The streets of Cebu

I looked out the window and noticed lightning as it tore the sky. It’s 7:30 PM and here we are stuck in traffic on our way to the hotel.

“Looks like traffic is following us.” My sister says jokingly.

I looked at her, smiled and said “Only in the Philippines”.

Then we both laugh and we heard the driver laughing with us. He then started asking “Are you from Manila?”

“Yes, po!” my sister answered eagerly.

“Is this your first time here?” The driver says.

And I responded, “Yes, kuya! It’s our first time here. We’ve heard a lot of good stories about the place and we would love to experience it ourselves.”

He looked at us through his rear view mirror and said, “Well Ma’am I hope you enjoy your stay here. Welcome to Cebu city!”

“Thank you po!” My sister and I responded in chorus.

Indeed traffic has already been part of our daily life. Despite the negative effect of traffic it is always nice to find the humor in it. In a way it also allows us to communicate and interact with strangers in an unexpected way.

That’s how our journey in Cebu Started. We arrived at our Hotel around 8:30 PM just left our bags and went out again. Luckily the rain has stopped just in time for us to appreciate Cebu at night.

Our first stop, Cordova’s 10,000 white rose’s café. This place has a romantic vibe.

The stars in the sky are nonexistent but this artificial white lights coming from the flowers glimmer and light up the night. I can feel the cool ocean breeze as it toss my hair back and forth; I can see how it moves the flowers like swaying lovers. Indeed, the place is very romantic. 

“Lantaw” a Floating Native Restaurant also located in Cordova Cebu adjacent to Cordova’s 10,000 white rose’s café. Lantaw which means “to lookout” really stands for its name for it is located on the shoreline of Cordova, overlooking the sea with an amazing view of the metro, good casual dining vibe and scrumptious traditional food with a twist, this restaurant is really a place to visit. All I have are praises for this restaurant.

 

The night was still young but we have to call it a wrap. Tomorrow is going to be an adventure.

Woke up 4:00AM still tired but I forced my sister to get ready. I plan to do this ala amazing race.

The plan is to visit 5 tourist spots in Cebu city and be at the Cebu north bus terminal by 10:00AM. Sounds easy right, fast and easy if you have your own service or rented a habal-habal for the tour. We opt to travel by foot with our map and backpack. We wanted to experience the streets of Cebu and that’s exactly what we are doing.

We left our hotel 5:30AM. We asked the hotel security guard for the fastest route to Cebu city and helpful enough he advised that we use the ferry to avoid the traffic. He then hailed a tricycle and instructed the driver to take us to the port. The ferry will be leaving 6:00AM and so we waited. It is indeed the fastest way to avoid the rush hour traffic. 

From Cebu City pier 3 we started exploring ala Dora the Explorer, with the help of google map. We then started walking from the pier 3 to Fort San Pedro and that took us 24 minutes.

Fuerte de San Pedro used to be a military defense structure during the Spanish Era but now it serves as a historical park. Only 2 minute from Fort San Pedro is the Statue of Antonio Pigafetta, located at the left side of Fort San Pedro in front the Cebu Post Office.

Our next location was Basilica De Sto. Niño, 11 minutes walk from the Statue of Antonio Pigafetta. The church which is also called as Santo Niño Basilica has been declared a National Historical Landmark in 1941.

3 minutes walk behind the Church is the famous Magellan’s cross. A popular and must-see landmarks on the island.

Then finally around 9:00AM we decided to look for a jeepney that will take us to Cebu North Bus Terminal, but looks like we are already lost. We’ve been asking passersby for directions. Then luckily we came to see another Church “The Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral” and decided to pay it a visit.

From there it took us about 30 minutes to finally find the jeepney that will take us to the bus terminal. We kept asking and everyone was so helpful. We opt not to use taxi or habal-habal just because we wanted to experience their own version of jeepney. Well the jeepneys in Cebu is a customized version of a bus or van that looks entirely different from the ones we have here in Manila and is definitely a must try.

 The amazing part of this journey is not only did we get to explore the tourist spots of Cebu but also we felt how friendly and helpful Cebuano’s are. There are times that even with the map on hand we still got lost so KUDOS to all tourist friendly citizen’s of Cebu; for as we brave the streets wandering and asking direction from one person to another, we felt their concern and warmth to help us find our way.