A CEBU EXPERIENCE: FROM BOODLE FIGHT TO INTERNET BLACKOUT

 

Imagine being a blogger who has to write quality articles twice a week, but has no laptop to work with. That was the challenge I faced when I traveled to Cebu for my daughter’s graduation. How did I manage to keep up with my blogging schedule without a laptop? Read on to find out.

A five-day trip with my wife last week to attend our daughter Dionne‘s college graduation at the University of San Carlos in Cebu was also my first out-of-town trip as a blogger.

I’ve been a blogger for more than a year now and I’ve been giving it my all in carrying out this goal: To post top-quality ATABAY articles twice a week – every Wednesday and Sunday – in so doing, maintaining the readers’ attention and interests.

In putting together my articles, I’ve been using a desktop computer. In the past, I got three laptops during my corporate years stretching across more than two decades. I dumped them, one by one, due to either the laptop’s limited product life, obsolescence, corrupted software, or damaged hardware.

Hence, I opted this time for a desktop computer which I’ve found functional for my blogging needs -- until my first out-of-town trip popped up last week. I placed a last-minute call to Dionne to borrow her laptop during our stay in Cebu. Unluckily, she was using it in her licensure exam review. Without a laptop in hand, this article you’re reading now I drafted putting to good use my cell phone.

Our trip to Cebu was supposed to be a celebration of our daughter’s graduation, but it turned out to be a test of our resilience in the face of digital challenges. Let me tell you how we coped with a faulty TV and a missing internet connection in our condo unit.

Last Wednesday morning, I posted my article “The Real World Awaits: Insights From New Graduates”; later in the afternoon, we took the flight to Cebu.

Our Philippine Airlines plane landed smoothly at Mactan airport where Dionne met us with her friend Juvie driving an SUV.

A seasoned traveler, my wife remarked that our convenient airport arrival experience showed the Mactan airport’s efficient management in contrast to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s recent power outage fiascos that made the national headlines.

Dionne booked for our five-day Cebu stay a standard airconditioned one-bed with a toilet and hot shower condo unit in Avida Riala Tower 3 located in the heart of Cebu IT Park. Fully furnished with a dining table, sofa, modular kitchen with the ref, induction cooker, rice cooker, water heater, microwave oven, toaster, and utensils – it was a picture-perfect cozy home away from home.

Being a typical techie, Dionne turned on and checked the wall-mounted TV. Its all-black wide screen turned all-green. That’s all it showed. Nothing more. She connected her cell phone to the internet server using the password posted on the wall. It’s a disappointment. There and then, she broke the bad news – our condo unit had no internet connection.

Having saved a file of uploaded e-novels that could be read offline, my wife was not so much affected by such an internet blackout as I was as a blogger. She joked, “We are like inside a desert-like room in the middle of an oases-like digital IT city.”

FLASHBACK

A week before, Dionne posted a creative Father’s Day card for me with this opening line:

“Dad, you’re the reason why I know how to use the screwdriver…”

I commented with this excerpted wisecrack:

“You’ll be graduating from college this month. So, let me upgrade one lesson – the screwdriver. Make Yourself A Screwdriver When Life Gives You A Lemon.

“How? Combine orange juice (freshly squeezed) and vodka (Smirnoff No. 21 is OK) in a highball glass and stir…”

I kept on tipping her off the bartender’s forte in making a “screwdriver” cocktail. Then, I wrapped up:

“Speaking of ‘lemons’ in life, to begin with, as an example, look out for a ‘lemon’ first car. Be sure to test drive the car to know how it handles, accelerates, brakes, and shifts.”

Little did I know that the “lemon” I told Dionne would come back to haunt us a week later in the form of the picture-perfect condo unit she had booked for us.

But the “lemon” oddity was just a minor glitch in our otherwise enjoyable stay in Cebu. We made the most of our brief visit by indulging in various cuisines, while being mindful of our limitations as seniors.

For our breakfasts:

We felt at ease with the familiar dishes, such as:

JOLLIBEE’s fried chicken, burger steak, sunny side up, & rice

KFC’s fried chicken, mushroom soup, & rice.

CAFÉ LAGUNA’s Bangsilog & Egg Salad Pandesal

We also tried some exotic diners.

            For our lunches:

MY JOY’s Salmon Steak & Boneless Bangus w/ Vegetable Salad

BIGBY’s Tiki Wacky Chicken Salad, Fresh Fish Catch, Bigby’S Riblets, Mashed Potatoes, Cucumber Cooler, & rice

For our dinners:

MC CAJUN‘s Seafoods Boodle Fight

 

PHAT PHO Vietnamese Kitchen’s Pho Bo & Pho Ga

NUSTAR FINA’s Beef Kare-Kare, Stuffed Squid, Roast Chicken, Jardin ni Fina w/ Mango Vinaigrette

A TWILIGHT ZONE

Our first dinner at MC CAJUN was a blast. We devoured the Seafoods Boodle fight, a feast of seafood and rice, by eating with our hands. We loved it so much that we wanted to go back for seconds the next night.

            But we had a weird adventure on our way to MC CAJUN. We walked for over an hour, following the directions from two locals and a cop, but we couldn’t find the place. It was as if we entered a “Twilight Zone” where things were not as they appeared.

Maybe we should have used Google Maps instead of asking strangers. Or maybe MC CAJUN was playing hard to get. Or maybe we were just like those clueless tourists.

Whatever the case, we ended up at Gerry’s Grille – a more familiar sounding name – where we had some Grilled Tuna Belly & Pinakbet. It was good, but not as good as the boodle fight.

“KALAAY”

My wife booked a home service beautician for Dionne on her graduation day. As the beautician was taking a break and using his cell phone, Dionne told him that our “lemon” condo unit had no internet connection. That meant we’re cut off from the online world, no Netflix and no WiFi for us, a double misery. The beautician groaned: “Kalaay.” (Boring)

            Inside that “lemon” condo unit, we were isolated from what was going on in the IT city, not to mention the rest of the country.

GRADUATION DAY

What about the graduation? Well, you know how graduations are. They are all pretty much the same. But to us, this graduation was special. It was the culmination of our daughter Dionne’s hard work and dedication. As parents, we were overjoyed and deeply thankful to God for our daughter Dionne’s remarkable achievement.

Just as I concluded my previous ATABAY article with best wishes to new graduates, so too will I do the same with this article.

CONGRATULATIONS DIONNE, a member of Class 2023! Welcome to the real world!

But don’t be afraid, the real world is not as scary as it sounds. It has its ups and downs, its joys and pains, its lemons and lemonades. You have what it takes to overcome any challenge and seize any opportunity. And remember, we are always here for you. You’ll never walk alone.

Content put together in collaboration with Microsoft Bing AI-powered co-pilot

Head collage photos courtesy of Cebu, Mc Cajun, & freepikdotcom

Video Clips courtesy of YouTube