I know there will be no recipes to share in this post....but I've been meaning to blog the wonderful vacation John and I had last summer. It was actually the official honeymoon we never had. Yep! After 4 years of wedded bliss, it was only last May that we had a very relaxing vacation in the Queen City of the South....CEBU!!! Don't worry, there will be some photos of food taken during our tours. What would be a vacation without pigging out? :)

We arrived Cebu May 21 and went straight to John's bro's house in Lapu-lapu City, just a short taxi ride from Mactan International Airport. After taking lunch in a nearby small resto/cafe, we proceeded to Gaisano to look for a decent pair of sandals as my friend and classmate in high school Vincent Valentus invited us for dinner in Park Place Hotel.

Expectedly, we were not able to find something nice in Gaisano, except for a pack of batteries for our digicam. So we proceeded to ....where else??? SM....surely they got it all for us. hehehe.... On the way to SM, I was able to take a photo of the Marcelo Fernan bridge. I just can't help but take a picture of this cable-stayed bridge, even if having to take it on a hot afternoon from the top of a pedestrian overpass.




John bought a pair of slippers since he forgot to bring his, while I bought a pair of sandals as I only had my flip-flops. After buying some toiletries and listening to a guy playing very good music with the guitars he was selling, we had a short snack at McDo before we proceeded to Sto. Nino Shrine. Even on a Thursday afternoon, there were a lot of people in the churchyard, more so inside. We patiently lined up to the original image of the Sto. Nino, said our prayers and thanksgiving for having the opportunity to visit Cebu and pay homage to our dear Sto. Nino.





We toured the courtyard and of course took more pictures. Since it was only the two of us, we took turns taking each other's photos...too bad we did not have a picture together.









We still had time to spare before the 630pm dinner with Vincent. We stumbled into the market selling images of the Sto. Nino for souvenirs. After buying enough souvenirs for everyone, we proceeded to the nearby Cebu Cathedral after hearing the church bells ring. We were very fortunate to catch the mass and the traditional Flores de Mayo. I was so sorry I was not able to buy some flowers to offer to Mama Mary.





We took a cab going to Park Place Hotel and we passed the Cebu IT Park, which is so much like The Fort. Vincent treated us to buffet dinner at the hotel's restaurant. John and I are not really into buffet meals and so were so full with a just a little food we took. I enjoyed the maki, sushi and sashimi there, the salads and pastries, but of course! Too bad I was not able to take photos of the buffet table, only the pastries display



After dinner, Vincent toured us around town and we had a great laugh when he showed us that the Magellan's Cross is just very near Sto. Nino Shrine, which we missed earlier. I was surprised that the Magellan's Cross is not that big as seen on postcards. Since it was already closed, we were not able to get closer but it looked better in the pictures without so many people around it. .




Since it was past 9pm already, much as we would want to tour Cebu at night, we had to go home as the caretaker in John's brother's house is a mother with 2 young kids. My ever gracious friend Vincent offered us to stay in his townhouse because of this situation...knowing that we will always be constrained in arriving late at the house and we do not want the family to wait for us late at night.

And so Day 1 in Cebu City ends....Day 2 in the next post...

Labels: Cebu, Sto. Nino, vacation

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