Cebu - are we in the Philippines or Latin America? Either way we like it!

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After taking our first plane for what seems like an eternity, we landed at Mactan-Cebu Island Airport just outside of Cebu City at 1.30am – This is located in the Visaya’s region of the Philippines where we had chosen to spend most of our time for the next 3 weeks. We quickly breezed through immigration and collected our bags before exiting the airport and after passing the tourists taxi’s which charge in the region of 3-4 times the price of local taxi’s we managed to find a nice driver who was willing to take us to our hotel in Uptown Cebu for the metered price. As we would be arriving fairly late and after not having a hot shower for a little over 2 weeks, we decided to push the boat out and stay in a proper hotel called Escario Central. It was lovely with big white fluffy pillows and flat screen cable tv. As we had been in a rush to make it to Bangkok airport for our flight to the Philippines we hadn’t had the chance to eat and were both really hungry. Obviously the only place which happened to be open at 3.30am was McDonalds which was conveniently located at the end of our road. By the time we got to sleep it was almost 5am and our plans to leave early the next morning seemed to be out of the window.

When we woke up (10 minutes before check-out time), we decided to avoid rushing and to spend another night here to recharge our batteries fully and spend a little time looking at the sites of the city.

After finding out the information we needed in regards to what Jeepney we needed to take we headed off in the direction of downtown. The Jeepneys are like old school American style buses which you can hail anywhere and jump on and off - they are also incredible value at around 11p (7.5pesos) per journey and most of them look like they have undergone body work from the famous TV show ‘Pimp My Ride’ - they come in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes with crazy prints on them, and are usually found in Central America – another nod to the Latino influences here. The locals we met on the bus must have thought we were mad to be riding them as we were the only white faces in sight but everyone was so happy and smiley we felt fine.

We arrived in Downtown and it was a complete transformation from the very modern, clean feel of Uptown. It was very urban, dirty and grimy with probably some of the worst pollution we have encountered in Asia. However, most of the sites were located here and we spent a good few exploring them all. First up was Basilica Minore del Santo Nino Church. This church is the oldest church in the Philippines which is even more impressive given the fact that it has been burnt down three times accidently by the many pilgrims who bring candles to light and worship an image of an infant Jesus which dates back to Magellans time. Unlike most other countries we have experienced in Asia, the Philippines is predominately Catholic rather than Buddhist and religion is taken very seriously – we could see this immediately from the signs in the shops to the many worshippers at Friday mass, we have heard that at Easter and Christmas the country comes to a virtual stand-still. Next up, was Magellan’s Cross, which supposedly dates from 1521 and was originally located on the shores of Cebu. It is housed in a stone rotunda with an impressive ceiling painting. Last up on our downtown city tour was Fort San Pedro, which was built in 1565 under the command of Miguel Lopez conqueror of the Philippines – it used to act as a prison camp, fort and city zoo amongst other things but now contains a well-manicured garden and the remains of a few Japanese cannons and it’s crumbling walls.

By this point we were both hungry so jumped on a Jeepney in the direction of uptown and decided to check out one of the city malls (Ayala Centre) and grab something to eat. Now this mall wouldn’t have looked out of place in London or LA – all very exclusive shops and high end restaurants which was such a contrast to what we had experienced downtown where there was a fair bit of poverty. After looking around briefly, we found a great food court and settled on a traditional Filipino restaurant and tucked into Liempo (similar to pork belly) and rice and knew straight that this would likely become a staple of our diet over the next few weeks – Yum!

We headed back to our hotel and had a little siesta - it only seemed right given that the Philippines is an ex-Spanish colony, and speaking of which even the language sounds Spanish – it definitely doesn’t feel like Asia here. We then got ready (Vic’s got to use a hairdryer for the first time since we have been away, which she was very excited about – which is a surprise given that she tells me I blow hot air most of the time) and headed out to an area called Cebu AsiaTown IT Park by Jeepney. Again from the traffic, to the way people dressed and spoke it felt very much like we had left South-East Asia and arrived in some Central/Latin America country, very strange but we were liking the atmosphere alot. Most people spoke with American type accents and the food on offer and chain stores doted about reminded us very much of Mexico. Given this fact, we decided to eat at a Mexican and had chilli con carne, burritos and chimichanga’s washed down with some San Miguel Light – The local brew and the closest I could get to Corona or Sol without blowing the budget. After dinner, we jumped into a taxi and headed over to an area called Mango Square, a collection of lively bars and nightclubs which were busy as it was a Friday night. After a few beers in one of the more low key bars which overlooked the square and some people watching (more like Pervy-Western-Men-and-Filipino-girl-watching! ) we then decided to hit one of the nightclubs and had a really good night drinking and dancing. We met a Filipino girl who lives in Chicago but was back visiting family and friends and joined her table for a few rounds of tequila slammers with her and her friends before calling it a night around 2am. We wanted to be up bright and early the next morning for our bus north to Maya before hopefully catching a boat to one of the smallest islands in the region which is famous for its dive sites and more specifically the chance to spot thresher sharks . . . first impressions of the Philippines? So far so good!

S&V's Travel Info & Tips:

General Info: Approx 65 Peso's to £1.

Transportation: As we mentioned above, the easiest and cheapest way to get round the city is by jeepney, at 7.5 peso's a ride. From the airport we took a white taxi into the city which had a 40 peso flagfall cost and then cost 200 peso's, the journey took around 40 minutes.

Food: Surprisingly good! Latino influences with a lot of Mexican inspired dishes, a lot of pork and chicken (no beef) and the usual collection of fast food chains.

Accomodation: We treated ourselves to a nice hotel called Escario Central which was in Uptown near the Ayala Mall. The room cost 1500 Peso's, our most expensive on this trip but so worth it!

Other observations:

x) As we have said so many Spanish/Latin American influences here - even the people's names sound Spanish, like Rosa, Gonzalez, Ruiz etc.

xx) Security guards at every 7/11 we saw!

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

The Jetsetters are still making it happen
Our trip has come to an end so we are enjoying your adventures. It is so hard to go back to the reality of it all. We are easing in at this time but are thankful to have your blogs to read and keep our minds sane. Happy travels.