Philippine Travel Notes

Aha, I got you! If you were thinking of some kinky topic with that title, no there is none! But, what do trike driving kids in Tacloban do when bored waiting for passengers? Play. But not the usual kids' play. They do antics to amuse themselves or anyone who may care. Using their big tricycles! No no no no, these are not your regular trikes or pedicabs in Metro Manila or other urban centers using BMX bikes fitted with equally small sidecars. These are the big old bikes circa 1930s (I think). I was (still) at Happy Landing near the Tacloban Airport and was puffing a smoke after my hefty lunch when I saw some of these kids doing their antics. Grabbed the camera to shoot and all the more that they kept doing the "exhibition"! They were as amused as I was. They liked being 'videod' and even asked me to shoot more. I almost forgot I had yet to check-in for my 330PM flight hahaha! I tried it myself and the trike is so heavy! Whoah! And, as per advise of these exh...

Let's go back to the Tacloban Airport for an interesting "phenomenon" hehe. Have you had a chance to hear how airplane pilots and those control tower folks talk to each other? In the movies, right? The radio communications system, right? With all those "roger roger, over  over" terminologies, right? Well, if you want to hear that, not in the movies but live, head to the Happy Landing Canteen at the DZR Airport in Tacloban! Happy Landing is the middle of three eateries over at the far end of the airport's parking area vicinity near the communications tower. Yep, towards the entrance of that military (police?) camp. Their FM Radio is always on, and merrily blaring out the usual FM songs and jokes and... interference from the Tacloban Airport's communication tower. Many folks eating there and the eatery's crews do not at all mind, for they probably don't even know what the "phenomenon" is! How did I know? Well, I was at the canteen, t...

I once saw on TV a young man who was hounded (a.k.a. harassed) by his barangay captain for having taken a photo and shared to the world the sordid state of the Philippine Flag at their barangay hall. Of course I thought that woman (barangay captain) was wicked, even stupida to the nth degree. Kababaeng tao eh di marunung tumingin kung ano ang maganda sa kanyang kapaligiran! Nagalit pa :( How much is one flag anyway? Is it expensive? Can a barangay not afford one? I suspect they all can. Even at one new flag every 6 months, right? Well, if indeed that barangay is soooo dirt poor they can't afford to purchase a respectable looking flag for their barangay hall, here is one rural place where they probably can beg for one hahaha. This is somewhere in Samar, along the Maharlika Highway, by the side of a forest, also on the side of a town called Paranas. Passed by this place many times in many years, and those flags lining the portion of the highway are always crisp colored and beau...