Living in Cebu

In early 2006 I will be moving to Cebu, Philippines with the entire family.

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Weddings and Driving around Cebu

Attended a wedding today. I got lost on the way the Marriott that is close to Ayala. Was going up Mango and missed the right turn. After that there is no right turn for the next few roads. Eventually turned down one road only later find myself heading up a one-way street in the wrong direction. I quickly turned around and started try to navigate in the direction of Ayala. More NO RIGHT TURN and ONE-WAY streets pushed me further away. We did find Ayala and luckily were not late. In fact things were running on Filipino time and we could have come an hour or so later without a problem.

The wedding was a very formal affair. I would have liked to have worn my Barong Tagalog but the dress code called for suit and tie. The entire families had roles to perform in the ceremony and were provided with black dinner suits by a formal hire place. I had my dinner suit already but my white shirt was suitable for a bow tie and I was required to wear a normal tie. Was easily able to buy a white long sleeve shirt with collar at Ayala. Think SM would have been ok too but it might have been more of a challenge in other Shopping Malls (Ayala and SM are the two major shopping Malls her in Cebu).

The ceremony has held at the residence of the Cardinal in a small chapel. It seemed like half the guests were participants in some way. I was amused at some of the extra rolls they had such as “Junior Groom” and “Little Groom”.

I remembered my wedding many years before. This was not as long as mine and contained a lot more theater. A smoke machine used to create a mist for the bride to enter. A special choir that sang in a style that I did not think was appropriate to a wedding but were none the less very professional and later entertained us at the reception.

Got lost going home too. Missed my turn again in the opposite direction. I was totally disorientated thinking Mactan would be on my right but the sign said it was on my left. Was meant to go over a bridge but I went to the side and again encountered a no left turn sign forcing me to turn right and then do a U turn. We soon found ourselves in the heart of Mandaue which is very congested. We finally got onto the road heading over the old bridge and after that we were fine.

The point here is that driving around Cebu is very difficult. I can handle driving in the chaotic traffic but it the navigation that I find difficult. There are so many NO U-TURN, NO LEFT and NO RIGHT turns and many ONE-WAY streets.

I already have one violation. I was heading along a road that runs past San Miguel. I was in the left lane, which one would expect to flow on such a major road like this one (6 lane). I had been down that road only a few days before and at that time I attempted to turn left at an intersection only to be waved on by a policemen. OK they want to keep the traffic flowing, which makes sense.

So here I was in the same left lane and this time I wanted to go straight. I stop at the intersection in the same place as before and this time there is a green arrow that would permit me to turn left. I don’t want to turn left this time so I ignore it much to the annoyance of a car behind me.

A policeman comes over and makes me turn left and pull over. He then writes a violation for obstruction. I really don’t understand the system here yet. I am amazing on how the left lane in a major road can suddenly become a right turn only and being the same road that previously would not let me turn right. There were no obvious signs to advise me that that lane I was in had suddenly become a must turn right lane.

Apparent inconsistency is the most consistent thing about the Philippines from a foreigner’s perspective.

Posted: Saturday 8th July 2006, 12:00 PM

Learn To Speck Cebuano

If you are planning no living in Cebu then its a good idea to learn the language and I have found a great teacher here in Cebu. He can also assist you online and is available to translate any documents.

If you plan to live in Cebu then why not learn to speak the language and earn to Speak Cebuano - Translation service also available