PH>VN: First Leg, Tacloban To Cebu

In my earlier story I said "as always, let's start from the very beginning - my departure from Tacloban".

This was it. Rare funny and fun! You see the long line of yellow umbrellas by the side of the building?

Those were passengers walking to their yellow plane parked to the right of our PAL plane ready to go.

They were walking on the tarmac, but were "driven away" and asked to walk by the side of the terminal because my PAL flight was ready to pushback. And I quickly txtd "alisin ang mga alipin sa daan, lilipad na ang aking kamahalan"! The reply was "iroy"! Hahaha, one of those in yellow umbrellas was a friend I was earlier joking with as we waited for boarding - we weren't sure which of our planes would go first!

Eh nauna kami heheheee!

Oist! 'Di nyo naitatanong, magaling din ako sa pang-aalaska, aba at kahit pang-aalipusta! I sent these:

Yep, I sent that to the friend who was in that line. And my caption was "goodbye yellow plane, mauuna na kami"! Wala lang, makapang-asar lang! Nag-reply, ang sabi: "stop me"! That means "tigilan mo ako"!

Nice bright day, especially that it started with a friendly asaran! Anyway...

At the end of the runway, as the plane turned for takeoff, I caught a glimpse of San Antonio, Basey...

Oh, that coastal expanse probably includes  Bacubac, Tingib, Amandayehan, Cambayan and Tinaogan where the mountain is, which is a source of potable water in the area. Those barangays have beaches with black and/or grey sand. No fine resorts, not very popular, BUT, a fantastic area for plane-spotting!

Many people (including locals of those barangays) will disagree with me, that the beaches in the area, are actually a good (and nearby) hideaway. I like the natural peace and quiet. Ah that's just me, I think!

Did you know, from Tacloban to San Antonio vv takes less than 15 minutes on commuter boats?

There goes one of my little secrets!

Okay, we took off at Runway 18 - that's a southward direction towards Palo, and this: Tanauan, Leyte.

Like Palo, Tanauan is a big town with wide stretches of sandy beach, not as popular, because they are black or grey. There are also nice little resorts that dot the coast, great for relaxing in peace and quiet.

Oh, the plane had to cross from east to west side of Leyte. Nothing but dark mountains and clouds.

Time to give some attention to the "libreng pakain"! Yes, I sent that picture to the friend on that yellow plane following us! Caption: 'Mongo Roll freshly-baked for Philippine Airlines by Goldilocks Bakeshop'.

Aba sumagot saying "with a 2-inch tall bottle of water"! I said "Wrong! Absolute Water in Sachet"!

Sumagot pa rin saying "nge! ano yan shampoo"?

Hahaha! My flight reached the western side anyway, and  I was looking down at Palompon, Leyte...

Was I sure? Yes, very sure. Sa daming beses ko na dumaan this way, memorized ko na ang bearings!

North is bottom of the pic, south is the top, right is west and left is east. Cebu is southwest!

Palompon Port is the jumpoff point to Kalanggaman, but the island is not seen in that picture because it is way to the northwest (beyond lower-left corner). I was on the left window of the airplane, those on the right-side window, were probably already looking at the island, at the time I took the above photos.

Hey I noticed on the many flights I have taken via this route, the smaller propeller planes start aligning to the runway at this air space over Palompon and Camotes, if they're landing at Mactan's Runway 22.

Camotes ba 'kamo? Yes, Camotes Islands that belong Cebu province, even if they're nearer to Leyte!

Those are 2 of 3 big islands comprising Camotes Islands, plus 4th, that little one. Do you know them?

Here here... the same picture as above, where I placed some identifying names and orientations...

Not in picture (since it's beyomd the left edge of the photo) is Ponson Island which is also actually the whole town of Pilar. It's nearest to mainland Leyte, specifically to the town of Merida. Remember this?

Poro Island is where the two towns of Poro and Tudela are located. Pacijan [pa-si-han] Island plus that little Tulang Island comprise the town of San Francisco where many a Camotes vacation begin or end.

And of course, the yellow arrow points to Danao Lake or Lake Danao whatever you may wish to call it! Just to clarify, it is this Lake Danao, not this Lake Danao! As said long ago, Danao could be confusing.

Mind you, as if the above is not confusing enough, there is also a Lake Danao in Negros Oriental; there is another Lake Danao in Masbate; also a Lake Danao in Albay, ayayay there are so many, everywhere!

Danao means Lake, so Danao Lake technically means "Lake Lake". Para mong sinabi "Kalsada Street", "Dagat Sea" "Isla Island" or "Ilog River". In fact there is a "Talon Falls" and there is a "Bukid Mountain".

Eto pa... Lanao = Danao = Lake. So technically too, Lake Lanao is another "Lake Lake". Makabuang!

Oh back to the above pic. If you notice, under the yellow Danao Lake, there's a speck of white? Ito yun!

That would probably be a fastcraft from Ormoc, on the way to Cebu. As I said long ago, that is one of the advantages of riding propeller planes, we can see some things below. Fastcraft lang, not dolphins!

In no time, exactly 30 minutes from takeoff in Tacloban, we landed at Mactan and I looked at this:

I smilingly silently said "wait ka lang dyan, I'll see you in a while"! For that's where I take my next flight!

Imagine that and see that? I just flew on my first flight (TAC-CEB) that took just a mere 30 minutes, yet there were already lots of stories to tell you! How much more the rest of the way - CEB to SIN to SGN!

Let's talk about my next activities upon disembarking from this flight.

In my next installment, ha?!