December is usually a busy time at work for me because of back to back events. This year, at this time of the month, I found myself unexpectedly traveling back to Cebu for work again.

Cebu’s the province that I’ve been to quite a lot – mostly for work. Even though that may be the case, I usually try to do a little bit of sight seeing.  This year, I did that too. I went to the newly opened SM Seaside Cebu and Temple of Leah. But to be honest, this didn’t feel like much work to me. It almost felt like a real vacation – short as it may have been – still a vacation is a vacation.

First time to use AirBnB locally and I had no regrets. I’ll tell you a little bit more about the place next post. But I think that’s how it started – the feeling that I was on vacation and not work. 
What places did I go to this year? Well, for starters I went to the newly opened SM Seaside Cebu along with my workmates. I know it’s a mall. What’s to see in a mall? We followed this guide. Actually I didn’t get to do everything in the list. A few of it at least.
The Cinemas – We didn’t watch a movie there. But we did take photos at the cinema lobby. There’s a wall there that’s so Instagram worthy – it’s very colorful. 

We also checked out Sky Park where you’ll see Water Play which is a great place for kids to play at! Actually watching them made me wish Water Play was also open for adults! Ha ha!

And Kenneth Cobonpue’s exhibit is there as well. It’s actually the playground.

Also took a photo of the different colored spiral staircases. My favorite of course is this apple green. Incidentally, this is going to be 2017 Pantone Color of the Year. Isn’t that awesome?

Also saw The Cube which is kind of like Mall of Asia’ LED giant globe except the Cube’s not LED but I didn’t take a selfie with that anymore. I also visited Chapel of Pedro Calungsod. It was drizzling when I went there and there was a wedding going on so I also did not take photos. 
Another sight I saw in Cebu this year? The Temple of Leah. It’s our very own version of the Taj Mahal – it’s built for love by Ellen Adarna’s father, Teodorico Soriano Adarna for his late wife, Leah Villa Albino Adarna in 2012.  

With all the statues in the place, it feels like being transported to Rome and Greece which is well the architectural design of the place. 

The grand staircase with the statue of the woman this temple was dedicated to. I’m just gonna say this gesture is seriously romantic. I think this can make any cynic believe there’s such a thing as real love. 
Temple of Leah now has an entrance fee of Php50. I think that’s to support the continuous construction of the area.
And since this is a sort of vacation, there was a lot of eating involved too! 

And finally, these were my hard working, fun-loving, and easy-going companions who made this Cebu trip memorable. 
Nicole with her “candid” shot at Temple of Leah.   
Glydel and Fate on another BTS shot 

Group shots taken with the Lenovo VIBE Shot. Fate’s working the panoramic selfie shot since I have shaky hands and can’t seem to figure out how to work it even though it’s my phone. Ha! Ha!

Of all the work trips I’ve done in Cebu, this has been by far the best trip of them all.