A Quick Visit to Cebu

Work again allowed me to visit my parents' home province: Cebu!

Since we only stayed overnight, we planned on maximizing our two days there (or less than two days, since we had to finish work first). We planned on trekking to Osmena Peak at the south of Cebu then try canyoneering at Badian Falls (Kawasan) the next day. Too bad, it was raining hard so we decided to stick to some places near the City.

We visited the Temple of Leah which is somewhere along the Cebu Transcentral Highway in Cebu City, specifically in Busay. A good friend of a friend drove us there since there is no route for public vehicles there. The Temple of Leah is a tribute of Mr. Teodorico Adarna to his departed wife of 53 years, Leah Villa Albino-Adarna. It's really impressive and inspired by Greek (or is it Roman?) architecture. It is supposed to have 24 chambers, but none of these chambers are open yet.

Am I in Greece or in Rome?

Entrance fee is P50.00 per head and you can take as long as you like. I don't think it's finished already since the rooms are closed. A peek at the windows would show a lot of collections like bottles of alcohol, wine, furniture, etc.

The bust of Mrs. Leah Albino-Adarna

I just had to take a photo of this intricate design
 at each balustrade of the stairs.

Looking out of the temple

The angels are calling!

The marker

There's not much to see yet as there is still construction going on, but I bet it would really look grand everything is finished.  There are still a lot of floors below under construction.  The view overlooking the city is very nice too.

Next, we went to Terrazas de Flores, which is also in Busay, Cebu City. It's just about a kilometer or two from the Temple of Leah. It's a beautiful botanical garden on the mountain slope. It literally has hundreds of beautiful flowers. Entrance fee is P100.00 per person.

Nice, nice trellis!

Be ready for the cold climate, since it is located in a mountain slope, so it can get a bit chilly! Brrr!!!

The fog is getting near...

The place educates people by putting up signs to identify the plant/s. It was my first time to see a lipstick plant!

Lipstick! Like the shade?

They look like pompoms

Terrazas de Flores also has a cafe. Drinks are priced higher than average. My frappe cost P180 or something  (16oz.). Maybe because there aren't too many people coming in and probably because of the ambiance.

the counter

P185 or P180 for this frappe plus P100 for the view

That's were we had our frappes

I think this is a nice place to be in to relax, meditate, and study without being distracted by people, traffic and noise.  Too bad it's too far away from Manila.

Cebu is really beautiful. I have always dreamed of retiring here and that dream still remains.

Special thanks to my friends : Atty. Adeth for being the ever gracious host in Cebu; Mitch, a new-found friend, for bringing us here; and to Christopher for the endless kwentuhan.