Philippine Travel Notes

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 4 of the Sights & Scenes On My Iloilo To Cebu To Tacloban Flights. I stayed at the lounge until 11:00AM when boarding for my flight to CEB was called. Iloilo Airport's Gate 6 is a Bus Gate. Meaning you need to go down via stairs. That is from 3rd down to ground level . If it is hard for you to do, keep reading so you'll know. It's Getting Messy Here Meanwhile, I was kind of surprised there was that " Responsorial Psalm " on the side! But oh, I gathered from my sporadically faltering memory, that today was a Monday. That means they held their Sunday Mass somewhere around this area, but forgot to return that board and those chairs to their proper safekeeping places. Very Filipino! I mean not the Sunday Mass is Very Pinoy, but the pagiging iresponsable at tamad . Aba, if we'll be technical about it as airport people should be, that's a safety hazard . Safety & Security Look behind the ground stewardess, monobloc chairs ...

This is Part 2 of the Sights & Scenes On My Iloilo To Cebu To Tacloban Flights. So, after x-ray , I went straight to Mabuhay Lounge . Oks lang. Not too many people. Not long after I was in the lounge, there was excited, lively clapping and cheering on TV, as Steve Harvey was announcing things. At the same time, there was also a roar of claps & cheers - live from real humans, outside the lounge. Aw, Miss Universe na! Some passengers and crew! disappeared from the lounge, so I went to check it out . Such an event makes Filipinos drop everything to watch - at least the final round. At this airport, most of them passengers, crew, staff, including me hubbed in front of the bigger & clearer TV sets of the pre-departure lounge to watch the final moments! Wagi naman! And, I had the PAL Mabuhay Lounge Iloilo virtually to just me, myself and I ! Eh everyone including the staff was gone! And those three manongs (businessmen? executives? too old to care?) ...

Going home time. Let's Go sago! Oh, I did not forget " let's start from the very beginning ". My departure from Iloilo! I took a cab from Seda Atria to the airport, and here I was on the diversion road... No traffic yet at 8:48AM on a Monday. Yeah! I think this was because the malls were not yet open, and most vehicles were heading 'downtown' on the opposite direction. At left is the Plazuela De Iloilo - my favorite strolling, window-shopping, dining place in Iloilo. It's a mall yes, but it has a different kind of vibe. It is 'sprawling', not vertical. Onwards, next to that, is SM City Iloilo . Ah, who does not know SM, right? That building at right is SM Strata , supposedly the tallest in Iloilo, until the Terranza Residences materializes. I heard SM Strata is not actually done yet. It's supposed to have 2 or 3 towers (daw, yun ang marites na nasagap ko)! Offices & BPOs daw yan. Further, is Injap Tower - you can see a litt...

I arrived in Iloilo via an air-conditioned bus from San Jose De Buenavista in Antique, hailed a GrabCar and voila, I was in my overnight accommodation, SEDA Atria Iloilo . Taken from the middle of a roundabout (Pison Monument) I loved this morning shot of the hotel. I'd want to call it my version of the two-point-perspective drawing effect! Did I like this hotel? Oh yes, I did. Was this planned? No! Aw ah, as I always say in my stories, let's start from the very beginning ... I was in San Jose . The plan was to stay overnight there, then take the early morning bus to Iloilo, in time to catch my 1120H flight to Cebu, so I could transit to Tacloban. As advised by my contacts in San Jose, I should choose a hotel online then just ask them for comments - turo ko sa kanila yan in the first place - locals do not stay at their local hotels since they have their own homes, thus they don't know much about rooms! I had a choice, it was approved by my contacts, so I cal...