Philippine Travel Notes

Ah, that is a double good morning greeting! First good morning was when I arrived at this city which was shortly after midnight. Next good morning was when I woke up for breakfast to hurry and run fast to the CWC for my 8AM to 12NN day tour! Hectic! But fun, really! As told in the previous stories, the long trip form Calbayog took me some 10 hours on the road, departing on a drizzly 2PM and there I was in Naga just shortly after midnight. Whoa! So my first “good morning Naga” was a groggy one, but not in any way grumpy. Of course I startled the Villa Caceres guard who was already on some kind of “prayer” (a.k.a. sleeping on the job) when the tricycle I took from the highway brought me in! But the front desk lady was up and all smiles. I knew she was expecting me since I called earlier in the day from Allen. Another sleepy dude was asked to help me with my luggage up to room 314. I was sure they also roused him up for my arrival. Not only did his eyes show it, but his heavy breathing as...

Allen is on the northwesternern tip of Northern Samar and Matnog is southern tip of Luzon. And this RORO ride is the sole direct connection between the two islands. Takes just about an hour and a half of actual sea travel, but the waiting time at either of the ports before and after arrival makes the whole thing look like its a 3-hour gig or even more! I heard friends who drove passing this way and tell something like it took them 5 or even 6 hours. Maybe it was due to documentation needs. Other friends who rode buses this way tell us the same. Maybe I was lucky? I usually am, actually hehe! My bus arrived at the Allen port at 3;44PM and at exactly 6;45PM, I was already boarding my bus again in Matnog after it emerged from inside the RORO! How is this ride? Generally uneventful, but if it is an afternoon run on a summer day, you probably will call it one of the best. RORO departs from the Allen port at 5PM, just before the sun slowly inches down beyond the islands. Fantastic view of Sa...

Just a single picture and I learned a lot. Yes I took that picture, but in my mind I was saying “that is one big wedding cake” hehe. I knew it was some monument significant to this city, but at first glance, it looked like a cake to me! I thought that would be a good landmark for/in Naga City that should be easily remembered by travelers. But a thing led to another. I reviewed the photo in my camera and tried zooming it to see if I was getting good shots at such a time of day. The historical marker instead caught my attention. Golly this must be a big thing for it to have that black slab of the NHI! So I went nearer to read what it was saying. “Labinlimang Martir ng Bikol” so the marker announced. Wheh, there is something like that? How come I don’t know (or I don’t remember) that? I tried recalling if it was ever mentioned in Teodoro Agoncillo’s ‘History Of The Filipino People’, the textbook we used in college history (PHI – Philippine History and Institutions). Ah, can’t remember heh...

Fantastic sunset as we landed in Manila from Naga City. But I was not home yet! Home isn't Quezon City anymore. I was just passing by NAIA 3 on my way to Cebu since there are no direct Naga-Cebu flights. In fact I was already holding my MNL-CEB boarding pass issued at naga when I checked-in for this WNP-MNL flight. And I did not want to reverse my Cebu-Legaspi-Naga-Caramoan route because I had the luxury of zero-fares! I do not get to land in Manila at such a time of day since we all avoid it, right? Yeah, the excruciating afternoon traffic. But since I was just in transit to Cebu, I liked it that this flight was arriving MNL at about 4PM. Here’s part of that story… Turboprops (propeller airplanes) do not use any of the gates at Terminal 3. And I know that. Its useless for an airline to use them anyway. Why? Because these planes are too small, they cannot be reached by the aerobridge (air tube) for a more comfortable disembarkation of passengers. And my flight from Naga was using...

Look at that! She is slim, ladylike with long hair and carrying an armalite! Caught this shot as I boarded my flight from Naga City in Camarines Sur to Manila. Good that passengers before me were taking too long, I got to talk to her a bit. I asked if she really knows how to use that thing and she said “oo naman, part of training”. I asked if there were many girls as sexy as her in the uniformed service and carrying guns and she said many more are taller and sexier! She was smiling and approachable enough. Yes I asked permission to take this picture lest she get mad and do the ratatatatat with that thing shes carrying hehe! If I were that Cebu Pacific employee, I’d stand elsewhere. It makes him look like a swan hehehe. Not sure if he is a load controller or ramp agent. Whatever, in this highly patriarchal and even male-chauvinist country, its just quite unsightly to see a man wearing earplugs, carrying a sheet of paper and standing beside a slim young long haired lady with a pig-tail...

I arrived from Caramoan too early at 10:44AM for my 2:55PM flight to Manila! And the kind driver, probably sensing that he was too fast and too early arriving in Naga City, decided to make that detour and drop me at the very door of the airport’s departure area. That’s about 200 to 300 meters off the main highway, and some passengers even asked where we were going. Driver said just to drop me at the departure area and even asked if other passengers were destined for the airport. None replied except for a woman who asked “me flight ba ngayon?”! Yeah yeah, I knew she either meant to tell or even ridicule me that I was damn too early for the next flight out of that airport hehe. The airport was virtually closed! The entrance door was open yes, but you cannot go anywhere than that. Off limits except the little sari-sari/souvenir store at the space near the stairs where a lady was busy arranging her food containers getting ready to sell lunch. But elsewhere, the personnel were either som...

Some say its your ride of a lifetime, others say it is such a hassle. Many don’t like it, some call it fun. Call it anything, I don’t and won’t subscribe to it. But what can you do if you want to be in a paradise called Caramoan? Ah, feel what you must, but just live with it! As for now, there is no alternative and we are all kind of being blackmailed. Thus, no need to take pity on those men. They had/have other choices for a livelihood, but its them who opted for this “human carrying business”. In fact, their townmates (that’s who I asked) allege they are making every effort that the situation be not improved, so they can go on with this kind of primitive-moronic kind of transportation. AND, the boatmen cooperate. Hello Cleopatra, thine times are still in Camarines Sur! Quite a backward way of doing it. And yes Larry, “somewhat barbaric” to see in these times where even the lowly flooded street gets to have a “bridge” in an instant! And as if this “carrying business” is not ridicu...

We are still on the Caramoan topic. And this "Sabang" being mentioned is just halfway there. Its a little barrio by the beach, in the town of San Jose, which is the end of your van ride from Naga, and where begins your boat ride to Caramoan. To get on the boat, you have to ride on a human being! The reverse (arriving from Caramoan) is of course the same thing. How do we, the tourists, do these ‘human rides’ to avoid glitches? I mean you and me who do not have access to the governor’s helicopter? Here are what I can tell you… Choose wisely That means, the taller the ‘porter’, the better. Why? Because the deepest portion of the sea that they’ll carry you to, can be from chest-deep to neck-deep, depending on how tall (or how shorty) the porter is! And you’ll be sitting by his shoulder! Be realistic with how heavy and how big you think you are. Why? Because you cannot be sitting on a smaller human being for him to carry you across, without accidentally dropping you unto the ...

So, there I was, ready to leave Caramoan, even if reluctantly! I found out that departing from town center (or any of the resorts for that matter) towards the Guijalo Port is no simple thing. The easiest way is still to charter a jeep or tricycle if you are traveling as a group. The habal-habal ride is best if, like me, you are traveling alone without so many things to bring. Why? Because its not as if there are available rides anytime you wish to go, especially early in the mornings. The tricycles may not want to take off if not full to the roof, even if you say you are trying to catch the boat departure! You can coerce them of course, but then you’ll have to pay for the vacant spaces if you want them to move pronto – which may, after all, end up more expensive! I took a habal-habal ride at 6:15AM so I could catch the 7AM boat departure for Sabang. Too early a trip? Yeah, very! Especially if your bio-clock has already adjusted to ‘vacation mode’! And on a habal-habal, the trip cou...

Alright folksie folks! So there I was on an island hopping tour of my own! As in, I was the sole passenger with the boatman and his boathand or assistant, whatever he’s called. Just three of us hopping from one island to another. I am just not good at names or did not care to remember them, so I cant tell which island was what. In fact, I even forgot, or did not care too about taking pictures of some places we went to as I got carried away enjoying the scenery, wading, swimming or just lazing around - which should have been the case anyway, right? But I do have a few shots if only to tell you how grand this place is. Here we go… Those are 3 foreign girls baking in the sun! You can see the big lizard, right? The boathand, assistant whatever and at times my photographer! The boatman, owner, tourguide, adviser and also at times my photographer! Folks take note of this: Boatmen (even if mine was a good English spea...