Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Artevalman Handicraft Market
Mandaue
T
032 346
0644.
A short taxi ride from the centre of town (P150), this
emporium has a large collection of crafts from around the
Visayas.
Daily 9am-6pm.
DIRECTORY
Banks and exchange
There is no shortage of places to
change
currency, particularly along the main drag of
President Osmeña Blvd, on Fuente Osmeña and in all
shopping malls. Beware the 24hr exchanges in the bar
districts unless you really have to - rates are often substan-
tially lower than elsewhere. Also try to use guarded indoor
ATMs if you need to withdraw cash late at night - ATM
muggings are not unheard of. There are plenty of banks on
President Osmeña Blvd including BDO, PNB and Allied, all
north of Fuente Osmeña, a Metrobank just south, and a BPI
opposite the
Gran Prix Hotel
on General Maxilom (Mango
Ave). There are also ATMs in all of the malls.
Cinemas
Ayala Malls 360 in the Ayala Center (
W
ayalamalls
.com.ph/movies) has the most comfortable movie theatre
in Cebu, and shows the latest movies in English daily.
Consulates
A number of countries have consular of
ces
in Cebu, among them the UK, at Villa Terrace, Greenhills Rd,
Mandaue City (
T
032 346 0525) and the US,
Waterfront
Cebu City
, Salinas Drive (
T
032 231 1261), though these are
open only part-time and don't offer a full consular service.
Emergencies
T
161.
Hospitals
Among the best equipped are Cebu Doctors'
University Hospital, President Osmeña Blvd (
T
032 253
7511); Chong Hua Hospital, J. Llorente St, just north of
Fuente Osmeña (
T
032 254 1461,
W
chonghua.com.ph);
and Perpetual Succour Hospital on Gorordo Ave (
T
032
233 8620).
Immigration
The Cebu Immigration District O
ce is in
P. Burgos St, Mandaue (
T
032 345 6442). You can extend
your 30-day visa to 59 days here in a few hours. A new
sub-o
ce has also opened on the ground floor of the
Gaisano Mactan Island Mall Annex Building on Quezon Ave
in Lapu-Lapu, Mactan Island (Mon-Sat 7am-5pm).
Internet access
Most malls have internet cafés, often on
higher floors; Netopia is on level 4 of the Ayala Center. There
are also net cafés in Mango Square on General Maxilom
Ave. Many hotels, restaurants and coffee shops have free
wi-fi; the latter include
Starbucks
on President Osmeña
Blvd and at The Terraces, plus
Bo's Coffee
on F. Ramos St and
at Robinsons Cybergate on Fuente Osmeña.
Pharmacies
There are large pharmacies in all malls and
you'll also find 24hr pharmacies that are often little more
than holes in the wall, but carry a good stock of essentials.
There's a big branch of Mercury drugstore at Fuente
Osmeña, and a Watson's just round the corner on President
Osmeña Blvd.
Police
The main Cebu City Police O
ce is south of Fuenta
Osmeña (
T
032 231 5802 or
T
032 253 5636), close to
Cebu State College. There's a branch of the tourist police
opposite Cebu City Hall near Fort San Pedro.
Post
The main post o
ce (Mon-Fri 8am-noon & 1-5pm)
on Quezon Blvd close to the port area (at the back of
Fort San Pedro) has a packing service. There's also a branch
in the Capitol complex.
6
Mactan Island
The closest beaches to Cebu City are on
MACTAN ISLAND
, linked to the main island
of Cebu by the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge and the New Mandaue-Mactan Bridge. Off
the southern coast of Mactan and linked by two short bridges is
Cordova Island
, a
relatively undeveloped slab of land with a couple of secluded, upmarket resorts on the
beach. While the beaches and scuba diving on these islands don't compare with
Malapascua, for instance, they are easier to reach and the many resorts here offer plenty
of other watersports.
Lapu-Lapu
On the island's northern shore, close to the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge, the small capital
of
LAPU-LAPU
has a heaving central market, a mall, a post of
ce and some small hotels,
but not much for tourists. For many, an obligatory souvenir purchase is a handmade
guitar
from one of Mactan's diminishing number of small guitar factories (see p.282).
The east coast
he beach on Mactan's
east coast
is not especially attractive and in some cases has been
expensively groomed and landscaped to try to make it look like a tropical beach should
- with the predictable result that it looks fake. Most of the clientele at the resorts are
rich Filipinos, and package tourists from Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.
