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!
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