to know more about it: http://www.choosecebu.net/sky-adventure-at-crown-regency/

When it comes to food, Cebu is famous for lechon which is a pork dish roasted and cooked over charcoal. Another one is Danggit which is a salted dried fish which unfortunately, I don’t have a picture. My favorite is dried mango.