i left my Y in cebu

i Y cebu.

i am a proud ‘bisdak’.

(bisdak means bisayang-dako, loosely translated: one who grew up in the visayas, in my case cebu)

although it is no longer accurate for me to say that I spent most of my life in cebu since I left my beloved hometown when I was 14 years old to live in manila, cebu is still closest to my heart. aside from it being the place where most of my relatives are, it is where I spent my formative years in and where I developed my love for traveling and the outdoors.

so why do i Y cebu so? let me count the ways (and take note coz you might just find yourself in that side of the world)…

• the city in itself is a delight. it is as lively as manila, less the pollution, population & traffic and with nicer people. I enjoy going to carbon (the biggest public market in the city), the old churches (sto. nino, cebu cathedral, sto. rosario) and the 'touristy' places (fort san pedro, plaza independencia, taoist temple, magellan's cross) as much as i enjoy going to the night spots in and around the city.


• in cebu you find the yummiest lechon ever - the cebu lechon, whether it be cnt or allejo (branded lechon stores) or the lechon sold in the area of jai-alai, nothing can top cebu lechon - ask anthony bourdain. to truly experience the gastronomical delights in cebu, i never pass up a chicharon or meal of barbecue & pu-so (hanging rice or boiled rice wrapped in woven coconut leaves) sold in almost in every corner of the city and always make it a point to visit larsian - a whole block of barbeque stands in uptown cebu) near fuente osmena.


• sinulog, in my own humble opinion, is the best festival in the country. people from all over the country, (heck, from all over the world!) troop to cebu every third sunday of january to party! one has to experience sinulog in order to know what i mean.


• beaches abound cebu. nearest ones are in mactan island and olango (where the fish and bird sanctuary are). i have only been to a number of them - on the south side there's argao, badian (do a side trip to kawasan falls), moalboal (great diving - comparable to apo island), up north there's bantayan & malapascua (for the thresher sharks and mantas).

• from cebu you can get to anywhere - jump on a ferry and you'll be in bohol or negros in a matter of hours, dumaguete and leyte is just a few hours of road trip+ro-ro away.

i can go on and on about cebu but i also admit that I can still be a tourist to some parts of my home province. cebu is packed with beautiful sights from end to end! having left cebu at a young age, and just going home every now and then for family gatherings, there are a lot of hidden pleasures I have yet to discover. and i realized, sadly, i don't even have pretty pictures of the city. what an abomination! this cannot be. i will rectify this soon.

I left my Y in cebu and there it will stay.

www.cebu.gov.ph
www.cebucitytourism.com