Blog
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Cebu heritage walk showcases island’s history
What tourists should include in their Cebu to do list is go on a heritage walk. Cebu City’s downtown area is a heritage belt of old churches, houses, and other structures that date back to its colonial Spanish past spanning no less than 300 years. These places are of walking distance from each other and…
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Hale Manna: House of Good Energy
Nature never travels in a straight line and at Hale Manna, which is Hawaiian for House of Good Energy, great pains are taken to ensure that this natural order of things is followed. The ground is uneven and rocky and trees are planted to match this terrain, steps are carved from rocks to serve as…
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Cebuanos go on Visita Iglesia or beach trips during Holy Week
For Christian Catholics in Cebu, the Holy Week celebration entails a long break from work. In keeping with the solemnity of the week, many Catholics go on a “Visita Iglesia,” a religious practice that involves visiting seven churches on Maundy Thursday. In Cebu City, there are a lot of churches that can be included in…
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Cebu’s selection of white sand beaches
Cebu beaches are known for their fine white sand and clear waters. Being in the center of a long and narrow island that is 200 kilometers long and nowhere exceeding 40 kilometers in width, Cebu City is half an hour to a few hours away from white sand beaches, long coastlines, beautiful resorts, and paradise…
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Centuries-old churches in southern Cebu
Centuries-old churches of various architectural influences that were built during the Spanish occupation of Cebu can be found along the entire stretch of the mainland and even in satellite islands. A trip down Cebu’s southern part is a glimpse into the religious aspect of Spain’s influence on Cebuano heritage. Spanish period churches in souther towns…
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Cebu City’s heritage of churches
Cebu is an architectural feast of Spanish period churches in the styles of late Baroque, neoclassical, Greco-Roman, and Gothic or a combination of their elements. The Augustinians came with Spanish conqueror Miguel Lopez de Legazpi to the Philippines through Cebu in 1565 and zealously went about converting people to Christianity. Proof of their fervour is…
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Marian devotees flock to Mary’s shrine in Simala, Cebu
A popular pilgrimage destination of Marian devotees in Cebu is Mary’s shrine in the village of Simala in Sibonga. The shrine is located inside an imposing and huge 3-level concrete structure that Fra. Ma. Martin call as Sanctuary Castle of Mama Mary, which also houses the Monastery of the Holy Eucharist Church. Fra. Ma. Martin,…
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Moalboal in Cebu hosts over 10 dive sites
When people talk of diving in Cebu, they usually mention the small town of Moalboal in the province’s southwestern coast that is famous for the thousands of sardines that have come to populate its seas. Italian Sergio Forti, who manages a dive resort named Sampaguita in Moalboal’s Panagsama Beach or what they call Bas Diot…
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Singapore popular destination with Filipinos: tourism board
Summer, the season for travel, is here. Where do you plan to hie off to? If Singapore is on top of your list, check out the new and popular as well as thematic places and events that it has to offer to tourists. Sherina Chan, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) Area Director for the Philippines and…
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Cordova’s bakasi and other bounties from the sea
Text and Photos by Boboi Costas The bakasi (saltwater eel) thrives abundantly in the town of Cordova, Mactan Island, a 45-minute drive from the city of Cebu. In taxonomic classification, eels belong to the Muranidae family which includes 200 species in 15 genera. In Buwagsong, Cordova, a local fishing community; the bakasi is a prized…
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Smart, MyCebu.ph to deliver info on tourism, heritage sites through phone scanning
Philippine wireless leader Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) and Cebu-based website MyCebu.ph have partnered to deliver information on tourism and heritage sites to mobile phones and tablets through quick response or QR code scanning. The project is being undertaken in partnership with the Department of Tourism. Smart and MyCebu.ph will place special markers on tourism and…
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Smart, MyCebu.ph offer Sinulog guidebook for free download
(Update: The Sinulog guidebook can now be downloaded in this page. We now have a Sinulog Guide Android app version as well as a Sinulog Guide mobile website for other devices. ) The country’s wireless leader Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) and Cebu-based website MyCebu.ph have produced an electronic guidebook on the Sinulog for the iPad, iPhone,…
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San Juan Bautista Parish Church, once Cebu’s most opulent church
DIONISIO Alo stood seething with anger as authorities tore down the magnificent San Juan Bautista Parish Church in Parian in the late 1870s. “His heart bled with every stone that was removed and all he could do was bite his lips causing them to also bleed,” said Ang Sugbo sa Karaang Panahon: An Annotated Translation…
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Casa Gorordo, home of Cebu’s first Filipino bishop
An authentic Spanish mansion with period furniture, the Casa Gorordo along Lopez Jaena St. in Cebu City showcases a lifestyle from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. The stone and tile structure, restored and maintained as a museum by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI), is one of few remaining houses called “balay nga tisa,”…
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Yap-Sandiego ancestral home: Soul of old Cebu
The house exudes the essence of a bygone era, a time already lived and long forgotten. You can feel it in the creaking of the wooden stairs and floorboards that sigh the burden of the years. You can see it in the second floor banggera–an extended windowsill that continues to hold a clay jar for…
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Sinulog 2012 depicts Cebu as ‘City of Culture’
A retracing of Cebu’s journey through the years, the people and countries it interacted with, and their influences on the island’s values and beliefs will be the central idea behind the 2012 Sinulog Festival. The theme “One Beat. One Dance. One Vision.” remains the same but the concept changes year by year and it will…
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Schedule of cultural, religious activities during Sinulog 2012
Sinulog is the grandest fiesta celebration in the Philippines. It has several religious and cultural events scheduled to start as early as December. The highlight of the celebration, however, is the Sinulog weekend when the religious procession and grand parade are held. The following are the official schedules of activities as announced by the Sinulog…
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Sto. Nino pilgrims find a place to stay in Cebu
Cebu’s Fiesta Senyor or feast of the Sto. Nino draws devotees from all over, and thousands converge every January in Cebu City to fulfill a “panaad” (devotion). There are pilgrims, however, who do not have relatives here and cannot afford to pay for rooms so the City Government puts up a “Devotee City” every Sinulog…
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Sinulog 2012 Grand Parade Route
The Sinulog Carousel route for the grand parade has been unchanged for years. It starts on Natalio Bacalso Ave. near E-mall and then to the New Imus Road then turning left to Gen. Maxilom Ave. then to Fuente Osmeña then left to Osmeña Blvd. While Sinulog dancers usually perform on the streets, they are sure…
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Affordable rooms along Cebu’s Sinulog routes
One of Cebu’s most anticipated events, the Sinulog Festival, is drawing close and there is a certain buzz in the island in anticipation of two festival main events – the Solemn Procession and Grand Parade. Since major Cebu City streets will be closed during these two activities and travel by vehicle difficult, a good option…