TARGET: Pasil Fish Market
DATE: April 8
RATING: 5 stars
It is always gratifying to find treasures amid the rubble, the trash and the bad smell.
This was what I discovered one early morning as I took a sip of the famous broth from the "soup street" of Pasil Fish Market right in the bowels of Cebu City's congested, smelly and crime-prone market district.
At 1 a.m., the lack of lights and the many shirt-less men running around, pushing and pulling tubs of fish make the scene scary. A closer look, however, shows everything seems to be nice. The barangay tanod (in full uniform) acts as a traffic attendant and security guard in the street between the market and San Nicolas Parish Church. Asked for directions, the tanod was accommodating enough to give us tips on where to find the soup.
Facing the market, the soup heaven is on the right side street -- an array of women and their huge boiling cauldrons. I took a bowl of soup of a fish I could not pronounce (the name was a mix of the words stab, stone and dance in Bisaya).
The white meat fish tail was swimming in a reddish sea of light red tomato. Spicy, sweet and hot. Paired with a P6 Sparkle softdrink, the effects of several bottles of beers hours before seemed to dissipate with the steam.
Completing the experience was the loud-mouthed but funny group of boys sitting a few feet from me. They were talking about their love life and how they plan to raise money to buy a new shirt. In one corner, one kid put a little too much chili on his soup and was sweating feverishly, cursing on his hunger and his inability to devour his spicy fish. Somehow, these scene made me smile and appreciate the better sides of life.
The smell of the fish being traded in the market more than completes the ambiance. Definitely worth doing again.
DATE: April 8
RATING: 5 stars
It is always gratifying to find treasures amid the rubble, the trash and the bad smell.
This was what I discovered one early morning as I took a sip of the famous broth from the "soup street" of Pasil Fish Market right in the bowels of Cebu City's congested, smelly and crime-prone market district.
At 1 a.m., the lack of lights and the many shirt-less men running around, pushing and pulling tubs of fish make the scene scary. A closer look, however, shows everything seems to be nice. The barangay tanod (in full uniform) acts as a traffic attendant and security guard in the street between the market and San Nicolas Parish Church. Asked for directions, the tanod was accommodating enough to give us tips on where to find the soup.
Facing the market, the soup heaven is on the right side street -- an array of women and their huge boiling cauldrons. I took a bowl of soup of a fish I could not pronounce (the name was a mix of the words stab, stone and dance in Bisaya).
The white meat fish tail was swimming in a reddish sea of light red tomato. Spicy, sweet and hot. Paired with a P6 Sparkle softdrink, the effects of several bottles of beers hours before seemed to dissipate with the steam.
Completing the experience was the loud-mouthed but funny group of boys sitting a few feet from me. They were talking about their love life and how they plan to raise money to buy a new shirt. In one corner, one kid put a little too much chili on his soup and was sweating feverishly, cursing on his hunger and his inability to devour his spicy fish. Somehow, these scene made me smile and appreciate the better sides of life.
The smell of the fish being traded in the market more than completes the ambiance. Definitely worth doing again.
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