You won't know it unless you get close to it. 
Being far forbids you to see the truth. 
And when you're already there, 
how surprised would you be? 
You would have never expected this. 

If you're in Cebu City and you're going to Mactan Island, 
you can beat the traffic by taking a ferryboat at Pier 3 
instead of going through Mandaue City 
and crossing either of the two bridges 
connecting Mandaue and Mactan Island. 
From Colon Street, 
you can take a jeepney with 02B or 01B number 
that will take you to Pier 3 where the ferryboat docks. 
​Regular fare is 18 pesos
with discounted rates for students and senior citizens. 
The ride takes less than 20 minutes 
and the boat will dock in Muelle Osmeña Wharf in Mactan, 
several meters away from Nuestra Señora de Regla Shrine. 
Enjoy the whole ride while viewing the skyline of Cebu City
​and the mountain range as the backdrop. 

Downtown Cebu City is not a run-down part of the city. 
As a matter of fact, 
it's revitalized and investors are pouring in a lot of money 
and businesses are booming. 
Restaurants, fast food chains dot several areas 
and there are places to dine in when you're on a budget 
but still having a great meal. 

Take for example these food stalls 
located in between the Metro Gaisano in Colon Street
and Best Buy Mart in Juan Luna. 
Ordinary Filipino carenderias 
serving seafoods, grilled foods, tinola 
and favorites of men - the balbacua and lansiao. 
Even though they're beside a narrow road 
with people passing by, 
their foods are clean
​and tinola, lansiao and balbacua 
are kept hot so no worry about safety.

As far as I know, 
AA BBQ has been around since the 90's 
when it was just an ordinary BBQ station
in Lahug, Cebu City. 
These years, 
it has blossomed to a bigger restaurant 
with several branches in key areas in the city 
with a wider selection of dishes on the menu. 
Seafoods and other Filipino dishes 
keep diners come back again and again. 

This branch is in Andres Abellana, Guadalupe, Cebu City. 

Nuestra Señora de Regla (Our Lady Of The Rule) -
Parish National Shrine 
is in Poblacion, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, Philippines.
Feast day falls yearly on the 21st of November. 
Right at the back of the church 
is a prayer room with a candle-lighting area 
on the ground. 
It's situated near to Muelle Osmeña Wharf 
about tens of meters away
where the ferry boat docks from Pier 3 in Cebu City. 
You can easily see the church 
hundreds of meters away when riding a ferryboat 
that's about to dock in the wharf. 

There's a plaza right outside 
where anyone can have some shade during the day 
because of the tall trees around. 
​And the public market is just a stone's throw away. 

If you want to dine over the weekend by the beach 
that doesn't drain your wallet, 
then come to Larawan Beach, Talisay City, Cebu. 
Food tents open on weekends 
adding to the permanent food stalls in the area. 
Feast on fresh catch from the sea 
and savor on lechon and other grilled dishes. 

The beach is clean and free for everyone 
which makes it an ideal place
to spend with families and friends. 
Beachside dining is always ideal 
at least once in a while especially in the city. 

Metro Gaisano Colon in Cebu City 
has been around for decades already 
and still very much preferred by shoppers 
in the thriving downtown area. 
The supermarket is located at the basement 
while the department stores consist of several floors 
with the topmost as its food court. 
Everything you look for in a mall 
​is all right here.

There's no parking area available 
right around the store or at the basement, 
its spacious parking lot is located just few meters away.
 
Metro Gaisano Colon is at the heart of Colon Street 
and you can't miss it. 
You can see the crossing pedestrians 
 straight to the mall day or night.

Sugbu Mercado, 
a frequented food market is also in Mactan Island, 
at Pacific Grande Residences, S. Osmeña St.,
Gun-ob, Lapu-Lapu City. 
Gather around with family and friends 
and be delighted to choose from different stalls 
your favorite foods and drinks. 
Opens at 5:00 PM onward. 

When you talk about Sugbu Mercado, 
you're referring to the most popular
and most loved food market in Cebu.

This is another budding food market 
and it's called YelloCube in Lahug, Cebu City 
before reaching Camp Lapu-Lapu. 
It boasts of stalls offering a variety of food products 
just like the other food markets around 
but this one has a different ambience - 
it's modern, industrial. 
Perfect place to gather around with friends and families. 
Open from 5:00 PM onward 'til midnight.

Sugbu Mercado in Lahug, Cebu City 
is a well-known weekend food market 
that's packed with foodies all over. 
As the sun starts to set, 
crowds gather by the hundreds
to feasts on variety of foods from different stalls 
(no two of them alike). 
Each stall serves something different from everyone else 
so you're in for a wide choice of great tastes and flavors. 

Head down to IT Park, 
right across The Waterfront Cebu City Hotel 
and find your way through lofty structures
teeming with BPO Companies. 
Bring your family and friends along with you. 
The place is easy to find, you can't miss it.

Dine in a Filipino restaurant 
with delicious menu of seafoods, 
chicken, pork plus other favorites in generous servings. 
Come to Paolito's STK Ta Bai at SM City Cebu. 

And the ambience? 
It's homey, it's classic and it feels like 
it's bringing memories 
and inviting you to create new ones. 
It's comfortably fine dining that you want to do again
many times over.

Dine with a magnificent view of the bustling city of Cebu 
at the La Vie In The Sky in Busay, Cebu City. 
Feast on pizza, pastries, brewed coffee, wine 
and a lot more. 
Come here during the day or the night, 
dine inside or out on the patios overlooking the city,
the experience is fantastic. 

It's the month of May and variety of flowers are in bloom.
There are a lot to see anywhere you are, 
and here in Cebu City, Philippines, 
the one very common sight is Bougainvillea. 
Right in the middle of Osmeña Boulevard, 
the blooming flowers of Bougainvillea you can never miss. 
There are also two Bougainvillea growing enormously 
in B. Rodriguez St. and in full bloom for months now. 
View all the images right below.

Every year we Christians
celebrate Palm Sunday a week before Easter Sunday 
with palm branches in our hands 
to commemorate Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. 
As written in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, 
people place palm branches in front of Jesus 
as he rode on a donkey on his way to Jerusalem 
and singing part of the hymn
​"Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord."

The sun is a glorious heavenly body 
but because it's an everyday sight, 
no longer that glorious anymore. 
We are so used to seeing it. 
But a simple camera trick 
using a smartphone or tablet
makes you adore the sun once again.