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It was a lazy Saturday afternoon and I wanted a diversion at that time. I thought a visit to the CPDRC to watch the dancing inmates would perk me up.
So I went to the Cebu Provincial Capitol building where the buses were waiting. I signed up and they gave me an ID pass. Note that the CPDRC show is free and anybody can watch their performance every last Saturday of the month. Just make sure you have a reservation with the Cebu Provincial Capitol Office since every CPDRC show gets a lot of viewers.
CPDRC is in a hilly part of Cebu and going up there in a big bus can actually be a bit dangerous since the road is by the cliff. In fact, we got lost briefly since the guide they gave us wasn't familiar with the place.
Anyway, when we got there we were given a video presentation of the history of CPDRC and the local government's efforts to rehabilitate the inmates through music, creative crafts and gardening.
In the hall outside the room, they were selling souvenirs. Business was brisk since a lot of us (foreign and locals alike) bought the items.
We were then led to the viewing decks to watch the inmates dance. New moves were introduced, there were also expected dance numbers that were similar to that posted on YouTube. Overall, the CPDRC show was a success.
To give you an idea of the CPDRC inmates' dancing skills, here's a sleek video produced by SonyPictures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKtdTJP_GUI and of course the viral video, one of Michael Jackson's favorites, Thriller:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o As update, some of the original dancers of these videos have already been released and I heard that they have formed their own dance group with support from former jail warden Byron Garcia. They visit different jails in the Philippines to train inmates on dances that would help them in their rehabilitation.
This wasn't in my original plan but I was seated on the bus beside a friendly Grandma who was on her way to Simala,
Sibonga. I have heard a lot of good things about the place and was curious to find out about the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary. So, I decided to tag along with Grandma Tita and her neighbor Sita.
When we arrived at Simala, we had lunch together (chicken tinola) before entering the monastery grounds.
As can be seen in the photographs, the architecture of the church and the monastery is of Portuguese influence. Set amidst a garden setting, the place was relaxing and conducive to prayer.
As I entered the church I saw a lot of crutches and wheelchairs. Grandma Tita said those were given by devotees who were healed.
I paid Php 50.00 for the bus ride up to Babao and Php 20.00 for the tricycle ride.
I'd like to use this blog to thank Grandma Tita for being my impromptu tour guide in Simala and for being gracious enough to allow me to tag along with them. She has a chorizo business at unit 1 in Ermita (carbon) market.
Four places in four days. I originally didn't plan to take a marathon tour of four places in the Philippines during the holy week break. However, the Cebu Promo rates were hard to resist.
So last week, I took a plane to Iloilo on Holy Thursday, rode a pumpboat to Guimaras on Good Friday, hopped on a fast ferry to Bacolod on Black Saturday and finally reached Silay via jeepney on Easter Sunday. That is a short summary of my adventure last week.
It seems like I was breezing through the whole experience. In reality, it wasn't really that simple. The summer heat was oppressive, which made walking the streets uncomfortable. I had to take paracetamol at one point to ease my headache. Still, I had one of the most satisfying and fulfilling travel experience.
Breakdown of my expenses is as follows:
Air fare (Cebu Iloilo) - Php 850
Air fare (Bacolod-Cebu) - Php 1,015
Pumpboat (Iloilo-Guimaras) - Php 15 x 2 = 30
Fast Ferry (Iloilo- Bacolod) - Php 250
Ong Bun Pension House (Iloilo) - Php 350
Small Wings Pension (Guimaras) - Php 300
LD Pension (Bacolod) - Php 550
Land transportation - Php 276
TOTAL Php 3,071 (excluding lunch, dinner and pasalubong)
