Philippine Travel Notes

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' airport announcement was coming in, but someone who knows how-to, pressed the local g...

Let's go to San Jose De Buenavista the capital of Antique Province. This was a PAL inaugural flight from Clark - the first by any commercial airline from anywhere. This must have been a historic moment for the province. At kasama ako ! But, as I always say, let's start from the very beginning . 0428H, look at this, already a long line of passengers at the airport's entrance. I know and I knew, not all of them were also taking my flight on a little plane with an 86-passenger capacity. We were entering, for several flights departing that morning. When there are such lines at an airport entrance, no IFs or BUTs, there is something wrong with that airport and/or its procedures. If it has been-so for a long time, then iisa lang ang "that means" nyan - matagal nang dispalinghado ang mga namumuno! It can be caused by many things, but one thing is for sure: there's something wrong. But let's not ruin my morning's historic flight. I made it and g...

Let's continue my story from where I earlier finished! Delayed departure from CGY for about an hour. ETD was 1505H , but at 1607H here I was with my fellow passengers still walking to Laguindingan Airport's Gate 3. GoRa! If you noticed, there's an aerobridge at left, but this flight was not boarded that way! Boarding Propeller Planes At Laguindingan We went down this way: via the stairs, to the tarmac, and on to our tiny little plane! Hey, some of you (including me 'sometimes') may hate the thought of walking down stairs and on the tarmac's pavement, just to board an aircraft. But I liked it this time! It's Best When Not Raining or Sunny Hot Late-afternoon orange sunrays, wide field and sea views, gentle warm breeze. Nice! I said warm , not cool - that is because this airport vicinity is far from mountains or hills. That said, you know what that means, right? Yes, the air has that "beachy" feel! Why I Like Propeller Pl...

I just finished the first leg of my three-legged air-travel. This time, I was transiting in CGY . You know what that means, why and where, right? If you still don't.., go review ! I think I said in the previous story, or previous other stories, that this was a first time I transited at CGY, in modern recorded history! OMG I did not?! So I'm saying it now! At ano nanaman iyang history-history na yan? Well, in the past, I think even as late as the '90s, CGY was already a mini-hub (meaning it had flights to many destinations), so we could transit at that airport. An example would be: MNL-CGY-DVO, two flights . But unlike now, none of the flights I took before were recorded via pics or videos, as digicams & cellphones weren't yet around! Camera film was still too expensive then. At walang pang blog noon! So, therefore wherefore, nothing was really recorded - as far as I was concerned! And, all those were at Lumbia , so this was really a first time. O sya, ...