TODAY: A TOUR OF CEBU'S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PARK

Cebu's IT Park

Today Ana and I walked through the Cebu IT Park, a grouping of large buildings owned by worldwide technology companies in the Northern District of Cebu.  At the base of all the skyscrapers are dozens of small cubicles featuring restaurants, coffee shops, convenience stores, many with familiar names from all around the world.  Everything is wonderfully landscaped including Koi is all the water features.  

We enjoyed a bowl of won ton soup with a glass of pineapple juice for a very moderate amount, then walked back to our hotel for a swim.

From the mirror behind my laptop, it appears Ana may be asleep.  If so, I will turn the TV channel from movies back to USA CNN.

Later.  

BROWNSVILLE OBSERVER GOES TO THE POOL, WAITS FOR ANA

Charlie, Powerful Swimmer in Cebu

It was difficult not to notice the swimmer two lanes over in the Olympic size pool at the Holiday Spa Hotel in Cebu.  

Charlie, 48, from Manila, not an Olympic swimmer as I suspected, swam several laps, always kicking out for the next with precision.

"No, I was never in the Olympics or a college swimmer," he explained.  

"Yes, I was in a swimming club.  I swim to overcome my 30 year habit with cigarettes and to keep in shape till the time my 4 year old daughter brings boyfriends to our house," Charlie continued.

Comfortable Rattan Chaise Lounges

I did my usual, swimming underwater for a half lap, then switching to a backstroke to complete the lap in respectable, but not near record time.

Meanwhile, I'm awaiting Ana's arrival tomorrow morning.  She's already on a ship from Cagayan de Oro headed for Cebu.  

Ana won't be coming home with me as some in Brownsville suspect.  Securing a K-1 Visa is more complicated than that, especially in the Trump era.

It may take a year, but we will pay the fees, cross the bureaucratic t's, dot the i's and see what happens.

Ana, educated, skilled and delightful is worth it.   

BROWNSVILLE OBSERVER FINDS "ANGEL IN DISGUISE"

Hesel

The Brownsville Observer is like my diary, an honest account of my feelings, beliefs, observations at any point in time.  

I've been open about the purpose of my trip to the Phillipines, a collection of 100 or so islands jutting up from the ocean floor equatorially adjacent to much of Viet Nam.

I told everyone who would listen that I was in search of a partner, not a duplicate of Nena, my wife of 49+ years, but someone else, willing to combine skill sets, ideas, viewpoints with affection.

The longest leg of my flight emanated from Houston, flying over the continental U.S., Canada, Alaska, yes, Russia, to Taipei, Taiwan, 16 hours, 5 minutes in the air, with 727 passengers sitting 9 abreast, 6 attentive Chinese stewardesses serving drinks, food, sashaying up and down the aisles in matching outfits, pearl earrings in each ear.

The object of my attention was Hesel, pictured above, a resident of Cagayan de Oro, an hour's plane ride south of Cebu City.  

Hesel agreed to meet me in Cebu, actually the Mactan Airport at Lapu Lapu, located in a small island just off Cebu.

We spent a week together, touring the botanical gardens on mountainsides outside the city, dining at the Top of Cebu, then meeting her family, parents, grandparents, an aunt, a cousin with an "American" boyfriend, etc.

It was a beautiful, undeserved, surreal week in my life.

Down the twisting mountain roads outside Cebu, our cab driver joined the radio to sing "Angel in Disguise," a song haunting me ever since.  

When Hesel, one month shy of 21, kept leaving me to be with her family, I realized she was not ready for this.  We parted, amicably, I hope.

Ana and I

In the wake of Hesel, accidentally, I met Ana Adoing, 37, accomplished, mature and ready.  On first meeting, she invited me to her home.  We talked, talked and talked more.  About everything.

Ana and I walked her neighborhood in Bugo, a suburb of Cagayan de Oro,  exchanging pleasantries with many friendly neighbors, then venturing outside the town through the Del Monte banana and papaya plantations.

Today, from my hotel room in Cebu City, I asked Ana to marry me.  She said that, although she already knows the answer to my question, she wants to ride the ferry from CDO to Cebu Tuesday morning and give me her response in person.

Wish me luck.   

BROWNSVILLE OBSERVER'S DEPARTURE FROM BUGO DELAYED BY TROPICAL DEPRESSION SAMUEL

Ana at the "Last Supper"

While the day started off as a frolicking walk through the Del Monte banana/papaya orchards, crossing the newly constructed diversion road between two Philippine cities, things turned somber as Ana realized I was taking the 11:59 PM boat to Cebu.

"I don't want you to go!" Ana kept saying with tears streaking down her face.

Ana had mistakenly thought my boat would leave 11/28, not 11/20 and was not taking it well.

Finally, around 5 PM, Ana gathered herself.

"I'm taking you to the best BBQ restaurant in Cagayan de Oro, then to the boat," she said.

"And, I'm not crying any more!"

 Just before the picture was taken above, things changed dramatically.  We got an alert from 2GoTravel that, due to  tropical depression Samuel, my mode of transportation was stuck in Cebu waiting clearance to set out for CDO.

Ana now seemed to be on some sort of laughing gas as the dinner mood turned from somber to total happiness.

So, another night and now a day in Bugo, but still no word from 2GoTravel about the boat's status.  

In Bugo, I accompanied a group of neighbors to help bury an elderly lady's dog.  Jokingly, I was handed the shovel by a neighbor man who actually did the digging.  Good thing I didn't venture deeper into the wooded area as a young boy told me a poisonous snake was "in that brush."

BROWNSVILLE OBSERVER TAKES A MORNING WALK IN BUGO, PHILIPPINES

My gracious hostess in Bugo, Philippines, Ana Adiong, woke me at 7 AM:  "Are you ready for a walk?" she asked.

"First, drink your coffee and then we will walk up to the mountain," Ana added.

We exited the Villa Trinitas Subdivision, finding the new concrete diversion road from Tagoloan to Alae with a bridge crossing a stream of clear water coming down from the mountains around Bugo.  Locals also made a makeshift wooden bridge we found occupied by two toddlers.

Motorscooters whizzed by, most carrying three or four passengers; a proud father with three neatly dressed children, four older people, then a bald man smoking a cigarette with a guy behind him with child on his shoulders.

After posing for pics, the young father walks down the rocky embankment and across the river to his home still carrying his kid on his shoulders.

We passed a neighborhood sari sari store, where locals buy most everything, from a 100 peso "load" for their phone or laptop to a bottle or two of San Miguel Beer.  

Almost everyone smiled with a "good morning!" One small group held up a quart of San Miguel Beer, offering me a drink.  When I told them I had a cold quart waiting for me back at the house, you could hear the laughter echoing in the trees. 

A woman with a flower garden insisted that I be in the picture, gesturing for me to come up into her sloping yard.

Del Monte is the primary employer here with a cannery on the water.  We walked through the company's banana and papaya orchards.  

Proud Owner of Sari Sari Store.  Notice the Neatly Stacked
Cooking Wood

(All pics for this article by Ana Adiong)

BROWNSVILLE OBSERVER EDITOR FINDS POSSIBLE SOULMATE IN BUGO, PHILIPPINES

Ana

Those who know me personally understand that my trip to the Philippines was not about tourism, but finding a suitable partner.  

My first week in Cebu was spent with Hesel, an intelligent, but extraordinarily gorgeous young woman from Cagayan de Oro.  I met her entire extended family and, while that went well, we had some insurmountable personal differences.

When things did not work out with Hesel, I was fortunate to accidentally meet Ana Adiong, 37,  educated as a nurse, but an entrepreneur in Bugo, a suburb of Cagayan de Oro.

BROWNSVILLE OBSERVER BLOGGER FINALLY GETS A HAIRCUT IN BUGO, PHILIPPINES

Busy little Bugo, a suburb of Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, has five little barber shops lined up together, all crowded on a Saturday night.

The Brownsville Observer editor stopped at the last shop, waiting only a few minutes to get a haircut, shave, mustache trim and back massage for $1.20.  Honestly, I don't think I've ever gotten a better haircut at any price.

The Annitas Subdivision of Bugo, my current residence in the Philippines, is totally buzzing with at least a hundred tricycles humming through the labyrinth of narrow streets, each carrying 5-7 passengers, powered by a motorscooter pulling a steel carriage.  The adult fare is 8 cents.

For very few pesos residents can pick up several types of bbq or sweet treats on a stick at many eating stations along the roadway.

THE BROWNSVILLE OBSERVER TAKES A MORNING WALK IN CAGAYAN DE ORO, MINDANAO

THREE DAYS AT COUNTRY VILLAGE HOTEL IN CAGAYAN DE ORO

Country Village Hotel Entrance

View from Hotel Room in CDO

Rebel bombings and kidnappings are considered unlikely in Cagayan de Oro or CDO, despite its location on the heavily Muslim island of Mindanao.  

While the U.S. and England have both issued travel warnings for the island of Mindanao, CDO is rated the 7th safest city in Asia, well ahead of both Cebu and Manila.

I'm careful to exclude women in the traditional hijab scarf from my photos as I know they oppose being photographed.  They do respond, however, to my "Good morning!"

My spartan existence at the Country Village Hotel in CDO is in sharp contrast to the royal treatment received at the Castle Peak Hotel in Cebu City.

No toiletries, wash cloths or blankets, just one bath towel wrapped in cellophane and one bottle of water.

The lobby staff, while friendly, laid down the law:  nothing from outside can be brought in, no food, liquor, beverages or snacks.  

When I asked for an additional towel to mop up the shower water on the floor of the CR(comfort room), I got a harsh response.

"So, sir, let me understand.  You want TWO towels?" the lady staffer asked sharply.

"No.  I'll tell you what I want.  I want someone to come up and mop my CR floor and bring me a blanket," I responded just like the ugly American I am.

Within two minutes a boy and girl showed up at my door, knocking meekly.  The boy had a mop and the girl, a blanket and my "second towel." The young man also brought a shower curtain to keep me from leaving the CR floor for the next resident as it had been left for me.

My "included" breakfast consisted of cold corn beef hash, warm rice and a small, sunny side egg cooked hard.

The diner pours hot water to make his own Nescafe and puts a glass up to the spout of a water bottle for cold water.

Street Sweepers at 7:00 AM

Explaining Why Hotel Has No Elevator

  

BROWNSVILLE OBSERVER EDITOR HONORED IN THE PHILIPPINES AS ELDERLY

Hesel and I with her Elders

The Philippines, a cluster of a hundred or so islands rising from the sea, seems to be run by young people on behalf of the old.  As an elderly one myself, I'm frequently pointed to the head of  lines or queues, being given extra honor because of age. 

The man behind me is Hesel's grandfather, 94.  Sitting alongside are two grandmothers and Hesel's mother.

The small concrete house is shared by three generations with Hesel and her parents living in a basement "apartment."  A wrought iron circular staircase in the center of the house leads to the second floor.

After the family decided in the Cebuano language that I "looked tired," I was shown a bed in the basement apartment on which to take a "power nap."  I thanked them, but laughingly declined.

Behind the house is a storage shanty, an outdoor cooking area, a "dirty kitchen," and a tropical forest with the lot sloping almost straight down.

Hesel's family home is in Upper Carmen, a sort of suburb of Cagayan de Oro.

  

The family was anxious for me to meet the young man above, a boyfriend of Hesel's cousin, described as "half American," said to be capable of "intelligent conversation in English."

We did meet, talking about everything from Trump/Duterte to the NBA.  Yes, the boyfriend was articulate in English, not an American at all, but the son of a Netherlands father and Filipina mother.  

When I asked him what language he uses to think and dream, he said up to now, Dutch, but more increasingly, Cebuano.

 

The four young people above run an internet cafe/hostel in Cebu City.  Chy, in the white shirt above, gave me a guided tour of the cafe, the dining area, the projection room, even the rest rooms.  She says as many as 350 come each day to access the internet.  

Internet users, she stated, may bring their own food or eat at the cafe or even spend the night.

THE SIGNS OF CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES

NINE THOUSAND MILES AWAY FROM THE THRILL OF VICTORY, THE AGONY OF DEFEAT

Hesel in 9th Floor Pool of the
Castle Peak Hotel, Cebu City

From 9000 miles away,
the sting of the Cascos loss and the TSC legal setback are felt, as well as hope that the BISD board won't be locked into an unwholesome majority, but the impact of all that is lessened by demure femininity of Hesel Bloza,  my companion in the 9th story pool of the Castle Peak Hotel in Cebu City.

How scary was it that the totally corrupt and indicted Hidalgo County Judge Rudy Delgado was nearly re-elected?  RGV voters continue to be uninformed.

Here in Cebu City and likely the rest of the Philippines, no one comes close to questioning popular President Rodrigo Duterte's AK-47 approach to discovered drug dealers and their families.  

Yesterday, Duterte called for the "on the spot" execution of any in the Bureau of Customs found to be "fixers."

This morning, while Hesel still slept, I set out on a 6 AM walk, purposely turning into some neighborhood squalor much more severe than anything in Matamoros.  Everywhere I met friendly people who greeted me with a hearty "Good morning!"

From the editor:  Jerry McHale's republishing of yesterday's article is much appreciated, but his description of Hesel as a mere "piece" is inaccurate.  I'm considering Ms. Bloza as a partner, not simply a sexual object.  

Hesel(pronounced "He sell") is an avid photographer and videographer who feels we could make a life together despite a humongous age difference.

She has zero interest in the so-called night life.  When I asked her last night if she wanted to go to the "Chill Out Bar" on the 9th floor of the hotel, she replied:  "Why would we do that?"

So, we settled for a visit to the pool, which overlooks downtown Cebu City.

Challenges loom ahead as we meet her folks on the 12th, flying to Cagayan de Oro, another city on the water, but in the Mindanao province.

Already, a friend of the family has offered to "help" us out with a 3000 PHP ($60 USD) ride from the airport.

Not happening!

BROWNSVILLE OBSERVER EDITOR MEETS HESEL IN CEBU CITY

Hesel at the Top of Cebu Restaurant

An undeserved honeymoon, an acknowledgement of what I've long known, that I'm  Citizen of the World, and a roller coaster ride in a Toyota van through the twists and turns of the mountains framing Cebu City are all in play here.

Our shuttle driver, Atay, is, in the immortal words of the Dustin Hoffman character in Rain Man, an
"excellent driver."

On the way back down from the mountains, after touring three botanical gardens, Hesel has Atay stop the van, so she can throw up.  Her car sickness is only cured with a three hour nap at the Castle Peak Hotel.

Attendant's Hat Says
"Anything for 20 Pesos"

Driver Atay sings perfectly to James Taylor's "You've Got a Friend," while tapping his horn to pass road-dominant motorscooters,  frequently carrying three adults each.

Cebu City, stunningly framed by mountains and set alongside the sea, is a wonderful city ruined by horrendous traffic.  Thirty motorscooterists bob and weave their way to the head of every traffic stop.  Taxi drivers play "chicken" with each other, while colorful jitneys crammed with passengers hanging out the windows and back door, move along.  Box van and bus drivers  use the size of their vehicles to muscle in wherever.