Dusk, Evening in Cordova, Mactan Island

Speak of Cebu and images of the Sto. Nino, the province’s patron, comes to mind. And so does the valiant Lapu-Lapu, sweet mangoes, the famous lechon, guitars and beaches. But it is more than that. Cebu is a special and beautiful place. It is also my home.

Cebu’s twin bridges provide a spectacular view of the city whether it’s dawn, day or night. However, if you want the solitude, the quite murmurings of the waves as a banca paddles near or have dinner with a special someone, without losing the bright city lights, then the tongue of road jutting out less than a kilometer into the sea, terminating at a seaside restaurant in the municipality of Cordova, at the southern tip of Mactan Island is a must.

It’s out of the way, takes almost an hour from the city to reach and the roads can be confusing that it’s easy to miss this place.

Photo enthusiasts sometimes gather here as it provides a spectacular scenery as the sun sets over the hills of Cebu. Have a wide angle lens and you can capture the breadth and span of mangroves, still waters and the island province at a distance while the skies are tinged with red and orange and pink and purple as the day is ending.

Change to a telephoto lens to compress the view and you’ve got a surrealistic scene of boys swimming in the shallow waters faintly illumined with the dying light, a couple of fishermen manoeuvring their bancas as the urban structures of buildings, towers, steel and cement form a backdrop (top photo).

However, it is easy to miss the sunset if you procrastinate in going as you might be tied up in traffic in Mandaue City. But if you do come late, just sit back and wait as the city awakens. Slowly, lights go on, creeping at both directions sideways at the horizon until it has stretched almost from one end to the other with the brightest concentrated a little past the center to the right.

As the night deepens and the sky is clear, stars shine out. Its one spectacular scene. There’s no pollution or smog to blot out the skyline and mar the view. Depending on the time of year, it is easy to see Orion flee into the horizon upon sighting Scorpio rising. Or the familiar Big Dipper in constellation Ursa Major circling Polaris, the northern star in Ursa Minor. Reflections on the waters ripple and dance and you just stare into the distance, entranced and wide eyed.

Surely, its a view that you can never forget.