Jumalon Butterfly Sanctuary - Casting a Colorful Spell in Cebu City

He lived his life like one big adventure. Within the confines of his interest as a hobbyist, artist and lepidopterist, i.e. someone who studies and collects moths and butterflies, Mr. Julian Jumalon, a U.P. Fine Arts graduate, devoted his remaining years collecting species from all over the world. In fact, he has one from Madagascar, an island off the African coast that I visited 6 months ago. It felt like an island where flowers refuse to grow. About 90% of its forest cover has disappeared, and along with it, the once richly diverse ecosystem. Why am I insinuating my Malagasy trip in this post? Because I have seen a Madagascar butterfly in Cebu.   

In Jumalon's sanctuary and mini-museum, you'll find paintings using pigments from the decaying butterflies' lanceolate wings. He's gathered specimen with "numbers" and the alphabet written on their wings. There are several trivia we gathered during our visit, which was spur-of-the-moment.

TRIVIA

Butterflies fly in the daytime. Moths, on the other hand, are nocturnal, thus they prefer to be active in the night. But there are day-flying moths too. Male butterflies are smaller than the females; they're also more beautiful. Which other zoological creature has males as the fairer species? 

The Kallima, aka dead leaf (orange oakleaf), is a nymphalid butterfly that resembles a dry leaf with dark veins (when their wings are closed). See below and find that hose aren't leaves, but kallimas. They're living examples of the concept of "camouflage",

 A visit is roughly divided into 3 places: a "Butterfly Collection" on display in the main house; an art gallery, featuring the paintings of Professor Jumalon; and a lush garden where a limited number of live butterflies are found. The sanctuary is housed in a residence, with non-descript facade. If you're not too observant, it's easy to miss. It's located at the back of a public school at the fringes of Cebu City.

LARVAE AND PUPAE

Butterfly farms and sanctuaries, as I observed, are hard to maintain because of the short lifespan of these colorful creatures (2-3 weeks tops). In this sanctuary, a guide will try to explain about the displays, and you'll eventually learn about the life cycle of these creatures, involving caterpillars (larvae) and pupa (chrysalis). At the garden, an enclosure attracts butterflies by placing honey on hanging sponges. We know how they're partial to nectars, right? They play a role in the pollination of plants. 

If you're curious enough, it's easy to lose 1 to 2 hours in this sanctuary, tucked away in a quiet residential area in Cebu City.

The sanctuary is open daily from 9 AM to 5 PM, and located at the back of Don Vicente Rama Memorial National High School, along Jumalon Street. For more information, you may call them at (032-261-6884). No reservations needed unless you're with a large group. Entrance fee is PhP50 ($1) and PhP25 for children. I took a taxi from Fuente Osmena and paid about PhP100 for my fare, it's almost hard to believe because Fuente to SM Cebu usually costs between PhP 80-PhP 90. The sanctuary seemed "far" from the city center. 

If you've visited most of the city's major attractions, this sanctuary will fascinate you. Nothing earth-shattering here, but sure beats malling.

This is the Eye in the Sky!

 

Kallima (dead leaf) displays camouflage.

Caterpillar

Letters of the alphabet on the wings of the butterflies.

Jumalon's collection 

One of Professor Jumalon's paintings. Flash photography not allowed inside the collector's room. 

During the Japanese occupation  (1941-1944), Prof. Jumalon was asked to design the country's legal tender. Cebuano Jose P. Laurel was president of the so-called "puppet government". 

About a block from the sanctuary is this busy highway where it's easy to hail a taxi or a multicab.

Mesmerizing Culinary Show at Cebu City's Anzani Restaurant

One lazy night in Cebu, I suddenly had the urge to try something different. I debated if I go to a Spanish restaurant called Arana (recommended by a friend) or an Italian restaurant called Anzani (mostly because I had a problem with Arana's location). After checking out directions, I decided with Anzani. Like the previous restaurant, Anzani is urban chic and ultra modern, with a tablet used as a menu. What's with Cebu and all these modern trappings? I haven't even encountered a tablet-wielding restaurant in Manila yet here I am experiencing tablet-ordering twice in Cebu. I badgered the waitress to help me out with my full course. I mean, If I was gonna pay an arm and a leg, I might as well make it right and not leave it to chance. The choice was either a halibut or a sea bass, each one an obscure concept for me - so I went with the price.

STEPS IN SEA BASS DINING

1. A sous chef brings a table filled with culinary gadgets and a huge bandehado of fish sitting on the platter - all COVERED WITH ROCK SALT! So it's a fish that looked like it's wrapped in icing!

2. Sous chef takes the mallet handed over to him. I was wide-eyed with amazement. This was a show right in front of me. Then he hammers the salt-covered fish until it breaks into crumbs.

3. Out pops the sea bass. He skins it, then pours lemonade and olive oil over the fish meat.

4. He carefully slices through its length, then debones in exquisite fashion.

5. Then he cuts the meat into pieces and puts them on my plate cluttered with salad.

6. If it were malansa, then there'd be injustice in the world to pay a thousand bucks for this fish alone, right?

7. Masticate, swallow, then sip a glass of chianti, imagining this was Villa Raiano Fiano di Avellino. But heck, I'd also settle for a coca cola.

SOUP CHOREOGRAPHY

The soup was choreographed too. An empty plate had a mound of cappuccino at its center, with bits of tendrils of whathaveyous, then the waitress carefully pours the mushroom soup around and around the cappuccino island until its full. I was hypnotized. The end.

I liked how everything turned out... like going out for a night at the theatre, Only it was performing "food preparation". I had to consciously shut down my jaw. Sorry po, taga Maynila lang. ;)

Anzani is a bit pricey. Let's say Seychelles-dining caliber. Mario Anzani is the Italian chef and owner. One can choose to dine inside (like me) or outside overlooking Nivel Hills, still in Cebu City. Next door is the more laidback Champagne Room.

Anzani Restaurant is located at Panorama Heights, Nivel Hills, Lahug, Cebu City. It's just north of the Gorordo Road driving towards Tops. A bystander initially pointed us to Sanson (the Rockwell compound). A JY Square is accessible about less than a kilometer away. Call them at (032) 232 7375. They're usually open until 12 midnight, with last order at 10:30PM though I did notice arrivals at almost 11. 

This is the Eye in the Sky.

Mushroom soup

Pick a bread, and i chose this perched on a pot.

Fish covered with rock salt, now crumbling into pieces after getting struck with a mallet.

Sous chef garnishes my sea bass with olive oil and lemonade, after skinning it. Then he cuts through it and exquisitely debones it.

At the wine room, a photo of The Sophia Loren hangs down.

Terrace tables of Panorama Heights in Nivel Hills. Yes, it's still part of Cebu City.

Tablet ordering (again) in Cebu City.

#food # dining #gastronomy #foodtrip #cebucity #foodporn

Gorgeous Spaces at the Diamond Suites and Residences (Cebu City)

I love clean spaces particularly if it plays with geometric figures, color, and lights. My German friend once pointed out how I kept taking photos of hallways. I just like the possibilities of open spaces, the what-could-be's. In this post, I am posting several areas at the Diamond Suites and Residences in Cebu City.

The Archbishop Reyes Street and Escario area is a haven of big, mostly new sparkling hotels. I have stayed in each one except for Park Lane and Hotel Elizabeth. Diamond is one of the smaller hotels in the area but it's also more intimate. Agoda offers slightly more expensive rates compared to other hotels in the area, like Mandarin Plaza and Quest Hotel so all these years, this has made me wonder.

Finally, I gave it a try. This is what I found out: great staff; breakfast buffet at the ground floor restaurant called "Grain Restaurant" offers a set of delectable food although the choices are rather limited. Rooms are spacious and very clean, particularly the bathrooms. Memory Pillows are very comfortable. Boxed type AC's give it a dated feel but AC's work adequately.

What bothered me was the wifi connection which was non-existent in my room at the 4th floor. It never worked - at all! I asked for a LAN cable but though this finally gave me an online connection, it was plodding. In this day and age, there really is no excuse for having no wifi service. I will never book in a hotel without it in my room. Internet access is essential.

If I have internet wifi in my hotel rooms in Madagascar, the world's 10th poorest country, how can a suites hotel like Diamond Suites and Residences NOT have one? It baffles. So this is something the hotel can obviously improve on. Wifi at the lobby is fast but I can't work overtime at the lobby. Good elevator; there's a pool but I didn't bother to check it out. Ayala Mall is just a block away.

This is the Eye in the Sky!

"the possibilities of open spaces... the what-could-be's"

How's this for breakfast?

Grain Restaurant

Entrance facing Apitong Street. Multicabs heading for Jones or Colon pass through this street.