Sinulog 2012: Viva Pit Senyor!

Warning: Picture-heavy post ahead...

Pit Senyor! As I am writing this post, it's been 2 days after the Sinulog 2012 Festival here in Cebu. It's one of, if not the grandest, festivals here in the Philippines.

For those who doesn't know what Sinulog is...here's a quote from Wikipedia:

The Sinulog is an annual festival held on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City, Philippines. The festival commemorates the Cebuano people's pagan origin, and their acceptance of Roman Catholicism.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinulog_festival 

You may also click here for the official site of Sinulog.

We didn't plan on going and I wasn't expecting that Honey would want to watch it this year. For the past years, I've been asking him if we could join but he gave me the impression that he is not interested to brave the crowds and watch the parade. I guess he changed his mind because Gabriel is now 2 years old and would now enjoy appreciate watching the contingents wearing colorful costumes and dancing on the streets.

He told me we'll go the morning itself of the Sinulog day. I was actually hesitant at first. Well, I really wanted to watch the Sinulog after missing it for 3 (or was it 4?) years already. But i was having second thoughts for the ff reasons: I haven't slept yet since I got to work on Saturday night, I knew there will be a heavy crowd and I'm scared Gabriel will have a hard time + it's hard to carry him around. Anyway, I thought Senyor Sto. Niño would want us to watch the parade, and so watch we did. :) I called the yaya to prepare Gabriel early so we can go to Fuente Osmeña. * If you're on my homepage, please click on read more to see the rest of the post*

We arrived there at around 8:30am and the crowd was not too thick yet. We found a nice spot in the inner lane of the Osmeña Circle. The Sinulog contingents were *I guess* waiting for the  start of the program.

Very beautiful Sinulog Festival Queen :) 

Gabriel dancing in the middle of the streets ^_^

Honey got hungry and we were eating at Larsians along the road when the parade started to move. Hmpf! Nice timing, honey! =p which was around 10 AM (supposed to be 8am or 9am, I think..Filipino time! =p). Anyways, after eating, we never found a good place to watch anymore. We couldn't go back to our old spot so we walked towards Mango Ave. We ended up under the Overpass near Robinson's. The crowd's already very thick so we squeezed ourselves in.

View blocked by an umbrella.. :( 

Finally, a better view.. 

Sinulog is also one of the festivals which local artists and celebrities frequent.

Just an FYI if you're not from the Philippines or not watching the local TV channels...

 These are from Channel 7. 

Too bad I didn't see the ones from Channel 2/3. I'm a fan of the "kapamilya" channel. =P

Anyway, back to the Mardi gras after we were able to squeeze through...

Gabriel and his Papa climbed the closed overpass to get a better view and slightly away from the crowd...

A shot I've taken shortly before they got "evicted" from their spot by the marshals. Had they not been evicted, we would have stayed longer. =P Sayang!

Another Festival Queen...

Nice costume, but she'd be prettier if she's smiling, right? :) 

 Uhmm..I guess this is the local hero, Lapu-Lapu, right?

Ferdinand Magellan with the image of Sto. Niño

It started drizzling at around 11 AM and the crowd is getting thicker so we decided to go head home so as not to get sick, especially with Gabriel in tow. Hopefully, this is just the start and we'll be able to join Sinulog parades for the coming years. :) Though there are some improvements needed for crowd control, but that's another story. ;)

Does anyone know the complete lyrics of the Sinulog theme song? Could you please share it with me? This is the only part that I got...

"Sinulog! isyagit ug kusog!

Pit Señor! Pit Señor! 

Tanan magsaulog!"

Pit Señor!

Anyways, til the next Sinulog, folks! 
And may Señor Sto. Niño bless us all! (",)

<3 <3 <3