Errands in Cebu City
Jessie and I made a trip to Cebu City on Wednesday and had a good time. Found some interesting things and had some wonderful
pizza and Starbucks coffee.
I had a good time, but the trip was not a complete success. My main purpose was to get my Philippine or international drivers license. That didn’t go well at all
LTO
Our first stop after the North Bus Terminal was to take a taxi to the South Bus Terminal. I thought the names of the bus terminals were related to their location within Cebu City. That’s not accurate at all. In one terminal all the buses head to northern Cebu Island while in the South terminal they head to the southern part of the Island. Seems kind of silly of me now.
We went to the South Terminal because that’s where I was told that was the best Land Transportation Office (LTO) in which to obtain my license. However, when I got there, I couldn’t even get in the building. There was a very long line. Part of the problem was that the system was down. I was told the LTO Chief could help people cut through some of the red tape but I couldn’t even get in to see him. I couldn’t get into the building as there was a huge mob of people engulfing the door.
One of the fixer approached me and was trying to be helpful but I told her I didn’t need a license that bad. I need to get it before my US license expires. It will be much more difficult after that. Since I was unable to obtain it, I’m going to try to get it from the branch in Bogo City. If that doesn’t work, I’m going to have to go back to Cebu City and try again.
Several people told me that I should have gone to the Mandaue office and not the Cebu City office. The person that told me to the South Bus Terminal told me it was always a mad house but the day before she told me it would take an hour. I think it was a communication breakdown. She’s a good friend to know.
I’m just not able to sit out in the sun all day or wait in a line for hours. If I could do it, I’d be rather sick the next day. I decided to just try again another day.
Shopping in Cebu City
Some of the things we need each month are not available in Bogo City, mostly groceries. Just a few things. Sugar free candy, sugar free chocolate milk mix and spam being the main ones. I also got some macaroni and cheese, neither of which is very good for me but I have to eat something! Fish is good and cheap but I get so frustrated picking out the bones, I just don’t want to deal with it. I suppose that is massive lazy but I can’t help it.
There is a store in SM Mall that I actually enjoy shopping in. Shopping is usually not one of my favorite things to do. Walking around looking at the same variations of other peoples stuff just doesn’t have a lot of appeal for me.
Kultura Filipino
You might guess that means Filipino culture and you would be correct. This store has items all about the Philippines. I don’t know if the items are actually made in the Philippines but Jessie says they are. They are definetly Filipino inspired though. A back scratcher made from carabao (water buffalo) horn. Others make use of bamboo for their handles as do many other items such as eating utensils. I would love to load our home up with these kinds of items some day. I hope I get the chance to make that happen.
You can also watch a Filipina make cigars. She does this completely by hand. They have some truly beautiful guitars as well. It is a store that a healthy person could spend a lot of time in. I spent quite a bit of time in it myself.
I had the chance to enjoy my favorite food while there, PIZZA. It was from Pizza Hut, hey I know its not one of the smaller shops in the states that excel at pizza but its pretty good for an American expat living in the Philippines!
I’m going to post a follow up article related to this featuring some of the pictures I took.
Tagged with: Cebu • Living In The Phlippines • Shopping In Cebu City
Filed under: Expats Living in Cebu
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Hey Rusty! What a great photo of you guys–sweet! My husband’s advice to you is instead of going all the way to Cebu City, go about halfway to Danao City to the office there. He and his brother had some vehicle registration stuff to do there and they were in and out in a few minutes. I hope this helps next time.
Anyway, when you’re promdis’ like all of us it’s fun to get into the city sometimes to eat and get different groceries and such. We’re more promdi than you though–we go to Bogo City to get away and get what we need sometimes!
Rusty on the fishbone issue, you could try in the wet market for fish in Bogo to just ask for kinds of fish that don’t have a lot of bones. There are many kinds and maybe you could BBQ them over some coals too for fun. Not for nothing, but Bogo fish market is considered the best in all of Cebu, having all kinds of fresh fish, shellfish and even seaweeds! I’m not trying to be mothering, but fish is really good for you! Don’t forget your vegetables now! Ha Ha..
I look like a giant next to her, huh? White guys look so strange to me. The seem brash too. I’ve become more use to Filipino now but I guess I must strike Filipino the way white guys strike me now.
I don’t forget vegetables, I avoid them. LOL Unfortunately they make me throw up. I tried to eat some of Jessie’s noodles just after i got here but I started gagging and I really tried. I didn’t think it would do that to me. I think my sense of smell is fouled up. If I could stand to eat rabbit food, I’d do it all day long, great way to get this weight off. Just not who I am. No matter how much I want it to be. It also destroys your social life.
We’ve bought fish from the market here, it is part of the public market. I guess I’m pretty spoiled, especially compared to a rugged peace corp volunteer.
Others can probably get by on a lot less money than myself as well cause I’ve spoiled myself. LOL Now I’m just lazy, the fish would really be the thing for me to eat though. I know. I’d loose weight because I’d get tired of picking the bones. 
Went on one of my 1.5 mile walks today. I could tell we’ve not been going enough as we both were pretty beat up by it. At one point, 1.5 miles was nothing. I got sick about the same time my monkey died and couldn’t walk for a while, two months and I’ve never gotten fully back into it. I’m doing ok I guess but not like I need to. Sometimes I walk much less than that. I need to keep it up to the 1.5 miles a day and I need to lay off the San Miguel. I don’t drink tons of it but two bottles a day is probably too much.
Hmmm Promdis? Cebuano word, or just a word I should know. I’ll have to take your word for being more promdis than I am.
You’ll have to educate me. There will be more pictures posted in about 30 minutes. The article is already there, just waiting for tomorrow to come for it to be posted. 
Hi Rusty, I’ll check the pictures next. Promdi is just a silly way of saying “prom de province” or I guess “hicks” not from the city! I get what you mean about standing out as an american–I’m tall and “very white” as they would say and you know red-heads burn so I guess I stand out too. Over time though I feel like I’ve become more filipina in my ways though, so I blend in somewhat “maybe”.LOL
Don’t worry about the fish–probably over time you’ll end up eating more and being more adventurous. Do you think that some of it could be the reaction from some of your meds? Hey, I don’t know if I’m any more rugged than you but I just love to cook and eat all kinds of different things. As far as the walking goes,I think that you guys do really well on that. Like many filipinos, I don’t like to walk too far in the sun if I can help it and I’ll even take a fan with me and sometimes an umbrella. I like to get up early to enjoy the coolness of the morning or go out in the late afternoon when the sun goes down. If you ask me,I think you’re adapting quite well so far. Just do what feels right for you.
I’m sure you stand out very well.
The only thing less common that American blond females are probably American redheaded females. LOL
We were likely both more rugged in our 20′s.
My bad eating habits have been with me a lot longer than the meds. I think the need for the meds might be behind some of the taste issues.
I wait until afternoon to walk, the less sun the better. It is especially hard for me to tan as my face keeps falling off. LOL The skin on my face is literally falling off. I also try to never go out with sunscreen on my face. I probably should wear much more than I do. The sun usually exasperates auto-immune illnesses. Last thing I want to do is get sick and have to slow down. If I slow down, I might start moving in reverse.
I look forward to meeting you on your next trip.
Be careful Rusty–the sun can be relentless!
I take precautions.
I don’t go out as much as I would like too.
If the sun ever does relent, we’re in real trouble then. LOL
I wrote a more detailed story about the cigars on http://HeyJoe.ph
Ah Pizza! Why didn’t you go to Sbarro’s? Much better than Pizza Hut.
I love my once a month (usually) greezy pizza hut. lol
I don’t know where Sbarro’s is for one.
Where is it?
I also like Da Vinci pizza that is around Cebu.
Greg, your emails got thrown into spam. I don’t know why.
I fixed it, I was slow to dig them out because I was out of town for the last couple of days.