Short ‘Family’ Trip

 

First of all, I would like to thank all my friends who called, emailed, and texted me during my birthday. Thanks for the wonderful words, guys. Sa sunod na pud puhon ha.

Anyways, I still have no new materials to post. Very sorry for that. But I have here some photos of a short trip we took a few months ago. I think I forgot to post them.

The story: Dad’s workmates were absent/not around and some important stuff at work had to be taken to Carcar and Barili. So, he decided to do it himself. I decided to tag along knowing that it would be a good photo opportunity for me. Before I knew it, mom and Osman decided to come along, as well. And just as we were leaving, my little cousin Shamreen asked if he too could come with us. LOL.

The trip was short but we all had a lot of fun.

 

The ‘green’ fields of SRP.

Golden Surprise

Here are some photos of an excavation made in the town of Boljoon a few months ago. The excavation covered the convent and church grounds of Boljoon. During this particular dig, they found the remains of a pre-Spanish Filipina who was wearing a long gold-chain. Also found beside the body was a ceramic powder box. The dig further proved two things: 1) that Southern Cebu (and the entire island for that matter) was a very progressive trading and commercial post even before the Spaniards arrived and 2) that Cebuanos frequently traded gold, cotton, rice and pigs with the Chinese.

According to a CDN report posted last April 3, 34 burial sites had been uncovered since February 2007.

I finally got the permission to post these photos. So, I would like to thank sir archaeologue of the SSC-Cebu Heritage Watch thread for allowing me to post these amazing photos. FYI, the Cebu Heritage Watch thread is the most active heritage thread in SSC-Philippines. If you read the posts in this thread, you will surely learn a LOT of things.

 

Uncovered remains of a native in the town of Boljoon, Cebu.

Scene Stealers

The Cebu Dancesport Team is vying for the World Guinness Book record as the Largest Dance School in the World. The original plan was to have 4000 pairs (a total of 8000 participants.) Last Saturday, 7,770 participants showed up at Cebu City Sports Center. Not bad, ei? I heard that the previous record was only around 2k. We’re still waiting for news from Guinness officials. But I’m confident that the record is now ours! Nyahahaha! (not an evil laugh)

Here’s a video of the event.

Minolos, Barili

Special thanks to Jong D for sharing these wonderful photos of Barili! These photos were taken during a boating trip.  These photos are pretty amazing.

Please do not copy the photos!

 

That building on top of that hill is that road-side cafe/resto you can see in Barili. This photo was labeled ‘Palalong’.

The Fail Trip

So the plan was to go to Balamban, drive straight to Asturias to shoot the rice fields and the big pond/lake, proceed to  Tuburan and shoot Molobolo Spring, go back to Balamban, shoot around and have lunch, then drive straight home with big happy smiles on our faces.

Of course, these things didn’t happen. Do you want to know what happened? (More like, do you want to know what didn’t happen?) Read on.

By the way, all photographs in this entry are Mel’s. He takes nice photographs now. And thanks for letting me use them, Mel.

MCPB Updates – June 2009

First of all, let me show you this nice surprise I got last week.

111

Happy 111th Independence Day!

Go Pinoy!

Payt Bisdak!

Hilot And Indian Mango

 

My uncle told my mom that his co-worker, who lives in Carcar, knows a very good manghihilot who can ‘fix’ even a 20-year old pi-ang. Remember that small motorcycle accident we had a few months ago? Well, since then, my mom’s been complaining that her left shoulder occasionally goes numb. So, she agreed to go and just see if it works.

We reached Perrelos, Carcar around nine in the morning. My uncle’s friend willingly took us to the home of the manghihilot. Unfortunately, the manghihilot was in Cebu City for some important matters. So, we went to another manghihilot who turned out to be the grandfather of the manghihilot we were supposed to see.

After a short drive, we reached a small house sitting on the edge of a rice field. There were a few people waiting outside for their turn. Apparently, a lot of people come to this manghihilot for all sorts of ailments. In fact, I heard that sometimes, a car would fetch the manghihilot for home service. So, I’m thinking that he’s really good. Maybe better than his grandson.

And guess what? My mom said that she actually felt a lot better after the hilot. I know hilot is not really medically acceptable or something. But I remember well that when I was a kid, I had these constant trips to Noy Idot’s house. And I must say that every single time, I’d always come home all well and good. I guess it just works.

 

Manong manghihilot in action.

Clean And Green Sibonga

 

Like the Carmen plaza, the town plaza of Sibonga is really nice. It’s perfect for afternoon walks and long after-supper chit-chats. And the park is just a couple of meters away from the really nice town church. And right beside that, is a line of centuries-old houses.

And yeah, I would have to add that the entire town is clean and green. And if I am correct, the local government is making sure that the old houses are well-preserved. So, kudos to the local officials of the Municipality of Sibonga for an amazing job.

 

The Sibonga town park. WOW!

San Fernando Church

 

I dropped by the town church of San Fernando today. I’ve seen this church so many times before but I’ve never really had the chance to stop by, get in, and just absorb its awesomeness. And I must say that I am very happy that I finally stepped on the brakes today and take some photos of this gem.

The church is situated right next to the South National Road. It’s hard to miss, actually. Well, a structure as gorgeous as this is very hard to miss. Aside from the fact that it’s just across the town hall, the architecture is also something all Cebuanos should be really proud of! I mean, just take a look at that! If that doesn’t blow your mind away, I don’t know what else would. LOL.

 

The San Fernando town church.

Revisiting Simala

 

I got the chance to visit the The Monastery of the Holy Eucharist in Simala, Sibonga again today. I noticed a few major changes since the last time I went there. First, the interior of the church is now almost complete. The ceiling now looks really nice and the details in the retablo are now in place. Second, a new structure is being constructed right beside the church. I think it’s an annex to accommodate more pilgrims. Third, more pilgrims are visiting the monastery. In fact, when I went there this morning, the place was already filled to the rafters. And it was only eight in the morning!

Anyways, here are some of the photos I took during my visit. Hope you enjoy them.

 

Candles with photos of Mother Mary.

Gabii Sa Kabilin 2009

 

This year’s Gabii Sa Kabilin was such a huge success. There were definitely more presentations and activities. And more importantly, there were a lot of guests. And I noticed that the participating museums really did their best to make the night memorable for all participants.

A friend gave me a pass so I was not able to pay 100 for the entrance fee. However, I had to pay Php 50 for the kalesa rides. Okay ra kay lingaw man sad. Hehehe.

 

Gabii Sa Kabilin 2009 – Congratulations to the organizers!

I Heart Cebu City

 

 

Guess what, guys! I found out today that National Geographic finally published my I Heart My City entry! I sent the entry around three or four months ago. And I’m glad that it’s finally there!

I Heart My City is a National Geographic Intelligent Travel feature about different cities all over the world. And I’m just so glad that I got the chance to show to the world our beloved city!

Payt Bisdak!

Check out the National Geographic entry HERE

 

Night Of Heritage

 

You’ve heard about the Gabii Sa Kabilin or Night of Heritage, right?

Well, they’re doing it again this year. And this time, six museums are participating. So that would be the Cathedral Museum of Cebu, Casa Gorordo Museum, Fort San Pedro, Basilica del Santo Nino Museum, Yap-Sandiego House, and the Museo Sugbo. These museums will be open from 6 pm til midnight on May 29, 2009. And in each museum, you’ll get to taste free food and drinks, watch live performances and cultural presentations, and see various heritage pieces on display. You get to experience all these things for only a hundred pesos. Too, if you add 50 pesos to your ticket, you get to ride a kalesa to and from any of the said museums! Isn’t that exciting?

I’ll see you guys there OK?

 

Click pic to zoom

 To see last year’s photos, click HERE

 

The Problem Is…

 

All right. Let’s face it. Although we can see a lot of really nice things happening in Cebu right now, we can also see a lot of really ugly things happening in this beloved city of ours. Like I said, Cebu is awesome, but she is not perfect. She has flaws. And there are a gazillion of them. So, before someone else points out these things to us (uhmm, I think a lot of  people have already pointed these things out to us - batangyagit, tagalasang, et al. ). Okay, so let me rephrase it, before someone else points out these things to us again, let’s look at them one by one and see how they’ve become such a menace, and why we can never reach our full potential as long as they’re around.

 

# 1: Spaghetti Wires

This problem has been around for like, what, since Cebu first had electricity? I hope we find a better solution to keep them a bit tidy. Burying them would surely cost us a fortune, so I hope we could think of something else quick.