CeBu CeBoom CeBlog

Most of you would want to know what YAW YAN is…it sounds Chinese, the movements slightly similar that of Thai-Boxing and Korea’s Tae-kwon-do but it actually originated by us…Filipinos. Yaw-Yan is billed as the Philippine’s most lethal martial art. In Cebu, there are only three Yaw-Yan organizations, namely: Yaw-Yan Temple, which serves as the “mother company” located in Colon, then there’s Yaw-Yan Ardigma in Sanciangko and Yaw-Yan Musang.

The word Yaw-Yan was derived from the last two syllables of “Sayaw ng Kamatayan” means “Dance of Death”. Pretty scary…I don’t think so.

Read more…

I love S-P-O-R-T-S! A track and field athlete in high school, soccer baseball player, plays power-forward in basketball , even joins badminton tournament and NOW into Martial Arts.

My mom keeps on telling me that I’m too old for sports but that didn’t stop me from enrolling myself at YAW-YAN Musang in Lapu-lapu City. Just wanted to learn the basic kicking and punching.

Most of you would want to know what YAW YAN is…it sounds Chinese, the movements slightly similar that of Thai-Boxing and Korea’s Tae-kwon-do but it actually originated by us…Filipinos. Yaw-Yan is billed as the Philippine’s most lethal martial art. In Cebu, there are only three Yaw-Yan organizations, namely: Yaw-Yan Temple, which serves as the “mother company” located in Colon, then there’s Yaw-Yan Ardigma in Sanciangko and Yaw-Yan Musang.

The word Yaw-Yan was derived from the last two syllables of “Sayaw ng Kamatayan” means “Dance of Death”. Pretty scary…I don’t think so.

Contrary to most popular belief, Yaw Yan is not purely a full-contact no-holds barred sport martial arts. It is a complete martial training with body-mind coordination and test of enduring indomitable spirit. More than just physical training, it also involves the mental disciplines of focus, concentration, alertness, flexibility, stamina, speed and continuity. Students train for real confrontation and actual fights – on or off the ring.

Advanced Disciples have to go through a rigorous ritual of practice and discipline consisting of actual full-contact sparring, bag hitting, and flexibility exercise. With this kind of sports, the elbows, knees, and shin are utilized in much the same way as in Muay Thai. In fact, if you’re a Yaw-Yan practitioner, you have to learn 40 BASIC kicks requiring flexibility and take note: MASTERY.

Yaw-Yan fighters in Cebu are known for breaking their foe’s strong femur bone, if not the ribs or jaw, with just one strong kick…an unpleasant gift to be treasured for life. (OUCH!)

Yaw-Yan Cebu Organizations are encouraging the youth to check out this kind of martial arts. This is one way of helping the youth on how to develop their sportsmanship and self-discipline so as to keep them away from dangerous drugs.

Want to know more about this sport? You can visit the three temples anytime you want…See you!

My friends with the MMA champ, Cary “The Prince” Bullos of Yaw-Yan Musang during the “ULTIMATE FIGHTS 2005″ A Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts Bouts.

To bring out the best in photographic ideas, Lexmark and Esprint Software sponsored a photo contest that was open to all Cebu photographers, amateurs and professionals alike. The contest runs for one week only as its theme was “All Souls Day in Cebu” wherein entries should depict the celebration of the dead.

See winning entries…

To bring out the best in photographic ideas, Lexmark and Esprint Software sponsored a photo contest that was open to all Cebu photographers, amateurs and professionals alike. The contest runs for one week only as its theme was “All Souls Day in Cebu” wherein entries should depict the celebration of the dead.

Photos of outstanding quality, great creativity, surprising ideas and unusual arrangements competed with each other. So, our jury had the exciting and, at the same time, very pleasant task of sifting out the best works and awarding them the corresponding prizes.

Grand Prize “Common Cross” by Vic Kintanar, Freelance Photographer

2nd Prize “A Night Glimpsed at Calamba Cemetery” by Rudolf Alcarazen, Cebu Daily News Photographer

3rd Prize “Prayers and Flowers for the Souls” by Allan Cuizon, SunStar Photographer

Beyond the busy highways, in the dusty roads of the southern part of the Cebu City lies a simple but beautiful place where you can enjoy serenity and soul searching.

I know a place down south where you can unwind and just relax from the busy city life. A place where you can be one with nature (sea) and just enjoy the smell of the cool sea breeze. A place where you can forget everything else but just you and the sunset. Mind you, this is for people who enjoy simplicity and appreciate the moments of utter serenity where you can relax in utmost comfort. But then again, if you bring your friends along most especially your all time buddies, you can also do that. Better yet, you guys can bring along a guitar and just jam your worries away…..

It is located along the edge of SRP (South Reclamation Project). A lot of people, most especially families, from all walks of life just take time out to go there most especially on weekends simply to enjoy the place and the scenery. A lot of kids bring their kites along and engage in a friendly tournament. You can have your own picnic too and swim on the beach bringing your best bud with you. It is also a place where boys can do girl-hunting activity or vice-versa (shhhhhh…. Just between you and me, it’s my favorite pastime!).

So, hear yeh! hear yeh! For people who are quite interested….get up, pack your bags and head on to SRP…Experience serenity at its best!

Cebu is known for its delicacies, handicrafts and stone crafts. Now where to find them here in Cebu?

The famous Titay’s Rosquillos in Liloan.
Fresh variety of cut flowers from Busay, the little Baguio of Cebu.
World class guitars is from Maribago where Lilang’s Guitars are made.
Chicharon (Crispy pork rind), Ampao and Bukarillo is from an old town in the Southern part of Cebu called Carcar. This town is also popular for its quality shoes and sandals.
Danggit, dried rabbit fish for a hearty breakfast from Bantayan,
Puso, the hanging rice from Carbon and Tabuan Public market,
Budbud and Pintos from Bogo, made from sticky variety of rice locally called pilit mixed with coconut milk
Hand-woven blankets from Argao.
Polished stone and other stone crafts from Mactan,
Accent chairs made of wood or rattan, elegant barongs, basketry, brass & bronze-ware, mats, shell craft, and fashion jewelry from Mandaue.
The sweet mangoes of Guadalupe. - Fresh, Dried or Pureed. -

It’s all in one place… Palit na!…

Cook out? What’s cooking?

Well, none! If Cook Out used to be a food festivity, it has then evolved into a show of talents and skills of every UP Cebu Students.

UP Cebu has hosted this year’s Cook Out last August 12, 2005 at (where else) at the UP Grounds. The traditional Cook out is a kick off activity to welcome all the students of UP Cebu for another academic year. The event is a showcase of talents in singing, dancing, ‘rampa- to- death’, and band showdown. More..

Last May 25-26, 2005, I was lucky to attend a two-day seminar held at the Capitol Social Hall. It was a training about festival planning and management. The Cultural Center of the Philippines, Cebu Provincial Government and the Arts Council of Cebu sponsored the training. You’ll be amazed how diverse and varied the crowd was in that seminar. Most of the attendees were from LGUs and DepEd. I represented my hometown along with a head teacher and a municipal staff.

Read more..

Last May 25-26, 2005, I was lucky to attend a two-day seminar held at the Capitol Social Hall. It was a training about festival planning and management. The Cultural Center of the Philippines, Cebu Provincial Government and the Arts Council of Cebu sponsored the training. You’ll be amazed how diverse and varied the crowd was in that seminar. Most of the attendees were from LGUs and DepEd. I represented my hometown along with a head teacher and a municipal staff.

During that seminar you could really see how people from Cebu conceptualize and try to manage an on-the-spot creation of festivals. Most of the delegates represented different types of festivals around Cebu like the Lechon Festival (Talisay City), Soli-Soli Festival (San Francisco, Camotes), Tagbo Festival(Poro, Camotes), Mantawi Festival(Mandaue City), etc. Because of that event I have learned that the Cebu province has a number of festivals that have a strong potential to become as big as Sinulog Festival in Cebu City. According to the speakers, there is a need to apply principles learned in business management in planning festivals. All functions of management will play an important role in planning such activity and in implementing such plan. Festivals like the Sinulog, should be encouraged in towns and other cities because it can help increase economic activity in the locality, promote tourism and enrich our local culture. Because of how the event turned out, people started to say that Cebu could be a center of festivals with Sinulog as the standard bearer.

Indeed festivals in Cebu are a mark of how diverse and creative Cebuanos are. Truly we are a province with much to be proud about!!!!!

There’s no such place like Dalaguete. has intrigued the new generation. Dalaguete is a town, some 85 kilometers down south, in the eastern seaboard of Cebu. The town is quite known by so many names, some derogatory, some flattering, yet quite incidentally, most of them are true!

The famously distinctive deflection in speech of its inhabitants may be the butt of jokes among us fellow Cebuanos, but Dalaguete is far more colorful than you think it is. It is a town of great varied landscape and steeped with colorful cultural and historical past too. From the rugged coastlines to its mountainous interiors, Dalaguete is one such great place to explore and enjoy the beauty of its rich natural wonders.

Read on

Cook out? What’s cooking?

Well, none! If Cook Out used to be a food festivity, it has then evolved into a show of talents and skills of every UP Cebu students.

UP Cebu has hosted this year’s Cook Out last August 12, 2005 at (where else) at the UP Grounds. The traditional Cook out is a kick off activity to welcome all the students of UP Cebu for another academic year. The event is a showcase of talents in singing, dancing, ‘rampa- to- death’, and band showdown.

During my college years, I never missed to join a presentation during Cook Out. Talent was not the criteria. I could remember we used to finalize our presentation a day or two before Cook Out. The more mistakes you commit, the more fun it takes. What’s exciting with Cook Out is that, students do not expect the presentation to be well prepared. Students do not judge by the twist and turns of the hips of the dancers because the group who appears most funny in stage is expected to get the awards.

Well I must be speaking of my own times. I do not know if the current UP Cebu students agree to this. But it’s just how it goes! If the judges would include the entry of the macho guys of Bell Boys (in which our friend Mr. KVE is a member) for their strip tease on stage, they might have won awards too!

Cook Out is a gathering of the students as well as its Alumni. It is fun making and meeting acquaintances. For some Cook Out is even more memorable as it paved way for meeting the love of their lives.

But Cook Out is just one night of fun. The real life in UP is about books, exams and classes. Its core is in teaching students to be intellectually and socially prepared. That is why terror teachers are indispensable; teachers in slippers or in sneakers and short pants are prevalent. But they did not miss producing brilliant students who have excelled in their career after college.

If you haven’t been to Cook Out this year, don’t worry. If Cook Out is the kick off, the culmination will be the College Days. Its highlight is the Crazy Day where students express their distinct imagination come into reality. Watch out for the colorful parades as the cool dudes, nerds, simple introvert guys and gals go wild in their Winnie the Pooh costumes, bath times suits (towel, toilet tissues rolled over, etc) or in their big diaper outfits or in their day to day outfit (crazy everyday kasi).

If you’re lucky enough you might even witness the Oblation run.

So see you in next year’s Cook Out! And congrats to the organizers of this year’s Cook Out!

There’s no such place like Dalaguete. has intrigued the new generation. Dalaguete is a town, some 85 kilometers down south, in the eastern seaboard of Cebu. The town is quite known by so many names, some derogatory, some flattering, yet quite incidentally, most of them are true!

The famously distinctive deflection in speech of its inhabitants may be the butt of jokes among us fellow Cebuanos, but Dalaguete is far more colorful than you think it is. It is a town of great varied landscape and steeped with colorful cultural and historical past too. From the rugged coastlines to its mountainous interiors, Dalaguete is one such great place to explore and enjoy the beauty of its rich natural wonders.

The St. William The Hermit Church, built in the early 19th century, has a baroque-style altar whose leaf motif is burnished in gold. Its massive belfry was constructed some distance away from the convent and church complex, as is evident in many centuries-old chruches in Ilocos in northern Luzon. That one, alone, makes the town popular to outsiders especially history buffs.

It has also a watchtower in Obong near the equally famous Obong Spring. The watchtower is just one of many similar structures found all over Cebu. It was built with the sole purpose, like the fort, to keep watch the marauding pirates from Mindanao and other islands in the south during the Spanish colonial period.

Obong Spring, on the other hand, is a small spring located in Obong, the southernmost coastal barangay. It is a popular picnic site for locals and visitors alike due to its refreshingly cold water, though brackish as it is merely 50 meters from the shoreline that allows the seawater to encroach especially during high tide.

Dalaguete is not called “Summer Capital of Cebu” for nothing. Mantalongon, a hinterland barangay some 14 kilometers up the scenic mountains, is popular with its cool climate even during summer. In fact, it is the most popular of all barangays in Dalaguete. The name itself is already synonymous with high value crops especially vegetables and flowers. It is the salad bowl of Cebu where practically almost half of Cebu’s vegetable needs come from Mantalongon. With its pleasant climate all year round, many city folks and other out-of-towners come in droves during summer to escape the sweltering heat in the lowlands.

Osmeña Peak in Mantalongon is part of the Mantalongon mountain range. It is reputed to be one of the highest peaks in Cebu. Mountaineers and climbing afficionados from all over the country have come to test their skill in this craggy peak that commands a breathtaking view of the vicinity and beyond. A trek towards Badian in the west shall be a wonderful experience as you practically pass through magnificent landscape of towering lush mountains and verdant valleys.

If you hear the bus’ horn toot suddenly deflects as you go down south, chances are, you’ve reached the town of Dalaguete! It is farther manifested when ambulant vendors hawk their wares, mostly food, through the window in exciting cacophony.

“Itlog mo Noy, Orange! Itlog mo Noy, Orange!”

Tididit! Tididit!

Click here to know more about this beautiful town.

Want to see Cebu in pictures? Come to Cebu Pictures Gallery.