Philippine Travel Notes

Innocent's Day, I needed to be back in Tacloban. Eh I just arrived Cebu on Christmas Eve. How cruel! Back to Cebu on the 31st, back to Tacloban on 02JAN, if this is what you call "jetsetter", dili lingaw. As if the skies were one with me "in protest" hehe, it has been gloomy all day. All the more I don't like this. Add salt and kalamansi to the gaping injury, this plane did not also seem to be in "correct" order! Duu! Look! One part of the ceiling seems like it's about to fall at the slightest shudder during air turbulence. I instinctively looked out the window again, at those two planes, somehow asking my self, "why didn't I take PAL this time"? Oh well, it could have been any of many reasons, like the most common I despise is: "booking with PAL online is such a tedious matter" while on CebPac, it's easy and quick", whatever"! Ahehe, all my lowly multi-lingual brain could do was silently plead and pr...

I was just passing by when this (relatively) new place caught my eye, and it was nearing dinnertime. I've been aware of this place for about a year now, and it looks kind of inviting, so I hopped in, curious. Hmm.., cool ambience. Modernistic setting that looks and feels like a coffee joint than a restaurant! I'm not good at identifying classifying categorizing restaurants. I just know this one feels delightful! Well, as expected from how this joint looks.., the food is superb! Something fusion I think. This thing is their take on the Italian taste, I suppose.., but a bit "filipinized", so I like it! I had to take at least one shot of its exteriors, even if I risked being ran over by the many vehicles that pass along Salinas Drive haha! That probably only proves that I like this place! Something new in the IT PARK area (2 blocks away?) to titillate my taste buds.

My REAL "Christmas Eve Dinner", if we might call it that! And alone - if I really have to emphasize that! That's because, this happened on a December 24. And Anzani is one of the, if not THE, best in Cebu! The story goes something like this... I was already checked-in at the Marco Polo and ready for a "Christmas Eve Dinner" commonly called "Noche Buena". But as you may already know, in the Philippines, it happens at or near midnight for the diners to meet (salubong) Christmas Day, the 25th, right? And you dress up for it, right? Yes, exciting! In the case of our Noche Buena, it was to start at 11PM, with a Holy Mass as usual. The issue is/was: my stomach (and lowly brain actually), has all these years been used to 'consider' a dinner to be about 7PM - sometimes early at 6PM, sometimes even as late as 8PM. But not midnight! So, about 6:30PM, the bio-clock prevailed... I was hungry! But this time I was "choosy". I didn't wa...

What is your Christmas Rush? Last minute 'buy-this-buy-that'? For many years, that was how I would describe my "Christmas Rush". Lately though, it's been different. I hope this is a sign of progress hehe! It was already 24DEC, and I was still in Tacloban due to important work-related commitments. But I earlier booked myself a flight home (to Cebu). Good they have noontime flights, and on big Airbuses. This happens (to Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines) only during Christmas and summer holidays. First off, this is how I exited my Tacloban 'residence' going to the airport: As many visitors to Region VIII would say, Eastern Visayas only has two seasons: Wet and Very Wet! Today, was somewhere between those two haha! But, all day yesterday until last night was very wet. Anyway, my flight today was on the "yellow plane" - and probably a Christmas Gift from above. Why? Because the plane was either new or newly-cleaned. Why does it matter? Wel...

As promised in a previous post , I said I'll be back at this place and tell you more about it! Actually, I've been coming back, but in many of those 'other' visits, either I did not, could not, or forgot to take pics. But I did and stayed a bit today. Ginawang tambyan! Even shot a video! Let's start with these... clearer shots of the main dining area (back of the house) from both ends... Saturday noon, only me and driver as diners! The crowds normally come late afternoons to evenings. It was raining intermittently again (as usual) but I went down to their 'organic garden'... That's the area below the swimming pool. Can you see some of the plots are even covered with nets? Another attempt at capturing the San Juanico Bridge. Better than the last time (I think)... But that is zoomed - the bridge is rather far. And why does it always rain when I'm at Pasqualino's?! My lunch. My driver's lunch. A cargo ship passed by the strait as w...

I just happened by and took a picture of it... Simple yet beautiful in the Philippine Flag's 3 colors. Those are all umbrellas! Not that simple after all! Okay sige, as early as now... Merry Christmas every all! 😇

We were heading out of the airport when out of nothing, driver kind'a shrieked "sir sir camera camera"! He already knows I take photos of weird, interesting, rare and just 'out of this world' signs or signages! Of course, I whipped my phone out, ready for action as I asked "hain, ano"?! He pointed to that jeep. He even waited for this jeep before us to overtake it, so we could go nearer that one, our target jeep! My aim focused at the whole jeep as I was not sure what or which part I needed to capture! As we got nearer I heard driver excitedly exclaim "an surat sir, an sign"... so I kept aiming... and CLICK! Got it! Here it is... We laughed for we did not understand why it was written there, thus, it sounded weirdly funny. Catchy! Hard to translate to Tagalog or Bisaya that will still retain its comic tone. I think the nearest translation that maintains the heart of the expression is the English "You Faggot!", thus the title of...

Da! A deluge of letter Bs! I was in Brgy. Bacubac, Basey Samar as guest of a ceremony. I was "on-time" (as always), but 'more important' guests were not. Make the long story short, I found my way to the beaches of Bacubac... From the barangay's dirt road path, I could see those little shacks that I said must be beach huts So I went to one of them, just curious of the views from there, or how it felt being inside one of them. Ahm, I was not disappointed. Not at all... A man at a nearby house told me this was their "purok" beach resort maintained by their wives. He added that there is another such purok-owned "resort" somewhere on the northern end of the beach. So when I was done daydreaming at their 'resort', I went looking for the other 'resort', and this is it... The manong was right (and candidly honest enough to tell me) that "cottages" in this "other resort" of their barangay are bit better. Lo...

Normal day... winding our way to work... I usually share my 'data access' via the car's wifi feature so everyone on board get to have internet. But OMG, me panalo na! I was hilariously surprised to have read the back of this pedicab... What else could I say but smile! O ano, meron kayong ganyan sa bayan nyo?! V&G Tacloban has! Happy crazy nice vibe to start the day hehehe! Well, the hi-tech signs of our times... makabuang!