Island-living, in Mactan

One of the advantages of living in Mactan Island is basically that - island-living. Many of us, in our own unguarded moments of trying to forget the hassle and bustle of life, always dream of escaping to some remote island out there, and enjoy an atmosphere different from the urban jungle we struggle to maneuver each day. Well, Mactan is an island, and while most of it is still a city, there are many aspects of life here which is a bit different from the mainland. It's relative, though, because the mainland is in itself an island, too, come to think of it.

More than three years now we lived here in this island, and I can rattle off some differences between Lapu-lapu City and the other cities of the metropolis. I'll just mention probably the most prominent, for me at least. No it's not the fact that we live near an airport, though being 5 minutes from it is really a huge advantage. It's the access to fresh seafood, or maybe I'll just say "fresher" since the term is relative and we certainly can't compare to those pristine islands elsewhere in the Visayas. Depends on the kind of seafood, too.

Let me cite a particular example. We are a kilometer away from a roadside satellite market in Saac I, in the same Barangay Buaya where we live in. Every Saturday and/or Sunday, I make it a point to buy food supply there, early in the morning. Non-negotiable in my marketing list is seashells, any of the many varieties available there. Of course, many of these were available in the mainland, too, with one big difference - seashells here are alive! They're alive and moving even until you reach home and place them on the kitchen sink. Not only do we have more nutritious breakfasts on weekend mornings, we relish such culinary delights, too. By the way, these are available every day, not only on weekends!

And then there are the crabs, some kind, because others are not that fresh, probably coming from the mainland, too. And other kinds of seafood. After a while, you acquire the ability to know which items are "imported" and which came directly from the sea nearby, as part of the early morning catch. Careful with handling the octopus, when their tentacles stick to your hands, don't let go, those taste superb on the palate! Certainly, those mollusks trying to climb out of the plastic pails are definitely not dead, nor are those bivalves still squirting water all over, waiting for people to buy them. And everything is cheaper, too.

It's an inherent advantage in the island, notwithstanding the fact that Lapu-Lapu is already a highly urbanized city. Some people told me that it's actually "fresher" in Cordova, but that's a longer drive, which is a bit temporarily unpleasant as the roads are still being fixed. I guess there's not much difference for as long as the marine products are still fresh; maybe there are more choices in Cordova, but even in Saac, you can buy "sa-ang" shellfish, live and cheap, and there's the live "bakasi" swimming in pails of water. People just need to enjoy these as they last - the curse of urbanization is the disappearance of these niceties. Well, I hope not.

Yet, buildings are sprouting everywhere, especially in the resort zone of the eastern seaboard of the island. Mactan is no longer what it was when we were still in college looking forward to a swimming escapade in its undeveloped coral seashore on weekends. Lapu-Lapu has become one of the three highly-urbanized cities in the province, and the airport has grown to such an extent that the noise coming from planes landing or taking off is already every few minutes instead of every few hours. Time will come we will no longer recognize it the way we remember it in the 1980's, and I only wish we could still buy fresh seashells in the future. But development is something which is inevitable and welcomed even. We just have to live with that reality.

We just have to enjoy it while it lasts. Time will come we can only enjoy fresh fish and ocean catch in restaurants, at atrociously high prices only fit for kings. So we enjoy it while we can, while we can still buy seashells at the foreshore at the back of the house for P10 per can in the afternoon. I hope other Mactan residents realize how lucky they are.