Cebu Diary Thursday
Thursday, May 22, 2014
NAIA Terminal 3 just joined NAIA’s legendary infamy. In one area –
Section D of the airport – there were less than 10 counters servicing flights
to General Santos City, Tacloban, Zamboanga, Caticlan, Davao, Iloilo, Bacolod,
and two flights to Cebu.
This had all the makings of chaos.
True enough all these angry folks couldn’t restrain themselves any
longer. Rather than have one dedicated line to a flight to a certain
destination, one could line up anywhere. It didn’t help when the clerks would
ask those who were running late for their earlier flights to go to the head of
head of the line.
I arrived more than three hours before my scheduled flight. By the
time I clear the final security check to go to my flight’s designated gate,
there were only 25 minutes left until boarding time.
I refused to let this muddle my day (and this was at 5:30 in the
morning). It helped that as soon as I buckled up, I was fast asleep.
When I arrived in Mactan International Airport, the chaos that was
NAIA had also infected the local airport. One carousel was serving two flights!
Can you believe that? Where in the world does this happen --- only here!
Luckily for me, I only hand carry my stuff.
We’re staying at the Sarrosa International Hotel (somewhere in
Mandaue) along with the UE Red Warriors (who were scheduled to arrive before
lunch).
Wifi in the rooms are terrible so I hung out at the lobby to mooch
the wifi and try and put in some work.
Around noon, a tour bus stopped just outside hotel. One of the
first persons out of the bus was Charles Mammie and Roi Sumang. Soon the hotel
lobby overflowed with people as participants swarmed 18 tall rock stars from a
seminar for newly elected barangay officials from Leyte who mingled for
photographs and selfies.
I politely asked one lady barangay captain if she even knew these
UE Red Warriors. “Sumang! Chris (Javier) and Charles lang ang kilala ko!” the
fiftysomething official gushed. “Sorry pero hindi ko kilala yung iba.”
Nevertheless, she and her fellow officials pose for photos even
with the rookies. Amazing, I thought to myself.
“I’m excited to be here,” said Charles Mammie. “Basketball takes me
to different places.”
The Red Warriors aren’t playing today though they do have practice
at the Mandaue Sports Center.
The day’s matches feature an exhibition match between Sacred Heart
School-Ateneo de Cebu and CEC. The Magis Eagles crush the life out of the Baby
Dragons, 104-52.
I am impressed with several of the Magis Eagles – Joshua Sinclair, Alex
Visser, Jose Longa, and Steven Co, and Jed Colonia. There were the old
reliables like Felix Jaboneta and Anton Araw-Araw and some who didn’t play like
Zach Huang. But the five I mentioned are darn good. Though still young, they
have potential given more training and skills development. Except for Co,
Colonia, and Araw-Araw, the others play forward-center. I was in disbelief as they
outran even the opposing team’s point guards for fastbreak lay-ups and
putbacks.
I watched only the first half between the Southwestern University
Cobras and the University of the Visayas Green Lancers. The latter were in the
game for the first 15 minutes before the Cobras begin to put some distance. The Cobras have some 50 maritime students all identically dressed in white shirts and jeans cheering for their team and they sure made their presence felt with their cheers and drums. A couple of them held up a streamer that read, "Unleash the Venom."
Jasper Parker’s shooting and Landry Sanjo’s inside forays give
their team a 28-17 first half lead. I later heard that the Cobras destroyed UV,
69-45 (behind the three-point shooting of Anton Pardo and more of Sanjo's inside points).
I left at the half to join Coach Rommel Rasmo and his Magis Eagles
who I had written about during the NBTC. The Magis Eagles were treating me out!
We had dinner at Litang’s Barbecue at Barangay Pardo, Cebu. The
father of Anton Araw-Araw is a partner for Litang’s and owner of Araw-Araw Halo
Halo in an adjacent street.
Dinner was fantastic! Stripping the coconut wrappings around the
puso rice and dipping the barbecue, lechon manok, and longganisa in their
mélange of soy sauce, kalamansi, vinegar, eating with our hands – made for a
hearty dining experience. I sat with the parents and Coach Rommel talking about
basketball and Cebu stuff.
For dessert, we walked about a hundred meters away to Araw-Araw
Halo Halo and this was the literal cherry on the icing. The Mega Special costs
P85 yet the servings are way more generous than any other halo halo I have
eaten in this country. In case you’re in Cebu and looking forward to try
Litang’s or Araw-Araw Halo Halo, the address of the latter is 41-I. Tabora
Street, Pardo, Cebu.
I take the opportunity to talk to some of the players and offer
them some words of advice about the game and what they can do to become better
players.
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