Cebu, Philippines DAY 3 - City Tour

Cebu is wonderful for sea activities, but you must visit the city and its attractions. You'll learn a lot about its diverse background and colonial history.

On the streets you'll see small fruit markets where you can buy mangoes and mangosteens. These are the BEST fruits in the world :O Make sure you buy a bag or two and keep them in your hotel fridge ;)

Onomnomnomnom

Hmm, I don't think we tried a bottle of Filipino rhum while we stayed. :/

Lots of schools and public buildings still used Spanish and seemed heavily influenced by Christianity. (haha, those high school Spanish classes weren't useless)

We finally arrived at the famous Magellan Church where the Magellan's Cross is. 

A brief film of the Church - garden and hallway (It was very crowded)

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who reached Cebu in 1521 and was a big part of the Philippines' Christianization and Spanish colonization.

I wonder if the statue on the right is a depiction of a Filipino person during the colonization?

 The map of the Philippines - Magellan died in a battle with Lapu-Lapu, who was a ruler of the Mactan island. Apparently there were statues of Lapu-Lapu that I missed. He was one of the first native rulers to resist Spanish colonization.

Interesting painting. There was a sign saying the original Magellan's cross is encased inside the wooden cross. People believed that the original cross holds magical powers and they prayed and touched it to the point it was deteriorating.

Outside the church

Next, we go to the Beverly Hills of Cebu - it's where the rich Filipinos live, away from the poor area. It was a quiet neighborhood on the hills.

On top of the hills, there was a huge Taoist temple with lavish decorations. The architecture was interesting, a mixture of Chinese and tropical designs.

Photography of the inside was prohibited by the temple and all visitors had to be very quiet. I quickly turned my camera away from the temple because I didn't wanna get in trouble :P

On our way down the 99 steps

 I wish we had more time to visit places :) We'll definitely come back to the Philippines soon.

Dinner :)

I'll post more about the resort next time.

Cebu, Philippines DAY 2 - Scuba Diver's Paradise

This time, Ray and I went to a nearby island to see the emerald green sea. We had some time to do fishing on the boat and I taped the moment I caught a little fish!

Apparently Cebu and other Filipino islands are world-famous for snorkeling and scuba diving. I can see why  the water is so clean and there are so many kinds of fish you've never seen before.  Here's a video of us snorkeling and saying hello to the colorful tropical fish =)

A rainbow colored fish bit my finger at the end of the video... :O The tropical fish really like bread, huh. 

After that, Ray and I went scuba diving. We went really deep, maybe more than 30 m. The professional diver took us to a BIG cliff underwater and it was so magical, just looking down at the complete darkness. Also I saw & touched a lot of weird sea creatures! Weird and amazing at the same time. Maybe I'll learn scuba diving properly and get a license. :D

The ear pressure got pretty heavy, but it was okay as long as I blew my nose to balance the pressure. We look okay afterwards :)

After the day activities, we went out to the city again for a dinner show where local traditional dancers performed.

In the video, you can also see how the streets look like in Cebu. Lots of trees and farms.

These guys were very fancy - I think they are supposed to be kings and queens depicting an ancient story. They struck these wooden bars fast in a repeated motion and the dancers had to walk and jump over them as to not get hit. 

These guys are hilarious :D As you can see, they're wearing some kind of coconut shells that look like bras. The dancers would line up and hit each other's coconut on the butt, which click-clacked.

They invited all the children in the audience to the stage!

Next time I'll post about more activities in the city.

Cebu, Philippines DAY 1 - Plantation Bay

 Ray and I went to Cebu, Philippines to stay at a resort called Plantation Bay. It was absolutely amazing! If you like tropical islands, snorkeling, and scuba diving, it's one of the must-visit places in the world. ;)

Resort Lobby - you can exchange money at the counter.

This pianist accepts song requests so I asked him to play Over the Rainbow. Typical, I know :))

Play the video on the bottom of this post to listen!

Each house is spread about the area and you can make a shortcut by walking on those white paths. (Don't fall off - some of the pools are deep.)

The resort has a private beach where you can actually do a lot of activities like snorkeling, scuba diving, jet skiing and such. Call the front for information on fees and meeting times. 

 This is Ray, standing by the tropical tree :o)

 As you can see in the pictures, the resort is not crammed with visitors. The staff worked pretty often on the pools to keep them clean.

 If you stay at the resort, you can rent beach towels for free. Those kayaks below are for a fee, though.

 Very peaceful. Just bring San Miguel (local beer) and some dried coconut and mango :)))

 There's also a pool bar where you can order drinks.

 The resort has a cart service for visitors since some houses are far from the cafeterias. 

 Explore the resort for private pools and secret places!