Me and three of my friends took advantage of the Zero Fare Christmas promo of Cebu Pacific (see the latest Cebu Pacific Promo). We had only planned for a 2 day trip, which we later regret, to save on costs and possible schedule conflicts. I have always wanted to visit Cebu again, I’ve been there a few times during my childhood and I’ve always wanted to see what Cebu has transformed into. Indeed Cebu has changed dramatically and is worthy of the title of being the largest urban center in the Southern Philippines.

Our first destination was Cebu’s famous Lechon in CNT Lechon then we headed to SM City Cebu. With the addition of its new North Wing, SM City Cebu is now the 3rd largest mall in the Country and 11th in the world … WOW! The North Wing had a lot of mid to high-end stores, I felt like I wasn’t inside an SM Mall.

We were a bit apprehensive in touring Cebu because none of us knew how to speak in Cebuano. We were particularly afraid that taxi drivers would rip us off since we knew nothing on how to get around Cebu. During the whole trip, we were over charged just once in our taxi ride from the airport to SM City. It was sort of our fault because we should have taken a metered taxi and not the ones parked in front of the terminal.

We stayed in a nice boutique hotel near the Cebu Provincial Capitol named Mayflower Inn. I wasn’t on spending the night in a hotel, I was thinking more in the lines of a cheap pension house but since we were tired and my friends didn’t want to bother looking for another place, I just let it be. After settling in our rooms, we met with my friend’s friend who was an Ilonggo working in Cebu and then toured around the Capitol Area all the way to Colon, the old downtown of the City, Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, Magellan’s Cross, and Fort San Pedro.

We ate our dinner in Ayala Center Cebu, it was my first time seeing their newly renovated The Terraces. It was  soooo nice, found it even better than TriNoMa. Tani may ara man ni sa Iloilo!

I would’ve hoped to go around the Cebu Business Park and the IT Park in Lahug the next day but we were so tired. We woke up late and opted to have coffee in Starbucks instead. We don’t have one back in Iloilo (yet). Fortunately during our ride back to the airport the taxi passed by the CBP and I got to see the commercial mid to highrise buildings of Cebu.

Overall it was a fun trip. Although Cebuanos speak a different language and the culture is a bit different from Iloilo’s I can’t help but feel familiar with Cebu (even a bit at home). Perhaps it’s because I have Cebuano blood in me, haha! Cebu is the home province of my father. My paternal family roots specifically originated from the paradise island of Bantayan in the northernmost tip of Cebu.