Cebu city is the capital of Cebu island. Like any regional hub, air pollution was heavy and traffic was slower than walking. Like any Filipino city, the creepy grin of the Jollibee followed me from block to block while the locals were extra hospitable. The Filipinos hanging out at Hey Fellas Guesthouse took me prime lechon¹ and showed me the most authentic way to experience balut.²
 

Getting There & Away

I took a $27 flight from Puerto Princesa (PPS) on the Palawan island to Cebu (CEB) with Air Asia, 1.25 hours. I shared an Uber (Grab works really well too) with an Australian couple to our pre-booked accommodation in the city center. Wanting to be productive while waiting in PP, I found a cafe with great wifi and pumpkin soup across the street from the airport called the Gypsy’s Lair.

I headed to Moalboal in the south by local bus from the South Bus Terminal, which was a decent walk or short Uber/Grab away. Yellow busses frequently circle the island coast and basically operate by hop-on-hop-off. A ferry will take you to the neighboring Bohol island.

The Cebu airport was also well connected with with other major islands within the Philippines, and it was surprisingly budget-friendly to fly to Vietnam, $60-70 to Saigon or Hanoi with Cebu Pacific. Other affordable international connections included Bangkok, Thailand and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

Note: I also had tons of fun with Air Asia’s policy that the low fare meant you got 7kg total, not 7kg for your big bag and extra for a personal item. In a rushed flurry I threw on pants and a scarf, shoved a pair of low chucks into my pocket, a terabyte storage disc into my waist strap, hoped they wouldn’t notice I was holding my tablet, donated a bag of clothes and sunscreen to the flight attendants, and shaved off 2kg while saving $18 (more than what new clothes would cost).

My advice for avoiding this? Check in and print all boarding passes ahead of time, and if they still make you go through the line to print things their way (PPS), leave behind your backpack with a friend.

 

Accommodation

Rufela knew how to run a place to stay. Good vibes from her and her fluffiest-ever pancakes rubbed off on everyone else at Hey Fellas. She slept in a hammock in the living room and got up each morning to combine her secret ratio of two pancake mixes so that everyone could have breakfast together. At night we would all hang out or go out, joined by her Cebuano friends who were regulars of the guesthouse. It was simple, no frills, crazy strong wifi, and AC dorms went for $6 on agoda.com.

 

Local Living

Day 74

“The curry is pretty good… but the girls usually go for the beef bulgolgi.”

~Philippines Air Asia flight attendant promoting on-flight services not included in airfare, 2017

Day 75

Today was one of my most blend-in-with-local days of my trip. Yvonne and I went shopping at the Ayala mall and nearby thrift stores. I stocked up on supplies that might be hard to come by outside of the city. McDonald’s thoroughly entertained me by wrapping balls of rice in the same paper we would wrap burgers back home. The McFreeze in that summer heat was it’s own experience—a coke slushie topped with vanilla soft serve, like a root beer float on steroids.

In the evening we met Rufela via jeepney. We found our hostess taking herself on a solo date, playing phone games and eating chocolate cake. Respect.

Rico’s Lechon, the chain all Cebuanos swore by, had an obscene wait. I watched the cooks prepping endless piles of shredded meat through the glass showcase windows.

 

 

Our kilo was shared with the rest of the guests back in Rufela’s living room, eaten with our hands. With 7,200 islands I was too quick to imagine myself eating seafood in this country. I had never eaten so much pork in my life. The only plants on the table were green onions to flavor the meat and rice. Filipinos thrive on a diverse diet of meat and rice.

The other Filipinos were shocked and excited that I hadn’t had my first duck embryo. We missed the first guy biking around screaming “Balut!” but quickly stopped the second.

I was taught, under lots of pressure, to alternate peeling the egg and drinking the fermented-for-18-days juice. After cracking it open on the handlebars of the bike of course. Unlike a hard-boiled egg, I was removing the shell to reveal wet baby feathers and the early shaping of a beak. And eyeballs.

 

 

I threw it back like a shot, and honestly had too much adrenaline to remember the details. I know it had the consistency of pumpkin puree and tasted like any generic savory poultry flavored food, and then it had a weird tough, hardened part to it. I’d say if I don’t think about it too much, I liked it.

We ended the night at Cubana for rounds of Red Horse, Filipino beers shared the Filipino way. A cup of ice is filled with beer and passed around as each person finishes it. It’s kind of not fair for lightweights since everyone has to match each other. I have no problems with ice floating in my beer, but Europeans find it outright offensive. To request an ice refill in loud venues here, one made kissy noises at the waiter and pointed two fingers at one’s own eyes.

Eyes…ice… say it out loud.

Get it?

 

 

Day 76

I woke up feeling excited because I was again overcome with awareness that I had the rest of my life to look forward to. And the rest of myself and me!

Ulysses made everyone what he called CPA, better known as chicken pork adobo. The unofficial dish of the Philippines. Actually it was humba, typical of the Visayan islands, because he added pineapple. He asked me if I was half Filipino, and informed me he was half Filipino and half Filipina.

Katy , who I met on Palawan, made it to Hey Fellas last night and together we split for the adventures calling from South Cebu.

 

 

1. Lechon refers to whole spit-roasted pigs that were the pride and joy of the island. I know I titled the post after it, but the best lechon on all of Cebu actually lurks in the back alleys of the Carcar market, details in a post coming soon. While Rico’s and Zubuchon were good, I didn’t join in on the hype because salted pork will only go so far for me. We were also disappointed that Rico’s didn’t reheat our take out for us.

2. Fermented duck embryo. The infamous snack of the Philippines. At night, men bike around selling it hot and fresh. You can enjoy it immediately by cracking the egg on the handle bars and peeling the shells into a little trash bag. The men carry have salt and vinegar to go with it, which is hilarious because this combo triggers me to think “chips” not “chicks.”

Need more Philippines? Find my posts here, and more on Asia here.