Cebu Cebu

I had my chance to go to Cebu in the middle term of my last year in college for a National Federation of Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants (NFJPIA) convention way back in 1998.  It was my very first plane ride ever and first time to attend a convention at the National Level.  I’m such a late bloomer when it comes to riding planes.  This trip also had me being able to start my network for my future profession as an auditor as I was able to establish ties with three big auditing firms after this convention.  Of course, it was the field trip before this that I met HR people in my eventual first job, which is SGV.  I also met people from the NFJPIA who I would then be working closely as I lead my school chapter in hosting a National Convention the succeeding year in Baguio.

NFJPIA Mid Year Convention 1998

A large part of this visit was spent attending events in Sarozza International Hotel from the different competitions and of course, the trip won’t be complete without a little bit of tourism.  We were able to have a nice barbeque meal at Larshan at night.  We also had a tour of the city visiting Taoist Temple, Fort San Pedro, Magellan’s Cross and other famous Cebu attraction.  Funny also that we were planning to visit Tops area in Cebu but ended up eating in Larshan and the rest thinking that we went to Tops went there to meet us.  It was great to tour Cebu but it was also good to meet good friends who would be common figures in my career.

I got my chance to get back a few years after for an audit engagement in 2002. I got to learn more about Cebu and its different personalities. Cebu being the oldest city in the country  has its share of religious and historical edifice. It can also transform into a cosmopolitan city being the queen city of the South with the high end hotels, malls and resorts. Then there’s the Tops where you can see the top view of the city.  Who would want to miss out fresh cooked seafoods in Sutukil, barbeque at Larshan and the of course, the famous Lechon Cebu.  If you love to hit the beach, Cebu also have several fine white sand beaches and islands.

On my second visit, I was able to visit Talisay City and the rest was a tour around from great coffee places at night to a luxurious breakfast buffet at Plantation Bay to an early evening at the Tops.  To cap off this trip I had a swim at the beach and lunch at Sutukil before taking my flight back to Manila.  If there was one thing I’d regret that I didn’t have a camera to document this trip but knowing that Cebu is just a few hours away, I know that I’ll be back to Cebu again to experience a different aspect of Cebu.

There’s so much variety in this place called… Cebu…