Why visit Cebu City

Cebu City stands out among other cities in Visayas and Mindanao because it is the center of employment, entertainment, attractions, and modern lifestyle. Education, business, and technology are just few of the significant elements why the locals and foreign population flood into the city.

Being one of the country’s business hub, it opens doors to many young individuals who aspire to climb up the corporate ladder and follow in the footsteps of the successful men and women in the country.

Numerous young learners dwell in Cebu City and opt to enroll to prestigious universities that the city boasts of.

Among the top education center is the city is University of San Carlos.

San Carlos University

_{Image Credit: Panoramio}

The University of San Carlos emerged from the oldest Spanish settlement in the Philippines. Formerly known as Colegio de San Ildefonso, the school was founded by the Spanish Jesuits on August 1, 1595. It is reputably one of the oldest universities in the Philippines although its status as the first university in Southeast Asia has always been debated.

When the Jesuits were banished from the archipelago, the school was temporarily closed until the Vincentians took over the school management. It was renamed as Colegio-Seminario de San Carlos under the leadership of Bishop Mateo Joaquin de Arevalo. The new name of the school was taken in honor of St. Charles Borromeo.

After the Vincentians opened the school in Martires Street, the Colegio de San Carlos (CSC) was relocated to P. del Rosario but Seminario de San Carlos still dwell on the original location. After 5 years,the school was handed over to the Society of the Divine Word and managed the school for about 70 years already.

During World War 2, CSC was closed and was occupied by the Japanese. Before freedom from the Japanese was obtained, bombs from the US planes hit the school and left it in ruins. 3 years after rebuilding, the school finally became a university in the year 1948.

Currently, University of San Carlos is considered as one of the best schools in Cebu City, consistently producing board exam topnotchers and alumni who contribute so much to the society. The school indeed lives by their commitment of providing excellent education.

You can enroll here if you are student or you may want to take masteral courses. Their programs are regarded among the best in the Philippines.

Other notable universities in the city are the following:

• University of San Jose-Recoletos

• University of Cebu

• Cebu Institute of Technology University

• Cebu Normal University

• Cebu Doctors University

• Cebu Technological University

• Southwestern University

Moreover, the city continues to highlight companies from business outsourcing, construction, retail, and hotel industries catering young professionals who desire to get a spot according to job positions they best fit in.

Experience Cebu City

The city stays alive 24/7. Eventually, its not all about working all day and night but creating a balance between “work” and “play.”

Here are some of the recommended things that you have to experience.

Eat lechon.

Cebu’s lechon is the best in the country. Cebu City experience won’t be complete without trying its local food. Taste the original Cebuano lechon inviting the real crisp of its skin and tenderness of its meat cooked in charcoal.

_{Image Credit: Roy Delez}

Stroll Around Fuente Osmeña Circle

The Fuente Osmena Circle is another symbolic landmark of Cebu. While Magellan’s Cross is a symbol of Cebu, per se, the structure that stands in the center of a long boulevard in Cebu has a political and cultural attachment to it.

Fuente Osmena Circle signifies the liberal stand of Cebu. It is where many activists use the park encompassing the structure as a venue for pickets.

Today, the structure is more celebrated as a landmark of affluence where Cebu City has become in economic development. The surrounding malls, hotels, hospitals and economic structures have somehow benefited from the landmark the Rotunda structure has become.

The Fuente Osmena Circle is named after the second president of the Philippines, who is a Cebuano. The boulevard where the structure is planted is also named after Sergio Osmena I.

Here are tips and precautions in visiting Fuente Osmena Circle.

• Be careful in crossing the street going to the park of the landmark. Accident is very prone there as vehicles tend not to stop even with pedestrians unless you will cross the street in swarm.
• Be wary of pickpocketers. Although I encourage tourists to visit this place, it is also wise to watch your belongings, even the items in your back pockets.
• You can take a jog or exercise in the park. Recreational activities are very possible inside the circumferential park.

Buy dried fish (buwad) in Carbon or Tabo-an.

Synonymous to the island of Cebu is the dried fish that’s a favorite pasalubong of local and foreign tourists alike, the famous danggit.

Danggit is a dried fish variant that is so popular in Cebu. They can be salted or unsalted and are always sought for whenever our friends and relatives would go to Cebu; aside from grabbing a box of Shamrock otap or dried mangoes, kilos of danggit is a must-buy!

Buying it fresh and cheap is the best thing to do, and the best place to do just that is Carbon Market and Taboan Market. Carbon Market is perhaps the biggest if not the most famous public market the city of Cebu while Taboan Market is just a few minutes away.

Getting there is easy. You can either ride the Public Utility Vehicle or jeepney which offers you very cheap fare but if you are not familiar with their routes, the best thing to do is get a taxi cab to take you there. Both Carbon and Taboan Market are popular destinations so the taxi cab driver can take you there without worries.

Your taxi cab fare won’t be more than 100 pesos if you’re within Cebu City. It will only take you a few minutes to reach Taboan Market through taxi as well.

Other activities that you can opt to do are the following:

• Skydive at the Crown Regency.

Adventure is at 35-38th floor high sky walk extreme, edge coaster and zip-line. First in Cebu, traditional and natural breath-taking sky experiences adventure will surely take your breath away.

• Buy Pasalubong.

Buying souvenirs is a never-forgotten itinerary before leaving the place. You can either buy wooden crafted or handmade decors or bring home sweet dried mangoes.

• Nightlife in Cebu City.

The city offers an array of restaurants with various cuisines suitable for your palate. Meet and greet friends in wine shops and disco bars. If you are an entertainment buff, comedy bars are open until the wee hours in the morning to bring you fun like no other. Mini-home theaters or movie houses are also available for “barkadas” to hang around.

_{Image Credit: Roy Delez}

See Cebu City’s Historical Places

Visit Colon Street

It is the oldest street in the Philippines. It is where trade and barter happened during old times.

Taoist Temple

The magnificent Taoist Temple is a landmark situated at Beverly Hills, 6 kilometers away from the downtown of Cebu. The Chinese community which has comprised the 15% of Cebuano population built this compound of exotic structure, definitely Chinese.

The temple was built as a place of worship for believers of Taoism, a church founded by the Chinese philosopher Lao Tze.

Devout Taoists can be observed doing their rituals every Wednesday and Sunday. Before they can light up their joss sticks and have their fortunes read by monks, they have to conquer 99 steps to reach the top.

The fancily decorated Cebu Taoist Temple was built in 1972, the acme of which highlights a roof in pagoda-style.

Cebu Taoist Temple is a Chinese architecture and work of art that’s 300 meters above sea level, with the lofty hills serving as a amazing backdrop. Upon finishing the 99 steps, an amazing view of the city and nearby Mactan and Bohol islands will greet you.

If you want to experience a great sunset, Cebu Taoist Temple is also the place to go

Magellan’s Cross

Magellan’s Cross is found inside a chapel right beside the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino. The chapel is more seen as a kiosk with Spanish colonial architecture housing the wooden cross believed to be brought by Magellan during the Portuguese explorer’s visit of Cebu.

Magellan’s Cross, especially the chapel, is a symbol of many things Cebu.

• It is the symbol of Cebu, primarily, with its image included in the seal of Cebu City.
• It is the symbol of Christianity in the Philippines since it is the cross being used during the first baptism of Cebuanos to Christianity.
• Although it is unofficial, the chapel has come to also symbolize the real estate of Cebu.

What I think of this cross to have odd association with the culture of Cebu is that the facade of the chapel is more seen as a symbol than the cross made of wood inside the chapel.

But it is not only the facade where tourists should take snapshots.

The inside of the chapel has a mural painting on the ceiling. It depicts the story of the cross’ origin in Cebu in intricate artwork.

The Basilica del Santo Niño

If there is one place that every Cebuano should have already gone to, that is the Basilica Del Sto. Nino De Cebu.

Regardless of one’s religion, the only minor basilica in the Philippines and Southeast Asia is worth visiting.

Here you can see the relics of different saints plus the church murals on the ceiling which one may remind of a basilica in Rome and Vatican City.

Though the church is high-ceiling, its aisle is not that long but it is still impressive nonetheless.

Outside the church is the minor basilica in which the faithful can attend masses on open air, similar to what the faithfuls can see and experience in Vatican City.

Fort San Pedro

Cebu being the oldest city in the Philippines, it is but natural that the oldest and smallest tri-bastion fortification can be found. This served as the center of the Spanish settlement in the entire archipelago for some time.

Fort San Pedro has a total area of 2,025 square meters, with towers that are 30 feet above the ground and 20 feet high and thickness of 8 feet. Fort San Pedro.

Miguel Lopez de Legazpi was the ground breaking ceremony head of Fort San Pedro and ordered its construction on May 8, 1565. Commodore George Dewey handed the fort to the Cebuanos after the Battle of Manila. It was used as the American Warwick Barracks and later converted into classrooms for the Cebuanos to enjoy formal education.

When the Japanese soldiers came and seized the country, it served as their fortress from 1941 to 1945. When Philippines was liberated from Japanese regime, it became an army camp.

Cebu Garden Club took over the management of the fort and provided a miniature garden in the inner court after 1950. Fort San Pedro also served as the house of Cebu City Zoo for quite some time.

The Department of Tourism and Philippine Tourism Authority also held office inside Fort San Pedro during 1978 up to August 15, 1993.

Currently, it is one of the most frequented tourist spots in Cebu City.

Casa Gorordo

Casa Gorordo is a home turned into a museum and was the house that served the first Filipino Bishop of Cebu, Juan Gorordo. It is located along 35 Lopez Jaena Street in the famous district of Parian in Cebu City.

Casa Gorordo is now the home of numerous relics that depict the simple lifestyle of the Filipino people back in 1860 up to 1920.

Beautiful old furniture fill up the beuatifully-maintained museum while the azotea and courtyard looks stunning!

Alejandro Reynes y Rosales built the house and later became the home of the Gorordo family. They started living in the house by mid 19th century and all four generations of them, including Juan Gorordo, enjoyed the comforts of their new home.

The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. acquired the home in 1980 and restored it. They eventually opened it to the public as a museum for everyone to see.

The National Historical Institute Board declared Casa Gorordo as a national historical landmark on September 24 of 1991, under the 4th resolution.

Yap-San Diego Ancestral House

Located at 155-Lopez Jaena corner Mabini Street in Parian, a couple of meters from the Heritage Monument of Cebu, the Yap-San Diego Ancestral House is considered as one of the oldest residential houses in the Philippines.

The Museo Sugbo

It is the biggest museum in Cebu City that displays most of province’s history. See more of Cebu’s past at M.J Cuenco Avenue St, Cebu City.

Cebu Heritage Monument

Built by Cebuano local artist Eduardo Castrillo, the Cebu Heritage Monument depicts the major and significant events in Cebu. From the time of Rajah Humabon, the beatification of Pedro Calungsod, the Spanish invasion and other major events in the history of Cebu.

Cebu Provincial Capitol

The Cebu Provincial Capitol is a majestic neoclassical architecture that sits beneath the lofty foothills of Cebu City. Being a pride of Cebu, the building was designed by Juan Arellano while Pedro Siochi & Company took over the construction.

The construction commenced during the seat of Governor Sotero Cabahug in 1937 and was finished a year later, during Governor Buenaventura Rodriguez’s office term.

The highlight of the edifice is a central dome attached with two wings. A rotunda and lobby is situated underneath the dome, adorned with beautiful paintings about the province of Cebu and its hardworking constituents.

Various staircases that originate from the main entrance also lead you to the hallways of the rooms where the provincial government officials do their daily tasks.

A social hall adjacent to the main lobby is embellished with French-style windows and red curtains while 3 prominent chandeliers hang from the ceiling, giving Cebu Provincial Capitol a feeling of grandeur.

The Cebu Provincial Capitol is best seen at night, with its dim lights and spotlighted facade– a grand structure that symbolizes Cebu.

There you have guys, our quick guide in getting around the Queen City of the South, Cebu City. I hope this will be able to help you on your next Cebu visit.

See you in Cebu... soon!

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