Cebu in a Day
Trip Start
Dec 03, 2012
1
36
38
Trip End
Jan 09, 2013
Where I stayed
Cebu City, Cebu, Visayas, Philippines
Monday, January 7, 2013
The first thing I did in the late morning - taxi to Museo Sugbo. Surprising to me, not all Cebuanos understand English, well at least my taxi driver who didn't. There are only a few ways to pronounce Museum or Mu-Seo as the local spelt it. It became awkwardly hilarious when I had to fake a french accent in Mui Shom before he had a light bulb moment. Can any Cebuanos reading this enlighten me please?
Museo-Sugbo
Museo-Sugbo (a former provincial jail) may be small but is actually packed with alot of interesting historical displays and information. In fact one of the better museums I had visited amongst others in Southeast Asia. The interesting galleries included pre-colonial, Spanish colonial, American-era and WWII-era Cebu. I easily spent 2-4 hours waltzing through the rustic but captivating galleries. The deformed skull of a child from pre-colonial era, iron age era tools and the Japanese occupation of Philippines were some of the highlights.
The dramatic political history of this nation documented in this Museum also made a very strong impression. Did you know that the People Power Revolution by almost 2 million Filipinos in 1986 toppled a 20 year authoritarian regime? This non-violent revolution in the form of street demonstrations resisted against regime corruption, violence and electoral fraud to restore the country's democracy.
Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House
I had trouble telling another taxi driver my next destination - the National Monument, which in fact is pretty close to Museo-Sugbo. Luckily the guard at the museum stepped in to translate. If you are interested, National Monument is located in the barangay Pari-An. A massive statue structure depicting the founding of Cebu. Close by is the enigmatic Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House built in the 17th century, home to many beautiful antiqued furniture. The descendants till today still live in this house on the weekends. Interesting artifacts include time worn baby jesus statues and crucifixes. The interiors confess an old world charm so antique that I felt transported back in time. Both National Monument and Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House are not mentioned in Lonely Planet guide book, so go check them out!
Ayala Shopping Mall
The rest of the day was spent at Ayala Shopping Mall, ogling at spreads of pinoy dishes at the food court. I was rather surprised at the rich variety of local cuisine available in one spot as I imagine that they would be hard to track down if you are not a local. Diary time at Red Mango accompanied with a serve of the fabulous green tea yoghurt. So addictive. It was later I learnt that sampaguita may have lost my laundry. A mix up of rooms to laundry I hoped. My last set of clothes was already on me.
