Cebu never loses its charm

For the nth time we were in Cebu city a fortnight ago. This is one place that has not lost its charm, perhaps the reason why visitors, domestic and foreign, always relish the experience, no matter how often, of a visit. People are its best asset. Add to that the malls, the eateries, the shops and the traditional palengke where mounds of danggit, bagoong and sweet mangoes are irresistible buys.

During this particular visit of ours, Pampanga food was "invading" the city during the Pinoy Food Festival at the Marco Polo Hotel (formerly Cebu Plaza), to mark the country's 109th Independence Day. But we must first take note that the hotel has been given an impressive make-over, specially the main dining area now called Marco Polo. It has gone the way of the 5-star hotels in Manila, with a sprawling and massive international buffet with very gracious service, a trademark of the Cebuanos.

For 12 days, guest chef Gene Gonzalez shared his culinary expertise as he held court, offering classic Pampango dishes plus his new concoctions - tugak or frogs' legs done adobo style, Paella Sulipeña plus the incredible Sisig Pate. As a bonus, Gene regaled the city folk with a Dinner of Chocolates - yes, from appetizers to dessert. He served us a duo infused with olives (you bite into a ball with olive bits) and anchovies. Super!

As we prepared for dessert, Gene went off to the kitchen and re-appeared with marinated (again in vinegar, anchovies and olive oil) slices of very tender beef. We found out he used the part meat vendors call ‘tabing'. It's that section that is like a collar, the piece between the chin and the neck of a cow. He cautions, we might not find this with our palengke suki because commercial eateries always corner the supply. Ever the enterprising one, Gene has just opened a culinary school in Davao, hopeful the region can produce future outstanding chefs.

The event was among a string of food festivals planned by the hotel, basically using the culinary talents of guest chefs as well as their Executive Chef, Luke J. Gagnon who comes from Canada. We failed to meet him, but judging from his credentials, he is one talented culinary guru.

Marco Polo Cebu belongs to the Marco Polo chain of Kowloon, Hongkong, of which we have happy memories. Our friend Lynn Romero has chosen to base herself in Cebu as its marketing director. On our arrival and departure the very courteous Chino Quintana and his staff attended to us.

It was the Cebu Business Month's ASEAN Tourism Congress that brought us to the Queen City of the South. Judging from the enthusiasm and drive of the organizers and the travel industry, Manila might wake up one day to find it has lost the premium edge on tourism.

This time we did have time to shop. We visited the Pasalubong Center on the way to the airport. An aside: perhaps the Cebu officialdom would consider posting street names, since there is hardly any throughout the city. Suffice it to say that this store is on the road to Mactan airport. It offers an extensive inventory of not only souvenir items but food stuff, the traditional pasalubongs, plus bottled sardines from Dipolog and Dumaguete, Franco's sauces (tuna, putanesca, Italian) for P200, tablea at P150 a pack, preserved fruits and a lot more.

Right beside this store is SM's Save More, where imported and local products compete for the Cebuanos' hard-earned pesos. Like everywhere there are a lot of Thai food stuff, including tamarind at P124 a pack of 500 gms. The fresh food section sells Monterey pork chops for P144 a kilo, the breaded at P169. Tilapia goes for P130 a kilo and lapu-lapu for P230. We quenched our thirst at a stall with a question for a name, Thirsty? A drink of fresh fruit juice starts at P29.

This sign on a cashier's box in a gasoline station on Shaw Boulevard is rather witty in trying to deter robbers. "Barya lang ang nandito. Wala sa istasyon ang susi." Translated this means "Only coins are inside. The key is not in the station." Hopefully this will discourage the hooligans.