Mabolo

Mabolo church, a beautiful white painted iglesia which has been under renovation since I got here in Mabolo is a classical, neo-gothic architecture which reminds me of the Catholic churches that I saw in Singapore. This one have a beautiful bell tower, but it’s not as fortunate as the other ancient churches here in Cebu, it has [...]

Punta Engaño

Commuting from my place to Mactan takes about 45 minutes, that is without regular day traffic, which would surprise Manilenos because traffic here is incomparable to what we have in metro Manila, difference between night and day my friends. The destination is Punta Engaño, or simply Engaño, for the locals here. From the hi-way you [...]

Walking around Fuerza de Sn. Pedro

Fort  San Pedro is a miniature version of Intramuros. Well, it was never built to protect a settlement but to provide safe haven for the men who dared invade the often hostile native inhabitants. I can imagine the Kastilas running for cover here! The triangular shaped fortification is quite odd especially for a first time [...]

Pride of Mandaue

Prehispanic native tradition had an unwritten law, name places after shrubberies. Mandaue was named after a plant [Mantawi] said to have grown [or crawled] in abundance there. The Kastila who came, saw and conquered warped the indigenous name to fit their talking.
Mandaue is home to the finest wood furniture makers in the country, which explains [...]

Padre Cera’s Las Penas

I was looking at my old collection of photographs when I saw pictures of St. Josephs’s of Las Pinas that I took s  sometime in 2006 when I was looking for the old bridge that was built by the master builder of Las Pinas, the great Padre Diego Cera, creator of the iconic bamboo organ [...]

Matud Nila

When I was looking for a place to stay [I'm really on a super tight budget] I was looking for some inexpensive spaces,  I found many places that were old and neglected, many offer rooms that were  like dirty bomb shelters. I was hopping from one barrio to the other, unfamiliar with  urban Cebu, I [...]