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Religious Buildings (4)Museums (2)Art & Monuments (4)Architecture (1)Food & Drink (3)Parks & Gardens (1)

The white towers, spires and arcades of the Simala Shrine stacked up a hillside, seen through pink bougainvillea, with a clock tower at the centre, palm trees below and blue sheeting on scaffolding along one low wing

PhilippinesSibongaReligious Buildings

Simala Shrine: A Castle for Mama Mary

Published: Oct 25, 2026

Close view of the gold statue of Leah wearing a crown and a sash, seated in an ornate chair before a stained-glass window, with a golden angel blowing a long trumpet in the blurred foreground

PhilippinesCebu CityArt & Monuments

Temple of Leah: Undying Love, With Room for Her Things

Published: Oct 25, 2026

Two giant white hands rising side by side above a hedge, fingers curled upward, with a narrow staircase running up between them, under a cloudy sky with hills behind

PhilippinesCebu CityParks & Gardens

Sirao Garden: Selfies Paid Better

Published: Oct 24, 2026

A smiling girl in a black top stands at a food stall holding a long wooden pole, beside metal trays with plates of shellfish, with small woven leaf parcels hanging on the wall behind her.

PhilippinesCebu CityFood Story

Carbon Market: Betamax, Still on Sale

Eaten at: Carbon Market
Published: Oct 23, 2026

Two glass cases heaped with chicharon at the FLOR & TAZAR stall in Carcar, one pile reddish brown and the other pale golden, with a hanging scale above and a hand holding out peso notes.

PhilippinesCarcar CityFood Story

Carcar Chicharon: Best Before Departure

Eaten at: FLOR & TAZAR Special Chicharon and Delicacies
Published: Oct 23, 2026

A sculpted dragon with a golden head and blue-green scales winding up a grassy slope towards a multi-tiered pavilion with green roofs, beside a brick wall with a round panel bearing a red Chinese character

PhilippinesCebu CityReligious Buildings

Cebu Taoist Temple: Dragons in Beverly Hills

Published: Oct 23, 2026

Halo-halo in a footed glass on a saucer: a scoop of purple ice cream scattered with cornflakes, green and red jelly-like pieces beneath, and a striped wafer roll stuck in at an angle.

PhilippinesCebu CityFood Story

Chop Suey and Halo-Halo: Stir-Fried, Then Stirred

Eaten at: Manila Foodshoppe
Published: Oct 23, 2026

A carved saint with a bearded face and painted hands, a worn green cloth over his shoulders and a bare wooden post where his body would be, in front of lattice windows of pale translucent squares, with another bald figure beside him

PhilippinesCebu CityMuseums

Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House: The Clothes Make the Saint

Published: Oct 18, 2026

A small statue of the Child Jesus in a tall gold crown and a red cape heavily embroidered in gold, holding a gold sceptre and an orb topped with a cross, a sash of coins across his chest, in a lit glass case

PhilippinesCebu CityReligious Buildings

Basilica del Santo Niño: A Child with a Deputy

Published: Oct 17, 2026

A carved angel with spread wings pointing upward on a weathered stone wall, half hidden by large green leaves and tree trunks

PhilippinesCebu CityReligious Buildings

Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral: Upstaged by a Child

Published: Oct 17, 2026

Low-angle view of dark sculpted warriors: one in the centre, mouth open, raising a sword beside a tall shield, another crouching with a spear, and a robed figure with both arms raised in front of a tall cross

PhilippinesCebu CityArt & Monuments

Heritage of Cebu Monument: Five Centuries in Three Minutes

Published: Oct 17, 2026

Looking up past the top of a dark wooden cross marked INRI at an eight-sided ceiling painting on a blue ground: men hauling a cross upright on one side, a priest at an altar before a crowd on the other

PhilippinesCebu CityArt & Monuments

Magellan’s Cross: Protected From Its Admirers

Published: Oct 17, 2026

The stone front gate of Fort San Pedro, with a wooden sign reading EL FUERTE de SAN PEDRO 1565 over the arched entrance, a carved coat of arms and inscriptions above it, and a historical plaque on the wall to the left

PhilippinesCebu CityArchitecture

Fort San Pedro: Founded 1565, Reformed 1833

Published: Oct 16, 2026

An angled view of the museum gate, with a long green-patinated gun in front and a black plaque headed KARSEL SA SUGBO on the white wall to the right

PhilippinesCebu CityMuseums

Museo Sugbo: The Old Jail Still Takes Transfers

Published: Oct 16, 2026

A copper-coloured statue of Lapulapu holding a curved blade and a shield on a stone pedestal, with the white stone Magellan obelisk, its top missing, behind it and red Coca-Cola umbrellas below

PhilippinesLapu-Lapu CityArt & Monuments

Mactan Shrine: Spanish Glory, Filipino Victory

Published: Oct 16, 2026