Cebu Heritage Tour with Weather Philippines

My husband and I arrived in Cebu Mactan International Airport on Thursday morning via Cebu Pacific Air. The weather in Cebu was great, perfect for some outdoor activities perhaps a photo walk and heritage tour. While watching the beautiful clouds, I realized it will be my third time in the city in just nine months. First was in November with my mom then in summer visiting Coca Cola FEMSA. It feels great to be back, although I haven't been to the famous beaches in Cebu, I'm hoping it would be my next travel destination.

Relaxing at Fuente Osmena Circle Cebu

"Social Media for Knowledge Mobilization and Disaster Preparedness" was the theme of the said conference hosted by Weather Philippines. Even though I had a crazy schedule this past two months, I made sure not to miss this trip in Cebu. My husband was also invited and you know traveling with hubby has always been fun even if it's work-related or quite short. I first learned about Weather Wiser and Weather Philippines sometime last year when we were invited by the group in Anvaya Cove in Bataan. In Bataan, the group showed us their weather satellites which can also be found in different areas in the Philippines.

Thank you Cebu Pacific for bringing us to Cebu!

Weather Wiser Influencers in Cebu:

We left Manila on a sunny Thursday morning and arrived at Cebu-Mactan International Airport just in time for lunch. It was a beautiful sunny morning when we arrived in Cebu. Our team immediately proceeded at Ramon Magsaysay Aboitiz Foundation (RAFI) building where we had a short briefing and good lunch.

Fort San Pedro Cebu City

Urbanized Cebu Tour started at Fort San Pedro Cebu City, the oldest fort in the country. From the entrance I noticed the many changes time and change in climate has brought it. Fort San Pedro was built in 1565. Atop, there's the Sto Nino. Above are three tunnel-shaped window overlooking the plaza.

Seats For Two at Fort San Pedro Cebu City

I passed and smiled to a lot of tourists mostly Koreans and Chinese. It makes me feel grateful and proud that they choose Philippines for business or leisure trip.

Fuente Osmena Circle is walking distance from our hotel, the Summit Circle by Robinsons Land. Cebu's Fuente Osmeña is a park located inside a rotunda along Jones Avenue and General Maxilom Avenue, Cebu City, Philippines.

Basilica Del Sto Nino

Among the many historical sites we visited, one of busiest is the Basilica Del Sto Nino de Cebu where people go to pray and hear mass. Not only the locals are coming here, even tourists and Catholics and Christians from other parts of the country.

Basilica Del Sto Nino de Cebu

Magellan's Cross

Another historical landmark in Cebu is the Magellan's Cross. 

Seats For Two at Magellan's Cross

Museo de Parian

Perhaps one of the most exciting part of the tour was the Dusk Heritage Tour at 1730 Jesuit House also known as Museo de Parian. Our trip at Museo de Parian was one of my favorites, I consider it the highlight of the entire heritage tour. The house was built in 1730 that was amazingly preserved throughout the years. The museum offers a remarkable architecture and historical pieces. It's not difficult to find Parian, just a walking distance from Cebu Heritage with a banner outside written "1730 Jesuit House". The house was made of limestone and huge molave posts that serves as support. 

There are tale stories about Parian, whatever it is, I guess it's all part of the history. Here are some of the photos taken inside the old Museo de Parian. Everything about Parian tells about rich socio and religious history in Cebu in the 18th century. Museo Parian is definitely one of the best places to visit when in Cebu and when you do, I suggest have it done in the late afternoon.

Jonel and Marjorie at Museo de Parian

Woman In Digital at Museo de Parian

We finished the half-day tour and went back in Summit Circle around 9pm. This heritage tour has taught me the relevance and connection of the past and the present time. Because most of these architectures were built many years ago, it is important to preserve and protect them from sudden natural disaster and climate change.

Tired but happy, I had a good night sleep in our deluxe room located at the 10th floor. We had a queen-sized bed with soft pillows and blanket. There's a good WiFi connection at Summit Circle so hubby was able to do some work. Our room was also equipped with flat-screen television, hot and cold shower. Since I will be celebrating my birthday the next day, hubby and I decided to extend our stay and booked another two night st Summit Circle. I'm happy that we also got a room upgrade from deluxe to junior suite which we found too big for us, lol. Now, we realized we wanted small space for the two of us.

Summit Circle Hotel by Robinsons Land

Deluxe Room Summit Circle

The Weather Wiser Philippines Conference was hosted by CitySavings, Rappler and of course, Weather Philippines. The event was attended by teachers from Cebu and Weather Wiser Influencers from Manila. The talk was focused on social media and how to communicate and share information effectively specially in times of disaster. The highlight of the conference was when we were grouped into five and given a scenario wherein a super typhoon would be landing in certain province. Our group called, ndrm team was composed of teachers and social media influencers. We presented the plan with a strategy, an action plan complete with infographics and networks where we have to share the information regarding the super typhoon. We also included online and offline activation such as community briefing. Overall, it was a great way to end the conference learning from other group's insight.

About Weather Philippines:

Founded in 2012 by the Aboitiz Foundation, UnionBank and Meteogroup, Weather Philippines complements government's nationwide efforts on disaster risk reduction, and aims to help build a #WeatherWiserNation that uses weather information for socio-economic  and sustainable development. It delivers free, more localized and accurate weather information accessed through their website, weather.com.ph.

WeatherPhilippines provides the country with a premier weather sensing and forecasting system. At the moment, Weather Philippines has deployed 780 Automated Weather Stations (AWS) nationwide, partnered with more than 568 LGUs and private sector companies, and has trained more than a thousand public and private sectors on weather. The AWS deployment and the weather training for LGUs are sustained by the annual donations of WeatherPhilippines' platinum donors: SM, LBC, Ayala Group, VistaLand, Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC), and ICTSI International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI)

Thank you WeatherPhilippines for having me in the recent #WeatherWiser Influencers conference in Cebu. I hope through this blog, I could share knowledge about your advocacy. Read more about the Weather Philippines Mobile app in our couple lifestyle blog, SeatsForTwo.