The long weekend has got me thinking: Where will I spend it without so much spending? And the answer was just right in the corners of Cebu, places known but too often not the very first options for a Cebuano city-dweller wanting a long weekend fun. You would never guess how it’s like unless you do the same.
I know my Cebuano identity is a question because though I was born here, I grew up in a province in Mindanao and has a permanent residence in Bohol. Just now, I realized that my seven years in this city makes it more questionable knowing that there are still places in Cebu, ordinary, that are worth more than just a talk-about and yet I have just seen and “felt” them. They are almost forgotten when in fact they are the very pure soul that remained with the passing of time.
I’m referring to the old Carbon Market area. Well, that’s just how I refer it because I guess that’s the easiest way to let people identify it fast. And surely when I say, they are almost forgotten, it’s not about memory that I’m talking about. It’s about their popularity. I mean, how does a local feel upon hearing the word “Carbon Market”? I doubt if the word “interesting” pops in his/her head. I even doubt if a local would recommend this place and the surrounding area to a foreign friend or much more to a tourist. You see, the area’s reputation is nothing to brag about to others. Need I say it here? Okay, it’s dangerous there, that’s what most people would say. The only consolation is that everything there is cheap.
Of course, in the surrounding area are the University of San Jose Recoletos and the once-called Freedom Park. What do I know about them? Nothing much, except that USJR is where my cousins went to college and one of the oldest universities in Cebu. And Freedom Park is not a park at all. That is also where I got the flowers for the wake of my grandmother. Yes, there are a lot of fresh flowers at Freedom- for all occasions. What I think it is most known for are the UKAY-UKAY (second-hand clothes) every Saturday at 6 pm and the TABO in the wee hours of the morning when buying agricultural products in bulk transpires. Everything is cheap there. I was amazed that the price of BALOT (the famous 16-30 days old egg) there is half the price outside the area. So Cheap! And I also happen to know that nearby is the parking of horse-drawn carriages called TARTANILLA that takes passengers to nearby markets and places like Pasil and Tabo-an known for the BUWAD (dried fish) industry.
I know those facts. But have I really been there? Partly. You see, I just go there to actually buy something cheap. That’s all. Well, why mention USJR in the midst of these buying cheap things talk? Sorry but it’s part of the place. It’s there and it’s just there to my eyes. And that’s the problem. I never really noticed all these surrounding places whenever I go there. I just buy cheap things there. And that’s all. Now it puts me into thinking that if I got this kind of mindset, so do other Cebu City dwellers. But has anyone also tried to really feel their essence and historical importance. Oops. I’m not talking history now. I just meant the FEEL of history upon seeing them. The FEEL of the Spaniards in the Columns of the outside hallway of USJR; the FEEL of the golden oldies of Cebu as I took the Tartanilla to the Tabo-an District. The FEEL of Cebu as I buy a 1-peso pack of water from an only-in-the-Philippines water vending machine; the FEEL of long-time ago childhood upon seeing an improvised basketball court in the middle of the road; and the FEEL of pity and regret noticing the peace and quite in the dried fish market. Where are the people? Where are the locals? Where are the tourist? It’s supposed to be a place of attraction, a place that promotes Cebu and its people. I felt all of that.
I hope that others can feel it, too, in case they haven’t yet. So they can start to think of something helpful and useful for those places. And they can start that with the pictures below.
Tartanilla (Horse-drawn carriage) on the road of down town Cebu
Water Vending Machine: Only in the Philippines?
The Dried Fish Market Wishing for Crowdjust outide USJR
At the heart of Carbon Market
Anyeong Cebu! 