Philippine Travel Notes

Another lovely experience!. I took the ' slow boat ' (in the past this was called ' barko ', nowadays it's called ' RORO ') from Cebu City to Catbalogan City - if only for another feel of "how it was" traveling inter-island, in the good old days of our forebears. Aba oy, malapit nang mawala ito! Mawawala? Ah eh, I'm just predicting, due to the advent of the "fastcrafts"! Why Ride A Ship? Actually, I was carrying a lot of "baggage" - books, references, handouts and printed materials of many kinds - too delicate if I checked them in on a plane to TAC or CYP. Also too heavy and cumbersome to handle, if I took them on a fastcraft, connecting to a series of UV Express rides with no luggage space . Thus, a ship was my best bet. Buti nalang, at salamat naman, meron pang ganito these days! How Long Is This Trip? I was told this was going to be an 11 to 12 hour night ride, departing at 7PM, where I supposedly ...

Weird, even eerie title, right? Well, at least for me. There are just many things around us that we take for granted. And I'm proud to say, I owe it to my travels that I learned (and keep learning) new things about our country. Take the case of our catholic ceremony or ritual (howsoever it is really called), before burying the dead. *Update A friend educated me: it's called "mass celebration". Whatever! Yep, whatever it's called, I don't like associating the word "celebration" with the dead! I don't think calling it a "ceremony" or "ritual" is offensive anyway. Basta yes, I mean that church activity just before the “kabaong” is delivered to the “huling hantungan”. I thought all along those are done individually . I mean an 'exclusive' mass service for an individual patay before the next. That's what I've known in the decades of my life. Teka, disclaimer: it's not as if I witness many o...

I was riding a jeep from Lacion (Consolacion, Cebu) to the city center (Cebu City). The jeep happened to have stopped (due to traffic) at this corner under the Maguikay flyover, and I saw this... What initially drew my curiosity was that the Manang was selling jewelry and trinkets where her wares were laid out in what looked like what is supposed to be a grill (barbekyuhan ba). During the evenings,  there is supposed to be some folks on that very corner (and table?) grilling/selling barbecues. I took a snap with my phone, and, OMG she saw me do that! I really thought she would protest and reprimand me for doing so, and I was ready to delete the photo the moment she said anything. But... she instead said something for that cute little angel to face the camera as she waved showing off her necklace (what she sells). And the kid obliged, showing me that ever sweet hearty smile... Ahhh! I will find it very hard to forget that smile. Innocently sweet and real! All I could do was ...

Mauwaw man ta ani, oi! Sori na, I didn't know. Ang edad hehe. Past noon, on my way to the city for some errands, I stumbled upon a parade about to pass along the national road. Let us say that again, "along" not "across" the hiway! Paktaylo! My initial reaction was ' o sh** nabuang na ', for that meant a long delay. On second thought, my little alert brain said 'hmm, who knows, it could be nice to watch'! But the practical side of my royal highness said "nice or not nice, wala jud ta mahimo ani, the national road is technically closed both ways, therefore watch nalang"! So, I did! Na! A very important day for Consolacion and I forgot all about it? Bad citizen haha! Maybe those things do not sink in my head yet because I'm still a 'dual citizen' - taga Mandaue, at the same time taga Lacion - but frequently in Tacloban due to Yolanda. Haruy, not only dual citizen, triple pa! Anyway.., trapped na, wala na'...