We were very briefly in Cebu at the end of 2012. This year I have been mostly kept busy recovering from our gruelling journey, and attending the PHISO conference.

But today, we had time for a bit of sightseeing.

First up, the Yap-San Diego Ancestral House, which dates back to the late 17th century. It's massively photogenic:















Very close by is another heritage building, the Jesuit House. This bears the inscription 1730, but its origins are probably much older. It lay hidden for years, wrapped around by a hardware store (it was only comparatively recently rediscovered, and is still accessed via a hectic yard).









Next up, a coffee stop, to rest a bit, and watch the jeepneys (now subjects of controversy) go by.


Then lunch. Lechon (whole, spit-roasted pig) is supposed to be particularly good in Cebu. So we tried some, at House of Lechon, which is quite close to our hotel.

The pork is really good. We ordered a quarter kilo, and got a plate of crispy crackling and succulent meat, with a dripping-based gravy to pour over. To accompany this we ordered pinakbet (a kind of vegetable stew) and kangkung, which came with a tangy relish on top.




(Incidentally, while I was conferencing, Nigel was out low-carbing all by himself. Not always easy... There's even more resistance to not having rice than there is in Malaysia, and he discovered a tendency for the unordered rice to roll up anyway, or its absence to be compensated for by the gift of a muffin... But House of Lechon were unfazed. There was just a confirmatory query: "No rice?", the faintest of "oh, these Westerners" smiles, and we were done. Nothing extraneous appeared, and honestly, a plate of lechon and two vegetable dishes is really quite enough.)

Finally, our last trip to the Ayala Mall. Christmas decorations have really blossomed over the last couple of days, and the mall is no exception.


So, we had a good day. Cebu is not a great walking city. But there are plenty of points of interest to keep you amused.