Its a long time since I enjoyed going to an old fashioned Fair but I did on Saturday.
Its Fiesta time in Cagayan de Oro, the bustling city an hour’s drive from our home in San Isidro, Balingasag. On a piece of waste land, close to the big, bright, modern and comprehensive shopping centre of Lim Kit Kai we watched a Fair ground take shape. Kit Kai is our preferred place to shop and so had passed the Fair ground several times. ( They took more than 2 weeks to construct it all) Gina was as keen as the children to go to the fair… I had no option but to agree we should go!
We took John John, 2 Nieces and 1 Nephew last week, only to find the fair didn’t open until 5.00pm, which seemed a bit silly as it was a public holiday. We hadn’t come prepared for a late return home and so had to consol the kids with a promise we would return one evening next week.
To keep our promise we arrived in Cagayan early on Saturday afternoon but again despite being a weekend it still didn’t open until 5.00pm. Fearing this would probably be the case, we activated Plan B to keep them occupied until opening time.
Big Kids and Little Kids enjoying their time at the Cagayan Fair.
A poster proudly announced the Promoters had brought “The Finest Rides all the way from Manila”. I would have thought they would have wanted to take every opportunity to maximise the return on their investment. It seems a poor business decision not to open until the evening as this is the rainy season in Cagayan when the common pattern is to have fine days until rain arrives in mid afternoon which continues until late evening! They had the fair closed during the predictably fine part of the day, only to open at the same time as the heavens, to bless us with a tropical downpour!
So I admit my enthusiasm was somewhat, forgive the pun, ‘Dampened’ by the time we parked the car and waded through a muddy area to the muddy entrance and entered the muddy fairground. I don’t know if they were surprised by the rain falling but the entrances to most of the rides, despite having framework erected which would have made the addition of a canvas roof to protect the customers a simple task, were left open to the skies.
But the kids were excited and I soon found my mood lifted by their enthusiasm. We paddled from the Ferris wheel, (Luckily featuring covered Pergola style carriages) to the Carousel Horses to the horrors of the Ghost Train…None of your Hi-Tech effects here. The scary bit was created by men dressed in Ghostly costumes, hiding in the dark of the tunnel, to leap and scream while running alongside the open carriages of the train. The Kids who come from a rural area and have been brought up on stories of Ghosts and Bad Spirits, were truly terrified and screamed even louder than the “Ghosts” !
I managed to surprise a “Ghost” with modern technology and a flash gun.!
(He doesn’t look so scary here but in the dimly lit cave, he sure scared the kids)
I think we managed to convince them it was really men dressed up and they calmed down as we left but were not keen to repeat the ride! John John kept his cool by covering his eyes with a hat and his ears with his hands until the whole terrifying thing was over. Good plan John John.
It reminded me of my childhood when my Grandmother used to scare me enough with such stories to have nightmares about unearthly things, and now I am not surprised I used to insist on having a night light in my bedroom.
The modern Western approach of not dwelling on such stories, and probably modern kid’s scepticism, has upon reflexion, much to recommend it.
We had great fun on a side stall betting 5 Peso coins against which colour three dices would show after they tumbled down a wooden shoot onto the table. Our original 10 pesos kept the laughter and excitement going for turn after turn.We were 30 Pesos up at one time, eventually losing it all, as totally expected. A low cost for the fun we had and I would have felt mean taking 30 pesos from the young stall keeper who was not exactly turning customers away.
I hope the rain stopped and the customers arrived after we left, there were not many of us sloshing around in the waterlogged ground.
We had great fun though and it showed me why fairs have been so resilient, despite all the encroachment made by Video games, TV and all the modern distractions all vying for one’s attention.
Philippine Style Rain Hats.
So if you see an old fashioned fair come to a bit of waste ground near you, go and enjoy and we wish you fine weather and a more enlightened opening timetable.
Colin and Gina in Cagayan de “It Ain’t Half Wet Mum”
