The Island of Cebu (Part 1)

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Arrived in Cebu from my Air Philippines flight (shaken and jarred from a little turbulence - the old aircraft does not inspire confidence, but the cabin crew did). Taxi stand charges a fixed rate of P250.00 (USD $4.44) from Mactan Airport to the city. This is the city where I grew up so I was feeling nostalgic as I saw familiar and not so familiar places. I find Cebu to be better than Manila in terms of accessibility and lay out. The people are not as aggressive too in comparison to Manila. Dubbed the Queen city of the south, it still retains that old colonial charm with its Spanish inspired houses and named streets.

I arrived at noon to meet my sister in our old ancestral house (in very sad disrepair) and to my amazement, nothing has changed much other than the wear and tear of the house. First thing I checked was the bathroom which was under construction back when my adoptive father was still alive. That was 21 odd years ago. Oh my! It is still (temporarily) under construction, lol!
Taking a shower means using a "tabo" or a plastic cup and pouring it on top of your head. No hot showers thank you very much! I had a laugh about this as I forgot how it was. I then remembered the toilet back in the day and ....hello!

Oh well, its the company that I was after and am just excited to be spending time with them. This household had four adopted kids and two loving parents (both deceased now). My adoptive father was an accountant and my mother a professor at the university. We had plenty of good times here, in our humble home. Most of my values and views about life have been formulated here, both my adoptive parents having a tremendous influence on me.

Currently, Cebu is in a bit of a boom time with mega malls and the sky rocketing property market. I am hoping that it won't lose its charm and character. The Cebuanos are a happy lot always eager to help and always smiling.

Anyway, I will keep this short for now, I will post some photos as soon as I am able to transfer the photos digitally via my own pc.

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