My first day in Cebu…

The time in Cebu has been chill and interesting.

Monday I decided to go and see the sites. The jeepney is the popular way of transport here. Not anything that would ever be legal in the USA. It was great. Very cheap and went everywhere in the city.

There was a driver and sometimes another person to collect the 8P otherwise you just pay the driver. They do make change which is nice if you don’t have exact change. Simple mode of transport and they make change……Awesome!! The bus system in the USA usually does not give you change. So to convert, a ride is 18 centsUSD.. I just laughed at how ridiculous that sounds.. and a ride could be 2 km or so. I have ridden these all over. How can resist 8P for the ride and hangin with locals at the same time. A Taxi starts at 40P, which isn’t much but your choice is obvious unless you have baggage then a taxi it is…

I got off the jeepney in old downtown near the waterfront. Magellan’s cross was in a small stone shrine and was encased in wood. Amazing to think that he was right here at this very spot planting this cross.

How awesome!!!

I then decided to go across the street to the Santo Niño de Cebú church. Another interesting site that I had no idea about until I arrived here. Remember, this whole time I had planned to be on the volunteer project so I never even looked into Cebu city. The church has been here just as long as the Cross has.

Yes, above is a pic of a pic..

The child Jesus(above) was a worshiped statue. I will admit he looks quite funny to me and if he was alive now, I’m sure he would laugh as well. What if a gust of wind came up, he would be the flying child Jesus.

May people still go and light candles and there was even a mass that day.

I then headed down the street to Fort San Pedro which had some damage due to the earthquake but it didn’t seem to bad…

This fort was originally built from wood as a quick means to secure the area. After a few years the Spanish rebuilt it using stone. Over the years, fires, earthquakes and other disasters caused it to be rebuilt many times. Some of the original cannons were still mounted. It was a peaceful and relaxing place away from the dusty and busy city.

Across the street from the fort there was a real sand volleyball court. Another thing I never see in the USA unless I’m at the beach.

It was so quiet and relaxing in the fort. I took a seat and slowly drank my bottled water. It was very hot that day and the breeze from the sea felt relieving.

I then decided to walk the city a bit and see what I would find. It was a mixture of street vendors and rows of street front stores. From discount tshirts to tropical fish sold on the curb..

Yes, those are clown fish.. They cost 55P or $1.20USD.. and they were 1-2 inches.. What a steal! I almost bought one just for the fun of it. Of course I would have taken it back to the sea and let it go.

The city really doesn’t have a Police presence. There is a security company that keeps order. They are everywhere and they are armed. They normally had handguns. Some were ready to rumble!

I had heard about a part of town called Mango St. The place to go for bars and clubs. I was ready. First things first, food was needed!! I headed to a bbq spot I had read about and later was confirmed by some locals as pretty damn good.

Everything was sold as each. So you could eat 1/4 chicken and 2 bbq pork skewers for 90P or 2$..It was 1 block from my hotel and I ate there several times..Who wouldn’t? The house made and very popular bbq sauce was delicious. Truly amazing how you may sacrifice the dining luxury for quality food. In the USA we are used to crappy chain restaurant food in a nice atmosphere. Here you get food that is twice as healthy and twice as tasty and you eat outside with no waiter and no lame LCD tvs showing super cheesy sports center on repeat.. in other words, you didn’t feel like a douche anymore…haha

mmmm.. dinner was great. Time to hit up Mango St. It was a 20 min walk and that was fine with me. The weather was still humid and warm at 11pm so I decided against the long sleeved shirt. On my way there, I met a local named Herlie. He was also on his way there. We hit up several bars before ending up at a cool nightclub. Rum and coke was 50P or 1.25$usd.. ??? really? it was true! We met some locals there and partied until 4am. The dj spun top 40 and EDM which was perfect. Still can’t believe we only paid 50P for a drink.. The beer cost more! The local rum was really good. Much tastier than any well rum in the USA.