Praying at the Basilica Minore
A trip to Cebu always starts or ends with a visit to the Basilica Minor del Santo Niño located in Osmena St, at the heart of the old district of Colon.
My father is a devotee of the Santo Niño hence as far as I can remember our stays in Cebu were always punctuated with praying and hearing mass at the Basilica every Fridays --- without fail. We always line up early (this time around even if I arrived just the day before I had to wake up at 6am to line up ahead of the pack. No excuses!).
A familiar sight greeted me at the entrance to the church --- old ladies wearing yellow and red (I think it’s a uniform of some sort) waving candles in the air and singing hymns. You can give them some coins for the candles and they will kindly light it for you and pray to the Santo Niño. But most of them are devotees who religiously go to the church every day to pray.
There are stalls outside the church selling Santo Niño sculptures and prayer books. You can also get a bouquet of fresh flowers from nearby vendors who go there early every day.
The 16th century old Basilica is the most important Catholic church in Cebu and is also the site of the famous Sinulog Festival held every 3rd Saturday of January. 
If you are anywhere near Cebu City during the Sinulog, beware…….there’s like gazillions of people participating or watching the parades……and the Cebuanos party nonstop for a whole week….. I remembered going to Fuente Osmena (this is where the pre-event action is --- its like a mini-fair with night concerts, shops, restos, and open bars!) with a cousin and between the two of us finished off 3 bottles of GSM Blue and cannot even remember how I got home in one piece!
If you really want to discover Cebu, there is no better place to start than at the Basilica --- at the core of every Cebuano’s heart is its deep tradition of piety and religiosity.
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