There’s something a little creepy about walking around at night by yourself in a strange land through a negatively stereotyped city, but somehow – it’s something I find very hard to resist. In a way, it is only during night time that I truly get the sense of what the city is and as irrational as most of my people would have me think this is – I need my personal battle in fighting the urge to crawl up into my safe haven of a hotel to which I am probably expected to arrive in a shielded comfy taxi.
So, yeah, Cebu City has got a grand reputation of being unsafe, sleazy and generally very unwelcoming starting from the evening hours, unless you’re an expat looking for an easy lay in one of the many prostitution bars that are all over the place. Indeed, walking around without knowing where to, and getting weird stares from practically every local I pass has made me feel that this was perhaps not a good idea. But onwards I march, unto the depth of alleged "local culture", into the mystery some call "Carbon Market", moments before it shuts down.
Sunset time in the streets leading to the market…
Just as chaos calms down and all that’s left is a big quiet mess…
Which all sorts help to clean up…
As night finally arrives, the true local fiesta fires up in the nearby streets…
… with endless colors and crazy smells.
So I lingered for a while, getting lost around the southern streets of Cebu, getting laughed at, stared at, poked at, and what not with the occasional solicitation and marriage proposals. And I survived, imagine that.
Nice experience, I like this the most from your Philippine series. I can feel the dilemma of decision making: nice hotel room or the challenge of experience something new (and a bit scary).
Thanks, Hanjie.
Wow crazy colors!