Skywatch#67 Magellan's Cross, Cebu City

The Chapel of Magellan's Cross located at Magallanes St., Cebu City




Magellan's cross is the cross planted by Spanish and Portuguese explorers led by Ferdinand Magellan. It was a symbol of the Christianity in the Philippines and also, the city of Cebu.

The original cross is now encased inside a wooden cross housed in a chapel next to the Basilica Minore de Cebu. It is one of Cebu City's main tourist destinations.






This is my entry for:

SHARE AND ENJOY THIS POST:

My World#109 (Philippine Churches Part 8): Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino, Cebu

The Minor Basilica of the Santo Niño or Basilica Minore del Santo Niño is a 16th century church in Cebu City in the Philippines. It was built purportedly on the spot where the image of the Santo Niño, a sculpture depicting the Holy Child Jesus found by Spanish explorers in 1565 preserved in a burned wooden box which was left behind during the 1521 Magellan expedition.
source: Wikipedia

This is my entry for:

Go here for more entries.

SHARE AND ENJOY THIS POST:

My World#108 Araw Ng Dabaw Celebration

Once again, it is our city's foundation day. Instead of a one-day celebration tomorrow, March 16, we are having a three-day celebration which started this Monday. I was looking forward to watching the annual Araw ng Dabaw civic parade but because of work, I'll be out of town instead. So, I'll just be posting photos I took last year.



Davao City has two annual festivals that locals really look forward to. One is the more popular Kadayawan Festival which is usually being held on the third week of August and this older festival, the Araw ng Dabaw (Davao Day), to celebrate our city's foundation day. March 16, 2011 is city's 74th foundation day.





There are a lot of activities lined up for this event but one of the much-awaited highlights is the civic-parade which is usually held every morning of March 16 along the main downtown streets. Well-attended and quite long (it usually lasts at least two hours), the parade usually starts with the city mayor and his city councilors at the head of the parade. Then, the government agencies preceding the private sector agencies.





What I like in watching the civic parade is that not only it is quite colorful but it also shows the cultural diversity of the city. I've also observed that the city has so many young people around than old ones which could be one of the reasons why it is considered one of the most fast-developing cities in the country.

This is my entry for:

Go here for more entries.

SHARE AND ENJOY THIS POST:

Skywatch#66 Out Into The Plaza

This is the plaza fronting the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino. The locals call it as the plaza but it is actually the Pilgrim Centre which was completed last 1990. It was constructed to accommodate the throngs of people who come and fill-up the basilica during celebrations like Sinulog festival.



Taken inside the basilica.


This is my entry for:

SHARE AND ENJOY THIS POST:

My World#107 They Waved At Him

We were there to visit the the Basilica del Sto. Nino of Cebu City and while we were taking photos outside, we saw this...

A friend asked if I knew why people wave outside the church but I only thought that somebody was just waving at somebody who was inside the church so, I observed more and then, I saw this..

and this and more of them...

The reason: it is customary for most locals (even visitors who had known about it) to wave at the image of the Child Jesus (long considered miraculous) that is being housed inside the church as they pass by it. It was their way of paying their respects to him as they go about their daily lives. Such a nice gesture.

SHARE AND ENJOY THIS POST:

My World#106 It's Football Day

The kids' face were wrinkled in concentration. Their feet were running fast as much as they could muster. One can see that they were determined to get the ball and make the goal. While just at the rim of the football field, their mothers were hauling their hearts out cheering the children on. One mother said that she could've played to make the goal for her boy but all she could was just to watch and nibble on her fingernails in anticipation.

His mama asked me to take her boy's photo before he continue the game after a brief break but he was already on his feet running to the middle of the field. She called him back and he went back slowly while keeping an eye to the referee. So, he posed with his brows wrinkled, his face and body covered with sweat.



She was the only girl I saw who played in their age bracket but she sure made the boys' lives more difficult in the football field.



Good form from a young and aspiring football player.


This is my entry for:

Go here for more entries.

SHARE AND ENJOY THIS POST:

My World#105 Going For The Run

I was curious how those weekend runs go. Running is now popular and there's always an organized run every weekend. I haven't tried one yet as I preferred doing tennis or badminton on those days. I readily agreed though when a friend suggested that we take some photographs on the scheduled run especially so that another photographer-friend will run a 10 kilometer for the first time.

It took me quite a determination to wake up this early. The run is scheduled to start at 5am. Happily and groggily, I made it to the assembly place.



The organizers prepped the participants up by warm-ups and stretchings. A little dancing was mixed-in too.



I find it interesting that there were a lot of participants in all ages. They came in groups: families, officemates, classmates and friends.


They came in solos and twos:


Some actually ran and some preferred to walk:



It was good to know that thru running and/or walking, people are improving their health but what I'm really happy about is that most of the shots except for the first two were taken while we were on a moving car. We were sitting at the back of the fast running pick-up (the driver seemed to be in a hurry) and we tried to take photos and prayed that they didn't get blurry too much.

This is my entry for:

Go here for more entries.

SHARE AND ENJOY THIS POST: