Traveling around the Philippines will make you understand more about our culture. It will widen your knowledge and make you proud for being a Filipino. In this blog I want to share my experience in going to Cebu, Queen City of the South. When traveling from Bacolod to Cebu it took 5 hours when having a local trip. Cebu was known for many things from the local language they use, their famous delicacy which is Lechon de Cebu and Crunchy, tasty chicharon, it also have beautiful land marks. Cebu is known for having a Sacred and Religious site. Some of those places are reminiscent of our history. One of these religious sites is Simala Shrine, it was built in 1998. These place was recommended by every local people.
Simala Shrine is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage site. It was built by the Marian Monk in Pampanga. When you enter these places for the first time, you would think it's a Castle, based on the structure and the beauty it brings. It was a shrine that had a beautiful garden.
When entering there are dressed code you need to follow, these will remind the visitors and tourists that this place is sacred and be respected. Many people came to visit these places, especially on Sunday. It was very well known in the Philippines, these places host the image of Our Lady of Lindogon. The image of Virgin Mary was said to be miraculous, one of which is shedding tears of Mother Mary.
These shrine is big and wide, they also have mass gathering inside the Shrine everyday. Inside they sell some religious things that had a blessing from the church. Some of things they sell were necklace, bracelet and etc.After the mass most of the people light up candles and pray, those candles had different color and represent different meaning. Many students came to these place before having an exam, they believe that the Virgin Mary will help them and guide them during the exam.
Under the shrine they have a beautiful garden. These garden was beautiful as many people come to had a photo. The garden had a design saying ( We Love MAMA Mary). You can only have a picture in the garden one at a time, many tourists lined up to capture an amazing image.
When having a walk there you will feel in love in the garden, the green grass and beautiful plants will make you relax.
Although exploring the whole site will make you exhausted as it will took a long walk , but it is worth it especially for us Catholic people it had a deep meaning in our life. We believe that this is not just a tourists site, this place important for us since it reminds us the love of Virgin Mary and God. These places will take all your worries and problems, it gives the presence of our beloved Creator and Savior. We finished our tour in Simala Shrine at 5pm, the Simala Shrine close at 6 pm in the evening.
Going to Simala Shrine was one of my favorite vacation we had. We love to go back there again some day. This ends my blog, thankyou for reading and see you on my next blog.