Reflections on Cebu - part 1

It's four in the morning, and I'm jetlagged, so forgive these ramblings.

I took Cathay Pacific to get from LAX to Cebu. I have to say that Cathay is better than most airlines, which does not mean I always fly Cathay because sometimes other airlines are cheaper, such as Korean, Asiana, or Eva. But when the fare is almost the same,I'll opt for Cathay.On the one hand Cathay's service is better, but on the other hand, there's a layover in Hongkong. Philippine Airlines is the only airline that flies direct from LAX to the Philippines (the plane gasses up in Honolulu for 40 minutes).

Having given Cathay praise, I'm going to add that they seem to have stopped giving amenities kits to all their passengers, and following other airlines have limited their baggage allowance from 70 lbs to 50 lbs for the 2 checkin bags allowed in international travel. I heard a number of passengers grumbling that they had to pay $100 per bag for exceeding the 50 lb weight allowance.

(Here I feel like digressing and say that airlines have been taking advantage and making money off passenger bags. American airlines for instance have been bringing in a lot of revenue by charging for checkin bags. Another airline, Philippine-based this time, learned quickly that they can make lots of money by charging for "excess weight" - (in caps) CEBU PACIFIC AIR is nickel-and-diming their passengers on luggage. My guest Hilary Walling and I had the most unpleasant experience of taking Cebu Pacific Air last January from Manila to Cebu and ending up paying quite a lot for our "excess baggage." It didn't matter that we'd come from international travel (with 2 huge checkin bags). Highway robbery. Shame on you Cebu Pacific Air and the other airlines for this extortion.)

But back to my trip on board Cathay. I killed the 14-hour flight from LAX to Hong Kong by watching movies (enjoyed the Spanish film Biutiful even thought it was depressing), reading the autobiography of John Paul II, and snoozing when I could. (My husband says I'm one of these lucky people who can sleep in airplanes; the poor man can't.)

The layover in Hong Kong was almost three hours, and I had expected a miserable wait in Hong Kong, but in fact, the three hours flew quickly. You have to find your right terminal, you and your handcarry have to be screened again, and Hong Kong has free wi-fi, so the wait isn't too bad. The trip from Hong Kong to Cebu is only 2 1/2 hours, so that's a piece of cake. You settle down, they feed you, and you're there.

I prefer arriving in Cebu rather than Manila because the Cebu airport is less crowded, more low-key. Manila arrivals, domestic or international, are a bit harrowing - people jostling for their bags, fighting over taxis. It probably helps that I can speak Cebuano, because people seem to warm up when I speak to them in Cebuano. I took a Yellow Taxi this time. I usually take a regular metered taxi. You could, if you don't know any better, hire a private car that charges twice as much. The Yellow Taxi's fare is just a bit more than the regular taxi, but still considerably less than the private car. (This is if you're thinking in Pesos; if you're thinking in dollars, it's no big deal if you pay $20 versus $10, as long as you get to your destination safely.)

Driving from the Mactan airport to my place in the historic district of Cebu, I could see that little had changed since my last visit. Cebu doesn't have zoning, so you see big houses next to shacks, factories and restaurants in the midst of residences. The funny thing is that Cebuanos fail to see this haphazard layout, and talk of Uptown versus Downtown, meaning Uptown is supposedly more hoity-toity than Downtown. To my eyes, there is no Uptown versus Downtown because except for the exclusive gated communities, all of Cebu City is a mixed bag.

Which leads me to talk about my place in Cebu. I inherited from my mother a piece of property with a three-story building in Old Cebu, which in olden days had been a prime piece of property, but which went down after World War II, when the "Uptown" started to develop. The historic district,which is near the Cathedral, Santo Nino Basilica, Fort San Pedro, City Hall became blighted. Houses were turned into boarding houses or warehouses. That's the fate of the Limbunfeng Building right next to the Yap-Sandiego House, and before Jimmy Sy took it upon himself to develop the Old Jesuit House on Zulueta, the 18th century structure was part of the Ho Tong warehouse. There are many more undiscovered jewels in historic Cebu, buried underneath warehouses and such.

My property in Old Cebu was acquired by my maternal grandmother in the early 1900s, the American Period, meaning the Philippines was no longer a colony of Spain but was now owned by the United States. I don't know what structure my grandmother had built here during that time, but when my mother inherited this from her, there had been a two or three story house, which I believe was used as a boarding house. There are a number of schools around. The streets of Old Cebu are prone to flooding, as did my mother's place, and finally in the 1990s, she had the old structure torn down and she built a three-story deco-style building. I think it was my mothers' way of honoring her mother and she named the building "Dona Filomena" after Filomena Alesna Cuenco, her mother.

Nice as the building was (it was designed by well-known Architect Abella) my mother had difficulties finding good tenants, because the neighborhood was filled with warehouses and crumbling houses and shacks. Her tenants didn't maintain the place properly.

When I got the place, the tenant was a security agency that had trashed the place so badly. They kept goats and chickens in the garage area, had men sleeping in the garage area, and the men were relieving themselves in corners, including the rooftop area - it was a total disaster and discouraged me so much I wept the first time I saw the place.

But here's the thing: I knew that this was part of historic Cebu, and I understood the potential of historic Cebu. Even though the local government had not developed tourism in Old Cebu, tourists went ahead anyway and visited Magellan's Cross and the Fort and the numerous other historic landmarks.

Maybe I'm sentimental, but knowing that this land had belonged to my mother and grandmother, gave me the courage to develop the building. I've painted it, added wrought iron gates and window grills, refurbished the place when finally the security agency left (owing me money), fixed up the wood parquet floors that my mother had put in, and so on. A lot of work, a lot of money, but like magic, the building came to life, taking on a kind of Spanish Colonial persona with it's yellow and brick-red paint and verdigris grills. I've also been blessed with the people living in it now, quiet, religious people (including a priest), who love the history of the place, who are proud to be here, and who maintain the place beautifully.

I oftentimes feel that my mother and grandmother help me run the Dona Filomena Building. Last year the famous feng shui expert,Tony Suvega, was brought here by a potential tenant and he "saw" a woman sitting on a plantation chair. He described my mother accurately. He made it clear her spirit was not earthbound but was just visiting. He also went on to say the place was "masuerte" or very lucky. His client took the unit and is still here, thriving, I'm happy to say.

Before I end this early morning ramblings, I might add that I have one studio unit available, and I'm looking for the right person to rent it to. There's a site with pictures at www.palhbooks.com/studio.html. The site describes it as a vacation place,but I don't have a manager, so I've decided to rent it out, furnished or unfurnished. Email me at palhbooks@gmail.com.

I can see this as the perfect place for a Branch Office in Cebu, which the manager can use as both office and residence. I can imagine a Visiting Professor staying here as well - it's right smack in historic Cebu, near Museums, the historic sites, and two major universities, plus other schools. I love the area myself and find it most convenient to live here. I can hop on a taxi to get to Ayala or SM malls in 15 minutes; I can walk to two churches; and the place...the place reeks of history.

(more whenever jetlag strikes...)