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As we guessed our way to SM City Cebu, we finally were able to ditch our Indiana Jones-like character (sans whip) with the purchase of a decent road map from National Bookstore. Of all the maps available, the one that makes the most sense for visitors is the EZ Map. Though available only in fan-fold type, this particular guide lists all the tourist destinations as well as other items such as gasoline stations, one-way streets and even barangay listings. We stayed at a hotel in the Cebu Business Park, a stone’s throw away from Ayala Center Cebu. We entered this shopping complex to find nothing less than Glorietta, albeit shrunk to around one-half scale. All the usual shops are here: Rustan’s, TAG Heuer, Polo, even Linea Italia! The only one seemingly absent is Starbucks Coffee. Yes, folks—the big coffee chain hasn’t even clawed their way to Cebu yet. As we desperately searched for a decent rest stop, we chanced upon Bo’s Coffee Club. Though you may not be turned on by the name, the entire concept is lifted out of every page of the Starbucks manual! If Starbucks has Frappucino, they have Froccino. If Starbucks has Baristas, they have Partners. Frankly, Bo’s is like a mixture of Starbucks, Seattle’s Best and Figaro. Though the look and menu concept come from Starbucks, the way the orders are served are in the style of Seattle’s Best, while the food selection is almost as wide as Figaro’s. Bo’s is generally cheaper than any Manila-based coffee house, but don’t expect any of their drinks or pastries to reach Café Americano level. It’s half-price, but with slightly three-fourths of the quality. However, you shouldn’t pass on the extremely rich PHP35 Choco Carrot Cake. After the coffee break, we headed out to check the rest of Cebu City. We’ve noticed that passenger jeepneys are often in absentia here. In fact, they are commonly found in the outskirts of the city, still spewing out their toxic diesel fumes. However, within the city proper are another set of hybrids: Isuzu Elfs or Mitsubishi L300s with jeepney style seating, painted in complete Formula One livery! There’s no shortage of Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes-Benz, or Jaguar jeepneys here…the city’s just full of them. One thing to watch out for is the Cebuano’s road manners. First, pedestrians can cross anywhere and anyway they wish—something that we had to take extra caution with, since these people can’t just end up like road kill. Motorists can also be a hassle since they’re armed with itchy horn fingers, darting in and out of traffic faster than an overtaking Nascar racer. We had to look carefully at the rear-view mirrors, as jeepneys attempt overtaking maneuvers even if they’re still a half-kilometer away. Last, Cebu is one of the few places on earth where motorcycles actually consume the same amount of road space as a regular car. We ended day one in another blatant copy of a Manila mainstay: Big By’s, where the place, the menu and even the singing waiters are a suspiciously similar to TGIF’s. Of course, it’s no surprise, as this Cagayan-based chain is reportedly owned by one of the original partners who started the TGIF thing in the first place. |
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