Honeymoon Part III

After Bohol, we went to Cebu and stayed at Tambuli beach resort. We had a great stay there and we were having so much fun. My husband had a great time too especially one of this dreams came true, to try to do parasailing and he did it, at Shangri-La Cebu. Tambuli beach is one of the tourist attractions in Cebu. It is a very nice resort especially to the honeymooners. The Tambuli Beach Club East Wing, Philippines is set in tropical greenery and coconut trees. Located on the beautiful beachfront of Mactan Island, connected to Cebu by a bridge. Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort, Philippines' largest and most exclusive deluxe resort gives its guests the ultimate tropical paradise vacation experience. Located in Cebu, this idyllic resort with its beautiful private beach offers an exciting range of recreation activities and superb cuisine. Every guestroom blends tropical decor with modern amenities and private balconies provide panoramic views of the Visayan Sea and outlying islands, making it a perfect getaway for fun and relaxation.

We had a great time in Cebu as well. We went to visit the magellan’s cross at Sto. Nino church in Cebu. We lighted candles and attended masses. We also went to the guitar factory and would love to go back there to buy one for me. Cebu is a big City and lots of scenery that all tourists would enjoy. They also have those walking under water wearing the scuba diving suit and feed the fishes under water. It is a very nice place also to visit and lots of interesting historic monument and churches.

Magellan's Cross, on the Island of Cebu
Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to come to the Philippines in 1521. Also known as Fernao Magalhaes or Fernando Magallanes, he was a Portuguese navigator working for the King of Spain in search of the spice islands (now part of Indonesia, known as Maluku or Moluccas islands). When he and his crews landed on Cebu island, a native chief, Rajah Humabon, met and befriended him. Rajah Humabon, his wife and hundreds of his native warriors agreed to accept Christianity and were consequently baptized.
Magellan planted a cross to signify this important event about the propagation of the Roman Catholic faith in what is now Cebu, in central Philippines. The original cross is reputedly encased in another wooden cross for protection, as people started chipping it away in the belief that it had miraculous healing powers. This prompted the government officials to encase it in tindalo wood and secured it inside a small chapel called "kiosk." Some say, however, that the original cross was actually destroyed. The Magellan cross displayed here is said to be a replica of such cross. It is housed in a small chapel located in front of the present city hall of Cebu, along Magallanes Street (named in honor of Magellan).
Sadly, Magellan met his death under the hands of another Visayan chief, Lapu-Lapu, when he went to the nearby island of Mactan. Mactan is also part of today's Metropolitan Cebu. There, both the statues of Magellan and Lapu-Lapu proudly stand to commemorate the tragic meeting of east and west in this part of the world.
It took another 45 years (1565) before Cebu was visited again by another European. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, under orders from King Philip of Spain, came and made Cebu the first capital of the Spanish colony known as Las Islas Filipinas.

Our honeymoon days Part I

A day after our wedding back in 2003, we went directly to Bohol Island, Philippines where we spent our honeymoon. On our first night of staying there, my husband surprised me by "Harana" ( group of people sang for us with our favorite love songs using a guitar) while we were eating our dinner and I was really shock and surprised, I felt that time how lucky I was to have him and of course until now, I am the luckiest person on earth to have such a loving husband. On the right side, is the picture of Panglao island resort where we stayed for 5 days and it costs us at least $150.00 a night. It is quite expensive but it was worthy because we were celebrating the happiest moment of being together. I love the resort and the white sands, and they also have a man made island where you can enjoy.

The next picture on the right is also one of the reason why we went to Bohol, to visit old churches since my husband is very fascinated with any historic building specially churches. This is the Baclayon Church of Bohol.

Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Baclayon
The Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Baclayon is considered to be one of the oldest churches in the Philippines. It is one of the best preserved Jesuit build churches in the region, although in the 19th century, the Augustinian Recollects added a modern facade and a number of stone buildings that now surround the church. The first Spanish missionaries or doctrines in the region, Fr. Juan de Torres and Fr. Gabriel Sanchez, first settled in Baclayon in 1595. Shortly after their arrival, a visit was erected on the spot.
Although Baclayon was the first seat of the Spanish Jesuit missionaries, fear of Moro marauders soon forced them to move their headquarters more inland, to Loboc. Only in 1717, Baclayon became a parish, and construction of a new church commenced. Some 200 native forced laborers constructed the church from coral stones, which they took from the sea, cut into square blocks, and piled on to each other. They used bamboo to move and lift the stones in position, and used the white of a million eggs as to cement them together. The current building was completed in 1727. The church obtained a large bell in 1835. In the Baclayon church is a dungeon, which was used to punish natives who violated the rules of the Roman Catholic church.

On our trip back to the Philippines this May, we will still be going back to Bohol to visit again this old church and other beautiful places. In this Church where Cesar Montano and Sunshine Cruz got married a famous actor and actress in the Philippines and in my dreams, how I wish we could be having our wedding again here too.