Bonne Vacances! (Cebu Part1)
I have already written in brief about how Dan and I almost missed our flight to Cebu. So I'm not gonna write about it anymore in this post.
Fast Forward to the next morning, October 25.
After a quick breakfast at Shakey's, we headed to the nearest mall, Robinson's Place Cebu, to start searching for leather shoes to wear to the wedding. Wrong place. There was nothing interesting in there. There was something really cute that we found on the connecting overpass though --- something which told us we were, NO DOUBT, in the Philippines.
It was funny. And quite embarassing as well. But hello!, in every culture, there is something that people need to reminded NOT to do, no matter how civilized and sophisticated we already are. Or we are, supposedly.
It's really nothing different from the "no Spitting" signs one would find everywhere in HK.
But, yeah, "NO Urinating In Public Places" is very apt for Filipinos. Hurts to admit it but it's true.
Our group left Robinson's and headed to a more "tried and tested" mall --- the Ayala Center.
The first thing that we saw as we entered the doors of Ayala was the Linea Italia signage. "Ricky told me they have a huge sale," I said excitedly. As soon as I said the word "sale", Dan and I started running towards Linea. Then Dan asked, in a really sitcom-ic manner, "Rye, why are we running?" We cracked up for acting as though the sale would only last 5 minutes. We found nothing interesting.
I suggested Mendrez. I used to buy a lot of leather shoes from Mendrez. To our disappointment, nothing still. Two more shops later, Dan found a pair that he already liked. They didn't have his size. I was beginning to get frustrated. There was nothing I could wear to the wedding if I didn't find anything in Ayala.
We decided to split. Dan would go with our Chinese friends to look for a sim card and I would look into the deepest, darkest corners of Ayala Center to find a decent pair of shoes. Then we would meet up when it's purchase time. A little over half an hour later, I called Dan to say I found two pairs that I really liked. But both were out of the budget. He asked me to show them to him in hopes that his opinion might help. He was always the rational shopper of us two. Well, not always. I retract that.
Option #1: Democrata. Black, pointed, Italian leather. So my style. Php6700. I was willing to pay the amount. But that would affect my Boracay budget. And besides, the reason we decided to buy shoes in the Philippines was to economize. We weren't supposed to go over the equivalent of HK$400.00 or else it would've been pointless that we didn't buy the Zara shoes we both wanted.
Option #2: Hugo Boss. Black, pointed, Italian leather, rounded sides. Very French in design. Very me too. Php23,000.00. Dan's only reaction was, "You must be kidding." And of course, my only reaction was, "Yeah. I must be kidding."
Somewhere in the middle of Ayala, while Dan and I were discussing what options we had left, we heard a familiar female voice screaming our names. We were surprised to see it was our good friend, Anna Fegi, who was also in Cebu for the same wedding (the bride, Jing and Anna are sisters). Dan and I shrieked in excitement, which she topped with a higher pitched shriek. It drew attention from other shoppers. When we looked around, everybody was looking at us. Quite embarassing!
We later met up with a friend of ours who now lives in Cebu, John who brought us to the salon and drove us later in the evening to Kan-anan ni Kuya Jay, a local restaurant that served really sumptuous grilled food and fresh seafood (our first empacho for the trip); then to the spa.
lutong Cebu! woohoo!
After our relaxing pedicure, manicure and foot massage, John went home while we went back to our room to freshen up and get ready for our first Cebu night-out!
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