Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino

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Date Taken: December 28, 2011
Location: Lahug, Cebu City, Philippines

Cebu Taoist Temple and Its Dragons

Sitting on top of the Beverly Hills Subdivision in Cebu City is Cebu Taoist Temple,  a well-known tourist stop-off and religious spot among worshippers of Taoism.

During my most recent excursion, I was able to go back there and take cool pictures. Though I’ve visited the place five times, I still couldn’t help myself but be attracted with its beauty and grandeur. I also got fascinated with the many dragon statues placed in various portions of the temple.

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Date Taken: December 28, 2011
Location: Cebu Taoist Temple, Cebu City, Philippines

A Taoist Structure

This is one of the noticeable structures inside the temple. Here you can throw a coin and make a wish. I can’t personally consider it as a wishing well as it doesn’t look like one…Kinda like a wishing pond. But never mind ‘cause it’s beautiful in its way. Now can you read the Chinese characters on the pillar?

Stations of the Cross at Celestial Gardens, Cebu City

This year, I am proud to say I justifiably observed Good Friday as I managed to participate in the “Stations of the Cross” (also known as “Via Crucis” or “Way of the Cross”), a Catholic practice remembering the Passion of Jesus Christ.

My legs (plus my faith) really did their best as I walked, together with my friends, from the first up to the last fourteenth station. The trek was not that easy because aside from the scorching weather, the place, which is officially called Celestial Gardens, was situated on some limestone hills in uptown Cebu City. Most locals though are familiar of it with the name “Good Shepherd” (originated from the religious congregation “Good Shepherd Sisters” which is based in the said area as well).

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Date Taken: April 6, 2012
Location: Celestial Gardens, Cebu City, Philippines

The Gateway to Celestial Gardens

This is where we began our journey…Well, not really because we walked a kilometer or two prior to reaching this landmark (LOL). Celestial Gardens actually serves as a memorial park; or without the euphemism, a cemetery…a beautiful one. As engraved on the top portion of the gateway, the place is owned and managed by Tanchan Foundation, Inc.

Red Horse Beer in 3 Different Orientations

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Date Taken: March 16, 2012
Location: Town plaza of the City of Naga (Cebu), Philippines

Piattos Packing Turned Bowl Substitute

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Date Taken: March 16, 2012
Location: Town plaza of the City of Naga (Cebu), Philippines

All About Goat Raising

Aside from swine, poultry and cattle, goats are also considered a chief livestock in the agriculturally dependent nation of the Philippines. Goats are raised mainly for their meat and milk. Filipino dishes such as kaldereta and kare-kare employ goat’s meat as a main ingredient.

Lately, I got to observe a goat pen owned by a certain Cebuano family man. He’s not really a farmer by profession but does raise some goats as sideline business. This is how it looks like.

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Date Taken: March 11, 2012
Location: Sangat, San Fernando, Cebu, Philippines

Goat Pen

His goat pen is basically made of indigenous and recyclable materials like bamboo, coconut wood and used tin roofing. Albeit being simple and small, it in fact serves its purpose (big time) as it houses around 10 goats of various sizes. The pen is guarded 24/7 by a dog.

Bitch Dog (Shocked with Legs Wide Open)

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Date Taken: March 11, 2012
Location: Sangat, San Fernando, Cebu, Philippines

Inside Metro Market (City of Naga, Cebu)

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Date Taken: October 23, 2011
Location: Metro Market, City of Naga, Philippines

Theotokos Diocesan Shrine

Located on top of a sanctified hill in Barangay Perrelos, Carcar City, Theotokos Diocesan Shrine is one of the many religious Roman Catholic sites in Cebu province. Just like its more famous counterpart, the Monastery of the Holy Eucharist in Simala, Sibonga, the shrine is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and serves as a Marian pilgrim site.

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Date Taken: October 23, 2011
Location: Theotokos Diocesan Shrine, Perrelos, Carcar City, Philippines

The Towering Sign

Once you manage to climb up the hill and reach the main gate, you will be seeing this pillar-like structure bearing the shrine’s name and logo. Now, try to look at it without raising your head up. :)

Dark Red Bougainvillea

The bougainvillea is considered one of the most familiar ornamental plants in the Philippines. When I was young, I could get to see this plant almost everywhere…from our garden, to our neighbor’s front yard, then to our school’s porch. It seemed at one point, this easy-to-propagate shrub had been a gardener’s favorite.

Bougainvilleas come in many colors, with dark red ones being the most common (I think). As I was paying a visit at a shrine last October, I was able to observe some of them and take pictures at close range.

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Date Taken: October 23, 2011
Location: Theotokos Diocesan Shrine, Carcar City, Philippines

Dark Red Bougainvillea

Here’s a close-up pic of a dark red bougainvillea. Just in case you don’t know, the dark red parts are botanically not classified as flowers but bracts. Bracts are modified leaves that surround the plant’s real flower. In the case of bougainvilleas, the real flower is situated in the middle of the bracts and is tiny and yellow.

In and Around Carcar City Plaza

Towns and cities in the Philippines typically have plazas that are, more or less, surrounded by interesting and significant edifices. And among these cities, The Heritage City of Carcar in Cebu island is no exception.

The town plaza of Carcar is enclosed mainly of historical, governmental and educational establishments; most famous of which is the church of St. Catherine of Alexandria.

Nonetheless, this post is meant to put the spotlight over those nearby places that are not quite well-noticed. Moreover, this will put emphasis on the fascinating and not so fascinating (it all depends on you) stuff that you may see once you get to pay a visit there.

It begins here. :))

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Date Taken: October 23, 2011
Location: Carcar City town plaza, Carcar City, Philippines

The Plaza Portal

The way to Carcar’s town plaza is a bit pitched, but all types of vehicles, as well as your feet, can manage passing through it effortlessly. :)

St. Catherine of Alexandria Church, Carcar

Along with Carcar Rotunda, the parish church of St. Catherine of Alexandria is one of Carcar City’s two most visited historical landmarks. The church is located at the city’s main plaza, wherein the city hall, gymnasium, museum and some leading schools of Carcar are also found. It is one of the oldest churches in Cebu province.

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Date Taken: October 23, 2011
Location: St. Catherine of Alexandria Church, Carcar City, Philippines

St. Catherine of Alexandria Church

This is the picturesque beauty of the church one sunny afternoon. The design certainly depicts the period when it was built, which was during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. The said period lasted for 333 years, ending in 1898.

Waiting for the Big Afternoon Event

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Date Taken: October 23, 2011
Location: Carcar City town plaza, Carcar City, Philippines

Naga’s Pride: Siomai

If you get to visit the City of Naga in Cebu province, don’t you dare leave without tasting the city’s most celebrated foodstuff: siomai.

Siomai is actually the localized version of a Chinese food known in Japan as shūmai. The city of Naga, on the other hand, is not the first place to promote siomai on a large scale. Tisa, a village in Cebu City wherein a famous siomai entrepreneur once lived, was considered as the place where the siomai craze initially kicked off.

To indulge yourself in this meaty dumpling, just go to the Naga’s seaside plaza and look for stores offering it. Two of the most renowned siomai stores there are JB Siomai and Flor’s Siomai which, are adjacently situated just at the entrance of the plaza.

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Date Taken: October 23, 2011
Location: JB Siomai, town plaza of the City of Naga, Philippines

Siomai with Hot Sauce

Siomai is best dipped in its special hot sauce. The hot sauce is made of certain spices, which I’m still about to find out (LOL!). This is then mixed with soy sauce and calamansi extract to further enhance the flavor.

Naga Seawall at Night

The seawall at the town plaza of Naga (not to be mistaken with Naga City in Camarines Sur) is perhaps the most familiar feature of the city. Fronting Cebu Strait, the place is mistakenly called the “baywalk”, probably due to its resemblance with the more famous Manila Baywalk in Luzon.

The seawall is popular among locals who seek some time to unwind in an inexpensive way. Most of the visitors come during late afternoon when the sun is at its low. After each mass at the nearby Saint Francis of Assisi Church, mass goers also flock the place usually after a hearty meal featuring Naga’s popular food: siomai.

Above all, the seawall is a chief nighttime destination for families, friends, lovers and the lonely. :D

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Date Taken: October 23, 2011
Location: Seawall at the town plaza of the City of Naga, Philippines

Seaside Scene

This is how the walled seaside of Naga looks like during nighttime. Aside from the beautiful by-the-sea scenery of moored ships and streetlights of adjacent towns, colorful lamp posts along the seawall are also fun to watch.

Dumaguete City Seaside

Found at the southern tip of Negros Island, Dumaguete City serves as the provincial capital of Negros Oriental as well as one of the chief port cities in the Visayas, being linked by sea routes to nearby provinces like Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor and Zamboanga del Norte.

Last week, I went there, but not according to plan. I was actually going to Siquijor from Cebu City, but the fast craft that I was supposed to ride in cancelled its trip due to heavy waves. And with that, there I found myself in Dumaguete, taking the only chance I had to reach my destination.

Unfortunately, the last boat bound for Siquijor that day had already departed by the time I arrived in Dumaguete. And so, I had no choice but to stop off and spend the night in the city, and wait for tomorrow for the next earliest trip.

Though it was evening when I came, I somehow managed to find time to roam around the city and look at some interesting sights. The first that I checked out was the city’s wall-protected seaside.

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Date Taken: February 9, 2011
Location: Seaside of Dumaguete City, Philippines

The Moon, the Sea and the Seaport

It was a moonlit night then, and this was the scene from the sea wall near Dumaguete’s main seaport. The weather slowly shifted from fair to so-so as dark clouds started to drift by and waves forcefully hit the embankment.

Carcar Rotunda

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Date Taken: October 23, 2011
Location: Carcar Rotunda, Carcar City, Philippines

This rotunda (rotonda) found in the city of Carcar is a famous landmark which serves as the gateway between Metro Cebu and southern Cebu province, and a symbol of the city known for its rich cultural heritage, native delicacies and shoe industry.

Pedicab and Trisikad Streets of Panabo City

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Date Taken: December 30, 2011
Location: In front of Gaisano Grand Panabo, Panabo City, Philippines

Though identified as a city since 2001, there are still things in Panabo that remain unchanged which make people reminisce at how the place used to be—a humble municipality of Davao province. One of them is the huge number of public utility pedicabs and trisikads that still rule the streets of the city, serving as a major means of transportation.

Greyscale & Green

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Date Taken: October 22, 2011
Location: San Fernando Central Elementary School, San Fernando, Cebu, Philippines

Brgy. North Poblacion Medical Mission

My present employer, Taiheiyo Cement Philippines, Inc. usually holds a series of medical missions every year as part of its Social Development and Management Program (SDMP). In collaboration with its raw materials supplier, Solid Earth Development Corporation, these activities are strategically carried out to any of the barangays being identified to experience impacts of our plant’s operations.

In 2011, four medical missions were conducted and one of these took place in Barangay North Poblacion, San Fernando, Cebu. With the active participation of the barangay council, barangay health workers (BHWs) and volunteers, the event was positively received by the residents.

And with my Sony NEX-C3 camera, which was new and just about to be used for the first time at that time, here are some of the catchy pics I had taken.

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Date Taken: October 22, 2011
Location: San Fernando Central Elementary School, San Fernando, Cebu, Philippines

Blood Pressure Check

There’s definitely no medical mission in history in which, the checking of vital signs was excluded. One of the significant points of this checkup is the use of sphygmomanometer and stethoscope to check the patient’s blood pressure (BP). The woman who does it in the picture is actually my officemate, and you have to know she is not a nurse but rather a hardworking employee of our purchasing department. Competitive!