Our Arrival in Cebu

My first impression arriving at Mactan/Cebu Airport was the heat and humidity that clubbed you in the face as you stepped from the plane to the jet bridge. A bit like Durban on the hottest and most humid day in February!!

Going through immigration (obviously surly training is a standard for immigration people around the world) and customs was a breeze but as we got out of the airport building the full impact of the weather hit us and immediately I broke into a sweat. However the security arrangements outside were very organised.

We couldn't see anyone there to meet us and our cell phones were not set for roaming! So how to get hold of anyone? Sweating (a lot), and stressing (slightly) we were offered a phone by one of the security guards but the number we had was engaged.

Within a few minutes we spotted the friendly face of Rexel, one of the guys I had met when I went to Europe, so that immediate problem was over.

After getting into the car the next experience I had was the patience and calmness of the people ... as we sat there in a bumper to bumper stream of traffic for about 10 minutes. No agro, not hooting just patience! Very not like at home.

I then got my first experience of the traffic and the place (which you'll hear a lot more about later!!!!!) eventually arriving at the estate (sub division), Pacific Villas 1, which would be our new home.

The house had not been lived in for a few months but Emily plus a small crew from the factory were getting it cleaned up as we arrived. There were also a number of lovely fresh flower arrangements which were certainly appreciated by Carol and some bananas and apples in the fridge (so we weren't going to starve).

There had been a bit of a communication failure between Mark (who lived here before) and the people who had packed up his house) and we realised there were a number of things we had to go out and buy immediately like a kettle, towels, hangers plus, even more importantly, some food.

We then had our first (there's been a lot of firsts here) experience of a local Filipino mall. After converting some dollars to pesos, finding out that Capitec debit cards work fine and buying various things we experienced another first. Our driver Ma-ning insisted on carrying all our parcels - which felt bizarrely colonial.

So the first day was over and our arrival was complete.