Cebu

Introduction

Cebu's Taoist Temple

© pau_p1

Dubbed as the Queen City of the South, Cebu has become the center of commerce, trade, entertainment, and industry for the Visayan islands in the central Philippines. It is also the oldest city in the country and was the site of the first Catholic mass by the Spanish conquerors. For hundreds of years, people of this city had full devotion to the image of the Child Christ, the Sto. Niño which was brought to the country centuries ago by the Spanish.

Sights and Activities

Aside from being a bustling city, Cebu is known for historical landmarks and beautiful beaches. Here are some of the points of interest while in the city:

• Magellan's Cross
• Fort San Pedro
• Magellan Marker
• Colon Street
• Lapu Lapu Monument
• Taoist Temple
• Basilica Minor del Sto. Niño
• Whale Watching at Oslob
• Alcoy White Sand Beaches

Cebu also has nice beaches but you have to travel over 50 kilometres away from the city. There are plenty of options to choose. From a quite get away, to a white sand-bar party. Malapascua Island is one of the most visited island in Cebu. If you are looking for a quite place to relax feel the to warm breeze and listen to the friendly waves on a fine white sand beach, this is the perfect place for you. They also offer scuba diving, island hopping by boat, as well as other water sports.

Events and Festivals

Cebu being devoted to the Sto. Niño, the city holds one of the most major and famous festivals in the country called the Sinulog Festival. This festival is held every third Sunday of January. During the festival people join in the procession of the images of Sto. Niño and join in the street dancing around the city.

Other major Philippine festivals are listed in the Events and Festivals in the Philippines section.

Weather

Warm and humid weather throughout the year, with maximum temperatures mostly around or above 30 °C and nights mostly above 20 °C.

Getting There

Since the city is situated in an island, the main ways to get there are by plane or by ferry from nearby islands.

By Plane

Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB) in Cebu is the third most important airport in the Philippines, following Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark (Angeles) and Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila. It services flights from and to other domestic airports in the country and nearby South East Asian countries.

Since most international flights connect through Manila, one would need to transfer to Manila Domestic Airport and may get flights from Manila to Cebu with Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air. The Mactan-Cebu International Airport is currently undergoing upgrade and has been introducing more domestic and direct international connections into the city.

Airlines with direct international flights to Cebu include:

• Air Busan - from Busan
• All Nippon Airways (ANA) - from Tokyo-Narita, Osaka
• Asiana Airlines - from Seoul-Incheon, Busan
• Cathay Pacific - from Hong Kong.
• Cebu Pacific Air - from Seoul-Incheon, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo-Narita.
• DragonAir - from Hong Kong
• Emirates Airline - from Dubai
• EVA Air - from Taipei.
• Jeju Air - from Seoul-Incheon.
• Jin Air - from Seoul-Incheon, Busan.
• Korean Air - from Seoul-Incheon.
• Malaysia Airlines - from Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu.
• Mandarin Airlines - from Taipei.
• Philippine Airlines - from Guam, Los Angeles, Nagoya, Osaka-Kansai, Seoul-Incheon, Singapore, Tokyo-Narita.
• Philippines AirAsia - from Seoul-Incheon, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore.
• Silk Air - from Singapore.
• T'Way Air - from Daegu.
• Tiger Air - from Singapore.
• Vanilla Air - from Tokyo.
• Xiamen Airlines - from Xiamen.

By Boat

Being an island, Cebu may also be accessed through the use of the ferry system in the country. The following major ferry lines provide trips to Cebu from Manila and other major ports in the country.

• Carlos A Gothing Lines
• Cebu Ferries
• Cokaliong Shipping Lines
• EB Aznar Shipping
• George & Peter Lines
• Jadestar Shipping Lines
• Lite Shipping Corporation
• Negros Navigation
• OceanJet
• Palacio Shipping Lines
• Roble Shipping Lines
• Roly Shipping Lines
• Sulpicio Lines
• Super Shuttle Ferry
• SuperCat
• Trans-Asia Shipping Lines
• VG Shipping Lines
• Weesam Express
• WG&A SuperFerry

By Bus

The main bus lines servicing the Cebu area are Ceres Bus Liner, CBL Liner, ABC Liner and Rough Riders.

Getting Around

By Public Transport

Do as the locals do and catch a colorful jeepney. They are available 24 hours and cover most of the city. Fares cost P8 if traveling between points within Cebu City and more if going to Mandaue City or Lapu-Lapu.
Buses are also available but these tend to ply exclusively along the north-south route. There are two major bus terminals as the name implies for direction of travel - North Bus terminal at Mandaue and South Bus terminal. Ceres Bus lines operates regular bus services from these terminals and are considered the "safer" alternative to the smaller privately operated bus lines.

Eat

Cebu with its long years of existence has a wide range of food delicacies and among the most famous are the following:

• Cebu's lechon - Lechon is a common favorite in Filipino parties and fiestas. It is a pig that is put on a bamboo pole and roasted slowly on flaming charcoal.
• SuToKil - Stands for 'Sugba' (to grill), 'Tola' (to make broth soup), and 'Kilaw' (to cook raw by using vinegar).
• Otap - A sweet elongated crunchy biscuit made from flour, sugar, and coconut.
• Dried Seafood - Being an island, Cebu is rich with seafood and a favorite by locals is to season and sun dry fishes and squids for a period of time. They are served fried or grilled.
• Dried Mangoes - A major export product of Cebu, dried mangoes for the province is among the best in the country.

Drink

Mango Avenue and Mango Square is where the bulk of the nightlife is located. The typical venues are nightclubs, bars and karaoke boxes. There is also a variety of girlie clubs lined up on Mango Ave leading up to Mango Square.

Sleep

Mid-Range

• Cebu Marriott Hotel. Cardinal Rosales Avenue, Cebu City.
• Crowne Regency Hotels. Fuente Tower 2, Osmeña Boulevard, Cebu City.
• Marco Polo Plaza Cebu. Cebu Veterans Drive, Nivel Hills, Apas, Cebu City.
• Waterfront Cebu City Hotel. Salinas Drive, Lahug, Cebu City.

Upscale

• Plantation Bay Resort and Spa. Marigondon, Mactan Island, Cebu.

Learn

• University of Cebu

Keep Connected

Internet

There are a number of internet service providers nationwide: PLDT-Smart Communications, Globe Telecoms, BayanTel and Sun Cellular and each have their signal strengths in various locations. Internet access areas of broadband speeds are plentiful in city malls, much less so outside the cities, but are growing at a rapid pace. Internet surfing rates depend primarily on where you surf and the medium used (e.g. WiFi or wired). Internet services offered by hotels and shopping malls are expensive and can go up to ₱200/hour (approximately US$5) but neighbourhood cafes can be as cheap as ₱15/hour (approximately US$0.35).

Public place WiFi services in the Philippines is provided by Airborneaccess.net and WiZ is likely to cost ₱100 (approximately US$2) for up to an hour. But if you want cheaper, there is a internet cafe chain in SM malls called, "Netopia", that has a landline internet connection for around 20P an hour (about 0.46 US). Coffee shops as well as malls usually carry WiFi service some are free to use. Certain areas may also carry free WiFi. The SM chain of malls offer free wifi, so you can sit virtually anywhere in the mall and access free wireless.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company commonly known as PLDT is the leading telecommunications provider. It is also the largest company in the country. There are three major companies operating GSM 900/1800 networks: Globe, Smart and Sun Cellular. Your home provider at home should have agreements with one of these providers so check with them before leaving home. Roaming may be quite expensive just as elsewhere however, pre-paid SIM cards of these networks are easy to acquire and cost as little as ₱30 and provide a cheaper alternative.
If you don't have a phone to begin with, a complete pre-paid kit with phone and SIM can be purchased for as little as ₱1,500.The usual cost of an international long-distance call to the United States, Europe or other major countries is $0.40 per minute. Local calls range from ₱ 6.50 per minute for prepaid calls.

Due to the wide use of mobile phones, pay phones are increasingly becoming obsolete. Some malls and public places still do have them and they usually come in either the coin or card operated variety. Globe and PLDT are the usual operators. Phone cards are usually sold by shops which sell cellphone pre-paid loads and cards. Note that phone cards of one company can not be used with the other company's card operated phones.

Post

The Philippine Postal Corporation, or PhilPost, is the provides the postal service throughout the Philippines. PhilPost is pretty reliable, but one can hardly call it fast services. It is fine for sending postcards and letters though, both domestically as well as internationally. Prices for sending postcards or letters within the country start at around P7, while most international post costs at least P20. For sending parcels to and from the Philippines it might be wise to use companies like FedEx or UPS. The opening hours of post offices in the Philippines differ from one place to another. Usually, post offices are open from 8:00am to 12 noon and from 1:00pm to 5:00pm on weekdays. And for those that operate on Saturdays, the business hours are from 8:00am to 1:00pm.

External Links

• Official Governmental Website