In most of my travels, I love to
experience what it feels like to be at home in that foreign land to see what in
the world was I missing. So, I live, transport, communicate, and entertain like a regular citizen.
"Yeah, I was home!" but
I felt lost because I was missing a faraway home.
It feels as though the past five
months were just yesterday. Recalling how I was packing my things, preparing
documents I needed for my exam, the series of brownouts that tormented me during
my thesis proposals and defenses, sleepless nights spent on my designs, the
earthquake that destroyed some of Cebu and Bohol's historical places and the
unexpected typhoon "YOLANDA" that raged through Visayas Regions on
the same day of our flight to Cebu.
That cancellation was the reason
my classmate lost his license to an airport officer for driving without head
gears on a motorcycle. A piece of advice? Do not panic in the event of
unintentional flight cancellation.
And who would forget those series
of unfortunate events? Well, that was just a piece of icing on the cake, if you
just let Cebu speak.
Sinulog Festival
Sinulog
Festival falls in the third week of January in honor of Sto. Nino. During
Sinulog, most of the houses, small-scale businesses, and establishments in town
would play festive sounds of "Viva Pit Senor!".
Vibrant and colorful decorations hang around
the corners. Several local artists joined the parade on their booths waving to
millions of expectorates. Different schools, colleges, and barangays participated in
the street dancing competition.
Expect the downtown roads to be
closed and you can have all the streets to walk until your feet are sore. I'm
kidding about having the streets to your own. Be warned that you'll have to
deal with a throng of people coming from different directions. Actually, expect
a million people dear buddy to join your party. Never forget to bring along
a hat or you can buy one along the street when you go out for a stroll and lots of
bottled water enough to quench your thirst for the whole day.
Along Fuente Circle, lots of
young artists offer henna tattoos ranging from P10 - P20 depending on the design,
t-shirt printings in less than an hour for only P150 (t-shirt is for free),
freehand face painting for P10 - P20 and sometimes even for free, a man who let
you hold his pet snake (almost take my breath away) and the night street party wherein
people will hug, shake hands, greet you a happy Sinulog and lastly would be the
grand fireworks display to most of the city's malls.
Street food
I remembered seeing some street
vendors selling sea shells on sticks. Not for adornment but as street food. I was
not a fan of exotic food but it is worth a try. Deep the luscious seafood into
"sukang pinakurat" (home-made vinegar with a variety of spices) would
make your mouth really water. Well, it really tastes good.
Another peculiar thing about
their street food is to have tasted chicken "balut" (boiled unhatched
chicken embryo). Most baluts back home are from ducks but I don't know why they have chicken. One of my all-time favorites is Carcar's chicaron made out of
whole porkchop.
Flea Market
Every Tuesday and Friday after
class, me and my friends would walk the narrow streets of Colon where various
street peddlers sells goods from P5 and up of various sorts of blouses, toys,
shorts undies and etc. Vendors uses different styles of promoting and marketing
their goods. Some vendors employ their recorded voices shouting
"tag-byente, tag-byente na lang kini!" repetitively on the radio
which somehow I find amusing.
We were very busy wandering off
the streets until we came to a curve of dark alleys. Slightly surprised when we
saw sellers of gadgets lying free on torn-out tarpaulins or mats laid down on
the streets at cheap deals. Just kidding. Well, the night market and a little bit
of imagination were fun for first-time visitors like me.
Strong Faith
What I admire most about Cebu is
that despite its advanced metro lifestyle, the culture was preserved and
people's faith is very strong in this place.
One time, I went to the mall to
buy something when all of a sudden in the middle of walking, I noticed
everybody stood still, rooted in their positions. I was feeling very weird,
looking side to side and searching for eye contact from people but to no avail. I
was really missing something before I realized what was playing on the intercom,
the 6:00 o'clock prayer. I was so embarrassed for not noticing it earlier and
so I bent my head down until I heard Amen.
There are still many places to explore in Cebu City like temples, churches, malls, diving sites, and other
tourist attractions. But during my visit, typhoons and the quakes most likely
destroy some of these historical places so I don't have much of it to share.
Till then Cebu!
