CEBU. This is one of the many places I have frequented in the country, primarily for business purposes, and one where I have traveled to several times in the first part of the year. It was quite refreshing that my latest trip, thanks to Globe Telecom, brought me to the upland portion of Cebu City, providing beautiful vantage points overlooking the whole metropolis.
Together with Yoly Crisanto, Globe senior vice president for corporate communications, her team, and with Bacolod and Iloilo media and bloggers, we headed towards the mountains and made our first stop at the Cebu Taoist Temple, located in Beverly Hills. It brought back childhood memories during the time when relatives and field trips took me to this destination. The temple still looks as beautiful as I first beheld it many years back. Though it was interesting to see the culture and practices of the worshippers, visitors also have to respect their prayer time and observe temple rules. Remember to keep your voices low and not to take photos of the prayer halls.
Through winding roads we drove further up to Busay, Cebu towards the Temple of Leah. It’s not your usual temple where you find religious icons. Rather, it’s one that was built by a husband, Teodorico Adarna, to immortalize his love to his wife, Leah Albino-Adarna. The structure is reminiscent of Greek and Roman buildings complete with statues of lions and warriors that guard the temple. The large piazza, surrounded by statues of ladies, opens to the beautiful view of the metropolis below. This is a new attraction in Cebu and development is still ongoing.
Our next destination, still in Busay, Cebu, was the Terrazas de Flores where we enjoyed marveling at the beauty of flowers of various species, shapes and colors with the mountains at the backdrop. The botanical garden has a coffee shop inside and, according to the owner, Mr. Yuri Barrameda, they will put up an art gallery, more flora and fauna attractions, and other amenities within the property.
While we had a refreshing time in upland Cebu City during our first day, our second day was filled with excitement in the lowland area as we visited the Cebu City National Science High School (CCNSHS). There we witnessed the turnover of the Globe Digital Learning Lab – a mobile cart filled with ICT gadgets like netbooks, tablets and projectors – under the Global Filipino School (GFS) program. With 38 teachers and 1,004 students, CCNSHS is the 10th school in Cebu province to benefit from the GFS program, which now includes 142 schools throughout the country.
The afternoon was a fun experience outdoors as we binged on movies at the Ayala Terraces in Ayala Center Cebu as Globe At Home held its #Streamfest. The event highlighted Globe’s commitment in improving connectivity at home as well as in schools through the GFS program and the Digital Thumbprint Program (DTP), a cyberwellness advocacy.
For writers and travel enthusiasts like me who love to be on the go, it is essential to have strong connectivity to always be updated even when on the road and to be able to instantly share the experiences with readers and followers. And this event reconnected me with places I have never visited for a long time as well as with people I have crossed paths in the past. As I stood at the patio at Temple of Leah and looked at the beauty of the city below me, I can’t help but marvel how wonderful Cebu is.
Claire Marie Algarme blogs at firsttimetravels.com. Follow her as @firsttimetravel on Twitter and Instagram and like her Facebook page First-time Travels.