July 15th: We've finally reached Cebu!

Reyna and Janrey at Magellan's Cross. Reyna looks pretty tired after a long day

Hello Pinoy Jeep Blog followers,

Hi I'm Janrey Javier and I'm one of the guitarists of our group. I hope you recognize me from a previous post. Anyway, our stay in Cebu was amazing! From the time we arrived to the time we left, the experience never got boring. We were greeted by the DOT (Department of Tourism) with a beautiful banner and necklaces that said Cebu. Then, we got on a bus and rode to our first tourist destination - Fort San Pedro! Apparently, it's the smallest fort in all of the Philippines. Next we visited Magellen's cross followed by a very old church. My sister was getting a little tired, so I decided to piggy-back her after walking around the old church.

Cebuano students and local school rondalla members await their turn

Later, we traveled all the way to Mactan Island (the island where Magellan was killed by Lapu Lapu) to visit the world-renown guitar shop, Allegro's Guitars. One of the guides explained to us how they make guitars. There were over 20 types of wood to choose from! We walked into the shop right after. This was one of my favorite places because I love playing guitar. The guitars there were amazing and they sounded just beautiful. They also sold ukuleles, bandurrias, octavinas, basses, and the most unusual, cocoleles. After our short tour of the city, we performed in one of the Department of Education (DepEd) buildings for high school rondalla students. We also performed at the Ayala Mall.

However, the highlight of my day was the many dinners we had. Out first dinner was after our performance at the DepEd. They said that it was a "snack," but we were given huge plates of adobo and sinagang. Our next dinner was after our performance in the Ayala Mall. The T.G.I.F dinner at the mall provided us an homey American meal of nachos, mozzarella, and chicken wings. It was nice to have some American food after eating a ton of Filipino food this whole trip. Our final dinner was at the house of Katrina Sipin's relatives. We ate more traditional foods there and saw amazing dance numbers and a fire dance! I wouldn't mind going back there any day!

Tomorrow, we'll be flying to Bicol. I'm so sad that we only got to stay in Cebu for a day, but at least we had fun. Thank you, Dr. Amelia Biglete, region 7, Commision of Higher Education (CHEd) for providing us with yummy Cebu delicacies for our plane-ride tomorrow! I got a pack of R&M Mangoes, Otap, and Cebu Chicharon to chow down on while we're flying!

Janrey Javier

Tito Mabini posing in front of the many guitars, ukeleles, mini ukeleles, and cocoleles Allegro has to offer

Christi-Anne in her conductor's pose for "Palladio" at the Ayala Mall in Cebu