Cebu (Cebu City), PH

With room to really stretch out, I had a fantastic sleep. Christina did not fare so well, and watched TV until three in the morning. We had a cultural city tour booked for mid-morning, so didn’t spend too long snoozing, but instead headed down to see how the included breakfast was. We’ve had breakfast included with a number of the different hostels and hotels at which we have stayed, but this one took the cake. Upon checking in, we had observed the tidy looking buffet rack, replete with shining silver dishes. This morning those same dishes held a breakfast feast! We had fried rice, chicken adobo, beans, bacon, pasta salad, fresh fruit, and all of it delicious. Only after my second plate did Christina notice an omlette station tucked away at one side of the affair. I’ll have to give that a run for our next breakfast. The food was excellent, the service was attentive and professional, and the price was included in our already low room rate.

After breakfast we introduced ourselves at the front desk for our tour, and after a blank look by the attendant – who dashed to the back for a quick phone call, then emerged to tell us that our car would be here shortly – we were off. Our driver took us first to the Taoist Temple, which lies in the hills that house a sort of upper class residential Chinatown. We took a lap around the temple, where we couldn’t take pictures of the actual shrines, but took lots of pictures of the other various structures that made up the grounds. For the most part, these were better looking than the shrines anyway, so I guess it’s just as well. During our descent from the hills Christina inquired about the best spot for a scenic dinner, should our driver have any suggestions. He recommended a spot in those very hills, which we would try for dinner in the evening.

In the meantime, our next destination was Magellan’s Cross. In a compact pagoda-style building, this site is the location of the original cross raised by Magellan in 1521. The cross we saw apparently encases the actual original cross, but I couldn’t confirm that from any of the literature around it. Just across Magellan’s Cross was the entrance to the Santo Niño Basilica, which holds the Philippines oldest religious relic, an image of the Santo Niño. There were many patrons filtering in and out, some lighting candles and bowing their heads in devotion and prayer.

Our next stop was Fort San Pedro, the Philippines’ oldest fort, which was built by the Spaniards when the first arrived. The courtyard was well maintained and throughout the fort were several species of flora and fauna that were meticulously planted. Christina and I had scaled some steps to see the view from the top of the walls. Across from the fort was the Plaza Independencia, which looked like it was undergoing some major construction. We were told later by our driver that they were building a tunnel that would run underneath.

Finally, our last stop was at the Museo Sugbo, which used to be a prison, but then was converted into a provincial museum. We had the good fortune of having an excellent tour guide, one of the guards, who took us through each of the exhibits and explained the museum items and historical significance to each. We weren’t allowed to take any photos inside of the galleries, but were very much entertained by our personal tour guide and probably would have forgotten to take photos anyways.

Unrelated to the galleries, but related to the structure, the guard had told us that this was the original prison where the Philippine inmates danced to Michael Jackson – the video is all over YouTube. They were later on moved to another prison, where apparently they still dance every 3rd Saturday of every month, and people could go to watch.

It was educational and interesting in getting to learn a little bit more about the Philippines. Later in the evening we did go to the restaurant that our driver recommended. The restaurant was simply called “Mr. A”, and was located in a community appropriately named The Tops, which lies far above the town proper, on top of one of the many hills around Cebu and has a magnificent view of the city below. Or so we’re told… Our view was mostly of rain and cloud, because as luck would have it, it was pouring rain when we arrived. As our dinner went on, the sky cleared and we were at least able to appreciate the city lights, but it would have been nice to get another killer sunset.