Been There – Cebu Christmas 2025
This Been There Cebu Christmas 2025 mug completes the trio of recent Philippines holiday releases. Visually, it stays very close to the original Cebu design, but the treatment is completely different. The regular mug uses the familiar Been There palette with blue, teal, orange, and gray accents, while the 2023 Summer Edition strips the artwork down to mostly black outlines. The 2025 Christmas version goes in yet another direction, using a deep blue outline across the entire design and adding subtle holiday details such as snowflakes, stars, a wrapped gift, and other seasonal decorations. The reusable Starbucks cup is also red here, which clearly separates this Christmas edition from the Summer version.
– Most of the main Cebu elements are still recognizable, which makes the differences easier to spot when all three versions are compared side by side. The large whale shark remains one of the most prominent symbols in the design. Oslob, in southern Cebu, is especially famous for whale shark encounters and has become one of the province’s best-known marine attractions.
– The Cebu Provincial Capitol is another element carried over from the earlier versions. The neoclassical building serves as the seat of the provincial government and is one of Cebu City’s most recognizable civic landmarks.
– The Fort San Pedro reference also remains part of the design. Built during the Spanish colonial period, the triangular fort is one of the oldest military structures in the Philippines and today serves as a historic site and museum.
– The Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway adds a much more modern element. The long cable-stayed bridge connects Cebu City with Cordova on Mactan Island and has become one of the most visible recent additions to Cebu’s skyline.
– The guitar points to Mactan’s long-established guitar-making industry. Workshops around the island have produced handmade instruments for generations, and Cebu guitars are widely known for their craftsmanship and distinctive local tradition.
– Lechon is another familiar Cebu symbol that carries over from the original artwork. The whole roasted pig is especially famous for its crisp skin and richly seasoned meat, and it remains one of the foods most strongly associated with Cebu celebrations and family gatherings.
What makes this version different is not so much the selection of landmarks, but the way the familiar Cebu artwork has been transformed for the holidays. The monochrome blue treatment, combined with small Christmas details scattered through the design, gives it a much colder and more seasonal look than either the colorful original or the black-outlined Summer Edition.
