Philippine Travel Notes

I have known free aerobics classes to be only available at some so-so towns in the countryside, They never last that long. But I was surprisingly glad to see one at a posh mall in Cebu. They do it at the very lobby. Yep, the south entrance lobby of the Park Mall. I asked one lady who was about to wiggle it out and she said, anyone can just come and join. Another young woman, a saleslady, told me she is part of a similar activity but on other set days. There are day assignments? And she confirmed that yes there are, because the number of joiners have been increasing steadily. Actually inviting to hear the music, the encouraging shrieks of the instructor and the trying hard movements of all those in attendance. Yeah, if you have been all along growing those flabs through the years, you will really try hard and even harder just to do a simple movement like raising your hands up hehe. I’m serious here, I saw that there was a middle aged man who was all perspiring just with the very simple

Who said a delayed flight is a bummer, #philippines? Well, not for me, not here and now at least! Am still talking about the Tacloban Airport Ticket Offices of Cebu Pacific and Zest Air. See that door and the many reminders? They invited my pesky curiosities! Eh walang magawa eh! Delayed flight! Philosophizing I read that sign and automatically thought there was something missing. Read it again and yep, the letter “D” went out for a stroll hehe. It should be “closed” and not just “close” if used in this context of a reminder, right? In fact, just a few inches away, on the wall, there is a similar signage correctly written. Okay, let’s just say it was a typographical error. Asuuuus! Typographical error kayo dyan eh mukhang ang tagal-tagal na ng papel na yan bakit hindi pinalitan? Maka-arawod! ANyway, I asked the guard saying “if the door has to be always closed, eh di walang nang makaka-labas o makaka-pasok, di ba?”. He stood there a bit stunned, after about two minutes and I was alre

Why not, right? hehehe This is at the ticket counters of Zest Air, just beside Cebu Pacific’s, inside just one room (ticket offices) at the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban. They are not really of the airlines per se. I think these ticket counters (for both airlines) belong to just one GSA (General Sales Agent). I even saw their sir (owner?) who arrived in his fairly new car, parked up front, and the ticket agents went out to haul boxes and boxes of bottled water, juice drinks, etc! Entrepreneurship? Well, probably this young dude wants to become the next conglomerate like Henry Sy or John Gokongwei hehe. Ah, forget the tasteful air-conditioned elegance at the PAL ticket office in the next room. These are (probably) hard times. So they must sell and earn from whatever they can think of. I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next few days there’ll already be cellphone load (top-up), sandwiches, t-shirts, binagol, chocolate moron, alimango, bulad, sisi, banig, puto, pastillas, curios

Ah, this one made my day – which would otherwise have been a grouchy drizzly afternoon waiting for a delayed flight! Notice those white signage at the back of each of those seats? Well, if you still don’t take notice, you must be blind. They come in all possible languages that most of the Cebu Pacific passengers from/to Tacloban would be speaking – English, Tagalog, Waray-waray, Cebuano. Aw you don’t really need to look at the backrests of those seats. Photocopies of them are also taped to all four walls of this ticket office! Te subong may-ara na sing Tacloban-Iloilo flights? Additional translation na man? Abaw-ah, daw kasadya gid gid gid moh haw ay! Inde ba la?! Hehehe hehe!

No right turn, says that Tacloban big signage in big bold letters! Eh, don’t we all love doing just exactly that, everytime everywhere? Hmm, maybe these government folks should not approve the construction of any gas station at any corner or cross-road in this country. Or maybe they should ask the gas stations to erect gates hahaha! All because of us unruly citizens whaaahehehe! Okay fellow law-abiding pasaway citizens (hehe, am still grinning), where are your favourite such short-cut gas-station corners? I’ll start… my faves are McKinley going EDSA Guadalupe, EDSA going Buendia, Boni going EDSA-Guadalupe, Kamias going Anonas, Jupiter going Paseo-Makati Av, Archbishop Reyes going AS Fortuna, Hernan Cortes going left to *wink wink*, Juana Osmena going Fuente, Valero going Buendia, ahh, too many of them hehe!

Alrightie folks! That picture seems nothing uncommon in this country, right?! Yes, very right! But take a closer look. Down there in between the feet of the manong in blue shirt and denim shorts… That is the dainty foot of a fine young lady wearing a heeled dress shoes, the way professionals do (should)! When my van overtook this jeep, I saw that the young lady is a student at one of the universities in Tacloban – probably tourism or hotel administration, thus the dress shoes. Books and notebooks on her chest pressed by the left hand, while her right hand clung mightily to whatever it was she could hang on to! All for that thing called 'education', and eventually a salaried career. Kayo, how did/do you go to school?! Ah, this one scene kind of crumpled my heart for a moment there. Hmm, manong in blue shirt… I know why you are standing there like that. Urag!

That is at the famous San Juanico Bridge, and this area is the approach from Samar going towards Leyte. So okay, no cattle… but pigs, buwaya, any and every kind of pachyderm, even sharks are fine to cross?! If you know what I mean hehe! Actually the sign means no walking animals (or crawling or rolling), okay? Wag na mag-insist hehe! That activates the lateral thinker in me… wouldn’t it be a grand sight to see a kalesa crossing this bridge? Or how about a ‘kalabaw’ (called karabaw in Waray) pulling that wooden cart without wheels (called Kang-ga in Waray) loaded with farm produce and a beautiful maiden – slowly inching through this bridge?! Wonderful sight, right?! Hmm, maybe even a wonderful sight if we see Gwen horseback riding from one end of this bridge to the other! Yes si Gwen, that sexy petite of a governor of Cebu! She rides horses well. Maybe kahit naka-gown pa, kaya nya yan! Then again, this is Leyte and Samar... she'll have to do that on either or both Mactan bridges fir

Normal-looking patrol unit viewed from afar, right? But look closer, it's a secured means to transport your furniture! With no less than uniformed officers (male and female) to hold on to each piece! This one was in (Western) Samar, just before the approach to the famed San Juanico Bridge. So those officers are probably from Tacloban (Leyte) or anywhere there. Meaning their Regional Offices! O, laban ka?!