SM City Cebu 12-15 Nov 2015

The distance from our hotel to the SM City Cebu actually is not far, as it is just a few minutes of walking distance, and it is kind of easy for us to look for our food when we feel hungry each time. It was the nearest and so convenient for us just to buy and shop anything.

It is near Christmas, thus all around the mall was nicely decorated with Christmas ornaments and trees and lights and stars. There was the first thing we noticed when we were on our way to the Temple on the first day we landed Cebu, we can see some of the stars shape decorations were hanging all over the city.

We were curious what was that, and asked the cab driver on that, he told us that it was for the Christmas decorations. It is so early to us, as now Malaysia is busy celebrating the Deepavali.

SM City Cebu currently is the 11th largest mall on the planet, it is a sprawling four-level complex that features eight world-class cinemas, a department store, a food court, a bowling centre, a traveller's lounge, an 8,000-square meter amusement centre and a 2,000-square meter trade hall. It hosts about 500 retail shops, restaurants and cafes.

SM City Cebu first opened in November 1993, catering more to the broad middle class in comparison to Ayala Centre Cebu, which targets a more upscale market.

To the delight of Cebuano mall-goers, an expansion wing, dubbed the North wing, opened in 2007. The North wing offers two floors of retail shops, restaurants and cafes, and caters more to the leisure market.

SM City Cebu proves that variety is the spice of life. You can find an array of exciting food choices, from fast food chains to elegant fine dining restaurants. You can also experience retail heaven with its many shops such as Oxygen, Penshoppe, Mango, Topshop, Promod, People Are People, The Body Shop, National Bookstore, Ace Hardware, Toy Kingdom, Toby’s Sport and much more.

Movie buffs are also treated to a whole new cinematic experience with SM’s 3-D IMAX theatre, which opened in late 2009. We were thinking of going to watch the movie but most of the movies screening at that time were 18SG, not suitable at all for our children. Then, we just window shopping and see the huge Christmas Tree which is at the Ground Floor Foyer area.

Another thing which draw our attention and impressed us a lot is the security personnel in the shopping mall. Almost every shopping malls either old or new, big or small, until in the individual retail shop alone, we can see smartly dressed security personnel guarding at every entrance.

They looked so professional compared back home here in Malaysia, whereby most of the security guards at the banks, shopping malls are foreigner, either Bangladeshi, Nepalese, Burmese, or Vietnamese. It is so different here in Philippines. They even having a small first aid kit at their back just in case any incident happened.

We were thinking in my mind like: It is really a shame to us Malaysian, as we are so choosy on the jobs, whereby what can I see from Cebu is that Pilipino really building up their nations as all the jobs are fully filled by their own nations, even to the security guards positions!

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Mandaue Philippines Stake Conference 15 Nov 2015

It was a special Sabbath to us, as we were at Cebu City Philippines. In the morning, we went to the Temple ground again as there is a Sacrament Hall for the local members.

We woke up as early as 7.00am, as Brother Aden would be meeting us at the Bayfront Hotel Lobby and drove us to the Temple for our sacrament meeting, after which he invited us to go to his stake conference – Mandaue Philippines Stake Conference.

During when we were at the hotel lobby, we saw Brother Aden’s friend, the taxi driver to drive us to the Temple. He called Brother Aden on his hand phone, then passed the phone to Alvin.

After a while, Alvin told us to take the taxi and the driver would drove us to the temple. Brother Aden’s baby was not feeling well as he need to bring him see doctor first in the morning, and he had called his friend to fetch us to the Temple.

We reached there early, as we thought that the first sacrament will start as early as 8.30am. Then, we told the taxi driver to be back here around 9.30am, and took us to Hoops Dome, where the Stake Conference would be held.

We met a brother there as he is the temple chief security, he told us that the first session of the sacrament would start only at 9.00am. I was thinking like, are we able to catch up the stake conference later?

Eventually, there were more and more members coming in to the Sacrament Hall. We met with the Bishop of the ward, but I really cannot recall which Ward was that. It was really a brand new experience for us to attend a ward sacrament meeting.

The sacrament meeting was attended by around 180 people as we saw the deacons who passed the 5 trays of sacrament bread and 5 trays of sacrament waters to the members. The assigned speakers too, were really uplifted our spirits.

At the sacrament meeting, we met with one Chinese, Brother Yew. He was delighted to get to know us that our last name is Yu as well.

Brother Yew told us that, we might be related in that sense as 俞氏is originated from 余氏。He was born in Cebu as his parents were born here too as well. He is the 3rd generations here in Philippines as his grandfather and grandmother were from China.

Brother Yew is a Chinese Teacher here in Cebu. I believe he must be doing a lot of the family history works as he knew most of the China genealogy and all about related to his last name. It was really a pleasure to meet up with him.

After the sacrament meeting, we quickly rushed out and checked whether the taxi driver still there. Yes! He still there waiting for us. He took us to the Lapu-Lapu City which is located at the Mactan island, we have to cross the bridge. After almost half an hour, we reached the Hoops Dome. It is a stadium.

Brother Aden was waiting for us outside. He brought us in to the stadium. There were a lot of people in and out of the stadium.

From one look, we knew that we were at the right place, as we can see most of the men and boys were wearing white shirts, long pants and with ties.

The stake conference had started already. Brother Aden gave us the programs flyers. Actually, it is same as our district conference too, it started at Saturday night itself.

I think we arrived at the right timing, after a while Cebu East Mission President, President President Richard L. Tanner gave his speech.

After him, was Elder Allen D. Haynie whom was sustained as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy last April General Conference. I still remember his talk last October at the General Conference. Both Alvin and I can feel the spirit very strongly.

After the conference, Brother Aden introduce us to his ward bishop. We waited for a while to meet up with President and Sister Tanner, and took a photo with both of them.

We met with Elder Allen D. Haynie, I did talk to him for a while. He is so humble and a very nice person. I was so regret that we did not take the opportunity to take a family photo together with him, but we feel so uplifted on that special Sabbath.

During our way going out from the stadium, we met up with Brother Luis D. Daclan whom sealed us as a family on Friday in the temple.

He was surprised and happy to meet us at the Stake Conference too. We took photo together with him. We have our family photo with Brother Aden and his pretty wife and baby boy too.

We are so grateful and happy for our first ever temple trip, as we are able to accomplish most of our goals: accomplished our own endowments in the temple; our family sealing in the temple; we baptized for our own mother and father in the temple; we attended our first ever ward sacrament meeting, we attended our first ever stake conference; we managed to meet with Cebu East Mission President, President & Sister Tanner; we managed to meet with Elder Allen D. Haynie from the First Quorum of the Seventy.

We feel the love from Heavenly Father on our family as we know that He has planned this trip so well and so wonderful for us, as we are able to meet with the beautiful members or saints in this part of the world, get to know them and Brother Aden even invited us to attend the Stake Conference, and shared his testimony with us. All these beautiful and wonderful experience would not be happened if not by the hand of the Lord who knoweth all things!

We love you so much, Heavenly Father. I say this in the name of our beloved Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Colon Street Cebu 14 Nov 2015

Before we came here, we were hearing a lot about the Colon Street, which we can buy all sorts of things cheaply in Cebu. After our visit at The Heritage of Cebu Monument, we just took a cab and stopped at one of the shopping mall at Colon Street. The taxi driver told us, it is very near only, we just can’t take the heat anymore, it is ok with us.

Colon Street is a very busy and crowded street in downtown Cebu City. It is proudly known as the oldest street in the Philippines. It was named after Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus). Colon Street was built during the time of the Spanish colonization. It was developed by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, the Spanish explorer who arrived in the Philippines in 1565.

Colon Street, a bit run-down now, used to be the heart of Cebu’s shopping and business district. It was the central site of fashionable shops, boutiques, restaurants, offices and movie houses. In recent years though, with the American mall culture arriving in the Philippines in the 1990s, there was a significant shift of activity to the uptown malls and business establishments.

Still, Colon is presently a huge and vital site of economic activity as shoppers of all walks of life still flock to Colon to search for cheap, economical goods to get more value for their money. It remind me back to our home Kuala Lumpur the Petaling Street, even though it is a bit shorter or the Rock Road down town Kuala Lumpur.

Colon Street became the center for commercial activities in downtown Cebu. Over the years, it continued as the lifeline of trade and commerce in colonial Cebu. It was also the place where numerous significant social and cultural events took place. People can shop for clothes, bags, jewelry, school supplies, electronic supplies, hardware, groceries, and much more. Colon is the very economical choice for shopping for various items, as you can get more and pay less.

Through the years, Colon has seen the varying phases of the economic and political atmosphere of Cebu. Many universities such as the University of San Carlos, University of Cebu, University of the Visayas, and the University of San Jose-Recoletos were built near or along Colon Street, as it was identified as the center of commerce and trade.

Presently, Colon is lined with numerous food and business establishments. A busy and active place during day and night, Colon is filled with shopping malls, fast food and commonplace restaurants, fashion boutiques, surplus shops, bargain stores and movie houses. It is even said that almost anything can be found in Colon, and you can have it for a much, much cheaper price, too.

An obelisk detailing Colon Street’s historical significance was constructed on its northern end. In the hearts of most Cebuanos, past and present, are memories of this street. Especially for today’s elders, they have many memories of how Colon Street used to be when they were younger. Colon seems to be a witness of many worlds of time. For Cebu, Colon Street is familiar to the mind and close to the heart.

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We ended our Saturday half afternoon trip with here, whereby we took a cab back to hotel and let children took a rest, as we were busy and tired for the whole day. Later on, both Daddy and Mummy came out again to SM City Cebu for our dinner, and we took our time do our window shopping and of coarse we packed some food for the children at the hotel, as well for our Sunday breakfast too.

The Heritage of Cebu Monument 14 Nov 2015

On our way to the monument, we passed through the Cathedral Museum of Cebu. Daddy did not intend to go in as we saw a lot of paintings and portraits were displaying in the building.

By looking at both children were really stretching their physical limits by walking through so many sites under the hot sun, we just thinking of reaching our next destination.

A short walk from Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, we soon find the prestigious Heritage of Cebu Monument which is located in the original Plaza Parain in Colon Street, Cebu City.

The Heritage of Cebu Monument is a tableau of sculptures made of concrete, bronze, brass and steel showing scenes about events and structures related to the history of Cebu.

From the time of Rajah Humabon to the recent beatification of Cebuano martyr Pedro Calunsod. The monument is a work of national artist Edgardo Castrillo. It was started in July 1997 and inaugurated on December 8, 2000.

Local artist Eduardo Castrillo built the sculptures of the Cebu Heritage Monument. He and the late Senator Marcelo Fernan together with donations from other private individuals and organizations funded the construction of the monument.

The structures depicted in the Heritage Monument are the Basilica del Santo Niño, the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, the Saint John the Baptist Church, the Magellan’s Cross, and a Spanish Galleon.

The scenes depicted in the Heritage Monument are the baptism of Rajah Humabon, a procession of the Santo Niño, a Roman Catholic mass, and the Battle of Mactan between Lapu-Lapu and Ferdinand Magellan. The persons depicted in the monument include the late president Sergio Osmena Sr. and Blessed Pedro Calungsod.

We do not realise that the Parian District is a historical area. which during the Spanish period was home to the residences of the most prominent families in Cebu at that time.

The St. John the Baptist Church previously stood on the site of the monument’s location. However, the diocese of Cebu demolished the church in 1875.

The Yap-San Diego House is part of the Casa Gorordo Museum complex, which is a private museum open to the public. The museum complex highlights the lifestyle of a rich household in Cebu during the Spanish era and displays antique furnishings, clothes, kitchen equipment and utensils, and other antique items.

Thus, we did not go to above places, from there we took a cab and get to the famous Colon Street.

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Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral 14 Nov 2015

Another destination we wanted to go is the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, also called as The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and St. Vitalis, is the ecclesiastical seat of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cebu.

It is also situated just a stone’s throw away from the famed Colon Street and just walk straight down from the Basilica del Santo Nino.It is considered by many to be the Fount of Christianity in the Far East.

The cathedral was first constructed in 1689, completed in 1909, and rebuilt in 1950 after it was almost destroyed during World War II.

The Second World War greatly damaged the cathedral, leaving mostly just the walls standing. the Church’s rich history is very much apparent from the its Spanish roots with Baroque-Rococo influences.

The brilliant interior design of the cathedral also serves as an incredible backdrop for wedding photos, making it highly desirable for weddings to be officiated in.

We went in and see the interior of it and we noticed outside the church also have the votive candle stands for devotee to do prayers.

There is an angel statue standing at the side of the church compound area. There is a rectory of the church as well.

It is really a hot hot day as we too, walking through all these historical sites by our own feet. Both children were tired and feeling tired too. We sat for a while in the church then just adjourned to look for our next destination.

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Issac Belated Birthday Celebration 20 Nov 2015

Actually there was an arrangement that we would do a birthday celebration for Issac at Mahkota Tuition Centre before the day we fly to Cebu Philippines.

Eventually, there is a misunderstand on the additional school holidays given unto the students, which resulted the celebration was to postpone to today itself.

Aunty Kim Thai prepared some pizzas, whereby I went to USJ Taipan’s Berry’s Cake house to buy a cake for him.

Well, it is a cheese cake as there are limited choice of the cakes today. Some of it is too small, or it is made of coffee flavour which we could not take. I quickly send to the centre then only went back to the office.

In the evening time, during I went there to fetch Issac, Kim Thai told me that he is very happy and showed me the photos which she taken with the children.

From the photos showed that, Issac seems like very good with all his friends at the Mahkota Tuition Centre. Kim Thai told me that, he is a good kid, that he would make friends with anybody there.

I just told Kim Thai about the little ‘story’ or ‘incident’ happened in the school between Issac and his friends, which he quietly shared with his daddy:

There was one time that, Issac’s class have a new transferred student in his class. Issac close friend asked Issac not to make friend with the new friend, as he saw Issac was talking to him.

Issac told him that, he will make friend with anybody and he do not really discriminate or choose which friend he want to make or not. After Issac told this to his friend, his friend was scolding him until he cried in the school that day.

Kim Thai too, said that Issac is a good boy with kind heart.

I was so proud of him that he at least, he does has his own principle and he stand strong and holding on it – he make friends with all the people and do not discriminate or bully nobody in his class, even his friend trying to make him.

I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father blessed us with this obedient boy in this family. And, I have the responsibility to teach, nurture him as He wants him to be…

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Magellan’s Cross Cebu 14 Nov 2015

It is exactly located just next to the Basilica del Santo Niño, is the chapel where the Magellan’s Cross is housed. It is in front of the city hall building of Cebu City. We were really rushing that we did not manage to see clearly the city hall building.

When Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, working for the crown of Spain, arrived in Cebu in 1521, he was warmly received by the chieftain of Cebu, Rajah Humabon, his wife Queen Juana, and their subjects. Magellan then persuaded Humabon to form an alliance with Spain. Afterwards, Humabon, his wife and their subjects were baptized into the Roman Catholic faith.

On April 14, 1521, Magellan planted a wooden cross on the shores of Cebu to commemorate the baptism of Humabon, his wife and their subjects, and to signify the establishment of Christianity in the Philippines.

The cross that Magellan planted has been known since then as the Magellan’s Cross. Since 1834, the cross and has been housed inside a small chapel or kiosk that is shape like a gazebo and made of adobe and red tiles.

A plaque was placed just above the entrance of the little chapel in 1941.

The plague says that “From time immemorial this spot has been set aside to commemorate the erection of a cross in Cebu by the Expedition of Magellan. When King Humabon of Cebu and his Queen, son and daughters, together with some 800 of their subjects were baptized by Father Pedro Valderrama. This hallowed site was improved in 1735 by Rev. Juan Albarran, Prior of San Agustin and in 1834 by Rt. Rev. Santos Gomez Maranon Bishop of Cebu. The image of the Santo Nino found by the expedition of Legaspi in a house near the present site of the Cathedral of Cebu is venerated by the faithful in the nearby Church of San Agustin.”

When we enter inside the chapel, we can see the Magellan’s Cross situated in the centre. The ceiling above the cross has paintings that depict the arrival of Magellan and the planting of the cross, and the baptism of Rajah Humabon, his wife and their subjects. There was a group of I think were Korean tourists with their tour guide was explaining the history to them.

A sign below the cross states that the original cross is encased inside a cross made of tindalo wood. That was done to protect the original Magellan’s Cross from people who chipped away parts of the cross in the belief that the cross has miraculous powers or for souvenir purposes.

However, some historians and other people believe that the original cross had been destroyed or had disappeared after Magellan was killed, and that the cross encased inside the tindalo wood cross is a replica that was planted there by the Spaniards who came after the death of Magellan.

Today, the Magellan's Cross is a popular tourist attraction in Cebu. It is also a symbol of Cebu City and the kiosk’s image can be found in its official city seal. In addition, many government and non-government organizations based in Cebu use the Magellan’s Cross or the kiosk in their seals and logos. The Magellan’s Cross is seen as the symbol of the establishment of Roman Catholicism in the Philippines.

The chapel is under going repair and renovation works at the time we were there. Some portion of the shrine had been covered up with canvas. We saw there were a lot of women holding some colourful candles on their hand, as they were selling to people.

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The unlit colourful candles are piled on the cross’s base; prayers offered by people passing through the chapel. Each hue has its own corresponding meaning; pinks for happiness, green for success, yellow for health and peace, blue for the devotion to Mother Mary and red for the devotion to the Santo. Niño.