7NNT25: Day 26 – Cebu

Soundtrack: “Personal Jesus”, Depeche Mode; “All Around the World”, Lisa Stansfield; “Abracadabra”, Lady Gaga (again)

Cebu, one of the central islands of the Philippines. For thousands of years inhabited by folks who generally seemed to mind their own business, and who otherwise spent a chunk of their time perfecting the cooking of pork. Then one day a Portuguese/Spanish guy named Ferdinand Magellan turned up on their shores, hung out with the locals, and told them all about Jesus. He also got involved in local politics, which meant folks from the neighbouring island of Mactan didn’t join his fan club, instead deciding to kill him when he showed up to either convert or subvert them. Though it all kinda turned out fine in the end, here we are 500 years later and Cebu and Mactan are joined by several bridges (the Cebu airport is actually on Mactan), and Magellan’s name is on all sorts of things, he’s given the credit for the first recorded circumnavigation of the world even though he wasn’t there for half of it.

In Cebu he apparently left behind a large cross, and a brown Jesus figurine. The cross may have ended up being used for firewood (possibly to cook pork), but part of it might have been incorporated into the big cross that now sits in a rotunda. The sign says that the current cross “encloses the original cross”, but feel free to go web searching all about the history of this and enjoy that rabbit-hole. What is likely is that somewhere in the vicinity of this rotunda, Magellan did indeed plant a cross. So it’s still kinda cool to be able to walk around there Magellan walked. As for the brown Jesus, this now sits in the nearby basilica, which enforces a very strict dress code (no shorts of any kind, so even though my below-the-knees cargo shorts are okay for mosques, temples, and every other religions building I’ve encountered on all of my travels to date) so I wasn’t able to go and check that out. I did later encounter a woman selling long pants a couple of streets away, but the weather was 32-feels-like-39 degrees and 70% humidity, so I’d lost some motivation by then. Instead I took a bit of a wander around this part of Cebu. I checked out one of the supermarkets, which has the same vibe as Costco, where lots of locals turn up and fill trolleys with all manner of bulk goods. The checkouts are “interesting”, a number are for trolleys, while some are just for baskets, though the local definition of basket includes multiple baskets per person, and large bags. In theory there are 10 items or less queues, but they weren’t staffed. I had just grabbed a yogurt drink and some water, and after a while a lovely security person ushered me through a queue that was signposted as priority for PWD, elderly, or 10 items or less — I think they actually paused another person mid-transaction for me. I didn’t really mind having to wait, it was my decision to come into the shop and get stuff afterall.

After a bit more wandering I found Colon Street, possibly the oldest street in the Philippines. Not that it looks like it’s the oldest street, it’s obviously been resurfaced numerous times, the surroundings built up, as streets go in the Philippines it’s one of the smoother ones.

Done with this part of Cebu, I called a Grab and set off for a taste for what Cebu is known for: lechon. Vegetarians can skip ahead, but lechon is slowly roasted pig, seasoned with various things that may include salt, pepper, spices, vinegar, and herbs, and then served with rice, the skin either crispy or not (as if that’s a serious option). Often there’s a side sauce, made from all of the various collected yummy juices. Folks who are bigger pork aficionados than me (there are some) are all pro-lechon. The check-in staff at my hotel had recommended the nearby House of Lechon, assuring me it’s the sort of place they’d go to, and would take their family too. While there were some foreigners there, it’s definitely a filipino-style family place, loud, and kind of like the Lonestar Steakhouse thing but for lechon: not quite bootscooting but birthday singing, staff have various prepared lines, it’s just got that kind of vibe. The lechon comes out in a presentation platter shaped like a pig’s head, and is ordered by weight: 1/8 kg, 1/4 kg, 1/2 kg, or 1 kg if you’re feeling hungry. I figured 1/8 kg would do me if I didn’t want to explode in an untidy mess of porky goodness, and just a half cup of garlic rice. When it arrived it was amazing, the pork was moist, and I don’t know how they get the crispy skin as it’s thin, not puffed up like crackling. There was a hint of seasoning, but otherwise it’s all about the pork.

The plan was to stroll back to the hotel, enjoy some aircon and rest, but when I spotted Cebu had an outlet of Neutral Grounds, the gaming shop, not to far away, I got a Grab and headed out again. There I found aD&D book on L’s wish list, so I procured that. I also searched high and low for the holy grail: a Philippines souvenir snow globe. I came close, in a shop had a couple of snowglobes, but these were quite large and looked like they were for the year of the rat or something.

I did then manage a rest and blogging time, before heading out for dinner. Realising this was my last night in the Philippines, and there are still a few national dishes I was yet to try, I aimed to at least make a dent in that. I found a restaurant for “everyday filipino” food, and it was full of everyday filipinos so figured it would be fine. I’m beginning to feel that I’m going to get just as good an experience at a restaurant like this as I will at some pokey little out of the way joint, it’s just how this country works. Sure there must be some “foodie” spaces and places, but if I’m looking for local experiences, then it’s places like this that do solid fare and where filipinos can get together and be loud. After being greeted by several staff members on entering, I ordered pork sinigang, and crispy dinuguan, at least I could cross those off my to eat list. Sinigang is a soup, similar to tom yum in its sourness and tamarind, tomato and lemongrass flavours, but not spicy. A very tasty broth, with some wonderful pieces of pork belly. Dinuguan is a stew-like dish involving pork cooked in a thick broth of garlic, spices, and pigs blood: it didn’t taste so much offally, but was definitely hearty and with the extra pork crispiness just to make it better.

The Cave Bar is one of the main venues for drag in Cebu, and was within walking distance of my hotel now that the sun had gone and the place wasn’t a total oven. Bomba Friday, featuring Gravana Lava, Ms Yema, and Brianna Baby, show allegedly starting at 10pm according to instagram. Sure, no one ever believes queens will start on time, so I got there around 9.30pm, paid the 100 PHP cover charge, got a bucket of 5 Red Horse beers, and waited. And waited. The Cave Bar isn’t a large venue, it’s maybe a little bigger than our lounge room, but it does have a very loud sound system. I’m no stranger to loud, I’ve been going to bands and clubs for a long long time, and use power tools, so when I say loud, this was loud. The system would have easily worked for a decent sized hall, and so for a small, predominantly concrete area, I was very close to seeing if there was a chemist nearby so i could get earplugs. It was looking grim — I had an earlyish morning ahead to catch a midday flight, I was trying to drink the Red Horse slowly (it’s 6.9%), and while I could catch glimpses of at least one queen getting ready, there weren’t any signs of imminent performance. I wasn’t really on the same page as the DJ either. Fortunately, just before midnight, the three queens appeared, and they did a very impressive job. These kind of performances when they go right are what it’s all about: a small venue, a small stage, queens who are still developing their talents so are willing to push every barrier and try every trick in the book, from death drops off the 60cm high stage onto concrete, to dancing through the club and out into the street (I blame “Abracadabra” by Gaga) and just giving their all, what they lack in polish they well and truly make up for in sheer passion to perform. An awesome crazy night, I was a little sad that it had to end, but tips were given, performers thanked, and then it was time to head back to the hotel, finish packing, and try to sleep with ears slightly ringing.

Tomorrow it’s goodbye to the Philippines and hello to Hong Kong.