Mactan's statue of Lapu-Lapu

Colorful market in Cebu

CEBU CITY, CEBU ISLAND   ...Mactan Island, next to Cebu, had a history.  It was where Ferdinand Magellan was killed.   He was credited with being the first person to circumnavigate the globe.  Well, his boat did just that but he was sort of left behind.  Somewhere in the city of Lapu-Lapu, there was a cross to mark where he was killed.  I didn't see it, but if it was like the cross of Magellan in Cebu where the first baptism of the Philippines occurred, I didn't miss a whole lot. 

One of the best things about Cebu was how colorful its jeepneys were.  They had multiple flags streaming all along the back of the trucks.  The front of the vehicles and the cab roofs were lined with yellow headlights. The hoods had usually at least three ornaments.  For some reason, horse ornaments were popular.  I still preferred taxis but you couldn't beat the colors.

Cebu City offered a busy marketplace where I found a basket that looked like a rice fanner from Liberia but more oblong.  I asked if it was for rice.  No, it was for lechon.  That didn't help any.   What was lechon?  Well, it was a roasted pig.  I knew I wouldn't be serving a lot of that.  It was the entire pig -- head, feet, and all.