Touchdown, Cebu! Couple of weeks ago, my bestfriend and I made a
trip to the oldest city in the Philippines-Cebu. It was our first time there, so we really
didn’t know what to expect. We arrived in Cebu on August 13th, Saturday. From
the airport, we headed straight to our hotel, Quest Conference Hotel. It’s a
pretty new design hotel conveniently located near the Ayala mall of Cebu City.
I will make a separate post on our hotel on our day 4 blog post.
After lunch, we decided to go on a city tour, Thank God for
Uber! Kuya Michael gave us a friendly package for our city tour-from Temple
Leah to House of Lechon. In the Queen City of the South, a palace of Teodoro
Adarna’s Queen Leah Villa Albino-Adarna was made and replicated with a big
statue in the middle. After a few years of waiting, the Philippine version of Taj Mahal has finally opened to
welcome visitors. I was amazed by the temple. Ang ganda mag ootd dito. HAHA. The
temple has a museum, a library, and an art gallery. You could see the spectacular view
of the city and more exceptional sceneries as you walk through the temple.
Wearing comfortable pieces from Memo, Forever 21, and Bershka. Good thing, I had him there to take beautiful outfit shots. 
Next stop: Tops. It's a lookout point boasting views
spanning most of Cebu City, Mactan Island and even as far as the peaks of
Bohol. It's a bit out of the way but considering that it's still part of Cebu
City, of Barangay Busay to be
exact, it isn't really as out-there as, say Lapu Lapu Shrine. The
entrance fee is Php 100 and we stayed for 15 minutes only.
Arrived in Tops
around 2:00 pm. It was kinda hot actually, because the sun is still up there. Nevertheless, it was okay. The view made up for the heat brought by the sun. I enjoyed the place
and I'd like to visit again sometime.
Next stop: Sirao Garden. The flame-like celosia flowers in yellow,
orange, and red are in full bloom all year round as per the management, but the whole
hillside is covered by soaring flowers from October to November where there
is an abundant supply of water in the highlands. 
Aside
from the celosia flowers, the owners also grow daisy, sunflower, chrysanthemum,
and gypsophila (baby’s breath). An entrance fee of Php30 is being collected to
compensate for damage induced by the visitors when taking selfies with
the flowers. I think this is also perfect for shoots etc. Ang ganda!
After two-hour trip from Sirao Garden,
we went straight to Mactan Shrine. Jusko,
natulog muna kami sa car since it’s in Mactan Island pa. Mactan Shrine was
built to commemorate the “Battle of Mactan.” This spot is believed to be
the area where the Battle of Mactan took place. It happened in 1521 when
the Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, attempted to conquer the
island in honor of the Spanish King. However, the native chieftain Lapu-Lapu
and his men resisted their forces and fought with them. Thanks to our
driver/ tour guide for all this information.
The Beautiful spot and tastiest food are just some of
the reasons why you certainly would want to visit Cebu. And anybody would tell you, their
lechon is the best in the world! The finger-licking lechon of Cebu
characterizes the tenderness and warmth of Cebuanos and how they make
their lechon the best in the world. We went to Rico’s Lechon, but lechon was not available anymore, so Kuya Michael suggested House of Lechon, which was super near our hotel.
