Oslob Church
This town called Oslob is located in the south of Cebu. The first time I went there, I was on a History class fieldtrip way back 2002. 9 years later, I thought of this place when my cousin and her boyfriend went to Cebu for a short vacation. I thought they might like to go to the south to see some historical towns and also for me to get away from the metro for a day.
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I’ve noticed this obtrusive structure on the left side of Mall of Asia. I wondered why there is a new church beside a very big mall. When I was in the vicinity of the SMX Convention Center beside Mall of Asia, I thought about the church and wanted to visit there after.
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It was noontime when I went to see the church. From the outside, you can see the name of the church. It’s called The Archdiocesan Shrine of Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life. A very long name for a church indeed but you can call it The Shrine of Jesus for short. It’s one of the best new places for weddings in Manila, not only because it’s new but it’s also near the bay – therefore a breezy and sunshiny place. This idea reminds me of a wedding in the Caribbean.
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I dropped by Quiapo Church or the Basilica Minore of the Black Nazarene when the jeepney route that I rode from Commonwealth Ave. was only until Quiapo and I was going to Intramuros that day. Nevertheless, I was glad that I made that route because I’ll get to see Quiapo Church. It was a tuesday when I went there. The church is busiest on fridays as the church holds a novena every fridays. It tends to be the reason for the traffic in the vicinity every friday.
Quiapo Church facade seen from Plaza Miranda[ad#body-big]
Paco Park or Paco Cemetery is at the end of Padre Faura Street in Paco, Manila. At first, Paco Cemetery was a cemetery for the elite families of Manila. It was used as the place to inter the victims of the cholera epidemic of 1822. Internment was stopped in 1912 and since then, the surviving family members have transferred the remains of their dead to another location. In the second world war, it was used as a central supply and ammunition depot by the Japanese. In 1963, it was restored and transformed into a national park.
Paco park is a popular for artists desiring a quiet communing with nature, for concerts and wedding venues. It was venue of the recent Black wedding of Jay Contreras and Sarah Abad last January 27, 2008.
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Paco Park is where our national hero, Jose P. Rizal was buried after his execution in December 30, 1896. His remains were exhumed in 1898 and temporarily deposited in his mother’s house in Estraude Street, Binondo, Manila. It was transferred in 1912 in Rizal’s monument at Luneta. Aside from being the grave site of Rizal, Paco Park is also the site where Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora were buried after their execution.
Grave site of Jose P. Rizal before his bones were transferred to Rizal park
Grave site of GOMBURZAA person who fears cemeteries may not experience any panic attacks because only a few niches are occupied. And it’s a quiet place for lovers on a date plus it’s a historical landmark. That’s convening the past and the present.
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For the first time, I ventured to an unfamiliar place without researching more about it before going. All I remember from my History classes is that Intramuros was the heart of Manila, the seat of the Spanish government, the center of trade and industry, and the center of learning. From what I’ve read and learned, Intramuros is where Fort Santiago is, the place where Jose Rizal was imprisoned before his execution. I knew that there are two existing churches in Intramuros – Manila Cathedral and San Agustin Church, the oldest church in the Philippines.
The Intramuros wooden sign in Gen. Luna StreetWell, I decided to go with them at 10am. I packed my stuff then texted Claire to wait for me in the Cebu North Bus Terminal. Alas, they were already in Consolacion, Cebu which is an hour away from Cebu City. My spirits were high that morning and I was ready for an adventure. I texted another friend Noreen V. and I invited her to go with me to Bantayan Island. She agreed and I told her to go to Cebu North Bus Terminal which is just a ride away from SM City Cebu, and meet me there.
With a duffel bag, a small tent, a bottle of water, dry crackers and a thousand pesos in my pocket, I waited for Noreen at the Cebu North Bus Terminal. She arrived at 2pm, very fashionably late as I told her that we had to meet at 1pm because the last ferry to Bantayan Island will depart at about 4 or 5pm and the bus ride is 3 hours. So I told her that we had to ride a van with 8 other passengers because we’ll be late for the last trip to Bantayan Island. We paid 100pesos for each person for a van ride going to Hagnaya Wharf, San Remigio, Cebu. Honestly, I haven’t been to San Remigio or Bantayan Island before that time. I was looking at the signs on what part of Cebu we were at all times, praying that we got on the right van.
Finally, we arrived at Hagnaya Wharf, San Remigio, Cebu just before the ferry departed for the last trip which was about 5pm on my clock. We paid about 150 for the 1 and a half hour ferry ride. We got to Sta. Fe Port, Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island at about 6:30pm. We rode a pedicab to Sugar Beach for 15pesos each. You can haggle if you want but our driver was a 10 year old kid so 15pesos per person was kind of a nice offer.
When we got to Sugar Beach, we looked for Claire and her officemates. When we found them, we rented a space for our tent which was about 150pesos a day. If you don’t have a tent, you can rent their own at 400 up depending on the size of the tent. It was a peak season so we expected that Sugar Beach has no vacancies that’s why I brought my dad’s tent. Sugar Beach is actually the cheapest resort that you can find but the beach strip is so wide that you’ll still get your money’s worth. You can contact this number for reservations or inquiries about Sugar Beach: 09217755058. If you want a high end resort, you can try Sta. Fe Beach Club and Ogtong Cave Resort.
We actually didn’t join with Claire and her officemates because they had their own agenda. They were in some sort of Team-building Retreat and their Team Manager was with them. So we bought our own food and did all our thing on our own. There are some barbecue stations along the street so looking for a place to eat wasn’t that hard.
We had a night swimming that lasted until 12midnight. The beach was so wide, the water’s so clear and the sand, so white and fine. It was like paradise for us comparing it to our local Cebu City beaches which would either have a small space to swim or there’s too much seaweed in the water. I’ve lived in Cebu City for more than 10 years and the best resort that I’ve been to in Cebu are Maribago Bluewaters, Cebu Beach Club and Tambuli Beach Club. And the only thing that you can appreciate in those resorts are actually the swimming pools and the watersports and not the beach itself. So we were overjoyed to swim as far as we can in Sugar Beach without any seaweed or space interruption. I told Noreen that we have to sleep at 12midnight because I wanted to witness the sunrise at 5am. I woke up later on at 5:30am and took some sunrise pictures.
Sunrise in Sugar Beach
Sugar Beach is known for its powdery white sand
We had breakfast of eggs, bread and coffee at the same barbecue station. After that, we went around the town plaza asking for directions on how to get to Ogtong Cave, St. Paul and St. Peter Church, and Kota Park. After about an hour of swimming, we decided to rent a motorbike which we got at 150pesos but was supposed to be 200pesos for 24 hours. But since we will be going back to Cebu City that same afternoon, Noreen convince the motorbike owner to have it at 150pesos. You can contact this number for the motorbike rental: 09194451143. Then, we bought 1 liter of gasoline for an afternoon motorbike ride.
We didn’t have a map at hand and we just asked for directions from the townspeople who were very friendly and hospitable. I know what the tourist attractions of the island have since I’m a fabulous researcher (lol) so we just asked around for directions. The first stop was Ogtong Cave which is known as a fish sanctuary and you can swim with the fishes. When we got there, we found out that there’s an entrance fee of 150pesos and it’s out of the budget so we just drove around the seaside.
The little blue country house
The blue house serves as a winter house where they spend their Christmases and New Years. The architect also told us that there are actually little caves below the cliffs and we went to check it out. Now, there’s our alernative to Ogtong Cave.
Little caves are hidden below these cliffs
St. Paul and St. Peter Church
Welcome to Kota Park, Madridejos, Bantayan Island
The lighthouse is the little speck in the middle of this picture
The connecting bridge as seen from the top floor of the lookout tower
A Spanish fort ruin in Kota Park
We were on our way back to Sugar Beach when we ran out of gas in the middle of the highway. Luckily, there was a little gasoline store and we bought another liter of gasoline. It was time for lunch too so we ate in another barbecue station along the road. We actually spend about 50pesos each per meal and I mean a full meal with coke, a lot of puso (hanging rice) and all sorts of barbecue.
We got back to Sugar Beach at about 1pm, then we packed all our things for home. The ferry going to San Remigio port left at about 3pm which is the last trip for the day. We slept all along in the bus going back to Cebu City. It was a unforgetful getaway trip where we used up all the budgeting skills and the knowledge I’ve learned from the web.
By the time we got back to SM City Cebu, we still had 100pesos each in our pockets which was more than the fare going home. I had the time of my life even if it was only for a day in Bantayan Island. We toured the whole island and saw all the tourist spots in a matter of hours. Where can you hear that kind of story, huh?
