These Christmas Lights right here at the Mandaue City Plaza,
which is right across the City Hall and St. Joseph Church, are amazing at night with people coming for pics and videos. One is shaped like a ball or a mistletoe, and another one is a cube like a gift box. There's also a tall Christmas Tree and a lot more lights.
This is a perfect place to hang around with family or friends,
or go on a date with someone special. Sit around the benches you can find within the plaza and spend the night immersed in these wonderful Christmas Lights. A good weather will produce a starry night which will be the best time to visit the Mandaue Centro Plaza.
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Here comes the time of the year again just before Christmas
when Filipinos gather very early in the morning to attend the Holy Mass for 9 consecutive days called Misa de Gallo beginning on the 16th of December up to the 24th.
Hundreds of devotees come to the church as early as 2:00 AM
and that's few hours before the church opens. This time, I arrived at the church right before 3:30 AM and there were already people waiting outside the gates. There were some rains but they didn't last long and not that heavy. The Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu has always been drawing a huge crowd and the biggest crowd during the 1st day and the last day on the 24th of December.
Devotees crowded the Parish of Virgen dela Regla
in Opon, Mactan Island, Cebu on November 21 Thursday during its Feast. There could have been more crowd if the feast falls on a weekend, but still the number of people was remarkable.
Right outside the Parish were businesses benefitting from the overflowing crowds.
It was such a great sight to behold when people still celebrated the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary no matter how busy they were. Abundant blessings are sure to come! Happy Fiesta Virgen dela Regla!
Cebu City's Agri-Bonanza 2019 is brought to you by the Cebu City Government
featuring produce from farmers of upland barangays. This is the 10th annual event held at the Plaza Sugbo, a park in between the Cebu City Hall and the Magellan's Cross right outside the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño.
This annual event recognizes the role of farmers in the city's economy
and showcasing their produce so that hotels and restaurants may source from them. The event happens from November 20-22, 2019. Visit when you have time.
If you happen to visit Virgen dela Regla Parish in Opon, Mactan Island, Cebu,
you can't miss this large Kalachuchi or Plumeria tree right beside the church. It's being taken care of because of its beauty and the shade it provides to everyone.
It's big and old and it doesn't stand straight up but growing crooked
and there's some wall on the floor that supports because it may topple down with its massive weight. It's a great plant to behold especially when its flowers are blooming all over.
Old trees are a treasure to the community and the town or city they've grown.
They're part of history and can be preserved for generations to come. Only few of them are left in the city because development has removed them. This very old Narra Tree can be found at the Opon Plaza, a garden plaza right outside Nuestra Señora Virgen Dela Regla in Lapu-lapu City in Mactan Island, Cebu.
Planted by Mariano S. Dimataga or Dodong Oping
when he became mayor of Opong in 1938. Trees like this one are safe from road widening projects being inside a plaza. But I noticed that there are vines going up some branches and choking the leaves. Somebody has to remove the vines or will kill off the branches. Anyways, big, old trees are natural treasures which bear witnesses to the history of the place for as long as they have grown. Read more below.
Wasps are insects that look like bees or ants but they are neither of the two.
I happened to watch a potter wasp in the house bringing a ball of wet mud and was about to build its nest on the wall.
It's so called potter wasp because of the pot-shaped nest it builds from wet mud.
Its young or larva which is yellow-green in color is delivered inside the pot and fed with some insect right before sealing off the nest entrance.
These are termite excrement or droppings and they are called frass.
When you see a heap of these on the floor or anywhere else in the house, you know that you're infested with drywood termites, those wood-eating insects that are often called the "silent destroyer" because they secretly thrive in furnitures and walls without seeing immediate signs of damage until weeks or months later.
Although there are many types of termites,
the pellets below are from drywood termites. When termites make its home inside walls or anywhere around the house, they excrete these pellets after consuming wood and push them out of their holes that's why you see countless of these on the floor. Each is about a millimeter in length with rounded corners. Even though one is fascinated by these pellets that look like sand, they already show the extensive damage caused.
Earthworms are amazing creatures because they have the ability to remain alive
for many, many years even underneath the tiles in concrete used to form as foundation for the sink. What they have is Suspended Animation, the temporary (short or long term) slowing/stopping of biological functions so physiological capabilities are preserved.
These earthworms were nowhere there until the tiles cracked and water seeped in.
After few weeks or months, they began to emerge alive and well. But many of them die after few minutes of exposure. Still, suspended animation is a great gift from God to living things and unbelievable to witness.
La Vie Parisienne is a French bakery, deli and wine library
along Gorordo Avenue, Lahug, Cebu City, Philippines. French for "The Parisian Life", La Vie Parisienne boasts some of the best French pastry, variety of wines and deli products in an authentic French atmosphere.
After a day of hard work, spend some time at this wonderful place alone
or with your family or friends and every peso you spend is worth it. You can come during the day or during the night to chill, to relax, etc.
Filipinos and foreigners enjoy Filipino cuisine prepared and cooked in large pans
such as these at Kuya Simo's Larangan in Labangon, Cebu City, Philippines. No need to be formal when dining in because the air is welcoming for everyone.
It serves Larang, a Filipino fish stew, barbecue and the all-time favorite bakasi,
a saltwater eel that are plentiful in Cordova, in Mactan Island, Cebu. This is an authentic Filipino restaurant in a traditional Filipino atmosphere. The large pans you see at the front are very inviting and tempting to your stomach, you can't resist dining anytime of the day.
Mactan Cebu Domestic Airport was still under renovation
when I went there October 3, and the changes to the whole area was awesome. Very spacious with added escalators and more restaurants to choose from.
I could tell from the way it looked that it would be so much better when finished.
Traveling nowadays is taken to a whole new level of ease and comfort with passenger terminals looking more like malls with different shops around.
Up in the hills of Cebu City, Roosevelt Drive, Busay,
is a temple of love from a husband to his wife and it's called the Temple Of Leah. From Teodorico Soriano Adarna, the builder of the temple: "This Temple was constructed in the year 2012 A.D. as a symbol of my undying love for her and my ceaseless devotion to Leah Villa Albino-Adarna, my wife of 53 years.
I adopted an architectural and structural design that can withstand time
and still be appreciated for a millennium so this Temple will become a landmark of Cebu City where future generations of the Adarna clan coming from her can come and trace their roots and heritage." The Temple Of Leah is roughly 45 minutes from the city center. This is one of the many attractions in Cebu City that draws local and foreign tourists. Portions of the temple is still under construction when we visited on September 27 but it's already a good place to visit and tour around. Quite big and overlooking the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and even up to Lapu-lapu City in Mactan Island.
There are things that are mistaken to be something else until you get close to them.
You see from far away a different one only to find out you were wrong all along.
You won't know it unless you get close to it for 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 the many humble food stalls
located in between the Metro Gaisano in Colon Street and Best Buy Mart. These are 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 need to worry about your health when dining there.
As far as I know, AA BBQ has been around since the 90's
when it was just an ordinary BBQ station in Salinas Drive, 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.
And added to it are great ambiance and good service. This branch in Andres Abellana, Guadalupe, Cebu City is a crowd-drawer. You can never miss it when you're around the area.
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 on the upper floor with a candle-lighting area on the ground below.
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. Outside there's a plaza called the Opon Plaza right across the street where anyone can have some shade because of the tall trees that surround. And from there, 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 time swimming or dining with family and friends. Beachside dining is always ideal at least once in a while especially in the city. The area around the food tents are full of old trees to give shade during the day.
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 with several food stalls and a bakery while the department store 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. It's a landmark and if you think about Colon street, you readily associate the mall. |
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