Cebu City in One Day

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I previously posted a 1-day city tour of Cebu. This post is another suggestion for a whole day city tour based on a recent visit.

Best to hire a car for an efficient day. Or hire a taxi later in the day after covering the core destinations within the city.

TAOIST TEMPLE

Remember that this is a religious shrine. Located within the posh Beverly Hills, visitors are treated to the imposing structure of this temple. Non-Taoist guests are welcome, but visitors are not allowed to take photos of the altar and the saints. The view from the temple is beautiful, the city skyline, with the Huge Waterfront Hotel, can be seen from the terraces of the temple.

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FORT SAN PEDRO

This fort is the oldest and smallest bastion in the Philippines. It is a lovely spot, pretty much like, albeit a smaller version of, Manila’s Paco Park.

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STO NINO SHRINE

Popular among devotees, and more popular than the cathedral. Old ladies in religious costumes offer candles previously blessed for sale. The altar is beautiful, the ceiling grand.

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MAGELLAN’S CROSS

Across from the church is the city’s most famous landmark, the Magellan’s cross. The original cross is wrapped in the tindalo wooden cross visible to visitors.img_2447

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CITY HALL

Across from the cross is the Cebu City Hall

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LUNCH AT LA FORTUNA

Inexpensive lunch can be had at La Fortuna Bakery. This is found at the exit of the Sto Nino Shrine, before Magellan’s Cross. They also have a door fronting the City Hall. They actually have a fast food counter that serves lunch items. Lunch for three, in our case, was less than P300.00img_2466

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CASA GORORDO

gorordo-marker

gorordo-mansion

YAP SANDIEGO HOUSE

Reputed to be the oldest Chinese house outside of mainland China. The brick roof is original. The floors are rather squeaky, and guests are made to slip on socks-like protection over their shoes so as not to damage the floors.

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HISTORY OF CEBU

Just outside Yap-Sandiego is a huge mural depicting the history of Cebu.

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MUSEO SUGBO

Museo Sugbo means Cebu Museum. I will let the marker describe the structure.img_2553

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This is a very interesting destination where one can spend more than an hour if he is s serious student of history. There are many galleries, all air-conditioned, with each one focusing on different stages of history. There are many guides taking turns to explain the different galleries to the visitors. After a rather long journey thru history, guests can avail of refreshments and souvenirs from the shops inside.

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TOPS

If you haven’t hired a car, this is the time to arrange for a hired taxi. Unless you know your way to Tops, as they also offer transportation to and from Tops.

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the view from Tops

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CAP YOUR DAY AT LANTAW

This is simply the loveliest spot for refreshments, early dinner, if not a real dinner at night. High on a hill in Busay, people go up to Lantaw for the good food and the nice city view while having dinner or drinks. Not a cheap place. Prices are mid-to-above-mid range. img_2637

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the view from Lantaw

TEMPLE OF LEAH

Temple of Leah is listed on tripadvisor and many city guides as a destination, likening it to the Parthenon. Quite honestly, I was not that interested. I have seen the spot being constructed from way before, right from Lantaw. So I took some iPhone photos of Temple of Leah from the Lantaw veranda.

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All of these can be visited in 8 hours. I hired a car from Mabuhay for P5,000 for the first 8 hours. If you must exceed 8 hours, the subsequent charge for every hour in excess is P550. But then I figure that being in comfortable in an air-conditioned car makes this tour more efficient and more pleasurable.

Yap-Sandiego House in Parian, Cebu

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The Yap-Sandiego ancestral house is reputed to be the oldest Chinese house outside of China. According to the guide who handled our tour, the house was built in the late 17th century at the heart of Parian, then a wealthy community in Cebu.

I have seen a lot of ancestral homes in my travels around the country but this one is different in many ways. Most of these ancestral homes  were built by the wealthy  families with Europena/mestizo origins . Or they were houses of the biggest owners of farms and haciendas. They all looked like typical European homes.

Yap-Sandiego stands out because of the way it was constructed.In fact, it  does look and feel like you are in a Chinese movie setting, especially with the brick “tisa” roof – – not the same as the tegula concrete roof cement in today’s modern and affluent homes.

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Clay roof and molave hardwood for this ancestral house. 

A lady receptionist clad in old Filipiniana dress adds to the aura of this heritage home. At the ground level, there are ornaments and antiquities that are collections of the present owner of the house, a descendant from the Sandiego branch of the family. The house is over 300 years old although the antique collections would probably be “younger”.
in the moment

She lives that moment 

Ground Level

The ground floor is unpaved and contains a lot of period furniture and “santos”. Walking around, my eyes were riveted to the wooden structure that is actually the underside of the stairs. I marvelled at the wood that made up the house – – – molave and other hardwood.

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Pebbles on the unpaved ground floor

 

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Sturdy materials for the stairs

 

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Images of saints 

 

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Second Floor
Visitors are asked to wear mittens, provided by the guides,  to cover their shoes or sandals before being allowed on the second floor. This, the guide says, is to make sure the wooden floors are not damaged nor scratched. The first sign of its age, as I went up the second floor, is the creaking staircase, on the left side going up. Noticing how fragile the structure was, I slowly moved and walked up on the right side where it felt more stable.
Photographed from the second floor

Photographed from the second floor

The “banggerahan” ,  a rack for drinking glasses and cups, catches one’s eyes at the second floor, at the dining area. The other focal point  is the bedroom with a four-poster bed and a wooden baby crib. The guide said that even the wealthy Yaps then slept in one and the same bedroom.

 

Banggerahan

Banggerahan on extreme left

 

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The antique items are collections of the present owner, a descendant of the clan. Old interesting items, but not quite as old and as interesting as the 300+ years old house itself. 

 

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 A painting of how the Parian community must have looked like before

 

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Bedroom
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an eye-catching wooden baby crib

 

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Pocket Garden 
There is a pocket garden where one can catch a glimpse of the house from the sides. It was Christmas season when I visited so the lovely lanterns provided an interesting accent to this heritage home.

 

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STREETSIDE

As I took a photo of the house from the street, an ambulant taho vendor walked by, and an old lady came into the scene. I thought these personalities created for me a scene straight out of the late  17th century when Parian was a bustling Cebu district.

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Bonus: Cebu’s History in a Giant Sculpture

Just outside is a mjor tourist attraction. I am showing it from one side and not posting the other angle because a portion of the mural is damaged. I hope the city fixes that ruined part before you visit.

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A short turn from the Yap-Sandiego House is the Museo Cebu, but the facility is closed every Sunday.

YAP-SANDIEGO HOUSE
Open from 9am to 7pm everyday
Entrance fee: P50 per guest
How to get there: 
Hail a taxi/cab and tell the driver to take you to Yap-Sandiego at Parian. This is such a famous landmark that everyone knows.
Address and Contact Details:
155-Lopez Jaena corner Mabini Street
Parian, Cebu City, Philippines
(032) 514 3002 / (032) 514 3003 / (032) 253 5568
For more information, visit their faebook page: