FB: Sinulog Festival 2013 (Pit Senyor Celebration)

Happy New Year to all my fellow bloggers and blog readers. It is now the start of a new year and I am very blessed to have survived another year of my life.

I welcome 2013, "The Year of the Water Snake" with wide arms and full of hope. There are many things to celebrate this January, not only the new year but also my birthday and the Sinulog Festival in Cebu.

I started to be a patron just last 2008 when I passed the board exam with awards. My family and I would go here every year just to attend the Sinulog festival. It is our way of thanking God for our blessings and achievements for the previous year and also asking for guidance for the new year.

This year was different from the previous years due to the fact that it would be my first time not travelling with them. It was my first time to fly from Singapore to Cebu. It was an early flight. Plane left around 1am and I arrived at the Mactan Airport around 4am. Rhy's flight was next to arrive. His departure from Manila was 4am and he arrived around 530am. Later did we realized that it was not a good idea to arrive there early in the morning during a festival. Aside from the fact that the hotels were fully booked, the reservation in our hotel was not due until the check in time for that day which is 2pm. Imagine with all the big bags and jetlag we are having, we needed to find a place to rest and place our luggage. Good thing I booked my family on a 130PM flight so that they are just on time for the check-in time of their hotel.



We were on different hotels that time because most of the hotels were already fully booked. So we decided to stay at Tune Hotel Cebu while I booked them at a more classy hotel, Hotel Elizabeth Cebu. We wanted to stay at Tune Hotels because it was an affordable hotel yet elegant for its price. You can have a room there for around PHP 1,500/night. And because Cebu is celebrating its famous yearly celebration, I believe hotels will charge higher than the normal rates. So having booked the room earlier, I still got it at the regular price. :) (In fairness naman mga teh, kung ano talaga yung pictures sa website, ganun na ganun rin yung look ng room in actual)

Both our hotels were of walking distance to each other so we were very glad when this came to be the case. Also the major factor was that both were situated near the Ayala Center, a very huge shopping mall in the center of Cebu City so we didn't have any problem with shopping. And because Rhy and I got there early, we waited at the lobby of our hotel. Buti nalang may katabing 711 dahil nagcoffee muna kami para hindi antukin. We left our luggage at the hotel then we went to the mall just to roam around and kill the wee times before checking in at the hotel. Around 2pm we were fortunate to be the first in line and took some rest before heading and greet my family.

Here are some pictures of our respective hotels.

The green leaf placed on our bed at Tune Hotel

The lobby of Tune where we waited

The grand chandelier at Hotel Elizabeth

And their very accomodating and festive lobby

That night, we went out to have dinner. Because there were so many people at the mall, we ate at a japanese restaurant called Red Kimono located at the 2/F of The Terraces at Ayala Center.

While walking towards the resto, we took a shot of ourselves.

And of course my lovely family ♥♥

While waiting for our orders, Rhy took a photo of me :)

And for tonight, we are eating these Japanese food.
(We have no time to queue dahil ang haba ng pila sa
mga resto and we're very hungry na...)

Chicken Teriyaki

Prawn Tempura

It was an ordinary dinner but we still managed to get full despite of the small servings, maybe because of the noodles we ordered. We went back to their hotel and played Pinoy Henyo. It was a fun-filled evening and a night full of kulitan moments.

Kulitan picture # 1

Kulitan picture # 2

Shortly after, Rhy and I went back to our hotel and got some rest..

The following day, we went to Ayala Center to buy a Sinulog-inspired couple shirt. Kapag wala kaming makita, kahit same design lang na shirts. We purchased this design at Island Souvenirs. I think this was PHP 450.00 at that time. We loved this design kasi sumisigaw ang Sinulog na word.

Sinulog shirt

It was a great timing because Island Souvenirs had this
presentation, so we managed to have a picture with them.

And of course, me :)

After purchasing the shirts, Rhy planned to go to the Cebu branch of Microcadd. He has been a part-time instructor at this CAD-Training School for already 5 years now. He just wanted to visit the provincial branch and take pictures with his fellow staff there. And so I went with him. We took the jeepney with route 04L from Ayala Center to SM. Fare is just PHP8.00. :)

The Microcadd branch in Cebu is located inside SM

Rhy posed at the entrance before going inside

And here is Rhy with the staff at Mcad Cebu

After paying them a visit, we went back to Ayala Center to have lunch with my family. Our Cebu trip wouldn't be complete if we would not eat at our favorite roasted pig restaurant, the CnT Lechon. Because it was a famous delicacy there, we were fortunate enough to be the first in line when the new batch of delivery arrived. Because of its affordable price of PHP 180.00 for 1/2 kl, many people would line up to buy the famous delicacy. While waiting, guess who we found queueing up?

The famous CnT Lechon at 4/F Ayala Center

"PUSO" - the coconut leaf-wrapped rice

And the salty but delicious roasted pig. Ooh!!! Yummy..

Yeah men!!! We saw DJ Tony Toni lining up to eat at CnT Lechon

Kulitan Pix # 1, taken after eating

Kulitan Pix # 2

While in the Ayala Center, we saw this exhibit of the different kinds of Sto. Niños.

Shortly after, we went to Basilica del Sto. Niño to attend the mass and the traditional Sinulog celebration at the church. This is one of the highlights of the festival because people will gather at the church and dance to the tune of "Pit Senyor" while holding the Sto. Niño statues and dancing them on air. When we got there, there were already a lot of people and we had difficulty going inside because the guards already refused in allowing devotees to go inside because the church was already full of people. Grabe mas marami ang umattend this year than the previous year. We were there until 10pm and it was so fun. The fireworks display was really grand and lasted for almost 10 minutes.

The festival presentation of Hotel Elizabeth

Rhy dancing with the presentors

Taking a trip to the Basilica

Entrance to the Basilica

Altar

When we went back, people were rushing inside the church entrance

People inside the church..

While attending mass

Mass presiders with the Cardinal



Start of the dance, the entrance of the church overflowing with people



Another shot..





Basilica at night



Pit Senyor!



At our front were so many people raising their hands..

After the dance, we took a photo of ourselves..
(Oh diba, lumalaban yung kaputian ko kay Rhy. lols)

And got a picture with my family..

We also found a spot to rest first before heading at the hotel.

Love with our Sto. Niño

And of course, me and Rhy with the Sto. Niño

After a few minutes, we went back to our respective hotels and took our rest. The next day, we just roam around the mall and bought some souvenirs. We were running out of time because our flights were on the afternoon so we need to be at the airport by noon time. I just took some photos at the mall and look how many people were there. Grabe sa dami ng tao.

From the outside of the mall

.. to the inside of the mall.. Overflowing with people.

Eventhough there were a lot of people this year, it was still a fun and great experience. Surely, we will head back and join another one next year.

How about you guys, were you also there and celebrated the Sinulog Festival? It was fun right?

XO! Til here. :)