A Week or so Later - Our Life in Cebu

So my first full week of work is over.

My views on the traffic have not changed ... it's hectic and surprising that there are not a lot more accidents. But I suppose that when the maximum speed that you can attain is about 30kph that probably accounts for a lot.

While I say that this doesn't apply to the thousands of motorcycle riders who shoot past left and right at faster speeds. Helmets are supposed to be mandatory but they are optional for Filipinos and mandatory for foreigners!! The foreigners will be stopped as they have both the money and incentive for paying "spot fines".

Roadside businesses are along every road selling everything from tyre repairs for bicycles and motorcycles to fruit and veg. There are numerous small bakeries and roadside barbecues where they sell kebabs of pork and chicken. These are extremely cheap. Last Friday we walked up the road (probably about 500 metres) to one for supper.

The walk is interesting in that the pavement is mostly non existent and the road is like a small town, suburban road carrying a never ending stream of tricycles (the 3 wheel motorbikes that are generally pretty old and pretty stuffed and will carry as many passengers as they can squeeze in providing it can still move!!), cars, bicycles and 3 wheel bikes (also used for transporting passengers and which are called some thing like tricycams), as well as a few pedestrians.

The kebabs were very tasty and quite small and the 11 we had cost about R12 ($1.20).  The beer (500ml) and Sprite came to about R13 ($1.30). Coming home we passed a bakery and I bought 2 small cupcakes and 2 small pieces of cake for about R10 ($1.00) - so our few hours outing cost the princely sum of R35 ($3.50)!!

Last night we ventured a bit further (about 1k) up Pajac-Maribago Road to a place called Dionnes. It was a bit more upmarket and quite empty but the food was good and we managed to get through over a litre of the local beer (Red Horse) and a Sprite.

I had Crispy Chicken and French Fries - it was like a very crispy KFC and quite tasty. Although I had to work my way through about half a chicken after having a meal at work at about 15h30. It was one of the ladies in the office birthdays and they put on a really delicious spread. After a main we had cake and ice cream. The cake had quite a different icing from anything I've tasted before in that although there was quite a lot it wasn't gooey sweet but quite buttery. My other first was a very delicious mango ice cream.

Cebu is famous for mangoes and I'd agree with that after the few fresh ones and the ice cream I've eaten.

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.