Cebu: Downtown and Uptown
Posted May 23, 2023 by Jan
Cebu City
Province of Cebu
Republic of the Philippines
May 23, 2023
Mabuhay,
Despite my lackadaisical attitude, I actually got to see some water in the Philippines!
My driver crossed the 5.5 mile (8.9 km) Cebu–Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX), also known as the Cebu–Cordova Bridge. He found a remote dockside where cheerful young women encourage their screeching kids to swim and play. A Waterfront Kindergarten! **
In mid morning the Carbon Market has few visitors. Shopkeepers restock their inventory of traditional woven goods. Food sellers prepare tempting mountains of seafood and vegetables for the famished lunchtime hordes who will consume everything. A ginger cat waits patiently. Despite the pressure of work, almost everyone has a smile for this overfed foreigner.
(The name of the Carbon Market came from the word carbón, Spanish for coal, since the area was said to be close to a coal depot used for the trains of the old Cebu Railway that ran in Cebu from the 19th century up until World War II.)
In a city of one million, I find the typical Southeast Asia contrast between the "downtown" freight haulers and people movers and the "uptown" modern transportation. Colorful and convenient, I dare not take a small bright bus that at rush hour is crammed!. Instead I stroll back to the Quest Hotel shooting modern skyscrapers.
Jan
** Despite all the seacoasts and islands and rivers and lakes throughout this region, many people I have met never learned to swim.
Years ago I attended a concert where a donation was requested for the construction of a swimming pool at a private school. A swimming pool at a private school?!
I later learned that drowning is a leading cause of death of young childen in the low and middle income populations in Southeast Asia.
So the Waterfront Kinderkarten provides both play and education.
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