Strolling 'Come What May' In Cebu
Optimize the sightseeing.
Only home is for resting.
That is almost already a motto among all my travel friends. This trip, was a great example. We literally just dropped our bags in our room at Casa Rosario, then immediately & excitedly went out for a 'come what may' stroll around.
Come what may as in no itinerary, no guide, no bucket-listed things to see or do. Many travel agencies call this "free time", but we prefer to call it a come what may time. Just go explore!
Like any group on tour though, we did set our little not-so-strict boundary, and that was: let's avoid this afternoon, those that we'll be going-to in the next 3days unless there's no other option. Hindi rin nasunod, rules are made to be broken!
Woh! That got us all the more excited!
Reaching the corner of Juana OsmeƱa St. we asked our royal selves again "kaliwa o kanan"? One said "pag kaliwa sa Mango Ave. na yan, sa may National Bookstore, we'll surely be walking there on Sunday"! True. That's always where a Sinulog street dancing & float parade passes.
So we turned right, and as we were doing so, we caught sight of Brews Point Coffee Shop on that corner to our left, under a tree. I said mamayang gabi yan. We all excitedly nodded when one said and all other nights please lang!
We were heading north on Juana OsmeƱa St., we all knew we could end up at Escario, that would bring us to the capitol - not a bad idea. And I silently said, it's also nice when walking aroud with non-first-timers. It's jolly easy fun.
I asked my self loudly me bilyaran pa ba kaya itong si Baseline? One said we will see tonight. Another said eto si C'est La Vie, oo nga puno o! We saw a lot of people even in front of it. She was the one who booked us at Casa Rosario since C'est La Vie couldn't accommodate us.
We all have slept there at one time or another even as us, this very same group. We all know too, that it's pronounced as se-la-vee (French). Meaning? Parang "ganyan talaga (ang buhay)" or it can also mean "dis is da layf, woah yeah"!
We learned that all their rooms were booked very early by virtually just one town - families and friends of one competing Sinulog group (dancers/performers are housed at schools).
At the corner of OsmeƱa and Yap streets, we were marvelling at one corner hotel, that all of us remember as an old house that was made a pension house in the 1980s. Suddenly, one said "aha, now I remember wala pa akong pera, daan tayo sa BPI"! Ta! So we headed left going to the BPI Capitol Branch along OsmeƱa Blvd.
As the friend went into BPI, the rest of us saw Joven's Grill across it. No one said any words, we just instinctively trooped in. 2:03PM na eh!
I even said "pass" when the whole gang went for (I think all of the available) sweet desserts. Honestly, I only had a 'Coke-in-can' while they drowned on all those temptingliciously sweet 'everything' that Joven's Grill has on its menu.
Anyway, during lunchtime conversations I had to quickly get my camera and clicked for this:
I was actually aiming my camera at this:
Organic tools of their trade! I liked it, we liked it. Those baskets are made of bamboo, cheap to acquire, helps livelihood of craftsmen, and serve the same purpose as plastic trash bins or dustpans anyway, that are more expensive.
The little things that matter.
Nice catch and noted!
Still during the lunch conversations with lots of harutan and alaskahan, someone suddenly asked ilan ba ang kalsadang OsmeƱa dito? kasi kanina we were at Juana OsmeƱa, now we're at OsmeƱa Blvd.! Enter da me para magbidabida!
I said there are only three in Cebu City, though other towns or cities in the province may also have streets or roads named OsmeƱa. Ganun!
I knew this would happen, everyone asked me to name, describe or point where those 3 are. Ah, I gladly obliged hehe. Ako pa, eh I've been to all those places na, at one time or another.
I said:
1) Juana OsmeƱa St. where we walked earlier where Baseline and C'est La Vie are situated, and where we will be tonight for Brews Point. Juana was mother of President Sergio OsmeƱa.
2) Serging OsmeƱa Blvd [pronounced Ser-hing] that's the road from Fort San Pedro and Plaza Independencia heading north to a bit beyond Radisson Blu, at the boundary with Mandaue. Its previous name was Gen. MacArthur Blvd., but was renamed OsmeƱa in November 1984.
Serging was a Jr. (son of President Sergio Sr.) - also an ex-mayor, governor, congressman and senator - buti di nag president kasi confusing. He was/is father of the present mayor Tomas!
Everyone laughed when I said "jusko pag ito si Tomas namatay na rin, then another street will also be named OsmeƱa? That is too confusing. Sana first name basis na lang, like Tommy St."?
3) And finally I said: President Sergio OsmeƱa Blvd. where we are now, which is the fourth of 4 names, ewan ko kung babaguhin pa nila 'to. This has the most colorful story and the most confusing to tourists, even to some residents!
Why? Because officially this became Osmena Blvd. way back in 1978. But even today, many Cebuanos (majority actually) still call it Jones Ave. Look at the jeeps that pass here whether old or new, all of them still paint Jones on the chassis. For more than three decades na yan!
In fact, and this is important for visitors like us, if you tell a taxi driver you're going to OsmeƱa Blvd., chances are the reply will be ha? or asa na? or where's that? (yes, they speak English)! Therefore, it is still best to use Jones Avenue.
One said: alam-na-alam ah, talaga bang lilipat ka na dito sa Cebu? And I said: I am preparing?
Alright, so we proceeded with our "come what may" stroll, still discussing many things Cebu. From Joven's grill, we should have gone north (left) to the capitol but one companion saw an oldish structure about 2 buildings to our right. When he said let's check it out, sugod hehehe!
Come what may nga eh 'no?! Ay, we found out it was/is the Rizal Museum. Atak! Pose agad! But let's talk about that later, in my next story.
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