Fun time in Cebu!
Cebu City is a great place to visit. It's the oldest city in the Philippines, it has developed nicely with many wonderful new and award-winning resorts, with thriving businesses that serve the world market, yet it has maintained a rather laid-back, more relaxed way of life as compared to Manila.
Postcard pretty pic of Shangri-La's Mactan Resort & Spa in Cebu, Philippines. One look from the lobby and you'd understand why this is a multi-awarded Hotel.
One of the best ways to tour a city is to go with a friend who is a local. And we were so blessed that in the Cebu trip my wife and I took earlier this year, we were very warmly accommodated and toured around by a friend (and her family!) who grew up in and still maintains roots in Cebu. So before I tell you more about Cebu, let me encourage you to establish a good set of friends. If you are in a Christian, Bible-believing and Christ-following church, join a small group (or cell group or care group or discipleship group). This is a great way to grow spiritually, to minister to people, as well as be ministered to. If you're not part of a vibrant church, look for one! And if you're not yet born again, you've got a serious issue. Especially if you suddenly die! So get right with God first! Then go and plan that Cebu trip!!
Local Food.
As a Filipino, I've always enjoyed lechon and would look forward to this in big celebrations.
This lechon photo makes me hungry all over again! To the unfamiliar, just Google "Lechon!" and you'd see dozens more images of this fabulous pork dish.
Cebu is home to really good lechon with tender and tasty meat and crispy, mouth-watering skin. In Cebu, you eat lechon without any gravy sauce since the flavors are already captured in the meat. Optionally, it's also great with a mix of soy sauce, vinegar and crushed chili. In lechon restaurants, lechon is the only main course, and other dishes on the menu are like side orders. We enjoyed this so much we ate at Lechon restaurants three times! Ayer's Lechon was particularly sumptuous!
Fish and seafood at No Problem "sutukil" restaurant. Though the place is very low key, the fare are fresh and the cooking is good, and you can't beat the prices for relaxed, uncomplicated fish and seafood dining!
Scenes and view from No Problem seafood restaurant.
Barbecue Skewers at Dorting's. Since we were with Cebuanas, they shared that they discovered this small barbecue place just around the small winding road from the Shangri-La Hotel and Imperial Hotel, and have eaten there a number of times. The barbecue skewers were really good, and amazingly they cost just SGD 0.25 per piece!
The resto isn't open the whole day, but when they start cooking in the afternoon, which neighbors know when the aroma of barbecue blows in the air and the white smoke can be
seen, people start flocking in to buy and cars start stopping. So you know it's a good place to eat.
The rice is cooked in small bundles of woven coconut leaves called puso, which are only sliced open when served, making it more interesting.
It's easy to end up eating a lot of barbecue and puso.
Before long, the big bundle of barbecue is all cooked and sold out, and the shop closes again, still early in the evening.
Saang at Lantaw, shell seafood for the more adventurous.
Saang is like escargot with a more exotic shell.
You might be tempted to bring home the shell, but this is not allowed by the airport Customs, so just enjoy them on the dinner table. Lantaw restaurant is on top of a mountain with a good view of Metro Cebu and Mactan beach.
Of course Cebu has its share of beautiful hotels, resorts and malls, so if you prefer international cuisine and easy access restaurants, they are widely available.
Resort Hotels
Shangri-La's Mactan Resort & Spa in Cebu is easily the best overall resort hotel in Cebu. A drive into Shang and a view of their lobby will easily attest to this, plus add the renowned Shangri-La people and facilities standards within a Philippine service setting and you have a wonderful combination. But of course there is a whole range of hotels to suit your particular preferences and wishes.
A friendly greeter at the Shangri-La Mactan lobby displays festive colors of a traditional gala gown.
Plantation Bay Resort is a secluded tropical paradise within Cebu, a nice getaway place.
Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort & Spa , where we stayed, was pleasantly good!
Imperial Palace comes close to par with the Shangri-La in room, overall facilities and fitness center, though it is a notch down on the lobby and manicured greeneries.
It's plus is that it's the only resort in the area with a full sized Waterpark. Also, it's the access hotel to the Cebu Submarine.
The Cebu Submarine "take off" point is by the Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort & Spa, which was a surprisingly good hotel. The puffer fish was released unharmed after the photo.
Activities, great finds!
In Cebu, visit the famous Magellan's Cross.
Have a relaxing foot massage. Visit furniture shops which supply all the way to Europe and can easily ship to Manila. Note that if you are keen on a Cobonpue showroom, it's best to set an appointment.
One great find for me was the boutique Binibini by Janice Minor which is into fashion - clothes, bags, shoes, hats, jewelry, accessories, as well as home decor like large natural crystals, ammonite fossils and - what caught my eye- Philippine petrified wood!
The fashion boutique Binibini by Janice Minor had many curious and unique items .
I was previously unaware of Philippine petrified wood. These are fossilized trees, their wood having solidified into rock and crystal, and can be very beautiful.
Binibini had a sizable collection of specimens, from large ones converted to tabletops to small and handy ones easily transported.
The wood grain and shape of the trunk are well preserved, and the colors were in many shades. I quickly went about the shop seeking pieces I really liked, and purchased a couple for my home - prized finds indeed.
What's so interesting about petrified wood is their story. These tree fossils were previously believed to have taken millions of years to form and this is still common notion, however it has already been repeatedly demonstrated that wood petrification in the right conditions in nature, can start within a day and take only months!
Another curious fact is that upright fossil trees were actually used by Sir Charles Lyell to effectively question the Genesis Creation account, paving the way for Darwin to push his theory of biological uniformitarianism and eventually his theory of evolution.
The reality today however, is that after further investigation, these upright fossilized trees are strong evidence in favor of creation and raise staunch questions on the theory of evolution.
Poystrate fossils are upright fossilized trees that cut across several layers of rock that are supposedly millions of years old and millions of years apart! Think about it, how can a tree be fully covered by sediments that are supposedly laid down in layers only millimeters-thick at a time, spanning supposed millions of years? Why wouldn't the exposed part of a tree not simply die and if the roots already fossilized?! Rapid catastrophic burial is a more logical explanation. Check the highlighted links to read more technical explanations.
Very significantly, when Mount St. Helens erupted in the U.S. in 1980, it was one of the most extensively documented and studied volcanic eruptions in history. Among the many findings is that the violent eruption produced geologic features in one day that were previously thought to take millions of years, and formations of coal beds and upright petrified wood were seen at the nearby Spirit Lake in only 10 years!
Read more fascinating details in these great resources Footprints In The Ash and The Young Earth. The key point is that the evidence more closely fits the Biblical account of creation, and does not show good compatibility with the theory of evolution. Thus it is more sound, more logical, more compatible with observational science, more wise to believe the Bible on Genesis' account of Creation versus the debunked foundations of the theory of evolution. Then believing and accepting Genesis, we should study the rest of God's Word. Petrified wood is a great talking point, and so I made sure I have some at home.
We had a lovely time in Cebu with fun memories!
I hope visitors to Cebu will have a lovely time as well!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Cebu City is a great place to visit. It's the oldest city in the Philippines, it has developed nicely with many wonderful new and award-winning resorts, with thriving businesses that serve the world market, yet it has maintained a rather laid-back, more relaxed way of life as compared to Manila.
Postcard pretty pic of Shangri-La's Mactan Resort & Spa in Cebu, Philippines. One look from the lobby and you'd understand why this is a multi-awarded Hotel.
One of the best ways to tour a city is to go with a friend who is a local. And we were so blessed that in the Cebu trip my wife and I took earlier this year, we were very warmly accommodated and toured around by a friend (and her family!) who grew up in and still maintains roots in Cebu. So before I tell you more about Cebu, let me encourage you to establish a good set of friends. If you are in a Christian, Bible-believing and Christ-following church, join a small group (or cell group or care group or discipleship group). This is a great way to grow spiritually, to minister to people, as well as be ministered to. If you're not part of a vibrant church, look for one! And if you're not yet born again, you've got a serious issue. Especially if you suddenly die! So get right with God first! Then go and plan that Cebu trip!!
Local Food.
As a Filipino, I've always enjoyed lechon and would look forward to this in big celebrations.
This lechon photo makes me hungry all over again! To the unfamiliar, just Google "Lechon!" and you'd see dozens more images of this fabulous pork dish.
Cebu is home to really good lechon with tender and tasty meat and crispy, mouth-watering skin. In Cebu, you eat lechon without any gravy sauce since the flavors are already captured in the meat. Optionally, it's also great with a mix of soy sauce, vinegar and crushed chili. In lechon restaurants, lechon is the only main course, and other dishes on the menu are like side orders. We enjoyed this so much we ate at Lechon restaurants three times! Ayer's Lechon was particularly sumptuous!
Fish and seafood at No Problem "sutukil" restaurant. Though the place is very low key, the fare are fresh and the cooking is good, and you can't beat the prices for relaxed, uncomplicated fish and seafood dining!
Scenes and view from No Problem seafood restaurant.
Barbecue Skewers at Dorting's. Since we were with Cebuanas, they shared that they discovered this small barbecue place just around the small winding road from the Shangri-La Hotel and Imperial Hotel, and have eaten there a number of times. The barbecue skewers were really good, and amazingly they cost just SGD 0.25 per piece!
The resto isn't open the whole day, but when they start cooking in the afternoon, which neighbors know when the aroma of barbecue blows in the air and the white smoke can be
seen, people start flocking in to buy and cars start stopping. So you know it's a good place to eat.
The rice is cooked in small bundles of woven coconut leaves called puso, which are only sliced open when served, making it more interesting.
It's easy to end up eating a lot of barbecue and puso.
Before long, the big bundle of barbecue is all cooked and sold out, and the shop closes again, still early in the evening.
Saang at Lantaw, shell seafood for the more adventurous.
Saang is like escargot with a more exotic shell.
You might be tempted to bring home the shell, but this is not allowed by the airport Customs, so just enjoy them on the dinner table. Lantaw restaurant is on top of a mountain with a good view of Metro Cebu and Mactan beach.
Of course Cebu has its share of beautiful hotels, resorts and malls, so if you prefer international cuisine and easy access restaurants, they are widely available.
Resort Hotels
Shangri-La's Mactan Resort & Spa in Cebu is easily the best overall resort hotel in Cebu. A drive into Shang and a view of their lobby will easily attest to this, plus add the renowned Shangri-La people and facilities standards within a Philippine service setting and you have a wonderful combination. But of course there is a whole range of hotels to suit your particular preferences and wishes.
A friendly greeter at the Shangri-La Mactan lobby displays festive colors of a traditional gala gown.
Plantation Bay Resort is a secluded tropical paradise within Cebu, a nice getaway place.
Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort & Spa , where we stayed, was pleasantly good!
Imperial Palace comes close to par with the Shangri-La in room, overall facilities and fitness center, though it is a notch down on the lobby and manicured greeneries.
It's plus is that it's the only resort in the area with a full sized Waterpark. Also, it's the access hotel to the Cebu Submarine.
The Cebu Submarine "take off" point is by the Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort & Spa, which was a surprisingly good hotel. The puffer fish was released unharmed after the photo.
Activities, great finds!
In Cebu, visit the famous Magellan's Cross.
Have a relaxing foot massage. Visit furniture shops which supply all the way to Europe and can easily ship to Manila. Note that if you are keen on a Cobonpue showroom, it's best to set an appointment.
One great find for me was the boutique Binibini by Janice Minor which is into fashion - clothes, bags, shoes, hats, jewelry, accessories, as well as home decor like large natural crystals, ammonite fossils and - what caught my eye- Philippine petrified wood!
The fashion boutique Binibini by Janice Minor had many curious and unique items .
I was previously unaware of Philippine petrified wood. These are fossilized trees, their wood having solidified into rock and crystal, and can be very beautiful.
Binibini had a sizable collection of specimens, from large ones converted to tabletops to small and handy ones easily transported.
The wood grain and shape of the trunk are well preserved, and the colors were in many shades. I quickly went about the shop seeking pieces I really liked, and purchased a couple for my home - prized finds indeed.
What's so interesting about petrified wood is their story. These tree fossils were previously believed to have taken millions of years to form and this is still common notion, however it has already been repeatedly demonstrated that wood petrification in the right conditions in nature, can start within a day and take only months!
Another curious fact is that upright fossil trees were actually used by Sir Charles Lyell to effectively question the Genesis Creation account, paving the way for Darwin to push his theory of biological uniformitarianism and eventually his theory of evolution.
The reality today however, is that after further investigation, these upright fossilized trees are strong evidence in favor of creation and raise staunch questions on the theory of evolution.
Poystrate fossils are upright fossilized trees that cut across several layers of rock that are supposedly millions of years old and millions of years apart! Think about it, how can a tree be fully covered by sediments that are supposedly laid down in layers only millimeters-thick at a time, spanning supposed millions of years? Why wouldn't the exposed part of a tree not simply die and if the roots already fossilized?! Rapid catastrophic burial is a more logical explanation. Check the highlighted links to read more technical explanations.
Very significantly, when Mount St. Helens erupted in the U.S. in 1980, it was one of the most extensively documented and studied volcanic eruptions in history. Among the many findings is that the violent eruption produced geologic features in one day that were previously thought to take millions of years, and formations of coal beds and upright petrified wood were seen at the nearby Spirit Lake in only 10 years!
Read more fascinating details in these great resources Footprints In The Ash and The Young Earth. The key point is that the evidence more closely fits the Biblical account of creation, and does not show good compatibility with the theory of evolution. Thus it is more sound, more logical, more compatible with observational science, more wise to believe the Bible on Genesis' account of Creation versus the debunked foundations of the theory of evolution. Then believing and accepting Genesis, we should study the rest of God's Word. Petrified wood is a great talking point, and so I made sure I have some at home.
We had a lovely time in Cebu with fun memories!
I hope visitors to Cebu will have a lovely time as well!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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