The Henry Hotel Cebu and Its Quirks

One of the featured Sunstar’s Best of Cebu hotel is this black painted hotel which one will see passing along the Banilad flyover. This is The Henry hotel tagging itself as “the quirky hotel”. But there’s definitely more to that black exterior once you go inside and experience it.

The black exterior of The Henry Hotel Cebu

The hotel is located along Maria Luisa Road in Barangay Banilad in Cebu City and was built in early 2012. It has 38 rooms ranging from 36 square meters for a “Big Room” (their smallest) to 108 sq m for an “Extra-Extra Large Room”. The hotel is owned by Innovoterra Properties and managed by Hospitality International Inc.

 

 

Once you get inside this boutique hotel, you’ll sure be in for a surprise. The quirky interior styling will be a delight to your artsy vibe!

The Henry Hotel is 27 minutes away from Airport by taxi. From Mactan-Cebu Airport, They can ride a taxi or Airport pick up to get to the hotel which takes about 1 hour. Hotel is located along One Paseo. You can dine at their on site restaurant named Rica’s Restaurant which serves International cuisine which operates from 6:00AM to 12:00 midnight.

So head on to The Henry Hotel and have fun with its Instagram worthy experience.

West 35 Eco Mountain Resort Cebu

Cebu Westown Lagoon : The City Pool

If you’re into a quick getaway without leaving the city, try heading to Cebu Westown Lagoon which is located at the heart of Mandaue City, Cebu.  This was one of the reason why we decided to spend our family day in this place bearing in mind that we have kids involved in this getaway, who mainly wants to take a pool splash and family members leaving for their flight back home that night.

Cebu Westown Lagoon is an Aztec themed hotel which launched their opening last September 12, 2014. The last time we were in this area was when my husband was having his driving lessons. There used to be only the MO2 bar way back and the place was already a venue to parties and events but they strategically situated the resort right beside it. I remember this area being too dusty back then because of the construction of the nearby hospitals and schools plus this resort hotel. But now it has truly transformed into a resort at the heart of the hustle and bustle of the city life. They have fully furnished rooms, function rooms that has a capacity of 200 people. They also have playland for kids, adult and kiddie pools, two medium-sized heated jacuzzis, and 2 slides that are 20ft. and 30ft. long. Their restaurant opens from 6AM to 10PM and which rates rates range from P100+ – P350+. They have small cottages that have one table each, or the big cottages that have two tables. You can also get the FREE tables where their attendants can help you out on arranging, on a first-come first-served basis.

The place offers NO CORKAGE fee for foods brought from outside except for alcoholic drinks and Lechon (P500). They also offer packages to walk in guests only so you really have to be early to avail of their walk in perks and promos. Below are their rates as of this date and the contact information should you wish to inquire further about the waterpark.

              

Fun at Danasan Eco Adventure Park

It was a fine day to go nature tripping and we thought of going somewhere up the mountains since beaches nowadays are full packed for sure. So for a change, we googled a mountain eco-park that we haven’t been to and found the name Danasan Eco-Adventure Park as our top destination for that day. Although im not much of the adventure seeker since im scared of heights, the thought of going to a falls enticed me. So off we went to Danao and never thought that we’d go through literally the mountains that we can even look down from our vehicle window and see the road we traversed on our way up. But when we arrived at the place, it was truly welcoming. You can see how it was designed for adventure seekers.

The Danasan Eco Adventure Park is located in Danao City but expect that you are still far from it when you’re in the city center because you will need to go up the mountains to arrived there.

Since we were there initially to see the waterfalls, its interesting to note that they have a different experience during the trek. In Danasan, unlike the usual waterfalls trekking where you go up to the source kf the waterfalls, here, you go down to get to the last in a series of three waterfalls. The first waterfalls is a 10-minute walk from where the tractor ride ends. A few minutes of navigating the dry part of the riverbed will bring you to the top of the second falls. You can choose to get to the bottom through the steps carved on the hill beside it or rappel down the flowing water. The second falls also offer the Tyrolean traverse, which you accomplish by using your arms and legs to move on the high rope.

Spelunking in Danasan means donning a life vest as you go exploring; the cave is half-filled with water from the river system that connects to the waterfalls and provides the community’s supply as well. The more advance spelunkers try out a cave where they have to slide prone through a very narrow gap.

Accommodations:

There are six air-conditioned rooms called Caida are good for four to eight persons, another six air-conditioned rooms called Mahogany good for three persons, six non-airconditioned Kawayans rooms good for three persons, as well as three dormitory type rooms that are good for 10, 14, and 26 people.

Room rates range from P1,200 (for smaller non-aircon) to P8,300 (for non-aircon dormitories) and P2,500 to P4,800 for air-conditioned rooms. Park administrator Crisanto Atamosa said they currently offer a 40 percent discount on rooms.

Rates:

The rate for many of the extreme to moderate adventure offerings in Danasan is an affordable P380 per person.

Packages:
Barkada Package I is for a group of not less than 10, costs P1,200 per person, and already includes the entrance fee to the park, two adventure activities, lunch, and roundtrip shuttle service.

Barkada Package II is for a group of not less than eight, costs P2,350 per person, and includes overnight stay in an air-conditioned room, entrance fee, roundtrip shuttle service, and four adventure activities.

Day Use Package is P1,750 per person and includes the entrance fee, four adventure activities, use of swimming pool, and roundtrip shuttle service.One day pass is P1,400 per head and includes four adventure tickets.

Getting there:

The barangay of Danasan is far into the mountains that it’s nearer the town of Asturias than the Danao City center. It’s 27 kilometers or an hour by car to the Danasan Eco Adventure Park from City Hall. For those wondering if they have transportation service, the park provides shuttle services from Parkmall in Mandaue City or the Danao City fish port to Danasan.

For booking or inquiries, call the Danasan Eco Adventure Park at: +6332 239 5654 or +63917 301 3171 or +63922 865 5779 or +63925 500 7803 (tap on numbers to call on your phone).

Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral

“The Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, also as The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and of St. Vitales (consecrated to the blessed name of Jesus and dedicated to the saint), or The Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Vitales is the ecclesiastical seat of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cebu.”

Sunday at the Fort

It’s like a scene from a movie when you suddenly time traveled into another dimension. The war is over. Smoke is clear. And the remnants of the battle are cannons resting peacefully behind the defense walls.

That’s how I felt when I was inside Fort San Pedro. Its like being comforted by the garden from the struggles of the past. You’ll see cannons and the stone walls really looked like they’ve been a living testimony of the battles of the past. Upon entering you would already see how the Fort changed through the years by looking at the framed photograph of the Fort’s timeline and changes. From being a war defense structure to being a clubhouse of the Cebu Garden Club in 1957 – reason why it has transformed into a garden that it is today.

Who would have known that a busy and crowded downtown Cebu could actually offer you a peaceful and serene place to relax especially at sunset? I never knew that until I decided to explore Downtown Cebu further. I have been living in Cebu for a long time but I’ve always  used to avoiding getting stuck in traffic in Downtown area. My mother used to tell me that it is a historically rich place in Cebu, but when I go there, I cant find the time to visit the historical attractions because of how crowded the streets are. Later on I got the chance to explore it when a friend asked me to tour her around the historical places in Cebu and it was Fort San Pedro that struck me the most. Truly a place worth showing off to your friends who’s a first timer in Cebu and who appreciates historical value.

You would love Fort San Pedro just as I fell for its charm despite my preconceived notions about it before. 🙂

Quick History:

Fuerza de San Pedro or commonly known as Fort San Pedro is one of the distinguishing landmarks of Cebu.   It is said to be a  military defense structure in Cebu, built  in 1565 by the Spanish under the command of Miguel López de Legazpi, first governor of the Captaincy General of the Philippines. It has served as a hospital and a school during the war.

The buildings inside are the “Cuerpo de Guardia” where the personnel that manned the fort lived. The “Vivende del Teniente” which was the living quarters of the lieutenant of the Fort. In between the aforementioned buildings is a well. At one corner attached to the walls of the bastion San Miguel (NE) was the “Alamazaros del Rivera” (powder magazine where the fort’s supply or arms and gunpowder from Manila were stored).  You can visit the Gallery for paintings and mini galleons art pieces.

How To Go there:

You can take the Colon route jeepneys which always pass by Plaza Independencia. From there you can already see the Fort San Pedro structure. You can ask the security guards around the area. A taxi ride can also be an option if you want a faster commute in downtown Cebu, compared to jeepneys that will make several stops to accommodate other passengers.

Fast Facts:

Entrance Fee:

Regular – P30
Senior – P 24
Students & Children – P20

Opening hours is from 8am to 8pm

Quick Visit to the Holy Shrine

Almost every year, me and my husband head on to visit the Miraculous Shrine of Our Lady of Lindogon in Simala. Its also a great way to enjoy the ride down south of Cebu as you get to appreciate the sceneries along the way.  To kick off our 2016, we went to visit the shrine on a Sunday of January 10, 2016 and I was amazed to see quite a lot of changes in terms of the architectures.

Here are a few pictures we’ve taken on that visit.

Its always a humbling experience to visit this place. Even if it is most often swarmed by devotees, i don’t mind attending the noon mass in standing position. Talk about sacrifice of driving 2-3 hours and listen to the holy Eucharist while standing the entire time.  Its all worth it.

Twitter and Instagram Split-Up

Just when we got into the hype of the leading photo sharing app, matched up with the crowd favorite micro blogging site, we then find out that they’ve developed a feud ending up in a split up. Sad as it may seem, we wont be expecting Instagram and Twitter to be friends again. Instagram, having been purchased by facebook earlier this year has a reason to cut his ties with Twitter. And we’d understand that, that’s business.

But hey, there’s always a bright side in everything, and a remedy at that. In defense, Twitter announced a new version of its iOS and Android apps on 10 December that adds Instagram-style photo filters and editing capabilities. The said app will let people take a photo, crop it, enhance it, add one of eight filters to it, and share it. The filters themselves were created by Aviary, a company that makes photo-editing software development for mobile apps.

The two companies reserve the right to protect themselves and we can never question that. So even if I no longer can see my instagram photos embedded on my tweets I can still see it on Instagrams site. And my twitter will be utilizing its own photo filter app. Fair enough then.

Google Internet Glasses

Google envisions the world and had people glimpse in it through an internet tinted glasses. Google on Wednesday gave the world a glimpse of its vision for letting people look at life through Internet-tinted glasses.

A video posted at a Project Glass page at Google+ social network confirmed the rumor that the technology titan is working on eyewear that meshes the online world with the real world.

“We think technology should work for you — be there when you need it and get out of your way when you don’t,” members of the project team said in a Google+ post.
“A group of us from Google X (Labs) started Project Glass to build this kind of technology; one that helps you explore and share your world.”

Images showed people wearing eyeglasses with stylish silver frames that featured tiny cameras and on-lens displays to discretely show information such as walking directions, weather forecasts or messages from friends.

Built-in microphones let wearers command the Internet-linked glasses by speaking.

“We took a few design photos to show what this technology could look like and created a video to demonstrate what it might enable you to do,” Google said, stressing that the glasses were a concept far from being brought to market.

“We’re sharing this information now because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input.”

The project team invited people to express ideas for the glasses at the Google+ page.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin is deeply involved with the California company’s X Labs, best known for its work on a self-driving car.

A YouTube video of legally blind Steve Mahan “driving” an autonomous Google car in his California neighborhood has been viewed more than 1.2 million times since it was uploaded on March 27.

Coffee For Lower Depression Risk in Women

Women who drink four cups of coffee a day are 20 percent less likely to become depressed than women who rarely drink coffee, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

Caffeine is the most frequently used central nervous system stimulant in the world, and coffee consumption accounts for about 80 percent of caffeine use.

Drinking coffee offers a boost of energy and a lift in well being, said Alberto Ascherio of Harvard School of Public Health.

“This short-term effect is what drives the consumption of caffeine,” said Ascherio, whose study appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

“Here we are looking at long-term chronic use of caffeinated coffee,” Ascherio said in a telephone interview.

His team studied more than 50,000 women enrolled in a health study of nurses. The women had an average age of 63, and none were depressed when they enrolled in the study.

Ascherio’s team measured coffee consumption based on data on the women for 14 years dating back to 1976. They then classified the women according to how much coffee they drank and followed them for an additional 10 years.

“We found that those women who regularly drink four or more cups of coffee a day have 20 percent lower risk of developing depression than those who rarely or never drink coffee,” Ascherio said.

The team focused specifically on coffee, but they had similar findings when they looked at overall caffeine consumption, including caffeinated soft drinks and chocolate. They found that women who were in the top fifth of caffeine consumption had a 20 percent lower risk of depression than women in the bottom fifth.

The team built a two-year gap or latency period between when they measured caffeine consumption and their assessment for depression to make sure they were not just capturing women who were too depressed to be regular coffee drinkers.

Ascherio said there have been very few studies that look at the long-term effects of coffee consumption. One smaller study in Finland showed men who drank a lot of coffee were less likely to commit suicide.

And Ascherio’s own team has shown that drinking a lot of coffee may be protective against Parkinson’s disease in both men and women.

He said it is not yet clear how coffee might protect against depression, but there are some hints.

Animal studies have shown that caffeine protects against certain neurotoxins. And brain receptors that respond to caffeine are concentrated in the basal ganglia, an area that is important for both depression and Parkinson’s disease.

Ascherio said low-dose, chronic stimulation of these receptors may make them more efficient.

He stressed that the study does not prove that coffee lowers depression risk — only that it might be protective against depression in some way.

And many more studies will be needed to show whether coffee can be used to prevent depression, Ascherio said.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/pjSydu Archives of Internal Medicine, September 26, 2011.