12 November, 2011 - Final Thoughts

I have spent my time on Cebu well, I think.  I met many family members for the first time, laughed a lot, cried a lot, and loved a lot.  I have such a cool family!  I cut banana leaves, ate papayas straight from the trees in my mother’s garden, dodged sea snakes, didn’t catch any little crabs at the beach (thanks Mary Ann), and did not eat too much even though every Filipino I’ve met here is a FEEDER.  

A couple of Mom's papaya trees:

She cultivated the papaya trees by throwing a handful of seeds around the property and ignoring them until they started bearing fruit.

Cebu is loud, dirty and full of life.  My mother says the Philippines GDP consists of dogs, children, and bread.  She might be right, as it goes.  There are a lot of dogs, kids and bakeries here, and the dogs and kids are especially noisy.

Driving in the Philippines is a health and safety nightmare.  There are a number of ways to get around; one of the more common ways is by tricycle.  The tricycle consists of a small motorcycle – usually around 150 cc four stroke, with a covered sidecar.  I witnessed a fully laden tricycle consisting of the driver, two passengers (mom and dad) sitting side-saddle behind him, 5-6 children in the sidecar, with a 3 foot mound of goods and chattels stacked on the roof of the sidecar.  (The tricycle was smoking a little, but still moving at a decent clip.)  Everyone of course was wearing flip-flops, and for headwear safety the mother had a towel around her face to keep her from breathing exhaust fumes.  I think they may have been moving house.

I saw a tricycle hauling two complete suites of wooden lounge furniture (no passengers), and as we overtook it decided I liked the set with the green fabric the best.  Later I bemusedly realised that I am desensitized to the insanity of tricycles.

Death on three wheels:

There are tons of motorcycles here.  Note in the picture below, the typical riding uniform…towel around the face, shorts, flip-flops, sunglasses, extremely questionable lid, wearing a sweater on the arms only (for sun protection).  All I can say is wow.

My parents own a multicab.  Made by Suzuki, it boasts a 90 cc, 3 cylinder engine and can seat 10-12 Filipino people in reasonable comfort.  My cousin Mary Ann is a master multicab driver and does all of the driving for the family.  There are many multicabs about, and they make sense.  Families are numbered in the double digits as a matter of course in the Philippines, and they all like to go when there is travelling to be done.

My family's valiant steed:

Note the go-faster decals and rear spoiler.  I have to laugh whenever I imagine my Super-Sized brother trying to fit into this vehicle.

Jeepneys are larger than multicabs, with bigger engines and a lot more chrome.  You’ll have to Google them, I wasn’t able to get any good pics, sorry.  I have to say that the jeepneys I saw buzzing around were pretty much always full, and all the passengers looked to be having a cracking good time.

There are lots of buses as well.  The drivers are very aggressive and will overtake even in the face of oncoming traffic.  They are the biggest vehicles and can also honk the loudest.  They will not stop if you happen to be walking across the road in front of them – you either run to get out of the way or you will be squashed.  The drivers of air-conditioned buses are marginally more careful, but only because they don't want to wreck them and be forced to drive a bus without air.

The road markings are treated as gentle suggestions – you can have as many as four vehicles abreast in two lanes, and overtaking occurs on either side of you.  There is a lot of honking.  Most intersections are uncontrolled, and getting across an intersection can involve some complicated manoeuvring whilst honking. 

I wouldn’t even begin to know how to drive here, but if I had to I think I would opt for a trials bike of some sort – maybe a 125 or a 250 cc Honda.   Something zippy that wouldn’t fall apart too quick, that's small enough to fit in traffic cracks and can't seat more than 3 people ;-)