Finally! I can cross Cebu in my "to-go" list... haha... Target places to see: Marian Hills in Simala, Magellan's Cross, Basilica del Santo Nino, Fort San Pedro and Taoist Temple...
To start the day, we got up around 4AM and got ready for the long day ahead... To get to the Marian Hills, we took the bus from the South Terminal... The aircon bus costs Php70.00 for the supposedly 2 hours ride.
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| Airconditioned bus to and from Simala |
We left the terminal at around 5:40AM and arrived at Simala at exactly 7:00AM where we were greeted by lots of habal-habal and tricycle drivers... We decided to take the habal-habal for experience at a cost of Php20.00 each... Kuya Philip was our driver... We arrived at the gate of the hill around 7:20AM... The gate is opened at 8:00AM so we had to wait... But from the outside, we can already see how big the place is... It looks like a castle... super amazing...
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| The castle-like shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary |
When the gates were opened, we hurried inside and saw this huge statue of Mamy Mary facing the Marian Hill... to get to the church, we could walk up the stairs or we could use the ramp to the back of the church which was easier... Inside the church, we prayed for awhile before going at the back part where we saw lots of cabinets filled with thanksgiving letter and testimonies...
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| One of the many cabinets filled with testimonies and thanks giving |
At the second floor, there were all types of Marian images... they even have the Japanese and Korean version of Mama Mary... the whole experience was great... we had goose-bumps the whole time....
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| Museum at the back of the shrine |
When we were done, Kuya Philip was at the gate waiting for us... We asked what other attractions were nearby and he suggested the restaurant in the middle of the sea and agreed to take us there... when we got there, we were amazed to see this restaurant in the middle of the super clean sea... we had fun walking through the bamboo bridge just to get to the restaurant... since we don't plan to eating there, they charged us Php5.00 each as a fee... We were able to see the fishes they have... not much though... but the view from there was nice... loving Mother Nature...
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| Restaurant in the middle of the sea |
To get back to Cebu City, Kuya Philip dropped us off at the highway where we rode a bus back to the city... From the south terminal, we rode a jeepney and got off at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral...
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| Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral |
From there, we walked a few meters to the famous Basilica del Sto. Nino... I admire the beauty of this place...
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| Inside Basilica del Sto. Nino |
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| Basilica del Sto. Nino |
Beside the basilica is the Magellan's Cross... when we got there, i was like "This is it?"... It was a big disappointment... oh well...
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| Magellan's Cross |
From here, we walked a few blocks to get to Fort San Pedro... after taking pictures, we rode a jeep to Tabaon Market to buy some dried fish...
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| Fort San Pedro |
Then we rode a jeep going to Lahug... the smell of dried fish from the Tabaon market was stuck to us.. hahaha... we dropped off at the Sudlon and rode a habal-habal till we reached the gates of Beverly Hills Subdivision... since the habal-habal is not allowed to enter the gate, we had to walk till we reach the Taoist Temple... the place is similar to the Bell Church in Baguio... but this place is bigger... the worship area is not like the one in Baguio that has pews... Instead, the place was filled with the kneelers... they also have more wooden blocks... But the statues of gods in the Bell Church are bigger than those in Cebu... after praying, we went to the tope of the temple where we got a glimpse of Cebu... it was a nice view... before leaving the temple, we made a wish at the wishing well...
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| We were greeted by this dragon upon entering the area |
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| The main building |
We rode a taxi to Ayala Center where we bought some items and rode a jeep back to the dorm... since we were hungry, we decided to eat at the Thai restaurant just near the dorm... The food was great and affordable... After eating, we passed by a shop selling gelato and couldn't resist the temptation... haha... after satisfying ourselves with the gelato, we went back to the dorm to get prepare for our flight back to manila... Mission accomplished!
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