3/5/15
As much as I have enjoyed myself its time to hit the road. We check out of pacedas, both a little sad but also happy to be on the road again. Chilli's motto of "The liver is evil and must be punished" resonating in my fuzzy head. We go to a bar to watch the boxing. I have hopes that Manni beats the arrogant American but he loses on points. I sit in the Pleasure Principle, a great cafe that provides a large mug of coffee. Today is going to be hard work. Our tricycle takes us to the bus station where we catch one of the open window tin buses. These journeys are always long here as there are no fixed bus stops. The usual array of vendors repeating their mantra of pork scratchings for sale is drowned out by my mp3. Back at Cebu city we get a taxi to our chosen hostel. Unfortunately it is full, so we discuss the boxing with our driver whilst he finds us another. Manni is a hero to the Filipinos who rose from the streets. He finds it unlikely a rematch with Mayweather will occur. We are dropped off at the Richmond hotel. A little overpriced for what it is, but not familiar with the City and time here is short. Heading out onto the streets we wander along the humid streets, popping our heads into a large Catholic church. Both of us are hungry and don't have a clue where we are. Shamefully we stop at a KFC for a terrible dinner. Once we leave we find we are close to Mango Street. Lots of nice places to eat. Eyes roll. There is an Irish bar here so we use the WiFi to familiarise ourselves. Heading to Mango Square there are numerous bars here of all descriptions. A few rums later sees us in J Avenue nightclub. A DJ called Frac Attack plays but is surprisingly good.
M peoples Moving on up melts into Ride On Time. Annie Lennox sings Sweet Dreams, with the words "everybody's looking for something" a statement for the culture here. A poor nation wanting a better life.
My bed is calling and I will relish a no drinking curfew in Borneo. The Philippines was never part of the plan but I truly like the place, even if I only saw a small part.