Rizal Memorial Library & Museum, Cebu
From the previous story.., one of us saw this building, so we trooped to it, and what a good find, I must say. Few travel stories / guides tell us about this historical place. How many times ever have I passed this way, and I didn't really know what this was.
There are many names that can be seen from the street. Well, we just assumed that "the biggest lettering" must be the building's name. And we were correct. Yeyhehehe!
The Cebu City Tourism Commission; Cebu City Public Library & Information Center; Cebu City Museum; A realistic monument of Rizal reading a book with two children; and An unperturbed healthy brown dog, are what you'll see from down the sidewalk.
Oh about those faces? Miss Cebu 2009 hopefuls on a new horizontal tarp, mounted on a wooden frame about 3 feet in height, that I can't estimate how long. Basta lang isinandal dyan sa dingding, and we couldn't guess if 'already used' or 'still to be used'.
Nearby and lying on the cement were even bigger (about 5ft high) solo pics of them.
There were a dozen candidates (I think), and all beautiful looking. Well, Cebuana eh!
Okay, back to the... ano na nga ba ito?!
Cebu City Public Library. We dared not enter hehe. All of us were in shorts & sinelas. Ang isa naka-sando pa (gym-built naman, in fairness), ang isa naka-hanging, kita ang pusod (me karapatan din, in fairness). But we're used to Miss Tapia, so we didn't try!
Cebu City Tourism Commission = Closed. We all thought "dapat lang siguro". On the Friday afternoon before Sinulog, they must've been busy with something else, yata.
Cebu City Museum. Parang wala naman or wala pa. That's on the 2nd floor. We saw something like an office with ongoing repairs, although everything was closed off. I don't know, baka bago sila dito. But the metal signage on the outside wall, it looked old. Oh ok, maybe undergoing some renovations! That's why we went to the terrace.
At that terrace, are the scattered Miss Cebu pictures (as shown above), and this:
It's slightly more-than-a-life-size. Malaki sya! And I must emphasize, one of the most detailed and very realistic statues of Jose Rizal - that I have seen so far. Unique too! Not the usual 'standing' but 'seated'. Hmm, I wonder who did that notable sculpture.
*Update 2025* I still don't know the sculptor.
It's difficult to get a full frontal shot of this Rizal Monument. If you shoot from down on the ground, it is too high. If you try it at second floor (as I did above), you can only catch a side and/or the back, not even any part of the dedication. Here is what I did:
From down at ground level, in front of the pubic library's door, I raised my camera to my highest reach (plus a bit of zoom, since point-and-shoot cams aren't good at that).
That's already "the underside" of the monument, but at least with the marker clearly visible. Visible but not readable? Here, ginamitan natin ng enlarge and crop hehehe!
Now what? Well heheh, it's not after all a historical marker as is usually made by the country's historical committee, institute or commission. Nagpakahirap pa ako nyan!
At least I now know that it was inaugurated on 30DEC1939 and originally called the Rizal Memorial Library. And, at least I also now know, na ang ka-epalan pala eh uso na even in those times heheh! Basahin mo, just the first 2 sentences are enough na as dedication why the building was named after Rizal. Everything else are, whatever!
Anyway, since we saw signage, we went up to 3rd floor which is the Sinulog Hall.
As I've expected, it is of respectable look, well-appointed, medium-sized function hall.
When I say "well-appointed", I mean it should be "generally bare", so that those who want to use it, won't be encumbered with trying to blend with its fixed surroundings.
I could imagine 'culture-related events' like poetry reading, recitals, book launchings, choral concerts or art exhibits. Maybe even birthdays, debut or weddings pwede rin!
We didn't see though, if there's a way out (and down) from behind that stage. If none that would mean only 1 entry/exit door for everyone and everything. Not very ideal.
Hey I went up the stage and took this shot - an opposite view of the photo above.
As I said, ang ganda (especially that wooden floor), wow! But, if that with the hanging curtain is the 'only' door to this hall, I'd be worried to hold any concert or party event.
Meetings pwede pa, or museum-style exhibits would probably the best! Look at that door, there's even no landing. It is immediately the stairs and there is no elevator ha.
No one to blame, that's just how buildings were designed in the past (yata). Or, they may not even have originally envisioned the 3rd floor as function hall back in 1939?!
Anyway, here's one fun challenging thing that friends and I encountered up there...
The window glass have that green tint, thus the color of our photos. But, for anyone standing inside, it doesn't look as green as any of our pictures were coming out. So, we tried tinkering with our cameras so photos weren't overly green. Haay, I gave up!
After many attempts, we dropped the idea and hypothesized that: maybe the human brain adjusts how it perceives colors on things we see. Example: the floor - our brains would never think that it is ever green, but the camera's lens has no brain to think or interpret what it sees, it just captures what is actually there. And we all surrendered!
Okay, then we were out of the Rizal Building. But just outside we saw other things...
The sidewalk of Osmeña Blvd. had installations that looked Sinulog-related. Not that much of a spectacle, yet they did grab attention from tourists and locals passing-by.
Fun anyway - discovering something historical that's not usually on travel brochures nor magazines; and learning about lots of "this-and-that"s while exploring the areas.
Next, let's talk Osmeña again, but not the streets!
The Cebu City Tourism Commission; Cebu City Public Library & Information Center; Cebu City Museum; A realistic monument of Rizal reading a book with two children; and An unperturbed healthy brown dog, are what you'll see from down the sidewalk.
Nearby and lying on the cement were even bigger (about 5ft high) solo pics of them.
Okay, back to the... ano na nga ba ito?!
Cebu City Public Library. We dared not enter hehe. All of us were in shorts & sinelas. Ang isa naka-sando pa (gym-built naman, in fairness), ang isa naka-hanging, kita ang pusod (me karapatan din, in fairness). But we're used to Miss Tapia, so we didn't try!
Cebu City Tourism Commission = Closed. We all thought "dapat lang siguro". On the Friday afternoon before Sinulog, they must've been busy with something else, yata.
Cebu City Museum. Parang wala naman or wala pa. That's on the 2nd floor. We saw something like an office with ongoing repairs, although everything was closed off. I don't know, baka bago sila dito. But the metal signage on the outside wall, it looked old. Oh ok, maybe undergoing some renovations! That's why we went to the terrace.
At that terrace, are the scattered Miss Cebu pictures (as shown above), and this:
*Update 2025* I still don't know the sculptor.
It's difficult to get a full frontal shot of this Rizal Monument. If you shoot from down on the ground, it is too high. If you try it at second floor (as I did above), you can only catch a side and/or the back, not even any part of the dedication. Here is what I did:
That's already "the underside" of the monument, but at least with the marker clearly visible. Visible but not readable? Here, ginamitan natin ng enlarge and crop hehehe!
At least I now know that it was inaugurated on 30DEC1939 and originally called the Rizal Memorial Library. And, at least I also now know, na ang ka-epalan pala eh uso na even in those times heheh! Basahin mo, just the first 2 sentences are enough na as dedication why the building was named after Rizal. Everything else are, whatever!
Anyway, since we saw signage, we went up to 3rd floor which is the Sinulog Hall.
When I say "well-appointed", I mean it should be "generally bare", so that those who want to use it, won't be encumbered with trying to blend with its fixed surroundings.
We didn't see though, if there's a way out (and down) from behind that stage. If none that would mean only 1 entry/exit door for everyone and everything. Not very ideal.
Hey I went up the stage and took this shot - an opposite view of the photo above.
Meetings pwede pa, or museum-style exhibits would probably the best! Look at that door, there's even no landing. It is immediately the stairs and there is no elevator ha.
No one to blame, that's just how buildings were designed in the past (yata). Or, they may not even have originally envisioned the 3rd floor as function hall back in 1939?!
Anyway, here's one fun challenging thing that friends and I encountered up there...
After many attempts, we dropped the idea and hypothesized that: maybe the human brain adjusts how it perceives colors on things we see. Example: the floor - our brains would never think that it is ever green, but the camera's lens has no brain to think or interpret what it sees, it just captures what is actually there. And we all surrendered!
Okay, then we were out of the Rizal Building. But just outside we saw other things...
Fun anyway - discovering something historical that's not usually on travel brochures nor magazines; and learning about lots of "this-and-that"s while exploring the areas.
Next, let's talk Osmeña again, but not the streets!
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