I am in the Philippines

The suspended diving trip in the Philippines was torn apart by the typhoon, but Joshua and I arrived smoothly. When we arrived that night, it was as hot as every time we arrived before. When we arrived at Cebu Airport after two years, it was another kind of scenery. Neon lights are flashing at the immigration counter, but the fly in the ointment is that these lights are not flashing in different colors at the same time. Then I will definitely forget the nervousness caused by immigration, thinking it was a party with friends in a bar. The inherent procedures of leaving the airport, immigration, baggage claim, money exchange counter, phone card purchase, and the method of leaving the airport. It all happened smoothly under control, and then I checked into a hotel.

? Because the original plan has been completely changed, we have to stop in downtown Cebu. When we arrive at a city, I like to discover it and get to know it by walking. Walk slowly, freely, with direction and no plan, with plan and no direction. Along a strange street, looking at different buildings and different words, but the same face in different countries has an interesting soul.

I don't know how long ago the buildings here were equivalent to China, because I came from the countryside of China, where the scenery was beautiful when I was a child. The city ten years ago is much newer than what we see now, so there is no historical memory to trace back. The buildings standing on both sides of the street can be described as shabby, without the sense of modern design or history like European buildings. There is no led display on the exterior wall, but there will be many commercial billboards endorsed by celebrities. Individual grocery stores along the street, under the messy telephone poles, are all woven with iron wires, leaving only a small window for exchanging money and goods. At first, I thought this way was strange until I saw that bigger shops or supermarkets had gun safety.

Because the official language of the Philippines is English, which brings great convenience to travel. Advertisements, slogans and notices are all in English, and all Filipinos who have attended school can speak English.

Local restaurants always have a row of aluminum pot of different sizes. Later, I found out that they really liked this fast food, but the price was not as cheap as I cried. However, they gradually like Filipino cooking, because my only requirement for food is not to starve to death, so I don't know what's good and what's bad. Only in this way can I feel convenient and quick. I will be stopped by all kinds of rubbish on the street and sigh why the streets of a city are so dirty, and the wrapping paper, plastic bags and even the water flowing on the streets are stinking. I can't move forward because of people sleeping on the street. They sleep leisurely, don't care about the noise around them, still sleep with their eyes closed, occasionally a man and a woman, occasionally a mother or a father and several children. Walking past a security guard with a big rifle is a market, but it seems to be another world compared with McDonald's across the street. The price of clothes hanging on the street crossbar is 100PHP/3. I recall that when I was in junior high school, I took my mother to the market to buy pants for 30 RMB, which was in the last century. These clothes are not stolen, but none of them are flat. It's like putting them at the bottom of the closet and forgetting to put mothballs. Most of them are shorts T-shirts and some children's sweaters. Some women will take a casual look when they pass by and stop to choose whether they like it or not. There are all kinds of vegetables, dried fish, fruits and large pieces of fish in the vegetable market, which are deep red in color. There are at least 5 kilograms of big fish, live cocks, hens and pigeons that have not been cut off, but they are in disorder. Just like walking in a rural market when I was a child, vegetables are not so fresh. There are fruits that I have never seen before, and some people really buy rambutan that is already dark. I spent a lot of money to buy an almost black banana, which still smells raw. I thought the black rambutan must be ripe and the meat is all gone. Five or six young people were stopped by a motorcycle, talking and laughing. Maybe they met their favorite girl today, or lost the basketball game. Suddenly, all their eyes turned to foreigners and me next to me. The way they looked up and down startled me. It feels like a man's eyes when a tough guy breaks into a primitive tribe in a movie. This is a declaration of territory and possessiveness, not curiosity and fear. At the same time, the girls twisted their hips, tossed their long hair to one side of their shoulders, raised their voices and spoke incomprehensible Filipino with their companions. From time to time, they turn around and sweep their bodies with the corners of their eyes, emitting full feminine charm. Naughty children greeted warmly, looked at it from top to bottom for at least ten times, followed my footsteps until they stopped in front of three computers and they could play with coins. Several people gathered around to watch funny videos on YouTube, laughing their heads off, and the children naturally leaned over to watch the situation from the "outside". It is difficult for them to steal money from their parents and come here just to play games. In the open air, parents can beat them half to death without informers. If a person has no hope and expectation and can't feel the beauty of life, what will his eyes look like? I think I have found the answer. Even if the house behind her collapses immediately, she may not move a gesture, no matter how happy her daughter is to get today's snacks, and no matter what you think of these two outsiders. Maybe I can't worry about today's dinner and look forward to the sunrise tomorrow morning. The daughter who got the snacks didn't care about her mother's sadness and loneliness. The happiness of the whole world is in her hands, the happiness of the whole world is in her face, and all her attention is only on the snow-white ice cream in her hand. They also seem to know that we are looking for the sea, kindly tell us that it is here, and point to the sea. It's just a dirty area under the pier, which has no appreciation value. At this time, we decided to leave here because all this made me feel depressed.