Magellan's Cross is housed in a chapel just next to Sto. Niño Church. It is believed that it was planted by Portuguese and Spanish Explorers ordered by Ferdinand Magellan when they arrived in Cebu on April 1521.
Chapel that is housing the Cross
It said that the original cross is encased to that wooden cross to protect it . It is also believed that the Cross is miraculous.
The ceiling of the chapel where you can see the paintings that depicts the Cebu History
Third destination. Fort San Pedro
It is located 3 blocks from Magellan's Cross. It is the smallest, oldest triangular bastion fort in the country that was built in 1738. This served as the nucleus of the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.
the entrance
behind the entrance is this
fourteen cannons were mounted here which most of it are still there
shot from the other side of the triangle, imagine how small is the fort
This is the end of their City tour, tired and feel dirty due to the sweat all day. We decided to go home and get some rest and a bath before dinner. And the awaited last activity in Cebu, the Crown Regency Adventure! :)
All are set and ready to get sunburned in Virgin Island. We arranged the rent of our boat with our resort. We paid P1,200 for the whole day use and we gave a tip of P200. Our boatmen also did the marketing for our lunch and they just cooked it in the Island.
The Virgin Island (Sillion Island ) from afar. The rights of this Island are owned by a political family in Madridejos Town
Another things that should never be missed when in this small Island is the sunrise and the walk to their long stretch of white sand. But as much as I wanted them to witness the sunrise as I need in my first time to this place, they were all tightly tucked in into their bed.
the beautiful sunrise, i got this shot for them
It was really time to get up now, we still have to explore the Virgin Island of Bantayan. We had our breakfast there before we did our morning walk. We hired a tricycle to bring us to Sta Fe Beach Club Resort.
Their last day in Cebu. After a short rest at home, we took them first to the best lechon resto in town. Before we start our City Tour at least they are energized again and ready to beat the summer heat of Cebu outside.
After the Gang's lunch, picture taking and a quick dip in our Resorts, they are ready and off to explore the 3 municipalities of this small Island of Bantayan.
First stop, Octong Cave. Octong Cave is actually inside Sta Fe Beach Club resort just 10 minutes motorcycle ride from Budyong beach resort. You have to pay P100 pesos per head for entrance. The Resort accommodation price is a bit high than those resorts located at the prime part of the Island.
The resort is situated on a natural rock overlooking the sea and the long stretch of Sta Fe beautiful beaches.
entrance of the resort
You can feel the tranquil atmosphere inside because of the sea breeze plus the resorts well maintained garden every corner.
the swimming pool and the green inside of the resort
and this is the Ogtong Cave. you can actually swim in this small cave.
Second stop, Bantayan proper. Here is where you can see the oldest church in the Philippines. Saints Peter and Paul Parish Church is a 5 centuries old church. It is considered being the first and oldest constructed church in Cebu. It was founded on June 11, 1580.
Saints Peter and Paul Parish Church
Third stop, Kota Park in Madridejos. This is where you can witness the perfect sunset of Bantayan Island. Too bad that they were not able to wait for Mr. Sun to set and they left the place with some but also nice photos of the place.
the gang
Kota Park is an old Spanish Fort that was transformed into a Park. One of the highlight in the place is the Bontay Baywalk, a 187-meter footbridge connecting the shores of the island to the lighthouse.
Kota Park Bridge
They were back in our resort at blue hour. After a short rest, we headed to Sta Fe proper to find a place to dine. We had our dinner in some bbq house along the road. We again after our dinner and before going to bed had a short dip in the beach. We ended our day in the Island at 9pm already. Have to sleep early for the island hopping the next day
We are staying for 2 nights 3 days in the Island. We booked at Budyong Beach Resort. It offers a cottage type accommodation. They got an aircon and non-aircon cottages. The resort is situated right on the middle of Bantayan's Beaches.
by the entrance of the resort
After checking in, everybody did not wasted a time to take picture even just before changing. We chose to get the beachfront so we can enjoy the scenery at any time from our position. There were still few people at the time we arrived. Maybe still sleeping?
this is our air-conditioned cottage and we love this hammock
our beachfront look at that beautiful sandbar
few more clicks and a quick dip and then time for lunch!
While we were in the beach, a man selling seafoods offered us his goods and told us that it is alright to ask the resort to cook it for us. So we just bought some fish, crabs and a squids then ask the resort to cook it for us. Bantayan Island first treat for us. We just had a super fresh and delicious lunch on our first day.
lunch at the resort restaurant
After were done with our lunch. They chill for a bit and hit the beach again. Did some photos and prepare for their Island Tour. But before that they visited first Ogtong Cave which is also in Sta. Fe. By the way, Bantayan Island have only 3 municipalities. Sta Fe, Bantayan and Madridejos. Look at this Island Map. .
this was their mission in their 1st afternoon in the Island. explore it by only riding a motorcycle.
Last destination of the day before dinner. TOP or TOPS is one of the tourist here in Cebu. It is located in Busay. It is just about 30 mins drive from IT Park. It is about 2000 above sea level so from there you can see the whole City of Cebu. It was just in time for sunset (though good sunset cannot be seen here) and they still got the chance to see the city in daylight from the top. Stayed there for 30 minutes I think. Just took some snap shots and had a short snack while we enjoy the cold wind.
Here are some photos taken at the place.
After Top, we went to Larsian Fuente Osmena for dinner. Larsian this is where the best place for bbq and puso (hanging rice) in town. Everyone super enjoyed the dinner.
enjoyed their first larsian experience where they only used hands only covered with plastic :)
Second destination of their first day in Cebu.
It was also my first time coming here. A one hour and a half drive from the city proper. It’s a mountainous region, Balamban north of Cebu. I can tell the place to be the Little Baguio of Cebu as the weather and road is somewhat similar to Baguio.
The mountain resort sits on a 15-hectare property that commands a panoramic view of the Cebu, Balamban and Toledo hillsides. But the resort looked like it didn't maintained and managed for a long time now. The pool is dried up and the cottages seem to be a bit unstable now. But then, we still enjoyed the place for picture taking. The scenery and the cold wind up there was still amazing. Just hope that, the owner will take time and money to maintain and improve the place again. It will be nice to have this place here in Cebu to escape the super hot climate of Cebu.
Trivia:
It was then started as a private rest house by the owner Johnny delos Reyes who was also the developer. Johnny delos Reyes is a multi-awarded inventor, high school graduate and a former watch repairman. He was awarded Inventor of the Year by the Filipino Inventor’s Society in 1980 and is a Presidential Awardee for inventing a carburetor for cars and tricycle that runs on gas (LPG). Another popular creation of his is the Canker Sore Drops, a popular remedy for singaw or loas.
My first day as a tourist guide began. From airport diretso kami sa Plantation Bay for breakfast (my second time here).
Plantation Bay one of the top 25 resorts in Asia according to Condé Nast Traveler November 2008. Ranked 16th that beat higher-scoring resorts in Asia like Four Seasons, Oberoi Vanyavillas, Banyan Tree Lijiang, and Marriott Phuket.
It was a Mexican buffet for the day. Di ko alam kung hindi nila type ang food or mas natatalo sila ng antok. Kung pwede lang matulog ng sabay habang kumakain eh ginawa na nila. hahaha. Inspite of, tignan nyo naman ang mga pictures hind halata diba? :D
I guess they all had a great time touring around and taking photos inside the resort. A nice start for a four days vacation here in Cebu. ^-^
The 11.4 hectares resort and its artificial lagoons white-sand is not a real beach sand. It is made out of mountain stone quarried and crushed into fine grains so unlike real beach sand it is always cool to the touch, even under direct sun.
another saturday lakwatsa...
napadpad kami sa crocolandia..
a small croc park here in cebu.
my rascals had a good time running around and enjoyed fish-seeing..:D
tired from swimming in Moalboal, naghihilik na ata ako sa pagkakatulog when anthony woke me up and asked me to changed. alis daw kami at magkape sayang daw and rented car namin dapat masulit.hehe
on the road looking for a coffee shop, naisip niya dumiretso sa Tops Skyline Garden. it is also one of the tourists spot here in Cebu, a 10.5 kilometers from town and 2000 feet above sea level where you can view the whole Cebu City. we came here daytime with our rascals on our first visit before we finally settled here. after then anthony and i talked about coming here at night and have some beer. the 24 hours garden is equivalently beautiful at nighttime only it is more colder and windy. yun ang trip ni anthony, sobra lamig! bigla tuloy namin naalala ang mga times with kaberks! drive all the way to Tagaytay just to have coffee, kapag craving for bulalo or Carlo's pizza at kagustuhan ni anthony magpalamig. we had tried it also several times in antipolo, going out at the middle of the night or pag ndi na niya ako magising sa pagkakatulog eh magtripping lang yan mag-isa sa labas ng bahay. adik sa lamig!lol
so here imagine me naninigas at nanginginig sa lamig while anthony eh enjoy na enjoy. eto some of pics we've taken and very true that the beer is perfect in this place at night!:D
while the rascals were too busy at the beach daddy and mommy sneaked out for some trekking to the next town. we drove 45 minutes to Badian where Kawasan Falls is located. this is a not to be missed place when you are going to Moalboal for swimming. Para masulit ang long hours drive.
we trekked about 20 minutes to reached the falls. it would have been nice to have experienced under it but we should hurried back to the beach before Owen start to look for us. among the not so many falls we went before, this one is the most developed i think to the point of having all this foreign owned huts and cottages just meters away from the falls. mind that you can go overnight here since electricity in this area also is not a problem at all. the place is actually open 24 hours. trekking at night is not also a problem because there are also available postlights on the way there.
In fact, we booked with CebuPac scheduled this coming weekend for a two way airticket to Puerto Prinsesa since September 9. I was able to chance upon their promo and since Anthony and I haven't talked about where to go on our wedding anniversary this year, the promo were so inviting that I didn’t able to resist booking right away. I was dreaming of the island already and I am living on it for quite sometime now and waiting to set my foot this coming weekend when Anthony texted me that we might not be able to go since he has visitors/clients coming on the very same date of our trip. But still we waited until last week when it was confirmed before we cancelled our flight. Rebooking is a no way since the fare will jump up to triple of our original fare plus the rebooking charges, yay! No, thanks! We settled on a half price refund! lol
And now, we are going to Bantayan Island!
Bantayan Island Nov. 15-17 Itinerary:
Nov. 15
3:30am leave home to Ceres North Bus Terminal
4:00am leave Cebu City to Hagnaya Port
8:30am Hagnaya Port to Bantayan Island
9:30am check-in Sta Fe Beach Club
11:00am go to Bantayan Island Town Proper
12:00nn lunch
1:30pm buy groceries
2:00pm Kota Park, Madridejos – watch sunset
6:30pm back to Sta Fe
7:30pm dinner
Nov. 16
5:00am wake-up (wait for the sunrise)
7:00am breakfast
8:00am explore the whole stretch of Bantayan Island Beaches
10:30am Ogtong Cave
11:00am pool swim
12:00nn lunch
1:00pm back to the beach stretch
1:30pm island hopping-snorkling
4:00pm back to the Bantayan island
4:00pm – onwards FREE
Nov 17
5:00am wait second day sunrise and have a short swim on a last day
7:00am breakfast
8:30am back to Hagnaya Port – going back to Cebu City
And this will be my husband and I weekend get-away!:D
"usually writers are voracious readers themselves" I believe it so and that makes me a frustrated writer as well.
I'd like to be a writer in as much as I wanted to be a voracious reader. I am a blogger but not certainly a writer I hope I am. I couldn't and it is a shame to call me writer because I am so way way far near being one.
I like to read but I can't stand to read. Ang labo ba!? When I read I start to see the images in my head at some point that I stop seeing the word. From seeing double and end up going to the world of lovelandia.*lol* Facile way to treat my insomnia when I really wanted to get into bed. Any book will help me sleeps. So I doubt if any fiction novels can fixate me. I have this shelf of different novels like complete set of Harry Potter, Tolkien stories, some of Dan Browns, of Mitchy Albomns and others that I grab from booksale authored by I don’t know, bought it because the title caught my attention but that just it.
Writing. I was in elementary when I started making journals and during that time I literally start each entry with “Dear Diary” and talk to it as if it was a person that can hear, react, cry and laugh to what I am saying. When I was in highschool I even make some short love stories. In college, I kept numerous organizers/diary notebooks. And now I am a blogger. Who would have thought that such title would exist in the future huh? All this was to no avail; I remain a hapless wannabe writer.:D
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