4:42 AM
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Monday, October 17, 2011
Scuba Diving in Cebu
Diving in Cebu: The island of Cebu, also called the queen city of the south, has some of the best dive spots in the Philippines.
From urban Mactan to small town Moalboal or exotic Malapascua, from the southern to the northern tip of the island, Cebu is certainly a heaven for all scuba divers.
If you want to do extensive diving for a couple of days, or even weeks, Cebu is definitely your best choice. Basically you can chose from 3 major scuba diving destinations in Cebu:
Lost Horizon Beach Resort
Lost Horizon is situated directly at the beach and many rooms have a fantastic sea view.
The resort, just newly renovated and under American management, offers 30 modern rooms all with aircon, hot water, mini bar and cable TV. Other amenities include an restaurant offering Filipino and International food, a swimming pool and, of course, one of the newest and best PADI dive centers on the beach, our Philippine Fun Divers.
An idyllic tourist haven, that's guaranteed to fascinate and lull visitors into tranquil harmony with its simplistic beauty. Visitors commonly refer Panglao as a breath-taking, unbelievably magical Island.
Lost Horizon Beach Resort offers an ideal escape from civilization, but if one needs to remain in contact with the outside world, free internet access,WI-FI, cable satellite TV in every room and e-mail services are available.
Bohol - Scuba Diving and Beach Holiday
Bohol offers pristine beaches and some of the best diving in the Philippines.
In Balicasag Island, just a 45min boat ride away, turtles, barracuda and other big fish like schooling jacks and tuna await you.
Colorful reef dwellers like trumpet-, parrot- and cuttlefish, angel fishes, batfishes and others are found on every dive. The newly founded dive center,Philippine Fun Divers, is one of the dive centers in the region we are involved with. Philippine Fund Divers is under German management and run by our business partners Holger Horn (PADI Master Instructor) and Rena Sugiyama (PADi Master Scuba Diver Trainer). Our team in Alona Beach arranges also transfers and accommodation for you. Trips to Cabilao Island, Apo Island and the Chocolate Hills are conducted regulary.
AYALA CENTER CEBU EXPANSION TO COMPLETE 9-HECTARE SUPERBLOCK
Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) affliliate Cebu Holdings, Inc. (CHI) recently broke ground on the final phase of Ayala Center Cebu’s development. Ayala Center Cebu sits on a 9-hectare lot, and is the centerpiece development of the Cebu Business Park. The four-level expansion worth P3-billion is set to complete the original full-circle design of the mall.
Mr. Antonio Aquino, ALI president and CHI chairman, expressed that the expansion of Ayala Center Cebu reflects their interest to partake in the development of Cebu.
“Last year, we made a bold statement that we will open more projects in Cebu and we did that,” Aquino told the Cebu media before the formal groundbreaking ceremony, referring to their condominium projects in Cebu, the affordable Avida Towers Cebu, Alveo’s Sedona Park for the urban achievers and the 1016 Residences for Cebu’s “who’s who”
CHI president Francis Monera said that phase 2B expansion would have a gross leasable area of 36,000 square meters, to be completed in 2013.
This expansion will be an upscale retail development that will provide high-end outlets and premium finishes for the more discerning shoppers. It will house a mix of luxury signature brands, fashion-forward brands, information technology outlets, techtronics, home furnishing and a few carefully-selected dining and lifestyle concepts.
To be seamlessly connected to the main mall and The Terraces, the architecture of the building — from the facade, exteriors, to its interiors — will be upscale in nature, with an impressive sense of arrival. The over-all ambiance will be enhanced with elegant but warm lighting. The development will have areas for social interaction equipped with premium furnishings customized for the purpose. The common area and walkways will provide excellent connectivity with the existing mall and its surrounding areas. Some areas will be highlighted by creating special features, themes or treatments, to create special interest points.
An impressive, well-lit atrium will soon house intimate events. The generous outdoor greenbelt at the roof deck, interspersed with greens, water features and dramatic hardscape will be another distinguishing landmark of the mall and will serve as a convergence area for the various components of the mixed-use development.
Such a strategy is in line with Ayala Center Cebu’s position as a place where one can live, work and play, all in one integrated development.
The new development will have all the compelling extras one can find in an Ayala Mall, such as a family lounge, a Customer Lounge, and Concierge counters, among others.
Other featurs that highlight ACC’s expansion include:
- four Levels of retail outlets
- three levels of an anchor store (Rustan’s Supermarket and Department Store)
- three levels of basement parking
- a multi-purpose hall
- a Cinema
- gardens at the roof-top
Aside from the obvious changes to the landscape of the Cebu Business Park once this development is completed, the mall expansion will also continue implementing and will be introducing environment-friendly and environmentally-sustainable practices for its operations:
WATER CONSERVATION
- The design of this new section of the mall will integrate grey water recycling where wastewater from the mall operations will be processed and used for landscaping irrigation, for the building’s cooling towers and for the flushing of water closets in the mall’s restrooms.
ENERGY CONSERVATION
- To take advantage of natural light during the day, the four-level structure will have clerestories. In contrast to the usual skylights, clerestories are windows at the side of the structure to avoid direct sunlight from coming thus requiring less air-conditioning to keep the area cool.
- The expansion will also use green roofs for passive cooling. Landscaping will be created on the roof to provide insulation against the heat of the sun. This provides helps regulate building temperatures and reduced urban heat-island effects.
- The design also incorporates a district cooling system, the centralized production and distribution of cooling energy. Chilled water is delivered via an underground insulated pipeline to cool the indoor air of the buildings within a district. Specially designed units in each building then use this water to lower the temperature of air passing through the building’s air conditioning system. This district cooling is a suitable solution for mixed-use developments.
WASTE SEGREGATION AT SOURCE
- As with the existing mall, the retail outlets at the expansion will be practicing waste segregation at source. This lessens the amount of residual waste brought to the landfill and provides materials for recycling for the neighboring communities of the mall and Cebu Business Park.
Aside from the relocation of the Rustan’s Department Store and Supermarket, Ayala Malls Group senior division manager Clavel Tongco told reporters that this early, they already have a long list of merchants waiting for spaces in the mall’s new phase. Among others, she identified Zara, an international clothing brand popular to the teens and yuppies in Metro Manila, as among those that will make their presence felt in Cebu soon.
She said they will be bringing the merchants of Greenbelt 5 and Glorietta 4 that will also have their first stores here.
Tomeldan expressed confidence that these brands will have a share in the discerning Cebu market considering the market studies and research they conducted prior to the plans of expansion.
Ayala Malls Group vice president Rowena Tomeldan said merchants are very bullish in the Cebu market that even foreign brands that don’t have stores in Manila yet are expressing interest on Cebu.
Aside from the international brands, the mall will also be allocating spaces for Cebu-based concepts. She said that they will not just introduce luxury brands but also affordable and budget-friendly brands.
Cebu : Emerging Shopping Mecca of Asia
Cebu is a well known tourist destination of the country. It had attracted almost 2 million of both domestic and foreign tourists from across the globe. Well known for its beaches, food, heritage and cultural celebration such as the world’s famous Sinulog Festival, no wonder Cebu is ranked as one of the best island of the world by Travel+Leisure magazine.
This island city’s stature never fails to catch the attention of foreign tourists like the Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Russians, Americans and Europeans. These people did not just stay and visit Cebu but for some chose to retire and live here or do business.
But wait, the economic boom of Cebu which started in the 90′s continues to put Cebu in the business map. And with the effect of the triple whammy industry which Cebu is strong, BPO, Tourism and Manufacturing made it an economic powerhouse with exports at more than $2billion a year while tourism receipts accounted more than P/5 Billion yearly. The current status of Cebu as an emerged BPO center of the world attracted key BPO players and had slowly developed the KPO sector, directly employing more than 100,000 people and indirectly employing 200,000 others.
The advent of this triple whammy industry to Cebu made its real estate industry vigorous. The Real Estate industry grows to as much as 20% last year which is higher even than the growth of Metro Manila according to the PAREB. This is the reason where highrise structures, residential, office, hotel or mixed use continues to shape the fast changing skyline of Cebu. Real Estate value also skyrocketed by more than 20% since the year 2000.
By these developments and continued progress, Cebuano’s purchasing power grew by 100% estimate while enjoying a very good employment rate. Cebu also has a large concentration of middle class in the country party due to its higher entrepreneurship value.
Because of these obvious reasons, the Retail industry which is dominated by SM, Ayala, Robinsons and the homegrown Gaisano Stores decided to cash on the large opportunities ahead as Cebu’s economy will further contract in the next five years. Mall developers are rushing in with their developments of expansions and or new malls. Based on the Skyscraper City’s Cebu’s count there were more than 10 large malls to be opened starting 2011 up to 2013.
Notable to these mall developments are the SM Seaside City which is currently under construction at the South Road Properties and is projected to become SM’s flagship mall in Vismin and perhaps its most innovative and top of the class mall design ever. It will have more than 250,000 sqm of GFA.. slightly bigger than the SM City Cebu, but will have a circular design with a tower at the center. The mall is major development within the SM Seaside complex which will soon have hotels and residential condominiums. On the other hand, Ayala Center Cebu is currently developing its expansion to complete the circular design. The expansion is projected to add more or less 80,000 sqm of GFA and if finished by last quarter of 2012, Ayala Center Cebu is projected to become a lifestyle mall, housing the best local and international brands we normally see only in its Greenbelt Mall. The Ayala Center expansion and the malls renovation will showcase as one of the best Ayala mall in the country employing best practices in mall development. Robinsons, although quiet late in the scene but did not want to be left behind. Robinsons Maxilom, is currently under construction at its property in the North Reclamation Area about 1 kilometer away from SM City Cebu. It is probably the best mall of Robinsons in the country incorporating a green architecture likewise adapting to modern design which is shown through clean execution of geometrical shapes of the structure. The Robinsons Maxilom with an estimated GFA of 150,000 promised to be a pride to the more then 2 million Cebuanos. The Gaisano’s, not to be outdone is also planning to build a large mall in SRP near Talisay and some medium sized malls all over Metro Cebu and the province.
With SM, Ayala and Robinsons building its best malls in Cebu and bringing the best brands, facilities ,innovative and excellent designs perhaps we could safely say, that this is a manifestation of the developers respect towards Cebuanos talent, creativity and workmanship, being the undisputed Design and Creative Capital of the Philippines. Needles to say, Cebu had been well known in design of furniture, fashion, jewelries, fashion jewelries and so on. In addition, the Cebuano’s character of being partial to value and yet affordable products had been factored in the equation to conceptualize the design of these malls. Cebuano’s is partial to the best.
And with all of these malls set to open starting on the last quarter of 2012 and 2013, it is just fitting to claim that Cebu is now an emerging shopping mecca, not just of the Philippines but as well as of the Asia. By 2013, we will see an overflowing of tourists to come not just enjoy the usual attractions Cebu can offer but as well as shop.
Avida Towers Cebu (Affordable Living at its Best)
Located in C E B U's most vibrant business and lifestyle hub,Avida Towers Cebu (Affordable Living at its Best) will redefine life for future residents with an integrated "Home,Office and Play" lifestyle.Hurry! ONLY 50+ Units Left! For as LOW as P14,000/mo. and with a downpayment spread over 24mos, Interest-Free and VAT-Free,Owning an Ayala Land Property just got so much easier!
1016 Residences (Luxurious Living at the Heart of Cebu Business Park)
 1016 Residences A select community of only 109 units rises 24 floors above Cebu Business Park. A distinctive address set privately apart in a vibrant urban center, 1016 Residences welcomes you home in the third quarter of 2014. Ayala Land Premier Our commitment: making sure that the most important place in your life is also the most exceptional. An outstanding location, expertly planned and discreetly designed. Generous living spaces, thoroughly planned unit layouts, finishes and fittings of premium quality. Selecting, buying and moving into your home—worry- and hassle-free. Combining into a home ownership experience of ease and lasting value, ensuring life and living at its finest. |
Soon To The Tallest Hotel And Condo In #Cebu
Horizons 101 is the tallest residential condo in Cebu City to stand along Mango Avenue., Cebu City. The tallest consisting of 55-stories with nice amenities...Watch for the opening SOON...This is a choice of studio unit, 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom units.
“Pack your gears and experience real “higher education”
Mountaineering enthusiasts seek to reinforce responsibility and safety in the great outdoors, encourage camaraderie among outdoor practitioners in the Visayas and nearby areas; as well as to promote solidarity and advancement of outdoor skills; and to highlight new and potential sites for adventure tourism in Cebu City’s mountain barangays.
