Clark To Panglao Flight

Last leg of my 3-legged flight today. And I was ready to enter Clark's departure area but saw this...

I had to stop and watch. This was what I've been advocating all along - let all public transport vehicles deliver/pick-up passengers as near to the airport terminal as can be, just like how private vehicles do.

Clark 'partly' does it! THAT, is one of the regular buses that comes from Metro Manila. It can be done!

Yes it can be done, for I know it had been done, AND being done by many countries around the world except the Philippines - mga utak tungaw kasi ang mga nasa transport department. "Colonial" brains.

Actually not "colonial mentality" as if they're the colonists. To be precise, they have "slave mentality"! Ang unang iniisip "dapat me espesyal na dadaanan ang mga boss, ang mga mayayaman". Ganoon sila!

Mga utak alila, isip alipin (na sipsip sa mas nakayayaman)! Sinanay kasi tayo ni Padre Damaso!

Haay naku! Anyway, I now recon, Clark is not only convenient for the arriving "commuter" as observed a week ago, it's convenient too for departing passengers (at least those who ride the dedicated buses from Metro Manila - not yet those who ride jeeps from Dau Bus Terminal or from the Clark Main Gate).

At least, hanggang pag-dating lang ng airport building. Hindi yung pag-pasok, at hindi sa loob!

Okay, tama na yan at umiinit na ulo ko uli hehehe! I joined this line to enter the departure area.

I can tell you that there weren't many passengers, as there weren't many flights during this time. That is just a bottleneck because... iinit na naman ulo ko! Because airports are designed to have "many big wide" entrances which follows na bibili ka ng madaming x-ray machines to screen all those who enter.

Eh dyan dalawa lang. So, natural, bottleneck na agad, entrance pa lang!

If you can recall and compare, that's why Manila's T3 isn't that much of a hassle to enter (mas mabilis) because there are many doors with x-ray machines. Ilan yan, 4 or 5? While the others only have 1 or 2.

Anyway, once I entered the check-in area, it was just a repeat of last week! This time though, nakipag-away ako sa dalawang bata probably 13 and 10 years old na mukhang trained to be future Karens. Da!

I actually had to conciously check my self if baka naman ako ang being Karen. No, I was not!

The story goes like this: I went to that 'charging station' provided by a telco (Smart yata). None was in use except that there were three non-empty large paper glasses that contained something like shake.

Those glasses were taking the space where phones should be placed, and the narrow counter-top was already wet with drippings (precipitation?) from their shake or juice. I moved one of those to the side.

As I moved that glass, I was already irked, thinking why people put their drinks on a charging station, and why they don't dunk those in the nearby trash bin when done drinking. I even used my hanky to wipe that counter dry, before I placed my phone. I exhaled saying to my self "hay naku some people"!

But okay na, phone was fast-charging fine. I stood there to keep watch over my phone.

Not even 3 minutes of standing by that charging station, there came these 3 kids (siblings obviously) - the bespectacled eldest looked like probably in Grade 7 or there arounds, the second probably 4th grade and the little one was maybe 6 or 7 years old. Out of habit, I automatically smiled - children eh!

They all got those glasses and the nerdy one was like looking at me through the top of his eyeglasses and said "why did you touch my drink" (in English). Still sweet, I said "it was getting in the way, sir". At sumagot ng parang abogado telling me "you have no right". Aba, umusok ang tenga ng Pinoy Traveler!

Still calm, I said "I had all the right to move it, this is a charging station that is a drink, it's making the counter wet and I even thought those should be thrown to the trashcan since there was no one here".

Ayay sumagot pa! In a high and loud tone (as if utusan nya ako), he said "can't you see me laman pa". Hmmm, ang highblood kumulo na! I said "I don't have to see it, just go call your parents to talk to me before I crumple your face. Narinig mo'ko? Sumagot ka pa, kukuyumusin ko na ang pagmumukha mo".

I knew my voice was in a crescendo hahaha. And I knew that last note (aw word) "mo" was very loud, probably everyone at the pre-departure area heard it! Hehehe, the little girl already scrammed at the start of that altercation, but the older girl stood by his brother and even said "don't fight my brother, he is just a child, we are children we have our rights"! Ay punyitera lalong uminit ulo ko. Ganun pala?!

With all the "ire" I could muster in my face, pinanlisikan ko ng mata yung bata and said "go call your parents NOW"! They slowly walked away because of that girl tugging at his kuya, but the bespectacled kuya was still looking at me with the hostility of an angry monkey! I said "bilis, bring your mom here"!

As I stood beside my charging phone while waiting for them and their parents to come, a PAL staff at a nearby gate counter said "grabe kung sumagot sir 'no? akala ko nga mga anak mo yun"! We laughed.

And we talked about how children are now very extensively trained about "rights" (karapatan) but not on how to discern what is "proper behavior" (tamang asal). Oh I liked how this PAL ground stewardess sums it when she said "basta tinuturuan lang lumaban, hindi na iniisip kung tama ang ipinaglalaban"!

And I said "parang yun mga Karen sa America"! And she said "ganun na nga sir, ang tatanga tapos sila pa ang malalakas ang loob magwala at magtititili ng I-have-the-right - asus, marami na nyan sa atin"!

Ahh, boarding for my flight was called, but no kids nor parents came. And that kind of frustrated me. I was so ready (and eager) to say my piece to the parents, such as...
1) A charging station isn't a lagayan ng inumin. Phones and water don't go together.
2) Don't leave your drinks just anywhere. Better to hold them all the time.
3) Stupidity may be your right, but it's not allowed in public!
4) Common sense precedes any human right.

Sasabihin ko pa sana:
Turuan sana ninyo ang mga anak nyo ng magandang asal at 'sentido kumon' bago childrens rights. At pakisabi na rin po sa mga guro nila, ano po, na ituro yan sa lahat ng bata, nang di sila napapahamak!

Until I boarded the bus, I didn't see those 'feeling entitled' kids again. The stewardess was saying pa "wala na kasi GMRC ngayon, sir". I said "'di nga yata GMRC ang kulang eh. Science. Dahil ang charging station eh kuryente, bakit mo ilalapag at iiwan ang baso mo dito?". She said "common sense sir, 'no?"

Hah, I really had to take notes there. Because, in the past, during my younger days, the natural scene would have been "si matanda ang magagalit bakit nag-iwan si bata ng baso/juice sa me saksakan ng kuryente". In this case, si bata pa una nagsalita ng "why did you touch my drink", "you have no right"!

All I could think was "tanginang Pilipinas 'to oh, parang America na"!

Well, travel is education. If I was just sitting at home (na walang bata), I would not have encountered, how kids these days are so wrongfully trained to fight for "their rights" - even if they're wrong. Karens!

Until I boarded the plane which was an Airbus A320, not the little Bombardier Q400!

Take this... I even stood up and roamed the plane - just to check if those kids (and their parents) were perchance on board. Wala hahaha! Then I thought "sa tabas ng dila ng batang yon, going ____ siguro"!

Kayo na mag fill-in-the-blanks hahaha hehehe!

I still instinctively took pics on this flight. But my mind was on the "future of our country - the youth"!

Aruu! I did not even bother to check from which runway we took off (which I usually do), and where or what that place below is (which I also always try to know)! Is that still Angeles or Mabalacat? Eku balu!

Because... 2 phrases kept ringing in my brain... "why did you touch my drink"... "you have no right"!

I noticed too, I wrote so many things on my notebook - sentences, even paragraphs - when I'd usually just jot words in bullet points! 'Nyetang bata yan, sya na ba ang klase ng future Pinoys natin? Juice ko!

Nakababahala, nakaririmarim! Di baleng bobo, tanga, gago, barumbado, basta mag-feeling tama lang? Ganun? At ang confidence level ha, kung umasta parang 'di ka-height ng pusod ko ang eyeglasses nya!

Karen na nga! How dangerous the future of our world!

Anyway again... eto na... something that made me ask: ano ito, day of negativity? My Skytreats arrived!

Nginata ko naman agad. Ibinuhos yata ang sama ng loob dun sa bata hahaha! At iniluwa ko rin agad!

That's a Chicken Adobo Bun, and as usual it said: Freshly baked for PAL by Max's Corner Bakery.

However, it was refrigerator-cold! I know they don't serve it hot anymore. Yes, gone are the days when cabin crews would still use an airplane's microwave ovens! But nowadays, if not warm, PAL's Skytreats are usually served at room (cabin) temperature. I've never (ever) seen or touched them cold. Malamig!

Kayo, nakakain na ba kayo ng adobo na malamig kagagaling lang sa fridge? Ganun ang feeling!

Eh iyang si "Adobo Bun" is the same as "Adobo Roll" kung bibili ka sa Goldilocks stores. Masarap yan! But, try putting them in your fridge overnight, tapos sa umaga lantakan nyo agad. Ganun ang feeling!

It's not even about the taste. As I said masarap yan. It's the texture, yung sebo na tumigas sa lamig!

Ah, I know meron nakalimot - whether it be their catering hub, or the cabin crew, whatever/wherever, there must have been a process lapse, since this was a first time ever I encountered such a cold bun!

Ano PAL, nanlalamig na? What happened to your 'warm Filipino heart'? Ipinag-mamalaki ko pa naman na 'lahat ng bread' sa PAL, whether international or domestic, is always served warm, unlike at CX etc!

Hayayay, I didn't want to spend more energy in another negative whatever. Tama na yung Karen Kids! I instead tried entertaining my royal highness with travel-relevant and travel-related matters like this...

I am sure, you my readers who are into luxury vehicles, are familiar with that brand, Recaro. All I said to my self was "Oh Wow"! That's a luxury (aka expensive) brand of seats for high-end cars and yachts.

Well I have seen on TV, that some football stadiums use Recaro seats for athletes and coaches. I have also read somewhere, that some sports bigshots (and the likes), have Recaro seats for "office chairs".

But I didn't know they also do passenger-airline-seats. Well, they probably started with those smaller executive jets, and the business (or 'fad') just caught on with, and spread to the bigger airline planes.

Good product evolution for all! More earnings for the maker, good and 'sosyal' product for the buyer!

Hmm, that is a nice example-topic on product-positioning and market-mix, 'no? Minsan kasi, pasosyal ka ng pasosyal, catering to "A & B markets only", eh wala naman benta hehe. Oh eh, try other markets!

I could just imagine what happened over at Recaro. I would think they built a new "mini-company" for these airline seats. Imagine, instead of making just 6 to 10 seats per business jet, they'd now be doing hundreds of seats for each plane to be used by airline companies! That should be quite a production!

Okay, of course I looked out the window, even if I knew it was very cloudy where we were passing.

And I had a very slim chance of identifying where we were as I did not watch everything since takeoff!

The 'fluffy white clouds' though, are always a very nice sight to watch, if we just focus on them.

The grayish and gloomy ones are heavier and the harbinger of rain, right? It's fun anticipating them as the plane bounces when it hits them. I like that roller coaster feeling when a plane bounces off them!

If I can't name places below due to clouds, I guessed them by time travelled. It's been 55 minutes!

I was on the right side window, on a southward flight direction from Clark to Panglao. So, I estimated, with that time travelled, my plane should probably have been flying right in the area above Cebu City!

Lingawa ani oi! It could only be Cebu City that has that expanse of so many houses and buildings. Da! I looked intently. Da! That shoreline over there is the SRP! Yes oi, I could see SM Seaside and its tower!

Therefore, below us were the mangroves around Cordova! Wohoa, I was flying over Mactan island, not to land at MCIA but just literally passing-by. A fly-by, yo! Hi & bye Cebu! Para akong bata, aliw na aliw!

Ironically, I took off from that place (MCIA) at half past 9 earlier today lang. Dahil, papunta nga ako ng Panglao! Unsaon nalang entaewon... kay wa man ta private jet hehehe! A very long route, but I liked it!

Soon the airplane banked sharply to the left. To our right, I could see the unique terrain of Bohol.

Nope, those are not the chocolate hills you see down there. The Chocolate Hills (Sagbayan or Carmen) are clustered, but separate individual roundish hills, not 'connected' like that. They're cousins I guess!

At the way we were cruising, I think the real Chocolate Hills would have been to the left of the aircraft. "Sorry my royal self, no view this time" hehe! Passengers at left-side windows should have seen them.

Hmm, I knew how this was turning... we were crossing Bohol main island (northwest to southeast), so that, somewhere above Jagna or Valencia, we could turn right (towards Siquijor), then turn right again to land at the new airport. New Airport? Yes, very new! It's called Panglao Bohol International Airport.

But hold on, we'll get there soon. Meanwhile, here we were, after banking right above southern Bohol.

My map and "ocular scan" (yes me ganun) tells me, that area is half Loay (right) and half Albur (left)!

That means Panglao Island, where we should be landing, is further to the left. Which is this:

You see that red line that I drew on the picture? Below that is the new runway. And oh, somewhere to the right of the photo (not anymore seen) is Pamilacan Island. Sayang I wasn't able to capture it, argh!

Trivia: do you know to which town Pamilacan Island belongs to? If you guessed Baclayon, check yan!

And here (red arrow) the plane was on a sharp final right turn, as it descended to land at Runway 03:

Do you see those two little islets at left? The smaller one is Gak-ang Island. The bigger one is Pontod Island - and it has other names such as Virgin Island; Isola di Francesco; Pongtod; Pungtod or Puntod.

A friend told me about how the Italian name Isola Di Francesco came to be. She says, she read a blog sometime ago, telling that the owner/s of that island, the Rodriguez family, owner/s of St. Pio Chapel in Libis, Bagumbayan (Eastwood) QC, named the island after St. Pio's real name: Francesco (Forgione).

So that's it. But your bottom-line as a tourist... it has an instagrammable long white sand bar. Go!

Oops, I have to tell you too, Balicasag Island is to the left of that photo, although not seen anymore!

Entering Panglao from its southern end. Alona Beach is behind that promontory under the wing.

Hey I got a video clip on that landing! I'll put it here very soon. Come back here to check it out!

And we landed on a gloomy 4:05PM ('twas even raining up in the air). Here's a view of the new airport!

So, I welcomed my royal highness to Bohol once again, landing directly on Panglao Island - Tagbilaran Airport is 'no more'. I wonder what they'll do with that old facility? Ayan, another reason for nostalgia!

Let's "arrive" at this new airport and go to my resort at Alona Beach.

Next!