Hot, busy, fun day...
Trip Start
Oct 31, 2011
1
90
137
Trip End
Mar 16, 2012
Where I stayed
What I did
A Hernando de Magallanes
Beverly Hills in Cebu City
Top
Guitar Masters
Taoist Temple
Lapu Lapu, Visayas, Philippines
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Today was a full day of sightseeing in both Lapu Lapu City and Cebu City. We hired a driver to take us around, we have started doing this and enjoy having our own driver and it is usually cheaper than the tours. Essentially all the cab drivers seem to be tour guides as well, so they take us around to all the places the tours go to.
Our first stop was A Hernando de Magallanes, this was a monument to commemorate Lapulapu and his men, for having repelled the Spanish Invaders and killing their leader Ferdinand Magellan on April 27, 1521. Lapulapu became the first Filipino to have repelled European aggression.
We then went to see Magellan's cross, the large cross is made of Tindalo wood, and it encases the original cross planted by Ferdinand Magellan at that very site on April 21, 1521. At this same location, we visited the Church and Convent of Santo Nino (Basilica del Santo Nino), it is one of the oldest Roman Catholic churches in Cebu.
Next stop Fort San Pedro, it is the first and oldest military fort erected in 1565, it is the nucleus of the first Spanish settlement. The fort is quite surprisingly in good shape, most of the wall is intact, and canyons are still in place at the top of the wall. Excavation was done within the walls of the fort, and they found evidence of the existence of a pre-colonial settlement in the area dating back as far as 1000AD.
We then went to Beverly Hills of Cebu City, this area is the only high end suddivision in Cebu, it is Chinese people who live in this area, and at the centre there is a large beautiful Taoist temple.
Our driver than suggested we drive up a hill, to see great city views, so of course we said sure. This was not a hill, it was a mountain, we just kept going up and up, at some points I really doubted the car would make it, I started to think this would be a bad cartoon with the four of us pushing the car up the hill as he called it. At the top, we were 2300 feet above sea level, when we got to the top I asked what this place was called, can you guess? You are right it is called "Top", anyhow it is beautiful, you can see all of Cebu City and Mactan Island, and we could see our hotel in Lapulapu City. The views were incredible and Zandrea said it best when she pointed out that the trees lining the mountain all looked like broccoli heads.
On our way down from ``Top``, we stopped to do some zip lining, well they all did some zip lining and I kept both feet firmly planted on the ground with the camera. I have decided I am done trying to be a hero, I am just plain scared of that crap, and I am not missing out, I tried it, and I am done! Alan and Mikkel decided to do the superman style, with their harness attached at the center of their back, so they could fly with their arms and feet out. Alan said it was really cool because it was the first time he had ever gone superman style, and to boot it was only $5.00 per person for three zip lines. Zandrea also went on the zip line, but she did it the normal way, sitting down in your harness, she said it was a lot of fun.
On our way back down the mountain, there was tons of people in the streets, it was hard to get through by car, as it turns out the last Sunday in January, all Roman Catholic Chapels in Cebu celebrate Fiesta day of Santo Nino. I was happy we drove through this, it is like a huge parade, with music, drumming, dancing and people dressed in beautiful garments of vivid colors.
Our last stop was at Guitar Masters, one of the things Cebu is known for is their hand crafted guitars, so we had to check this out. We went in and Alan tried out some guitars, he has been itching to play, so I was pretty sure we were going to walk out with a guitar. He bought a ¾ size acoustic guitar, that apparently plays quite well for the $75.00 he paid for it including case and extra strings, in fact he even managed to get the guy who built it to throw in his pick.
We got back to the hotel at around 7:30pm, Alan and Zandrea went for a swim, and I went running, we had a late supper and just relaxing for the night. We are leaving with our driver early in the morning to do some more exploring!
Goodnight!
