Shangri la Cebu Mactan Island Resort & Spa

Shangri La's Mactan Island Resort & Spa, Cebu is just 15 minutes from Mactan-Cebu International Airport, the second-largest airport in the Philippines with direct service from many international cities.

Shangri-La's Mactan Resort & Spa recently completed a three-year major renovation program of its 547 rooms and suites. The new resort features a stylish design, sleek contemporary furniture, and the latest in-room communications and media amenities.

The highlight of the contemporary resort is the entirely refurbished Ocean Wing, that contains exceptionally luxurious and spacious accommodations with memorable views of the Visayan Sea.

Adults can indulge in the luxury of CHI The Spa at Shangri-La, one of the largest and most luxurious spa villages in the Philippines. CHI The Spa at Shangri-La is designed as a secluded spa village, where you can enjoy the privacy and luxury of the largest spa treatment villas in Asia. The CHI villas are complete with spacious relaxation areas, a private garden patio, sunken tub, herbal steam room and shower.

Families will enjoy the many opportunities to share a vacation together including Adventure Zone, an indoor air-conditioned playground specially designed for children aged 4 years and up. Consisting of over 20 separate modules spread over three levels, each designed to let children swing on ropes, climb up and down nets and ladders or crawl through shapes and heights of safely padded vinyl. E-Zone is a complete entertainment hub with arcades and two state-of-the-art karaoke rooms.




Shangri La Hotels And Resorts Wins Record Number Of Awards From Business Traveller Asia-Pacific

Asia Pacific’s leading luxury hotel group, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, was named Best Business Hotel Brand in Asia-Pacific for the seventh consecutive year and won a record total of nine awards in the Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Reader Poll.

Shangri La Hotel, Singapore was voted Best Business Hotel in the World, Best Business Hotel in Asia-Pacific and Best Business Hotel in Singapore. Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong and China World Hotel, Beijing each won the Best Hotel awards in their cities. Also, Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur; Makati Shangri-La, Manila; and Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza, Taipei were named Best Business Hotel in their cities. This is the highest number of awards won by Shangri-La in the history of the Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Readers Poll.

The poll was conducted among the magazine’s readership of frequent travellers based mainly in the Asia-Pacific region. Results were compiled by Taylor Nelson Sofres Hong Kong and will be published in Business Traveller Asia-Pacific.

Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Asia Pacific’s leading luxury hotel group, currently manages 54 hotels under the five-star Shangri-La and four-star Traders brands, with a room inventory of over 24,000.

Stagecrew Band

The pop-alternative band, Stagecrew, has been together since 1997. The band is based in the Cebu City, Philippines and is popular in the Visayas, especially in the Leyte-Samar region, where their new hit single, “Kapiling Na,” has gained a massive following. They are especially known for their energetic live performances, as well as their rapport with audiences.

Stagecrew’s stint in Manila between 2001 and 2004 added experience and maturity to their music. The trip gave them exposure to the music and entertainment industry, where they guested in television shows and live events. Stagecrew was also able to launch their self-titled debut album. Some of their songs have been included in a few original movie and television show soundtracks such as “Jologs,” “Bituin,” and the Pinoy Big Brother edition.

Formed ten years ago, Stagecrew was composed by Rommel Tuico, Jason Dacua, and George Castro, Jr. Joel Gabucan and Edward Ceballos were playing for their own bands before joining the trio. Their first months together were marked by their disagreements over musical preferences that Tuico subscribes to as birthing pains.

Fortunately, they were able to find their groove and Stagecrew has been playing sweet music ever since. Dacua says that it was mainly being high school buddies and friends that kept their egos in check (and keeping the band together). Playing and keeping their musical chemistry came in second.

The band has regular gigs at Ratsky’s resto-bar and Sunflower City bar. The band is popular on the live performance circuit, playing regular events like SMB’s “Sarap Magbabad” concert series. Stagecrew is also favorite guest at local televisions shows and is featured regularly at local variety shows such as GMA 7 Cebu’s “Oi!” variety show. Their influences are varied; from reggae music, hard rock, popular music, and romance ballads. Their repertoire is equally determined by the venue and event that they play at. Stagecrew’s repertoire covers songs by favorite bands like U2, Keane, Coldplay, The Police, REM, Sublime, Big Mountain and Sting. Not content to just sit on their success, Stagecrew expanded their repertoire by including original songs.

Stagecrew is currently logging time in the studio. The band is currently working on their second album and has finished laying down the tracks for ten original compositions (Five in English, and five in Tagalog). Already, “Kapiling Na,” the carrier single of “Dreamland,” is getting heavy circulation in Eastern Visayas and in Cebu City and has in fact, begun making rounds online via Youtube.com.

Ten years in the making, ladies and gentlemen, on center stage… Stagecrew!


Stagecrew is:
Rommel Tuico (Lead Vocals)
Jason Dacua (Keyboards/vocals)
George Castro, Jr. (Drummer)
Joel Gabucan (Bassist/vocals)
Edward Ceballos (Guitarist/vocals)

Notable Singles
“Next in line” – Afterimage cover that became part of the “Jologs” OST and the Pinoy Big Brother reality show soundtrack
“Cinderella” – Along with “Next in line” was used in the Pinoy Big Brother OST album
“Alam ko di ako, okay lang” – Entry for Himig Handog 2003, interpreted by Bayani Agbayani
“Ulan” – penned by Rommel Tuico for all-male band Cueshe

Albums
Stagecrew (self-titled)
Dreamland (in production)

Repertoire includes music from:
U2, Keane, Coldplay, The Police, REM, Sublime, among others.

Notable Appearances
“Jologs” movie, as the house band
"Bituin" TV series, as the lead character, Melody Sandoval's, band.
“Oi!” GMA 7 Cebu variety show, as regular guest band.

Awards and Nominations
1997 DYRT Artist of the Year
Best Jingle, SMB Jingle Contest 2000
Artist of the Year, Cebu FAME Awards


http://lokalpulse.blogspot.com/2007/06/stagecrew-makes-studio-time-for.html

Kim Chiu

Kimberly Sue Yap Chiu is the first Teen Big Winner of Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition, besting 13 teen housemates. Kim and the rest of the housemates entered the Big Brother house on April 23, 2006. After 42 days of spending summer in the Big Brother house, Kim was named the Teen Big Winner with 626,562 votes or 41.4% of the total votes at the Aliw Theater, Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex in Pasay City on June 3, 2006. Kim is a junior high school student at the Distance Learning Center of ABS-CBN, the network's school for their young talents/artists.

A Chinese-Filipino, Kim was never nominated by her co-teen housemates because of her sense of humor and her smile as well as her very positive disposition and sportsmanship that made her one of the early bets by the viewers to win. A semi-contortionist, Kim made everyone laugh with her stunts like crossing her two legs at the back of her head. She also sang songs and played the guitar with teen housemates Mikee, Matt and Gerald.

A go-getter, she made sure she accomplished the tasks given to her by Big Brother without hesitation. Tasks include eating exotic Filipino delicacies, rope climbing in the garden and sticking out the tongue for an hour, just to name a few. She also participated in the group task to give Jamilla's son, Miggy, who has cleft palate, the remaining four operations to be shouldered by some doctors at St. Lukes Hospital. One of the tasks was braiding the hair of the girls for six hours.

After a 10-month relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Kim became sort of a man-hater although she wasn't afraid to admit her admiration to two housemates inside the house. Earlier in the season, the housemates admitted to each other their crushes among the Teen Housemates. Kim said that she likes Mikee, who also admitted that she likes Kim. From then on, the two were inseparable and oftentimes teased by the rest of the housemates. Both of them can sing and play the guitar, which was their favorite pastime together. On the other hand, as the Teen Housemates dwindled each week, Kim found comfort and good friendship with Gerald, a Filipino-American teen housemate from General Santos City. Kim and Gerald became close friends forming a love triangle.

As part of the simple wishes of Kim to Big Brother, she met her idol, the acoustic band MYMP (Make Your Momma Proud) while she was still inside the house. Two weeks before The Big Night, she was taken out of the house blind-folded to record the Chinese song, Peng You (朋友) by Emil Chou with Juris of MYMP. The song was translated in Filipino and was made into a music video, showing clips in the Big Brother house.

Previously on their first week inside, she was asked by fellow teen housemates Jamilla and Aldred to sing in Chinese. Kim sang Peng You and explained the lyrics line by line. Peng You is friend in Mandarin.

Kim Chiu ranked first among the four with 41.4% and was named the Teen Big Winner. Included in the prizes are 1 million pesos (US$19,000), a condominium unit, a 4-year college scholarship courtesy of AMA Computer University, among other prizes worth 3 million pesos (US$57,000).

In the afternoon, the four appeared in the Sunday showbiz talk show The Buzz. Kim admitted that she's dreaming of both becoming an actress and a singer. She also said that if given a chance, she would choose Gerald, a co-housemate and a close friend, to be her leading man. Mikee, a former partner inside the house, said he was fine with that explaining that she looks at Kim only as a special friend.

Kim is one of the new endorsers of Bench, a local clothing line. She was paired with Gerald in print ads with a caption, "Perfect Pair", advertising the denim collection of Bench. The pair then stared in an ABS-CBN television program Love Spell.

Minglanilla, Cebu

Sugat is a big socio-religious event in Minglanilla, which attracts not only people from adjacent towns but also from Cebu City. On Easter Sunday dawn, there will be mass celebration at the ground of Minglanilla Central School followed by a short dubbed drama showcasing the fight between the fallen angel represented as dark eagle and the God's Servant Gabriel Archangel together with his comrades.A re enactment of the 'meeting' of the risen Christ and his mother will be then followed after it.



Kabanhawan

Is a festivity celebration of the Minglanillahanons showcasing their talents by means of dancing as an expression of happiness in order to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Kabanhawan is a Cebuano term means resurrection. The festival held during Easter Sunday usually done in the ground of Minglanilla Central School. The dance is composed of two categories - the Ritual Showdown and Street Dancing.

Short Fact

Minglanilla Cebu, a first class municipality, is also known as the "Sugat Capital" of the South. In the early days, Minglanilla was a barangay of Talisay.

It was "Buat", a variation of the word 'bulad'which means dried fish. According to the church records, the town was founded in 1858 by Father Fernando Sanchez, the first Spanish priest who changed the name to Minglanilla, an obscure place in Spain where he was born.

http://www.blogcatalog.com/blog/sugat-kabanhawan-festival

Bantayan Island

Bantayan Island

With its clear blue skies, sparkling blue waters and fine white sand beaches, Bantayan Island is the place to go for a unique summer treat. Located northwest off the tip of mainland Cebu, Bantayan Island hosts local and foreign tourists that troop to the island especially during Holy Week for a much needed rest and relaxation. Thus, it is tagged as the Lenten Capital of the Visayas.

Comprised of the municipalities of Bantayan, Sta. Fe and Madridejos, the island is well-known for its row of excellent beach resorts, succulent cuisines with an array of seafood. The island is also the egg basket in the region, supplying the demand for egg in Cebu, Leyte and Negros.

Bantayan is considered as the town proper in the island. It is known for its mouth-watering dried fish and squid that most tourists take as food souvenir. Sta. Fe, on the other hand, is famous for its line of beach resorts. As early as February, all resorts are already fully booked for summer.

The island is easily accessible from Cebu City. A bus ride from the Cebu North Bus Terminal takes the tourist to Hagnaya port, which is three hours away. From the port, several ferry boats travel one hour to the pier in Sta. Fe.

Sto. Niño de Cebu

Foundation of the Church

The convent of the Sto. Niño de Cebu was founded by Fr. Andres de Urdaneta on April 28, 1565 , the very day the Legazpi-Urdaneta expedition arrived in the island. On May 8 of the same year, when Legaspi and his men planned the urbanization of the city, they allotted a "place for the church and the convent of San Agustin, "where the Santo Niño image had been found."

In 1599, the convent was made a house of studies of grammar, headed by the Visayan linguist, Fr. Alonso de Mentrida. It also served as a rest house for missionaries working in the province and as a retirement home for the aged and the sick, usually attended to by a lay brother.

The church has always been the Sanctuary of the Sto. Niño, under the custody of the Augustinians. The number of priests assigned to the church varied from three to five aside from one or two lay brothers.

Devotion to Sto. Niño

The Chapter held on August 6, 1578 recommended to all the fathers "that prayers to the Sto. Niño be offered every month as was the custom before." In 1641, the father provincial ordered that the feast of the Sto Niño be celebrated on January 14 “with all the possible solemnity, mass and sermon, since He deserves all the affection from us, being the Dulcisimo and most affectionate patron of our province."

Fr. Nicolas de la Cuadra (1731) was very instrumental in spreading the devotion of the Sto. Niño. He led an exemplary life, had writings and solemn rites which he established in the sanctuary, and acquired many jewels for the decoration of the statue.

Fr. Nicolas de la Cuadra (1731) was very instrumental in spreading the devotion of the Sto. Niño. He led an exemplary life, had writings and solemn rites which he established in the sanctuary, and acquired many jewels for the decoration of the statue.

The first novena to the Santo Niño was introduced by Fr. Mateo Diez, rector of the sanctuary in 1889, under the Cebuano title Novena ug pagdayeg sa Sto. Niño Jesus nga guisimba sa cyudad sa Sugbu , printed in Mandaluyong, Asilo de Huerfanos , 1888. This novena has been reprinted countless times.

Up to this time, the number of Sto. Niño devotees who follow the novena and attend mass every Friday keeps on increasing.

Construction of the Church

• 1566 - the first church believed to be built on the site where the image of the Holy Child was found was destroyed by fire. It was said to be built by Fr. Diego de Herrera using wood and nipa.

• 1605 - Fr. Pedro Torres started the construction of a new church, again made of wood and nipa. It was finished in 1626 but was again burned in 1628.

• 1628 - Fr. Juan Medina started the construction of another church, using stone and bricks, a great innovation at that time. The construction was stopped because the structure was found to be defective - the bricks used seemingly "melted" upon contact with air.

• February 29, 1735 - Father Provincial Bergaño, Governor-General Fernando Valdes, Bishop Manuel Antonio Decio y Ocampo of Cebu and Juan de Albarran Prior of the Santo Niño, started the foundations of the present church, using stone. A lot of help came. Fr. Antonio Lopez, prior of San Nicolas, assisted also together with the people of his district. The residents of Talisay also did four weeks of work and Fr. Francisco Aballe also tried to help with his parishioners from Mactan.

The materials used:

The stones were quarried from Capiz and Panay by an army of bancas. The molave wood came from the mountains of Talisay and Pitalo and was transported in bancas hired in Argao and Carcar. Fr. Albarran confessed that there was much difficulty in quarrying the stones. Despite the seemingly impossible task, Fr. Albarran was not discouraged. He used white stones to make the lime, with one banca transporting some 400 pieces of stones. There was also another obstacle: the lack of chief craftsmen and officers which forced Fr. Albarran to acquire some knowledge of architecture.

The church was finished not later than 1739. According to an author named Vela, "the church has all the characteristics of a solid construction to withstand all the earthquakes..." And true enough, the church withstood all earthquakes.

The original features of the church have been retained except for the windows added by Fr. Diez in 1889. In 1965, both church and convent underwent a bigger restoration on the occasion of the fourth centennial of the Christianization of the country. The face lifting was made with utmost respect for the historical character of the old structure.

Cardinal Hildebrando Antoniutti, Papal Legate to the Philippines , conferred upon the church the title of Basilica minore , a special privilege granted to the Augustinian Order by the Pope Paul VI. On the other hand, the former President Ferdinand Marcos declared the Sto. Niño Basilica a national shrine because of its historical significance.

Style of the Church

• Facade - a blending of Muslim, Romanesque and neo-classical features - all set in what has otherwise been described as a high degree of integration. The façade is preserved in its original stone texture and natural color, conveying an air of simplicity of line and elegance.

• Bell tower - serves as a counterbalance to the convent located on the opposite far end. It has two blind and open windows alternating in shape, ending up in triangular pinnacles with a circular disc crowned by balusters and a bulbous dome of Muslim influence.

• Center section - the focus of attention. The arched main entrance is balanced by the side rectangular corners. A double-edged triangular pediment crowns the facade.