cebu

exploring old cebu

I am a flat shoes kind of girl. I love my trusty pairs of Oxford shoes. I wore my black-white pair to a night of museum-hopping but the very second I stepped inside the FIRST museum, this happened:

I kid you not; I felt the sole flip-flapping the moment we entered Casa Gorordo. And because everything I know about life I learned from Mentos commercials, I asked the boyfriend to get me gum. He bought me a pair of rubber flip-flops instead. It was a couple of sizes too big for my feet but they were heaven-sent.  Why? Because we did a lot of bus-chasing, crowd-evading, and stair-climbing.

Obligatory photo of small feet and huge slippers:

so glam! (I am being sarcastic, little doves) / Sidenote: how amazing do the words "little dove" sound coming from Lena Headey's Cersei?)

So the museum-hopping event was something the city organized in observance of the International Museum Day. We were able to visit only six out of twenty-one museums. We will be posting most of the photos on Hanging Rice but I thought I’d share some of things that made me smile:

     

     

 

nest 4 ,

some things burn down

I’ve lived in this city for 13 years. For cheap but beautiful fabrics,  I was a loyal customer of Gaisano South. Today, this is Gaisano South:

The fire happened about half a year ago. I have been by the burnt building a few times after that but it wasn’t until I saw this demolition process that I felt a sense of finality.

My parents were in town when the fire happened. In a strange turn of events, I was also with my parents (they’re back in the city for a summer holiday) when I snapped the photos above. Unlike the changes, huge or otherwise, that constantly happen in a city, being with your parents means being a kid again. This means rolling on their hotel bed without a care in the world or being given cab money even though you’ve been financially self-sufficient since you graduated from college.

Using the cab money that my father gave me the same afternoon I took these photos, I bought pretty fabric. It wasn’t as cheap as Gaisano South would have sold it, though.

This is the fabric:

I call this The Early Dinner Dress. I shall post a tutorial for it next week.

nest 3 ,

at the risk of jinxing things

…it’s looking like I will be getting out of my cave more this year.

Last Friday, the boyfriend and I attended the opening of an art exhibit presented by local contemporary artists. A couple of hours of seeing old faces, saying “how’ve you beens” and smiling at strangers are not fatal, it turns out.

the boyfriend's piece, "Problem Child"

CRAFTED: bag, rings, necklaces / THRIFTED: tuxedo blazer, lace shorts / GIFTED: watch

Bigger photo of the boyfriend’s piece HERE.

nest 7 ,

first day high

In an unprecedented burst of can-do attitude, I said yes to an afternoon trip outside the city the first day of the new year. Together with most of the boyfriend’s huge family, I went to a nature theme park sort of place several towns outside of Cebu. After a week of almost-daily mall trips and a day battling a pesky bug (the medical kind), the afternoon was a most welcome reprieve.

bamboo bridges are no fun and fun at the same time

0v0

boyfriend's nephews: one didn't know they were going to zipline to the other island until the very last second. but he begged to go again after the experience.

"they're gonna attack us!" i said to the boyfriend when i noticed some sea birds flying low over the bridge. apparently, everything i assume i know about nature, i learned from movies.

CRAFTED: leather bracelet / THRIFTED: top, shorts / GIFTED: bag

PSA: We went to Papa Kit’s.

inspire 5 ,