It was pretty early in the morning in Cebu City when I took this picture – around 6:45 – and there weren’t many people on the streets yet. This man was selling some kind of breakfast snack. I didn’t get a chance to look inside the buckets, so I don’t know what it was. Just a couple of hours later, this sidewalk was crowded with stalls and customers.

This kettle belonged to a man running a little food stall at the side of the street. I had seen him and his wife and two children there several days in a row. I talked to him on this morning, and I learned that he and his family were from the island of Negros. They had moved to Cebu to try to make a better living. They did not have a house in Cebu and spent the nights sleeping on the sidewalk beside their food stall. They cooked their food and boiled water over little wood fires like this.

There is a large Chinese community living in Cebu. I don’t know a great deal about it, but I get the impression that the relationship between the ethnic Chinese and the other Filipinos can be a bit strained. There is a general belief that the Chinese are all rich because of their talent for business. Apparently, in this course you can learn some of their secrets.

These prayer candles cost one peso each.

I took this photo at a large display of some kind of root that was for sale. The man called them “dulaw”, and he explained that in English it was called turmeric. I can’t vouch for that since I don’t think I’ve ever seen turmeric in its natural state. Each plastic bag of turmeric roots that you can see in the background cost 35 pesos, or seventy-five cents.

One street I walked along had a number of men sharpening knives on these homemade gizmos. It was operated by a crank shaft and pedals that had been removed from a bicycle.

 

Tags: Cebu City, Philippines Bike Trip 2013, Santo Nino