Cebu City
My introduction to Cebu City was through the docks which are not her best side. I hopped in a taxi and asked for a certain hotel (I forget the name) he said it was no good and that I should stay at another. Getting in this taxi was my first mistake and my second was taking his advice. When we showed up at the Hotel de Mercedes the jerk wanted 150 Pesos for the taxi ride. I looked at him and asked “What does the meter say?" “No meter sir.” I told him that it was a rip-off and that he should be ashamed of himself. He was suitably shocked, and I paid him. (Truly it was a rip off… should have been a third of that.)
The Hotel de Mercedes is a block off of the main drag of downtown (not uptown) Cebu City: Colon Street. I don’t have any photos of Colon Street because I did not feel comfortable walking around with a camera. It has to be one of the most (if not the most) disgusting places I’ve been. Dilapidated, unpainted cement buildings covered in grime, dirty smelly air, sex industry establishments, dirty begging people following and touching. I had set out to get on the Internet and get some food, but I gave up. Not because I could not find either… I just could not handle either. I saw the sign for the Internet access place, but could not bring myself to go down that ally. I spent a day at the hotel with the air con on and Hollywood movies. I took my meals down in the hotel restaurant with the older European men and their younger Filipino girls. I only stayed here one night. It was truly a strange experience.
The next day I was able to meet up with Jeff Hopp, a friend from my days at Microsoft. Jeff, Melissa, Keri and Jay were in Cebu City for the opening of a new call center there. It was so great and strange to see familiar faces in such a place. They were staying at the Shangri La Resort on Mactan Island, which is the site of Magellan’s death in the Battle of Mactan on his way around the world. It was fun and relaxing to hang out with Jeff et all by the pool and on the beach. Jeff and I took a snorkeling trip, which was amazing. Jeff has photos, which I hope to be able to share at some point in the future. For now, some photos of us drinking will need to suffice:
View towards Cebu City from the Shangri La:
The Hotel de Mercedes is a block off of the main drag of downtown (not uptown) Cebu City: Colon Street. I don’t have any photos of Colon Street because I did not feel comfortable walking around with a camera. It has to be one of the most (if not the most) disgusting places I’ve been. Dilapidated, unpainted cement buildings covered in grime, dirty smelly air, sex industry establishments, dirty begging people following and touching. I had set out to get on the Internet and get some food, but I gave up. Not because I could not find either… I just could not handle either. I saw the sign for the Internet access place, but could not bring myself to go down that ally. I spent a day at the hotel with the air con on and Hollywood movies. I took my meals down in the hotel restaurant with the older European men and their younger Filipino girls. I only stayed here one night. It was truly a strange experience.
The next day I was able to meet up with Jeff Hopp, a friend from my days at Microsoft. Jeff, Melissa, Keri and Jay were in Cebu City for the opening of a new call center there. It was so great and strange to see familiar faces in such a place. They were staying at the Shangri La Resort on Mactan Island, which is the site of Magellan’s death in the Battle of Mactan on his way around the world. It was fun and relaxing to hang out with Jeff et all by the pool and on the beach. Jeff and I took a snorkeling trip, which was amazing. Jeff has photos, which I hope to be able to share at some point in the future. For now, some photos of us drinking will need to suffice:
View towards Cebu City from the Shangri La:
posted by Toby Johnson at 11:59 AM
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