Philippine Travel Notes

Beachology ? Is there such a word? There is, NOW - I declare, as I do hereby declare! That, is irrevocable and immutable! Thus, let it be known by all ye my royal subjects! My royal subjects lang, hindi predicate! Walang kokontra! Ang kumontra papangit! Game na. Let's talk about some 'lessons'! This beach may not be for you my dear reader, if you are the type who likes to romp or laze on a beach ' to see and be seen ' . This is NOT the place. Why? No human eyes! No humans to ogle at, and/or salivate, over your make-believe-alindog hahaha! Aside from a few farmers tending to their coconuts, or other planted eatables under those foresty trees, no humans around. Di bebenta ang rampa mo dito Mana Maura! And I love it that way! Look, this was a Friday afternoon, and I was literally alone! That is about 3 kilometers of nothingness on a white sand beach, all the way to that headland at the end of this cove - and, OMG it continues that way on the other side! ...

Done at Mapanas, it was time to head to my final destination of the day - the Sun! Do you know where that is? That is Araw Beach , Brgy. San Antonio, Gamay Northern Samar! Its in Gamay, but feels nearer to Mapanas. Maybe it's midway between them. Yep, it is named Araw Beach, that's why I jokingly refer to it as "the sun"! And don't get eggzoiteeed ! That photo was my first click, upon arrival this afternoon. There will (aw there shall ) be more of that later! For now, be informed, that is one of the best 'still fresh and unadulterated' among white-sand beaches on Samar Island! Note, I said " one of the best". Playing safe tayo dyan, kasi baka meron pa tayo hindi nakikita in these pacific-facing towns! Samar is big, hidden gems may still be hidin ' ! But as I always do, let's start from the very beginning... I was in Mapanas, and then? My Ride (Mapanas to Araw) And then Buyungaw offered to drive me from Mapanas to Araw at n...

After the Galleon Port visit, it was time to finally say goodbye to Palapag, and hop to Mapanas. Is this far? Not really. Just a little above 20 kilometers. 20 minutes or so? But I had planned stops here-and-there ! This was actually one compelling reason why I hired a habal-habal (aw scooter pala) - as I can't do that with 'regular' vans or buses ! And on a habal-habal, it's slower so you get to see more! Hmm, let's expound a bit about Traveling in The Provinces ... bow! Why not rent a car? (which I didn't mention in my Out Of Palapag story) Mind you, I asked around if there was a real rent-a-car service here arounds. When I say "real" , I mean a true business of renting out cars like that of Haven's in Tacloban. Or Hertz, Avis, Europcar, Budget, etc., etc.! None . I think it is only Tacloban that has, in the likes of Haven's nga - they may not be the best (yet), but I tried & tested them! Rent-A-Car . Not the car ...

I did not even know there was such a thing! Thanks to my driver for suggesting that we pass by this port. Dagdag kaalaman! Oh yes, an additional historical knowledge! Physically, it's actually nothing but a 'pantalan', no different than many little ports all over this archipelago. But it has 'historical value' if you are into those kinds of things. That's where the concrete structure starts jutting out to sea for probably 100 meters. That habal-habal, aw scooter nga pala [pronounced: is-koo-ter] was my ride. And as you can see at right, is a historical marker planted by the National Historical Commission in 2015, describing the historical significance of this very place/locale. I tried zooming another shot I had of the marker, so I can show the words clearly. So what did I learn? Let me English my Tagalog heheh. Hagii, puyde ba Waray nala? Anyway, this port was a last stop of galleons, to load up on firewood, food and water en route to Acapulco...

First I was somehow impatiently irritated that my driver could not overtake that truck. We were passing by this narrow twisting roads nearing Calbiga. I calmed myself with "we'd be able to do so in no time, when the road gets wider a few more bends ahead". Then, I was moving restlessly on my seat trying to get a good view of the contents of that truck with my phone ready to shoot. Driver told me casually "bananas sir". And so I said "oh okay". But why is that door open? Isn't that dangerous? He told me, "so that the fruits won't get ripe untimely". I asked why do they not use an open truck instead. Driver intimated there could be a number of reasons - mostly "economic". He says, if the suppliers are serious, they should use refrigerated vans. But those are expensive. Maybe too, this was the only truck available to them, and that they must already deliver, lest the fruits get ripe and rot. I wondered why were those in c...

On a rainy Wednesday afternoon commute, from Tacloban to Catbalogan, we were about 5 minutes into the trip when this thing on the dashboard caught my attention: I smiled at the grammar. Oh yes, drivers are fun 'when they English themselves' haha! But, my atrevida brain needed to ask the driver what it meant, in case I haven't heard of the latest marites and/or driver jokes circulating everywhere on social media. Da! So I asked, and OMG, as in oh my gino-o ko! It caused the dear driver into a serious story-telling for most of the two hour trip, as if his life was threatened to end. In a cracking voice, he even asked if I was a lawyer. The story goes something like this... Few days ago, a woman passenger ("Misis" as the driver refers to her) took this ride on Seat Number 2 (my seat). Without confrontation and without his knowledge, this woman allegedly made a complaint to his bosses at VS Grandtours. And the issue?! That this driver, allegedly kept ...

Dandering ? Aw, let me use that as a synonym of ' drifting ', ' gallivanting ', ' wandering '! Roaming without an itinerary - all left to 'chances', by breaking away from my group! For that is what happened here hehe! Yep, I didn't really come to this place to tour-around, as I usually do. I joined a group of friends for a benevolent Christmas Day Program - but, with an itch to look beyond ! Shhh, huwag na maingay. Silip-silip lang naman ang ginawa ko! Not a bad idea, right? Aw, I stuck with our scheduled activities 100%. But there were chances - like during lunch breaks, I'd sneak away to look around and/or shoot pics! That said, everything I will tell you, were most likely unplanned or unintended. As we say in Tagalog: kung ano lang ang nakita, natagpuan, naranasan. In short: whatever! This gave me a different kind of thrill. So let me tell you about some of them! First, a briefer on the not so obvious things (to many Pinoys) ...

This was flight leg #3 (Taipei to Hanoi) in my 'exceptionally complicated' circle trip . The first interesting point was: I shot that pic at 1138H, when almost all passengers were already aboard, but our ETD was 1200H. Ah, early departure means early arrival! Okay, tara let's go sago! Aruu! Plane did not move, even if all passengers were already seated and waiting. A feeling of déjà vu ?! Oh yes, mismo actually! Same case as my CEB to TPE departure. Boarding = Loading ! Folks down at the belly of this plane (baggage & cargo hold) were still busy loading. Yes, it's not just about us passengers. Baggage, Cargo & Mail are also being loaded. Not that I was in a hurry. Per booking, I had 3 hours of transfer time at Hanoi. Go ra! I instead watched whatever I could see of a rainy outside. It must be cold out there! My phone said it was 17°C in Taoyuan and 20°C In Hanoi. Brrr! Being Pinoy from the Visayas, 26°C is my best lowest temperature. Any degree lo...