Going Back Home (Part 2)

After two busy weeks, my daughter was already restless and bored. She keeps asking when we will go to the beach. Bea never had seen a sea shore except what she saw on pictures. She doesn’t know what beach sand feels like or sea-water taste like and the nearest thing she experienced is dipping in a swimming pool. So come Sunday morning we decided to go to a local beach resort to douse her excitement and curiosity.

Hawili Beach
There are lots of beaches in my home town but there is one particular beach my family goes to on occasion. It’s situated around 20 klicks from our place, patronized by local residents and very few foreigners knew about it (privately, I prefer it that way). It has “white” sand but not as white or as wide as the seashores of Boracay.

But it serves its purpose; a place for a family picnic with no tourists roaming around and a relaxing dip in the green-blue sea, a comforting feeling against the hot summer.

After that, it was my wife’s turn to do an “ala-Bea”, whining why we don’t do much on our vacation. So we pack our bags and went to Iloilo, stayed overnight at my sister’s place and in the morning, they brought us to the airport for our flight to Cebu.

Memories of Cebu
The last time I was in Cebu I was 4 or 5 years old. We went there to attend my aunt’s graduation in Medicine at the University of San Carlos. There are only two things I remember of that event; the ship that brought us there passing under the iron bridge and that little incident at the dormitory. My aunt’s dorm has a small aviary full of lovebirds and my parents left me there while they went up to see her. When they came down, a nun approaches my aunt and complained that two of the lovebirds are dead. When asked if she knows anything about it, naturally, my aunt denies everything. Until today, my family still suspects that I have something to do with it. I admit that I’m very “active” as a small child but, I swear on my grandfather’s tomb, I didn’t do it. Peks man, cross my heart, madapa sana ang hindi maniwala.

Lapu-lapu Shrine
That evening my wife’s cousin fetched and brought us to where Magellan met his creator. As we park our car, children went up to us and start asking for money but were admonished by cousin and shooed away. Anong akala nila sa amin, si Pacman?

I don’t know what this obelisk represents. It looks like a tomb marker with “Hernando Magallanes” written on it. Maybe it’s where Ferdie was buried.

Here’s Lapu-lapu’s statue in all his glory. It reminds me of the “Oscar”.

Further on, they pointed to us the very spot where Magellan was struck down. I keep straining my eyes to see the marker but all I can see was total darkness. It would have help if we went there earlier when the sun was still up.

Next time I'll tell you the further adventure in Cebu and Boracay "ng mga hilaw na turista”.