The day finally arrived. The day that I was waiting for a mere 2 months. I am now in Cebu and I am here for the very famous Sinulog Festival. We were running late since the mass would start at 8am, and I was still dressing up at around 7:30. Good thing the grand stand, where the competition will be held, was just a few blocks away from the apartment. Before we left, I ate two pieces of longanisa for my breakfast before we hit the road. 

I was happy to see the grand stand to be full of spectators all waiting for the program to start. The mass started at around 8am and the bishop was the one who said the mass. I think the bishop’s head gear was cool because it was not the typical hat you see in typical church masses.

Before the whole program starts, the mayor surprised the spectators by welcoming Mr. President NoyNoy Aquino, that made everybody stand up to their feet. He said a short speech before heading to the VIP area, where he watched the first part of the competition.

The dance composed of a great number of dancers per group. Each dance has its own theme and its own interpretation. Each contestant also has their own main girl dancer, who is in-charge of dancing with the Sto. Nino statue. And also the contest, only has one song that each contestant will need to use through out their performance. (Hearing the same song over and over again, the Sinulog ‘11 theme song really got stuck in my head). The dancing with the Sto. Nino started during the first ever baptism held in the Philippines. The first people whom they baptized where the Raja of Cebu and his wife, who later on changed her name into Juana. Juana was presented with the Sto. Nino and then danced with joy, the moment she received the Sto. Nino. (Yes, I know my history.haha)

The program ended by the performance of the Chinese peeps, honoring the Cebuano-Chinese relation in Cebu. (According to Han, madaming Chinese sa Cebu). And of course a great program wouldn’t end without a great fireworks display!! It was a first time for me to be upfront in a fireworks display and it was not that nice, since the smoke coming from the fireworks wasn’t that nice to smell.haha

We returned to the apartment around 9pm. We were dirty because of the mud from the roads on the way back, since it rained hard plus there was many garbage on the road. We almost stayed in Cebu for another day, unfortunately there wasn’t any flights available the following day, so we had no choice but to take our schedule flight back to Manila that day.

Yey for Sinulog! Yey for Cebu!