I was born in Manila and spent the first half of my life there. In 1990, my mom and my other siblings moved to Cebu. I stayed with my brother in Manila because I simply didn’t want to leave my friends and the life I knew behind. It took 2 years’ worth of resistance before I finally followed and moved in with them.

Here we are, 15 years later… and I can’t imagine myself living anywhere else in the world. It would take a very very VERY attractive package before I would even consider moving back to Manila.

Manila has its perks… compared to Cebu, the shopping is simply incredible (though we are catching up faster now than we ever did). The nightlife is in full gear too. But it’s the food that I love the most. Whatever I was craving for, it was so easy to find… and then some.

But during this last trip to Manila, I was horrified how much smog developed during the past few years. A tall building as close as a 100 meters was as hazy as trees on a foggy day. I can’t believe how much concrete surrounded me.

The traffic was also horrendous. A usual 30 minute drive for us here at home would take about an hour and a half there. Which was why we missed our flight. A sudden downpour caused a web of traffic. Ann’s usual 1 hour travel time from picking the kids up from school and going home turned into a six (yes, SIX!) hour wait.

It was such a relief to be back home. Though Manila offers a very glamorous lifestyle: the shopping, the dining, the nightlife… and Cebu could be very backward in that sense… I wouldn’t trade my life for anyone glamorous in Manila.

Yes, I will miss the food. But I won’t miss the smog… the traffic… the high stress levels… the floods… the acid rain… the expense. Cebu is home. Cebu is laid back, hot and sunny, cheap… PROVINCIAL. Just the way it should be. I love Cebu for its flaws… for it is why Cebu is Cebu.