Travel: , the Queen City of the South by Ramon T. Ayco May 2009

(First published in the Travel Section of Pinoy Reporter, May 2009 issue.)

When I was a child, every time our family travel to the South by ship for a vacation, either to my mother’s province in Jolo, Sulu or to my father’s province in Antequera, Bohol, we always had a stopped over in Cebu which gave us chances of touring the place even for a short time. Even my first travel in an airplane in 1967 from Manila to Bohol, we had a stopped over in Cebu’s Mactan International Airport (the nation's second largest airport) before proceeding to Tagbilaran airport. By this, I would like to say that Cebu was a familiar place to me a long time ago.

And since 1980s up to now, I’ve got many chances of going to Cebu either for meetings, seminars, conferences and the likes which gave me chances of touring the place for longer times. The last of which was a meeting regarding our works on indigenous peoples held in Portofino Beach Resort in Mactan on June 29 to July 2, 2008 in which I enjoyed very much shooting with my camera (photo and video) the beautiful scenery and swimming in its white sand beach and swimming pools.

On my own experience, I believe that Cebu, the Queen City of the South and the country's oldest city, is really one of the prime tourists’ destinations in the .

One of the prides of Cebu is their rich historic past. Being the first and oldest city in the country, ante-dating Manila by 7 years, having the oldest school and oldest street and being the cradle of Christianity in the Far East (i.e. Magellan's cross planted in Cebu as a symbol of natives embracing the Christian faith), Cebu is replete with historical heritage Cebu has a Roman Catholic Archdiocese, and has several major churches, including the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, the San Carlos Church, the Santo. Rosario Parish Church, San José-Recoletos Church, Sacred Heart Church, and other christian churches; as well as several other non-Catholic churches, mosque, and temples.

Some of the historical and famous places in which you must see are: Fuente Osmeña; ; City of Cebu; , the oldest street in the Philippines; Cebu; ; Taoist Temple; Tops Skyline Garden; Fort Santiago; Mt. Manghilaw; Sta. Rosa Falls; Life Size Statues of Popes, Stations of the Cross and Mysteries of the Holy Rosary (Danao City); Cebu Parkmall and Cebu International Convention Center.

Metropolitan Cebu, the country's second biggest metropolis, is the political, economic, educational and cultural center of the Visayas. Hotels, shopping malls, entertainment halls, casinos and golf fairways are ever present in the metro to cater to every tourist's whim.

For relaxation, Cebu is the traveler's fantasy of a tropical island comes true. In contrast to the bustling metropolis, the rest of Cebu's 167 islets and islands are lined with idyllic white sandy beaches and sapphire- clear waters teeming with marine life, perfect for divers. Cebu has gained wide popularity for its fantastic diving grounds evidenced by the proliferation of resorts which offer luxurious accommodations, excellent dive facilities and the services of competent dive masters and dive guides.

The UK-based Condé Nast Traveler Magazine named Cebu the seventh best island destination in the Indian Ocean-Asia region in 2007, eighth best Asian-Pacific island destination in 2005, and seventh in 2004.