1. Church and Covenant of Sto. Niño and Magellan’s Cross
They’re part of the tourist route and I’m glad we visited. There was an overwhelming sense of rdevotion when we were in the Church. I personally actually don’t like taking photos inside the Church because I think it’s inappropriate sometimes. So I usually just take a few photos. Magellan’s Cross is right behind the Church. Guys, take in a sip of history! It’s good to know where we came from. When we were there, there a foreigners visiting the cross also.

2. (Cheap) Food!
Talk about Cebu prices with Manila portions of food! One of the places we really loved was Formo. It’s actually a bar/club but we loved their food.

My food shots weren’t great but the food really was!

3. City + Beach Life rolled into one
Your one or 2 rides away from the beach, how can you go wrong with that? Wait, not just 1 beach but you have so many to choose from! We ended up going to Bantayan Island though 1 mistake we made was deciding to stay there just overnight. Hahaha Travel to the island is around 5 – 6 hours so when we got there at 3 or 4 PM, we were so tired already. It was also pretty gloomy when we went so we weren’t able to see the real beauty of the island. Just gives us more reason to come back!

We stayed at Kota Beach Bantayan which was okay for our budget.

4. Island Banca Cruises
From the brains behind Island Souvenirs come the Island Banca cruises. We allotted one day for this. Owee and i had one of the steadiest day. It was relaxing, beautiful and everything we needed! It was a level-up island hopping experience. Wwwiiihhh! We took the Gilutungan - Cao-uy- Pandanon package. From the site:

It was the vacation from heaven! I STRONGLY recommend for everyone to try this. What I love about the service:
- comfy travelling from one island to the other
- we were sleeping during transit, no worries
- when snorkeling, a crew member would be watching you the whole time
- we felt like we owned the boat haha
- the food was good
- the crew were very warm and friendly

5. Sky Experience Adventure at Crown Regency
I have a semi-fear of heights so doing this was a big deal for me. So for my birthday in 2009, the theme was pushing my fear with this Sky Experience and the G-Max experience in Singapore. Haha

Anyhot, that being said Owee and I really wanted to try this. Thank god we have the same level of braveness and cowardice, perfect partners! Haha

6. Debbie and Gus Palao, and their niece Kae Batiquin
Debbie is an accomplished and talented furniture designer from Cebu. Besides that, she’s an exceptional person. I met Debbie, Gus and Kae through “work” in 2009. Debbie was chosen as one of our subjects for Mulat, an exhibit I’ve been part of. So we flew Cebu to meet her and to photograph her. Gus, her husband, and Kae are part of the company. They welcomed us when we came and we instantly felt like family. We spent an early morning with them shooting and had breakfast in their beautiful home. They all had such great energy that the vibe was so easy, relaxed and the conversations flowed

I remember when we entered Debbie’s showroom we were like children in a candy store. We love so many of her creations. We kept touching the furniture feeling the textures and trying to figure out what they’re made of.


Owee and I were in agreement, we will own a Debbie Palao piece one day!

We originally wanted to stay 2 weeks to be able to really explore Cebu. Haha There is so much more to Cebu that we haven’t been able to see and explore. When should I schedule my next Cebu trip? Haha Camotes, Malapasuca, Moalboal anyone? Haha

Accommodations in Cebu.   

* Additional photos from Debbie's website.