Philippine Travel Notes

Tacloban to Cebu again. I've done this many times before. But I'm not complaining - except that I'm running out of anything to tell about this portion of my trips. Or do I? What about this Tacloban Airport, again? I keep saying, "I think I have seen and said everything about this wretched airport" be it praise-wise or rant-wise. Eh, I've been using this 'ugly edifice' ever since I was a brat. But something that the Filipina candidate (in that recently-held Miss Universe thing) said, somehow left a mark in my head. She said something about "the silver lining"! And she won pa, di ba? So I said 'that's a great life-skill' . But can I apply that here? Let's practice and find out! Practice finding that 'silver lining' in this poor, deplorable, wretched, shameful situation; and see if it makes us feel any better. I suspect it will! Disappontment is after all just a product of our own appointment hehehe! Hmm, I...

I was on the way to the airport for my circuitous holiday travel, and I saw this... In my mind I was saying ' how apt ', ' what a reminder ', ' what a coincidence ', ' yes Lord '! I and driver had to stare and look closely if the thing was newly installed. No not new. It just so happened.., a very rare good coincidence.., that today was December 23! The phrase An Pinaskohan is Waray (Cebuano too) that means The Christmas Gift ! Driver was quick to joke 'serr, remindeeer' ! But I was also quick to say I already gave his "13-month-bonus" plus my gift to him and his wife and children hahaha. Ako pa! But he had the last word (nagmana yata sa akin) saying "bangin manla mayada pa"! Hmm, looking fun. This probably was a sign, that I am going to have a great holiday roam once again. Or maybe a reminder. And I said out loud (to my self) "ayay OMG"! Yes, it was a 'reminder' from heavens above hahaha! I ...

Here is another circuitous trip I had. We can consider this a circle trip, or a series of circle trips. This wasn't only in the country (mainly abroad). Yet, full of fun learnings. My route went like this: TAC ✈ CEB ✈ TPE ✈ HAN ✈ DAD ✈ SGN ✈ PNH ✈ REP ✈ HAN ✈ VTE ✈ DMK ✈ MNL ✈ CEB ✈ TAC. Hahaha, ridiculous? Well it was fun! The little red planes above are international flights, while those in other colors were domestic flights inside their respective countries. Oh okay, let's describe the codes. For easy identification and understanding, I numbered the flight legs - 13 flights! I went from Tacloban to Cebu. Then Cebu to Taipei transiting to Hanoi and Danang. After Danang, I went to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) transiting to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. After Phnom Penh, I flew transiting at Siem Reap (that's still Cambodia) going back to Hanoi, this time to stay a few days. After Hanoi, I departed for Vientiane in Laos. After Vientiane, I jetted to Bangkok's ...

After all the news, the craze and the fanfare about their return to Balangiga, after a little more than a century, by the Americans, I went to see these 3 bells, uncrowded! Now what? Hahaha, I don't know! They are bells, like many other old, historic or historical bells you see everywhere on earth. You and I knew, that upon return, they were not to be kept (again) in a box and forgotten for another century. They were/are to be used again or displayed forever . So, why was everyone (except for Balangiganons) so crazy about being there during the actual return/arrival of the bells? Because Duterte was there? Wheh! Para saan? I'm saying what I said above because... days ago, many friends, family, subscribers, colleagues kept asking where I was, why I was not there to see the bells, and so on. One said "lumipad pa kami galing Cavite, nakita naman namin, but we were not able to take photos w/ the bells, andaming tao, you could have guided us kung andito ka "....

This is Part 5 of the Sights & Scenes On My Iloilo To Cebu To Tacloban Flights. Down at the ramp, no buses. Cadillacad! Oks lang, since it was a gloomy noontime! And aha children! You should know what those things at left are. Do you remember? If you've been reading previous articles on this blog, we've already discussed igloos ! Aw hey look, there's another PAL staff. Nasa initan sya, pero naka-smile naman! Nowadays, I cannot anymore identify their roles from just looking at their uniforms, since they wear only one kind. He could be a ramp or passenger handling manager. But look far behind that guy. That was one of the reasons I clicked that shot. There's a 'train' of pushcarts being pulled by a baggage/cargo tug . Kids (and me) love them! One more thing, there's a Cebu Pacific plane on a takeoff roll. How did I know it was taking off? Ah eh I just knew! Bakit, si Madam Auring lang ba ang pwede manghula? I also took this next photo for tho...

This is Part 3 of the Sights & Scenes On My Iloilo To Cebu To Tacloban Flights. So, ganoon na nga... I was inside the Mabuhay Lounge , their TV was playing the live broadcast of Miss Universe. Oks lang naman - but I heard some commotion outside. It was an excited roar with clapping and cheering. Hmm, very easy for me to discern what it was! This country always does that on Beauty Pageants or Pacquiao Fights! I knew it! Most everyone, passengers, crew and employees were fixated on the TVs! Oh the final three was just announced! This is that rare moment where e very mouth in this country is zipped to deafening silence - only the TVs would blare any sound ! Ah, seryosong bagay yan. Open your mouth and you'll get those murderous glances ! People intently listen to what each final candidate has to say in that "final question"! I almost laughed out loud when: while Catriona was saying "I work a lot in the slums of Tondo Manila..." a 'usual...

This is Part 1 of the Sights & Scenes On My Iloilo To Cebu To Tacloban Flights. The final 2 legs of my Circle Trip , that brought me to Luzon, Mindanao, and back to the Visayas! Yep, flying back home to Cebu , but just in-transit to Tacloban . Let's Go! This was fun "so far" . An uncommon route. 'Di lang lamyerda , me kasamang work ! It went TAC ✈ CEB ✈ MNL ✈ CGY ✈ CEB ✈ CRK ✈ EUQ 🚌 ILO ✈ CEB and ✈ TAC. Ah, I said "so far" , since it's not really done yet! I'm writing this at the Cebu Mabuhay Lounge, waiting to board the last and final flight of this 'circle trip' back to Tacloban. I should be able to post this story tonite , when I have finally arrived. For who knows, other interesting sights and scenes may still occur from now until my arrival, right? Check-in: Iloilo Alright, continuing from the previous story, I went to the PAL check-in counters and got my boarding passes. Plural yes, because I had 2 flights: ...

As said in my previous post , this first leg of my circle trip was flying TAC-CEB-MNL. Not that I am complaining, I'm just telling! I've been doing that for many years now. Oh, if you're new here, or not yet that familiar, I've started using IATA airport codes in my blogs, like: TAC is the code for Tacloban, CEB for Cebu and MNL for Manila. Now.., why go through connecting flights when there are lots of direct TAC to MNL flights? Well, people have many varied reasons in doing so. But, many of you, dear readers, already know, my reason is: just to drop my laundry in Cebu - where I live ! Oist, nothing illegal there! I just handcarry my "labadami", go out of departure area, Manong JC would already be there waiting, and then we "exchange gifts", that's it! Anything that I have to carry back inside still pass by those x-ray machines. In case I need to check-in anything, I also still go through the check-in or bag-drop counters, even i...

After a few days in Bohol, here I was, departing from the new Bohol International Airport. Yey! But, as I always say, 'let me start from the very beginning'. So here was my getting out of Alona Beach ! Finding The Bus Stop I walked from ISIS Bungalows to the main road (corner of Circumferential Road & Alona Beach Road). That is the usual way of most everyone exiting from the various beach-side resorts on Alona Beach. If you're not the walker type, there are motorcycles or tricycles you can hire at the corner by the beach. Alona Beach Road is too narrow for vehicles to enter and try to maneuver a u-turn at the end (beach), as it always teems with humanity (mala-palengke na sya). Only emergency/PWD vehicles are allowed. Mind you, that's about 500 meters of an upward walk. Not really that steep. I think that intersection is only about 30ft above sea-level, and from the beach corner where Alona Beach Road starts ascending is about 300 ft. away, thus th...