cebu sidelights

I was recently in Cebu for work because we were launching our 120th anniversary campaign in the Queen City of the South. The trip was filled with meetings and events, but right smack in the middle was a whole day off. I had planned to spend it in bed at the hotel because I wanted to rest and fully recover from the fever and tonsillitis which hit me just a few days ago. But then the adventurous side of me took over, and I ended up exploring the city a little with my workmates. 

We got to check out Fort San Pedro (facade is that first photo), which, according to Wiki, is the "smallest, oldest triangular bastion fort in the country was built in 1738 to repel Muslim raiders. In turn, it served as a stronghold for Filipino revolutionaries near the end of the 19th century. This served as the nucleus of the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines."

  

The place had a small museum, a nice garden, and a butterfly sanctuary which, much to our dismay, had only dead butterflies in it. Nakakaloka! They probably had some problems maintaining the sanctuary, but at least mag-effort naman sana to take out the dead butterflies lying flat in there. It was a little traumatic.

We also went to the Philippine Taoist Temple, which I really, really loved. It was serene and also offered a nice view as it is located in the highlands The cool breeze was also a welcome treat after climbing several flights of stairs to get to the altar area.

   

On a different day, we also got to visit our brand ambassador Kenneth Cobonpue's showroom and factory. This is work-related because it was for a meeting, and I've already been to his Makati showroom, but then it was such a treat to see where his ideas come to life and his works are born.

Other highlights of the trip were eating green mangoes with bagoong, Cebu lechon, and tsokolate tablea. The lechon has no photo though because we just dove right in as soon as platefuls were delivered to our table lol.

  

Next time, I hope to visit Cebu for pleasure and with my family in tow. But I'm also happy to have been able to get to know the place a little more on this trip.