Confused.....(1 March 2010)

Today I left the Bluewater resort and was dropped off at.... well, Bluewater. Or at least Cebu City’s equivalent, the Ayala Mall. Why is it that all hotel shuttles drop you at the Mall and not the interesting parts of the city? But the mall it was and the first shop I see is M&S! Together with Topshop and enough shoe shops to satisfy Imelda Marcos (she must have shopped here....) I wander about. But not much to see, Lacoste, MNG, crocs, Starbuck’s, they are all here, and you could be anywhere in the world. The huge advertising posters outside are the only giveaway, the adverts for beer, whisky and Japanese cars all feature semi clad glamorous females draped alluringly over the man.... So I move on to take a look at the more historical parts of the city, which is the second largest in the Philippines after Manila, and also known as the “Queen City of the South”.

To borrow a phrase from the football world, this city, as I guess a lot of Asian cities are, is a city of two halves. I try and make sense of the colourful jeepneys to get to the other side of the city but eventually give up and take a taxi. I leave the “international” business park where the mall is along with the Marriott and a lovely park and other swish office buildings to go to the Basilica of Santo Nino, the holy child of Cebu. I am soon in a different world. The taxi crawls through dingy, dusty lanes crowded with people, trikes and market stalls and I am finally let out at the church. It feels and looks very Indian with women selling candles and sitting at charcoal fires near the entrance. It is a Christian church in honour of said Santo Nino and packed with statues of Our Lady with the child and dressed seemingly in a wedding gown. People queue up to file past a statue of the child and touch the glass case in which he lives. I light a rather fetching candle for Kev.

 Just beyond the church is Magellan’s (he of Portuguese fame, who was murdered here when he failed to take the place over) Cross. I then go to the Cebu City Cathedral, quite grand, but in reality just another church..... It was roasting so having seen the sights I look for a taxi to go back.... Only then do I realise I am in not too good an area on the edge of the docks, lined with dark stalls selling religious statues with not a taxi in sight....I wander around with no luck and then decide to retrace my steps – there must be another tourist being dropped off at the Basilica. After a few minutes wait I got lucky. A row with the taxi driver about turning his meter on followed, but I did make it back to the rarified confines of the hotel...

I leave here tomorrow. I have enjoyed what I have seen of the Philippines and realise there is a lot more to see, so it is back on the list to return - I just wish there was a better way of getting around than the ferries! I’m sure Manila is a very different story but the people are very nice, seem very friendly, it’s looks beautiful and is not at all threatening, a good place to have visited.