adventures in the south pacific pt. 3
continued from part two.
when we arrived in Cebu early in the morning. immediately i noticed the change in weather. the view from the plane was breathtaking. crystal clear waters, with a hint of bright blue, luscious green hillsides. the weather went from hot dense humidity to a dryer sort of heat. the skies also seemed to be a little bit more blue. we were in tourist country.
we drove up to the marriott to drop our stuff off at the hotel and headed off to the church of Santo Nino, the infant Christ. the architecture was amazing. in front of the building was the Magellan cross. and inside, a courtyard to light candles, and the massive church grounds. it was at this point that the battery in my camera died and i wasn’t able to take too many pictures of the church, but not before getting some nice shots of the candles in the courtyard and before being told not to take pictures.
there was a massive line, waiting in heat, to get to the infant christ statue and make a petition. apparently when Magellan came to the Philippines, he was ordered to colonize and Christianize. hence, the adoration of the infant christ and the surge of catholicism. in Cebu, images of the infant christ are everywhere. i’ve also noticed messages of God and asking for His blessings are also everywhere in the Philippines as a whole. i saw lots of it in Manila.
we went to “sinigang ihaw sugba (or sutukil or something)” (i’m sure there’s loads of spelling errors in there, so sue me.) — which is a restaurant in Cebu that specializes in seafood. being right off the the coast of a bay or fishing areas, all the fish and seafood was completely fresh. the place itself wasn’t at all fancy, but the service was on par. everyone was really friendly and the food was really good. that is until i saw the live crabs and the huge jumbo shrimp.
don’t get me wrong, i’m a big fan of seafood. i’ve always been a big fan of seafood. i love shrimp, crab, lobsters, all the shellfish in the world. but seeing those huge jumbo shrimp served on the plate, and being peeled and handed over to me by my mom was a little too much for me to handle. the thing was huge! and i had to bite the head off! i think i ate one, but realized that i was eating the head of something, and just couldn’t have anymore. i don’t know where this reaction is coming from. i have no problem eating jumbo shrimp, but never this big! and the thing with shrimp is that, along the “spine” is the intestine. when cooking shrimp, it’s usually a good thing, but not always required, to cut down that spine and scrape out the intestinal… stuff. i know - not pretty. but hey, that’s food. that’s how it goes in the world of cooking live things. so as i’m eating this gigantic jump shrimp, i’m thinking about its intestine, and its head, and i just couldn’t. the fish was fine. great even. i had this amazing salted raw fish soup sort of appetizer that’s very common in the philippines and ate from a whole fish that was fried. (i had a conversation with Wes early last Friday about this very thing. how he’s not used to seeing the whole fish and being served it and expected to eat from it. i told him that i was pretty much used to it and it doesn’t really bother me. i never knew i’d have the same reaction he had, but to shellfish.)
so the live crabs. crab meat = yummy. i love the sweet taste of crab meat. and i’ve eaten from the crab before. many times. okay, maybe not so many times. but i have. at least i thought i did. i remember eating from the claws. i can do that. but for some reason, maybe it was residual from my shrimp experience, but i couldn’t do it. everyone was digging in at the table. it was a free-for-all food fest of the seafood variety. so much good things at the table. and i’m unable to stomach two-thirds of the main courses. seeing the whole crab on the plate, having it’s insides open and scooped out makes me want to go vegetarian again. what’s happening to me? maybe it’s the time change (you know, cuz i’m still on blaming the time change), or maybe it’s that i’ve been eating a certain way for so long that i’m just not used to the raw and dirty treatment anymore. all i know is, that i think i may just avoid shellfish for a little while. i’ve always felt the way they cook crabs and lobsters is just cruel. i was watching Iron Chef on the food network yesterday and their secret ingredient was the Crawfish. and seeing them grab live crawfish and throwing them in steaming pots and frying pans, and then grabbing said crawfish while still alive and slicing them open, is just horrifying. it’s horrific. call me horrified. incredibly so. i know that’s the way the food world goes. but if people can stop eating meat for the treatment of such animals, then i can stop eating shellfish for the treatment they get when we cook them. because at least for the most part chickens, pigs, and cows are already dead when we cut into their flesh - that is to say that i’m not talking about slaughter houses, etc. - but to take a live being and to throw them into a pot of boiling water so they can die a slow and horrible death is just - just - wrong.
okay i’ve said my piece. maybe i might be on the road to becoming a veggie again. i don’t know. or maybe this feeling will pass and i’ll go back to eating neatly prepared food, in complete denial of how it was prepared and came to be on my plate.
i spent most of that night in the hotel room watching more BSG, and falling asleep. i was woken up early in the morning to head back to the Church of Santa Nino to go to a 6am mass, all in Cebuono. the funny thing is, no matter what language it would have been in, i’m sure i would’ve been able to answer all the reponses in English, all out of habit. but for the most part, i was lost. after stopping by the Infant Christ statue once more, we headed back to the hotel.
it was off yet to another mall. this time, it was right next door, walking distance from the marriott. i finally found some sunglasses i like and a pair of sandals. but that’s pretty much it. it was a large mall. lots of stores, but like the big SM we were at in Manila, it’s not much different from the malls in the US. i was excited to see that the Transformers were playing and the idea of seeing before anyone else in America was just too good. i really wanted to check it out, but didn’t get a chance to. my only real opportunity would have been that afternoon. i went again the next day, but because it was Saturday, the mall was just packed with people. the lines for the movie were just too long and i didn’t feel like putting up with it.
friday night, we checked out Casino Filipino. i guess i’m no longer a fan of casinos, although i’m sure i would’ve had a good time if there was a bar. yes. you read that right. there was no bar. one of the greatest things about throwing your money away at a slot machine is the “free” beer! you can sit all day long losing all of your money, but at least you get to walk out happily intoxicated! right? well, i didn’t have the opportunity to try that out here. losing money is just not the same when you’re sober. i was pretty much over it and opted to head back to the hotel, leaving my mom and aunt to gamble some more.
the next morning was an interesting experience. we went for massages. i needed a manicure and pedicure badly. i’ve never had one before, and though that now would’ve been a great opportunity try it out. my nails where starting to get freakishly long and i didn’t have nail clippers on me.
there was an attendant in the dressing room waiting for me. it was pretty cool. he lead me to the sauna. i sat in there for a little bit. then i went into the hot tub, which wasn’t so hot. but it was supposed to be an herbal bath apparently. i didn’t really smell anything. but the soak was cool. i showered and then headed off to get my massage. i opted for the shiatsu. i had gone to the fitness center earlier and was a little sore. i figured, it was there, and i really should start going to the gym when i get back home. might as well take advantage of it now, while i was at the hotel. i thought a shiatsu would be perfect for my aching legs. and it was. the only thing was that, the woman who was giving the massage started talking to someone in the room. (the massage room was a large room with many beds, but i was the only customer in there at the time. i think there was a separate room for women, cuz i never saw my mom or my aunt the whole time i was there.
so this woman started asking me questions. about being an american. about being half filipino. you know the usual stuff, just trying to make conversation. and then i can hear her talking to this other girl in the room. calling me “guapo”. something about being an “artista” (which means i’m a singer, actor, or celebrity of some sort.) it sounded like the other girtl said something to the effect of, “you should ask him if he’s married.” but in their dialect. but you can hear the word “married” and the giggling… anyway, i just started to feel a little uncomfortable. i was flattered, sure. but i also felt pretty vulnerable. it’s so not what i wanted. it’s not how i was going to relax. imagine, being a straight man and you’re being massaged by a gay man, who happened to be talking about how hot you are and giggling with someone else in the room. or if you’re a woman, and a straight man was massaging you, talking about how fine you are and how you want to hit that. okay, maybe it wasn’t exactly like that. but you get the idea, right? i think from now on, i’ll request a guy to do the massage. preferably a straight man, if i want that non-sexual professional experience. i think maybe it’ll put my insecurities to rest and i’ll feel more comfortable in a situation like that. massages are a great thing. but i’ve always contributed it to something sexual. something you do with a partner, and where you have sex afterwards or just before. but a massage as a way to relax and rejuvenate, i kind of like it. i just don’t have much experience with treatments like that.
the rest of the trip was mostly spent at the hotel. my mom started not feeling well and slept the rest of that afternoon and most of saturday. i wondered around a bit. went to the mall. tried to see transformers (see above). came back and finished BSG (so fragging good!). then, i started to get really bored. and homesick. i hung out at the pool bar and drank to my heart’s content. but i was just really sad that i was by myself. and couldn’t stop thinking of how nice it would have been if i was there with someone special, or if i had friends with me. i felt like i was on vacation, hanging out by the pool, drinking beer. but it was just so damn lonely.
the next day, my mom continued to sleep. i spent most of the day eating downstairs at the buffet with my aunt and just wandering around some more. i was sort of sick of that hotel now. i was hoping we’d get more sightseeing in. Cebu’s a beautiful island. i really wanted to see more of it. but we were leaving that day and had to head back to the airport.
we arrived at 3pm in the afternoon, to catch a 5:00 flight. the problem is that it was supposed to have been 5:00 in the morning. we totally missed our flight. so we were on standby. it wasn’t until 8pm when we finally got on a flight. at this point, i was just cranky. i was homesick and depressed. i was frustrated that my mom wasn’t feeling herself. i wanted to be angry at her, for the sake being angry at someone. but it was just an unfortunate event to have missed our flight and had to wait at the airport for 5 hours. luckily, there was free wifi and i was able to get online during that time.
i’ve noticed that a lot of the places, people weren’t really that friendly either. maybe it was my negative energy and my bad attitude from being depressed, frustrated, and homesick that was being reflected in the people around me. but, i knew that i just wasn’t having a good time. i kept wanting to just call it quits and go home. i know this trip will get better though. i was just in a mood. and i know it will pass. (i’m still feeing that way from time to time, but i can feel myself getting over it.)
we finally hopped on the plane back to manila. slept. woke up. and now we’re back at the airport to head off to Calbayog City, my mom’s home town.
to be continued in part four.
