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Published: February 10th 2008
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I arrived in Cebu at 4am. Having only booked the hotel for that night, I wasn't really sure what I was going to do once I got there. I was hoping that they'd let me checkin early at say midday but wasn't sure what I'd do until then. I thought about hanging around the airport but it was pretty small and no one about so I jumped in a cab and went straight to the hotel. To my relief the receptionist at the Midtown Hotel said they could check me in at 6am with no extra charge. Pretty impressive I thought, would have expected them to at least charge me for half a day.
Anyway I slept for half the day and decided to go for a walk down the road. I expected Cebu City to be less poluted than Manila but it wasn't. I was gagging with all the exhaust fumes as soon as I set off. It is the second biggest city in the Phillipines but I had the impression it wouldn't be so bad in terms of pollution.
My friend Yuki came and met me at my hotel. We were talking in the lobby when all
of a sudden a group of dancers with drums beating came in and started doing their thing. Something you don't really expect however all part of the festival. The main reason I came to Cebu was to watch the Sinulog. It is a religious event celebrating the child Jesus or Santo Niño. As Yuki explained the Santo Niño is but one saint you can choose to be a devotee of. The festival goes for 3 weeks but culminates in a dance parade competition on the 3rd Sunday of January. People from all over the Phillipines come to Cebu to attend the festival, so many that the government erects temporary shelters to house everyone.
We went out that night and went to among other places, a gay comedy club. They spoke mostly in Cebuano so I didn't get too many of the jokes. We also went and and had Pochero at a restaurant called Abuhan. Pochero is a beef soup which Abuhan are supposed to famous for it...not bad. They're also pretty big on barbequed and grilled meat. Went to one food court and they were carving a whole pig. You just tell them what weight you want. I asked
Midtown Hotel
Unexpected dance routine in the lobby of the hotel. a guy in the line and he told me to ask for 1 fifth which is sufficient for one person. We also checked out some of the girlie bikini bars. Basically a lot of girls walking around in bikinis with a few of them dancing on stage, no nudity. Mainly patronised by 60+ Westerners. Actually just walking around the shopping centre and even at breakfast at the hotel you see a lot of fat old western men with a young Philippino girl. I find it a bit repulsive.
I did a bit of shopping the next day. Robinson's Mall is literally downstairs from the Cebu Midtown Hotel, very convenient. Clothes are generally cheaper in Cebu than you would find in Singapore or Australia. Jeans for instance were like $30 Sing for brand jeans like Jag. Levis for some reason were expensive though, $80 - $100 Sing. Pirated DVD's for about SNG$2 can be found by the side of the road. Whilst browsing for some CD's a couple of policemen came over to the stall. I stopped to see what they were going to do. Instead of having stern words to the owners or trying to close down the stall,
BBQ foodcourt
The food in Cebu seemed to have an abundance of BBQ and grilled meat. This foodcourt sold soley all BBQ'd meat, and the smoke filled the place. they simply started browsing the DVD's themselves. I take it they haven't exactly cracked down on pirating in Cebu yet. Anyway when I picked out a DVD I would get the owner to play each one as they had a small tv and dvd player setup up. Some worked some did not. I did this several times and after a while I would go to pick out a movie and the owner would tell me it doesn't work. They still had it up for sale but they knew I would go to the trouble of getting them to test it so they thought they'd save time I guess.
On Sunday is the day of the main parade. It starts very early in the morning and goes onto early evening. They close all the main roads and it is hard to get around. Not much else to do except watch the procession. The procession contains a lot of dance groups and drummers for which there is an actual competition, floats, sponsers, and the odd celebrity. After the procession ends there seemed to be a lot of alcohol consumed in the streets. A bit strange I thought for what is supposed
to be a religious festival.
The next day was spent doing some of the touristy things. Magellean's Cross, Fort San Pedro, Basilica Minore Del Santo Niño, and the Carbon Market. I also managed to catch up with another friend at SM City, Cebu's biggest shopping centre. I also got to try Balut which is a duck egg with an embryo inside varying in age from 14, 16, to 18 days. The vendor will give it to you piping hot. You crack the egg on the top and drink the fluid. Tasted rather salty. You open the top of the egg and start going for it, optionally adding a bit of vinegar. It doesn't taste too bad. I just thought to myself, I eat egg and I eat duck, so it's no big deal. Probably not wise to study what's inside the egg as it's a bit gross. You can even see some feathers forming and make out the bits of the duck.
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