The traffic here is amazing! We talk about the traffic in Seattle? No no... Nothing like Cebu. BUT, since I like walking anyway, and my body likes the warmer temperatures, I walk more often than I take a Jeepney or Taxi.

Today we upped the ante when we ended up at the wrong place with our taxi driver. We bartered w two Habal Habal drivers to get us to our destination. p40 each, Inday on one, and me on the other one. Habal Habals are motor scooters and motorcycles, maybe around 125cc. The drivers here, taxis, scooters, buses, all of them, have amazing offensive defensive driving skills. When we’re riding in taxis or whatever, there are these streams of scooters weaving in and out of the stalled traffic. They sometimes have no more than an inch to spare on both sides. My life passed before my eyes, all 72 years of it :) They weaved, and scooted, and spurted along at a clip that beat out any taxi, or even my fast walking. And I looked cool in the helmet the driver gave me to wear, a bright pink “Hello Kitty” motorcycle helmet. Life is good.

It’s been 10 years since I last visited Cebu, a decade. Whew! Our condo building at that time, looking down upon it from Club Ultima, was a big hole in the ground, with all kinds of rebar sticking out. 

Im not very knowledgeable, but I think a lot of regular Filipinos get by on maybe p300 a day, $6? Every nook and cranny is filled w anything and everything you can think of with people selling products and services. We took a Tricycle ride (a motorcycle w a sidecar and seats for up to 5 people?) up towards an area called Oppra, looking for a seamstress to hem our curtains. A Jeepney driver on the way back down pointed out a place he knew that had a seamstress. There was this middle aged guy sitting out in front of his place with a fan and a small variety of fish for sale. He usually goes down to a market (Carbon Mkt) in the mornings and buys fish, which he then sells at a little higher price. Behind him in the first room was a rice store where he had at least 6 large bags of different varieties of rice for sale. In the darkened room behind that was an area where you could see a foot driven sewing machine. There was a small Sari Sari store next door that his wife managed. A Sari Sari store has all kinds of small day to day necessities for sale. They’re everywhere. When my wife was negotiating the curtain hemming job w him in Visayan, I was enjoying his happy laid back voice and smile. Inday made a short Jeepney run back up this morning and picked up our curtains. They look good.

I had no understanding before when Inday said the Malls here are amazing! They are. They are not like our Malls. You have this lush tropical vegetation everywhere here, but there are few “parks” as such. Malls are your #1 relaxation and shopping destination. The biggest draw is the AC, the Air Conditioning! When it’s 79 degrees at 5:55 am like it is now, duh...

AC reigns! When I walk by the Metrobank next door, en route to The Robinson’s Dept Store and Supermarket, I’m often buffeted by this whoosh of cool air shooting out from their lobby. “Come in! Put your money here!” 

In spite of the struggles of many regular people here, the Malls are thriving. The restaurants are busy, lots of shopping options, lots of free entertainment. For p7 (7 pesos; a US$ is around p51 right now), you can ride a Jeepney into the Fuente Osmena Circle near us, and hop on a free shuttle bus headed to the new SM Seaside Mall along the waterfront west of Cebu. There you can just wander around and enjoy the ever present entertainment and happenings, or go up to the top floor Skypark with it’s childrens playgrounds, restaurants, wonderful city and water views, etc. A family can go to one of the many Joliebee restaurants here. Joliebees are everywhere, and they are more popular than McDonalds. At the other end of the spectrum, you have the BMW driving patrons going there to buy their Gucci’s?

The sunset photo I posted recently was taken from the Skypark when we were eating at the “Chika an” restaurant, that wonderful 3 course meal w salad, mango shake and beer for $11 including tip!

I just finished my best morning walk to date. I started out walking west on B. Rodriguez St and walked up as far as Rama, where I turned left. The first 4 blocks or so along Rodriguez was a sidewalk filled with vendors selling anything and everything. Some people were sitting on stools at small food stands eating their breakfasts.7:45 am on a Saturday morning. Us walkers and shoppers were walking along the “parking” lane most of the time.

A short distance after I turned down Rama, I noticed a little commotion ahead of me - Whoa! Was it the same crazy dog, literally, who nipped at me yesterday on Jones Ave? It looked like the same critter, and he was darting in and out from the sidewalk, trying to bite some Habal habal drivers. Weird. I turned around and walked back the way I came.

Halfway back on Rodriquez, I turned right onto a small lane and I entered a different world. I wasn’t comfortable taking photos and I don’t think many “foreigners” wander through there. Just like when I come across another walker when I’m in Renton’s Black River Forest, they’re always looking to see what I’m taking a photo of. They usually think I’m a bird watcher, and they tell me they saw a Heron or whatever down by the lake... I’m usually gettin g shots of trees, patterns in the water, etc.

This walk was wonderful! Like Inday’s brother in law said once, “a feast for the eyes”... Every once in awhile, I would make eye contact with someone, and I would get a “good morning”. One guy asked me “are you looking for someone?” Occasional looks of quiet surprise, but I was comfortable.

When I’m out doing my nature photo walks at home, I can sometimes shoot over 275 or 300 photos. Getting 5 or 10 “keepers” is a good day. If I was a ghost or something, and I was comfortable taking photos, I could have shot what, over 900 photos this morning!? It was that enjoyable, and interesting.

By the way, I was attacked by another critter today, but not quite so intimidating as that dog. A rooster tied to a tree on Rama St tried to get me, but he failed :) “Get out of here!”