My past life: CEBUANA

When I first hit Cebu, I knew I was home. It was simply, MAGICAL; if you ever believe in magic, it was something equal to that. I love their strong Visayan accent. I love the balance Cebu gives between Manila and Cagayan de Oro. I love their really old, funny looking, clanging jeepneys. I love the way how they speak. I love their urban planning. I love their hotels and their resorts. I love their Shamrock, their Sinulog, their barbeques in Fuente. I just love Cebu.

A couple of years after studying (and partying) at Xavier (or in a nearby bistro), a close friend, Lenny Monzon, and I went to Cebu to find ourselves. After bumming off here in Cagayan de Oro, with its then slow paced life, we packed our bags and went to Cebu to fulfill our destiny. That destiny became hours of dreaming big dreams in Ayala, while sipping coffee and forking our pasta in Oh George. We met some boys, exchanged numbers with them until we could not tell one from the other. They drifted away a like lint off your sleeves. We splurged on shoes and bags and pizza and went home with an economy ticket from Trans-Asia; as jobless as we were when we left Cagayan. LOL!

Well, that was more than a decade ago. We are fine now or so I think we are, thank you. Lenny is doing well in the States and I am now teaching at a school run by the Jesuits and lay people.

It was ten years ago when I realized that I must have been Cebuana in my past life. I LOVED CEBU. I still do. I like the music of their heavily accented Visayan. A lot people (especially the Tagalogs) laugh at the uniqueness of the Visayan intonation. But for me, as my friend Noel Abragan would say, "Bisaya is music to my ears". And of course I have fallen in love with a Cebuano. Who could not? Who has not?

This love for Cebu traces back to my roots. Everyone special to me, my aunts, uncles and cousins, generally are from the Visayan Region: Bol-anons and Cebuanos, basically. When they come and visit us, their accent would definitely delineate from the softer Visayan version of the Kagay-anons. When I go visit Cebu, it feels like, all the people there are either my auntie, uncle or ig-agaw (cousin); puede mag-bless?!

Visiting Cebu feels like going home.

Oi! What do you know, I really ended up working in there for sometime. Would you guess, I became a tour guide in Cebu. LOL! That's how much I probably loved the place.

About over a year ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Cebu again for several times. So happy to have taken these wonderful pictures. I am sharing them to you. :)

This is a Thai Restaurant in SM. This is where the reception of my youngest sister's civil wedding was held. The center piece of each table is a real chili branch. You may just season your sauce with the "live" chili right in the center of the table. Hehe. No thank you for me.

SM- Sheraton. Has it opened yet? There are a hundred different stories why this hotel has not operated before. One said that it is haunted by the hired hands who died there. Some would say, the foundation is not that solid since it is standing on the reclaimed area. Some would say they honestly don't know. Heheh. Ano ba talaga, Kuya?!

This is a classic greeting you get as you arrive in Cebu. These Bajaos ask money to live on; for a living. They would pawn their tiny little children into coaxing you to throw coins to the sea. They would dive for your piso, with their infants in their arms. Yep! The babies are still alive when they come out of the water.

One of Cebu's newest babies: IMPERIAL PALACE RESORT. It's lovely there. I heard that Shangri - La sued this hotel for "copying" there concept. Well, true enough, the place looks a lot like Shangri-la.

Have you gone to the SUTUKIL area of Mactan Island? If you are on a tight budget. Don't go there. It is horrendously overpriced.  Well, if you have a budget that can feed a hundred of street kids, its perfectly fine. For the many times I went there, it was for free. Sponsored by a book company, by a Cebuano date, by the travel agency, I had no idea it was so unmercifully overpriced. The enlightenment came only when my college best friend, Lovely Dumlao, came home from the States for a vacation and took us to Cebu. She   asked me where the best place to eat while we would be frolicking Mactan Island. I suggested and insisted SUTUKIL; sugba-tula-kilaw. Kay chada man lagi gayud. So we all had our tummies filled. When the bill arrived, I collapsed! I was sooo nauwaw ni Lovely, I felt so embarrassed. I wanted to pay for the whole budget mishap but the poor teacher had only enough. LOL! I was pink to my toes, I just pretended to be tinkering with my camera and took the photos of the perfectly serene little boats right next to the restaurant.

 Shangri-Laaaaah!!! The first time I went to Shangri La was with my first ever text mate (as in!), her name is Heart, to meet her tita. Heart was one of the crowned beauty queens of Cebu. Yes, she's beautiful. She's tall. She has big beautiful eyes and all. Yeah, yeah. Guapa. But, however, apan, her Tita is The Miss Cherie Gil, when if seen in person, is a GODDESS in her own right. Heart suddenly became ordinary citizen. Just like me or you for that matter. LOL! End of story.

These pictures are not enough to encapsulate the awe I have for this old city. Though Cagayan is my home now (which I will be promoting in days to come), Cebu is still something I wish to visit as often I would like to. You should know by now, I am a Cebuana in my past life. You would always look for your "home".

(Murag iring! Hahhahahaha...)