What is Colon? Through the centuries and the changes in the province, Colon Street has changed as well. It has garnered a mixed reputation and now means different things for everyone:
- It was once the hippest place to shop, dine and hangout. Ask your parents, grandparents, or any older generation for that matter. Before malls and resto strips sprouted like mushrooms in our quaint city, this was where they chilled with their barkadas and even where they proudly took their dates to. Simply put, Colon was “THE PLACE TO BE”. Yes, all caps necessary. They’ll tell you about the heydays of Colon – about movie houses and restaurants and how cool Colon was back then. It kind of makes you think about the places we go to these days and whether it’ll be the same place people will go to years from now. Think about it, where do you hang out often?
- It’s about the best bargains and booming businesses. Colon is a treasure trove for the thrifty spender with its unique collection of establishments that give the street a character of its own that malls are not capable of imitating – the ukay-ukay stalls where you bought your favorite outfits; appliance stores where your family got the family tv and electric fans; the grocery stores you know so well; the cellphone shops that you always check for the latest budget-friendly phones; Chinese hardware and fabric stores that always have unique merchandise; hole-in-the-wall restaurants that feel like the street’s best-kept secrets – indeed, a shopper’s happy haven.
- These days, when people think of colon, they think of danger. What’s the first thing you tell a foreigner or a friend who has never been there before? Bantayi imung mga gamit. (Keep an eye on your things.) Even to those familiar with the area, it’s still a very useful reminder. Exchanging stories about the dangers heard of, witnessed or experienced in Colon is the modern pirate conversation. And by pirate conversations, we mean those tales of fearsome pirates with patch eyes and peg legs invading ships, but this time it’s about snatchers, hold-uppers, and modus operandis. To have a different take of Colon, read our article last January on “Interesting Things You Can Witness in Colon Street Today”.
But most of all…
- It has been the backdrop of life moments for centuries. The high-class shopping our ancestors may have enjoyed; Cebu’s first movie dates when the first theater opened when couples holding hands meant as much as a kiss today; the first time you jaywalked and got caught; students hanging out after class, just having fun talking about nothing in particular and anything in between. And oh, the street food!
So what’s Colon really about in a nutshell? It’s about how, no matter how high our are ambitions are, the simplest memories are oddly always the sweetest. That’s why that sidewalk buko juice will always mean more to someone with years’ worth of memories there than all the red wine and steak that person might ever have. If you want to take a trip down memory lane, walk along Colon.
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