Shopping in Cebu

Colon Street was once the most popular shopping destination in Cebu. Today, Ayala Centre and SM City are two dominant shopping malls in the city. So what should you look for in these new shopping places? Cebu is well known for its quality fabrics sold at reasonable prices. Factory shops for the Localde brand of clothing produced in Cebu are found in both these malls. The Timex brand is also produced locally and the Ayala Mall houses a Timex store.

Cebu is also popular for its hand made guitars. The Opon area of Mactan is the perfect place to look for these goods.

Cebu Shopping Guide

Tabian Market is the best place to find a variety of dried foodstuff. Dried fish was the only item sold earlier but now, dried mangoes, pork rinds and a host of other items are also available here. The dried fish variety includes diles, danggit, tuyo and some other dishes, too, with a lot of people queuing up for more. Bargaining will get you a good price for your purchase.

Souvenirs or ‘pasalubong' are best found near the airport that has stalls selling local goods. Some of these goods can be bought from the city market also. Negotiating can help you get these items at reasonable rates.

Be sure not to miss out on the dried or fresh mangoes, mango-tamarind candy, danggit (fried fish), dried posit (squid) and otap (a type of biscuit). Of course, locally made guitars, souvenir shirts, bags, beach items as well as locally grown fruits are favourites too.

The Alegre guitar factory is a fascinating shop that makes and sells mandolins and the local "ukulele" (which uses a coconut shell as the sound box).

Surprisingly, there is a shooting range where people can use an AK-47 or similar kind of machinery to shoot around 20 rounds for about P 2, 000. The shooting range is easily accessible. The Tambuli resort has a casual and friendly atmosphere with the shooting range located within its premises.

Cebu City is credited with having a lot of shopping malls, the main one being SM City Cebu, which is a four-storeyed building with a huge departmental store, a supermarket, a movie theatre and over 200 shops and restaurants.

The Ayala mall is a swanky shopping complex housing the same facilities as those of SM City Cebu, the only difference being that is has more restaurants and stores that tourists find attractive. These modern buildings have a lot of Western goods to offer for sale apart from the local goods available in the shops.

Shoemart (SM) is one of the biggest shopping malls in the Philippines. Ayala Centre and Gaisano Country all have innumerable restaurants that serve fast food and that cater to the tastes of locals and tourists alike.

The Majestic Chinese Seafood Restaurant and the Magellan's Landing are in the Marina Hall in Mactan. Those fond of high stakes gambling can go to the casinos that are situated in the two Waterfront hotels, one in Cebu and the other near Mactan airport.

It is not that the city is laced only with big shopping malls. Lots of very old and smaller malls are also there all over the city, like the Country mall, Robinson's mall, e-mall and Mango Square. The Colon part of the old Downtown is a nice area to shop.

Bookshops are also available in plenty. A visit to the National Book Stores is a must if you want to get a good deal. Hardware stores are available in almost all the malls if you need to fix something. In fact, a huge warehouse called Makro is situated near SM and offers reasonable prices for goods purchased in bulk. White Gold near SM is the perfect place to buy household items at cheap rates.

Furniture shopping can be done in places like Sun Gold and Mandaue Foam, although one should remember to bargain for a minimum discount of at least 10 to 20% of the original price. For grocery shopping at reasonable rates, two supermarkets located in the Ayala Mall are the best choices.