Thursday, July 7, 2011

Kwentong Kaladkarin #21: Cebu Chronicles – Soaked, Skinned and Smoked in Sugbo

Da Where: Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines
Da When: July 2, 2011
Da Who: Vin and me! :)
Da Trivia: Cheesy. Mushy. Corny. Old-fashioned. Call it what you may but this trip was to celebrate our 3rd year anniversary together. ;D


Soaked

Our Cebu Pacific flight landed around 19:00 then proceeded to downtown Cebu City where we were met with torrential rains that flooded the streets en route to Cebu Century Hotel.

Flight 5J 571 disembarking at Mactan Cebu International Airport

The hotel we chose to stay for the night is a value-for-money business hotel and we got a PhP630.00 Double Economy Room. Since our flight landed late into the night, we didn't get to catch the last ferry out for Tagbilaran so we decided to spend a night in Cebu.

Cebu Century Hotel at Pelaez cor. Colon Sts., Cebu City
Though sparse of the luxuries, the room was clean and well-kept.

I was happy when Colon Street was thankfully devoid of flooded sidewalks or my sneakers would've been drenched after stepping out of the cab into the drizzle.

The oldest street in the Philippines, Colon Street is still busy after the earlier downpour


Skinned

After checking in and leaving our stuff, Vin and I made our way out and asked for commute directions to Larsian at Fuente Osmeña. Kuya from the hotel lobby was accomodating enough to instruct us where to go, in halting Tagalog. I was half-prepared to talk to him in English as I know fellow Visayans like myself are usually more comfortable talking in English than in Filipino. Must be the unique twirls of our native dialects that makes the spoken Tagalog cadence a little hard to follow. :)

We walked a couple blocks to where jeepneys plying the 6B or 6C route that will go around Fuente Osmeña. In my excitement and haste while craning my neck to find the 6B-marked jeep, the ever-clumsy me twisted my left big toe causing my right knee to buckle and my right foot to step right into a road drainage opening and skinned my knees and legs in the process.

This is not what I had in mind when I said I wanted a souvenir from Cebu. :D

To make matters worse, I could feel the drainage water current threatening to slip the left flip-flop off my feet. I didn't want to walk around Cebu City half-barefoot so without a pause, I plunged my right hand into the dark, murky, smelly floodwater and grabbed my slipper as Vin held out a hand to help me up while curious pedestrians looked on.

Oh well. So much for making a 'splash' in the Queen City of the South. ;D


Smoked

Dripping, embarrassed, bleeding and filthy, Vin then helped me hobble back to the hotel so I could dress my wounds and change into clean clothes. Undaunted, we again stepped out but decided to take a cab instead 'cos my leg and feet were throbbing painfully already.

But my excitement and hunger took over; we haven't had dinner yet and Vin is a huge fan of barbecue so bringing him to Larsian would be like bringing a kid to Disneyland. :D Larsian is the barbecue place when in Cebu City. This place was recommended to me by Ed Suyo of SoloflightEd.

Sticks of finger-lickin' good barbecue and several pieces of puso. Now this is dinner!

We were enveloped in smoke as soon as we stepped out of the cab but Vin's eyes sparkled as he saw rows of stalls offering barbecued pork, chicken, innards, fish and squid. We immediately sat in one of the stalls and selected our dinner and ordered some San Miguel Light beer.

This meal is best eaten without utensils, only your plastic-wrapped hand. Dig in! :D
Not in the mood for rice? Then maybe an ice-cold beer will go better with your barbecue sticks. 

A group of rowdy, drunk Cebuanos shared our long table but they ate quickly and left. The next tablemates we had were a little nicer and even chatted a bit. :)

Lami gyud sa Larsian! ;D

My hair smelled of smoke by the time we got back to the hotel but my bursting belly didn't care. :D

I got soaked, skinned and smoked on my first time in Cebu. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. :)

Indeed we do! Watch out for our other Sugbo adventures! ;D

Want more of our Cebu-Bohol trip? Check out these posts:

9 comments:

  1. How fun! I really wanted to go to Cebu as I know a lot of people that are from there or near! Sorry about your leg but you'll heal fast! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. @klkosach - Thanks, Keri! A little better now though my toe still hurts when I wear closed shoes. Ugh, clumsy Mel never goes away. :D Come back here and we'll go to Cebu. They've great beaches too! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. ouch! that looked painful.. :( ok lang yan, the wound will heal but the memorories you made in Cebu are priceless.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ouch! Poor thing. I can imagine how much that stings! The rain nor your wound didn't dampen your spirit. Way to go! Happy Anniv!

    ReplyDelete
  5. @happysole - Haha, onga eh! Priceless and painful memories. Ayan tuloy, 2 weeks of no girly skirts. Haha! ;D

    @Pinay Travel Junkie - Oo naman, neither rain nor pain can stop my hunger, both for food and the place. Haha! Minsan lang tayo napapadpad sa isang place so make the most of it, right, Gaye? :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. sakit tignan mel. sensya medyo nabusy ata nung July 3. :( oh well, glad that you enjoyed Larsian! it's more on the ambiance that makes it extra special. hehe.

    sakit ng scratch, pero bilib kasi most of the time, mga babae magtatampo and magliliblib (tama ba tagalog? Haha) sa isang sulok. but ikaw go pa rin! i think it's a trait of all adventurous women! keep on! :D

    ReplyDelete
  7. @Ed - It was actually more the embarrassment than the wound that was painful. Everyone was looking at me! :D But then, di pwedeng di ma-experience ang Larsian so go na! Haha!

    I plan to go back and experience the longer zipline at Crowne, opening next year daw. Then maybe one of the Cebu beaches. I'll take tips from you again. ;D

    ReplyDelete
  8. @approximately lost - Indeed! The good kind and the painful one! ;D Haha!

    ReplyDelete