Cadiz City

A little onward from the bridge, my Ceres bus stopped in front of SM Hypermarket. Conductor told me it would be best to get off here as there were a 'battalion' of available tricycles waiting for passengers!

Before I got off though, he gave me instructions as to where I would find their terminal for my onward trip! And OMG true, there was more than a battalion of tricycles hahaha! I think this area is some kind of an official terminal for trikes, because I saw that they were very organized and even have signages!

No waiting, no haggling. Not like in many other places na tipong pinag-aagawan ka ng mga sanggano! Here, when I approached, one of them just said "sin-o next", ayun, I got my trike ride na, to the city hall.

The Cadiz City Hall, which, I was told by the trike driver assigned to me, "ara lang" - so I imagined it as just a few blocks away. He even asked if I would rather walk - instead of taking advantage of my utter ignorance, which is very common in this country! That made me feel guilty, since I already caused him to be off their waiting line. So, I instead made a deal for him to tour me to the city hall and the church.

Aprub! And off I went!

Notable note for you my fellow travelers: I offered that "tour deal" not because na-guilty or naawa lang ako ke manong trike driver. As a 'seasoned traveler' (ayan nagbuhat na ng sariling bangko) I always try to maintain fairness, practicality, frugality and all other words that end in 'ty' - including my dignity! Da!

It's like this... while manong was describing his suggested walking route, I quickly got to think "it was already 4:12PM", "I still had Manapla town center to see", "I must arrive at Silay on/or before nightfall" and so on. So, much as I would've enjoyed a stroll in Cadiz, my circumstances won't allow me to do it.

That is the reason why I offered that he drive me to the city hall, I look around and take pictures, drive me again to the church, I look around and take pictures, then bring me fast to the Ceres Bus terminal!

Yeah, my visit was not anymore the normal "see the place, learn more details". It became something like a "for compliance purposes only" kind of thing - masabi ko man lang sa sarili "I've been there, I've seen that" hehe! No more "experience it, feel the vibe". Hiring the trike all the way was my best option.

Ganun yun! But I tried to "extract" as many infos from the trike driver mismo! Keri lang! Para-paraan!

Off we went. Observation #1: no wonder this area surrounding SM Hypermart is so busy with so many vehicles and people darting in every direction. Eh, across is their city's public market of several blocks!

Observation #2: no wonder the manong tricycle driver was so kind as to ask me if I would rather walk from SM Hypermart to the Cadiz City Hall, because... eh totoong malapit nga lang naman pala talaga!

How near? Ah, I guess that distance would be equivalent to walking from SM City Cebu to the Mabolo Church (St. Joseph)! Probably also comparable to walking from one end of SM Megamall to the other!

Here here.., this is the Cadiz City Hall. This is the only picture I got!

I wanted to take a farther shot, to capture the width of the whole building, but things like trees, shrubs, scaffolding and construction materials got in the way. There were also many youngsters and families.

No time to think and get creative. I was running out of "daylight" and the big park where I stood to take that shot had many cordoned-off areas for some civil works. They're sprucing-up this Cadiz City Park.

I saw that they are either erecting or repairing a monument or art installation that looks like a gigantic fish. I asked the trike driver, and he said that is supposed to become a "balyena" (yes, whale). I asked why, and he said Cadiz is also called "The City of Whales". Syempre, Q&A session na kaagad while on the road! And, he educated me that: "in the past (1960s?), the city of Cadiz was frequented by whales!

Hmm.., something to ponder and ask-around about. But that was a good 'starter info' enough for me!

I just had to put two and two together and I already have a bigger picture of Cadiz. Example: I already heard that this is the "Dried-fish Capital of Negros". Now, if they produce dried fish, that means supply of fish is greater than what they need (for normal consumption of residents). Therefore, there are a lot of fish in the nearby waters, that can attract even whales. Thus plausible, that there were whales here!

Lovely that manong driver "knows what he should know" for more meaningful tourist-interactions! He even mentioned "Lakawon Island", but I said I already kow about it. But he had more! He said there is a "Kabilangbilangan Island". Hmm, new to me! I listened intently, but, we already reached the church!

Yes the catholic church, back there, in the middle of the picture, behind this water tank [joke lang]!

I joked that the "bell tower" looks like an American-era water tank. Kakaiba, bilog! It even has a dome!

But here is the façade of the Sto. Niño Parish Church of Cadiz City..,

I stood for a while in he middle of the street, just staring at it, trying to figure out what might that 'form' be trying to tell. Hmm, 'di kaya ng powers ko, wala akong na-apuhap'! So I asked my driver, who at that time, was also looking at me, already somehow smiling. I said "bakit ganyan yan"? He said "ambot ah"!

I just silently said "napaka-abstact naman niyan". Especially that horizontal slab with the name...

Maybe some modernistic spiritual religious canonical whatever. Siguro naman (probably lang heheh), whoever designed it has some beautiful meaning in his or her profound mind not easily understood by mere traveling mortals like me! Ah basta as the big metallic name suggests, that's their parish church.

Here's the church interior. Bright enough even with natural light (this was late in the afternoon).

Hmm, as with the façade, the altar (retablo) is also generally "abstract" to me! I mean what those lace-like giriting-giting designs ever want to tell, I can't get it heheh. At least one thing is clear to me, in this church, hindi si Jesus ang crucified. It's the dove of peace. Ayun o, look at the cross! Oh ha, indi ba la?

Glass panels help to illuminate the interiors, while grills instead of concrete walls maximize air flow.

Nice setup. Energy efficient! Plus, I also liked those statues up at the ledge. On a late afternoon, where it was already getting dark, those 'saints' seemed to be coming to life. Duu heheh! When not gazing at them, they felt like live persons in my peripheral vision. I felt like gagalaw sila at lulundag to me. Ayee!

Hahaha kung anu-ano na sumasagi sa isip ko. Tara let's get moving to Manapla, then Silay na!

In my next story.

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