Philippine Travel Notes

So I arrived at Taoyuan International Airport from Cebu , just passing-by, transiting to Hanoi, on the way to Danang (cities in Vietnam). These are flights 3 & 4 on my map . No rush. I had enough time to "transfer" at this airport, since I planned well, and that flight from CEB arrived ahead of schedule. Plus I already know my way around here. That said, let me caution those who are not too familiar with transit and/or transfer quirks at Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport ( TPE ) that's usually always too busy. This was 10:23AM at the VietJet check-in counters. ETD: 1230H. I wasn't late. But... That means it took about an hour finding my way from arrival to the departure area. And I consider myself already fast, as I now know my way around this airport. Ikaw? In fact, my delivering flight (CEB-TPE on AirAsia) and receiving flight (TPE-HAN on VietJet) both use T1. Yet, it still took me about an hour to: 'retrieve my baggage' , 'do m...

This is the 2nd leg of Another Circle Trip . Let's Go! For a 0710H flight, I was not early at the airport at 0552H. Not that late to cause any mess though. I know it isn't that crowded yet. But, I should have come a little earlier. Arrive early, to look around, and take pictures here and there. This is CEB T2 , again ! Those windows look better with the 'giant parols' as Christmas Decorations. Nice! Oh come to think of it, I did not shoot anything similar to the above 2 photos, during the last time I was here before daybreak. The colors surely made me do it this time. Well, I already talked about this "ugly" make of the floor tiles before, right? But that scene at left was new to me! I initially thought I saw a cabin crew walking. I realized, it is a standee lang pala, riding on a trolley being pushed by a staff hahaha! Or is he, really? Why does he have a backpack and wearing a cap? Di kaya pasahero sya o taong labas , at naaktuhan ko lang na kinu...

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...

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 ...

This is Part 10 of the Sights & Scenes On My Iloilo To Cebu To Tacloban Flights. Departure: Cebu This CEB-TAC flight was not delayed. At 5:02PM, plane's door was already closed. The plane's surroundings were already empty & clean, everything set for departure. And pushback at 5:03PM. This last PAL ground crew waved goodbye to the pilot. As we taxied towards Runway 04 (that's about 3kms), I saw this bukaw again hehe! I silently laughed at the sight of the blue container van , that does not belong here. Hahaha, nasaag ang amaw! That is used for/on cargo ships, the sea vessels, not on airplanes. Well, at least I haven't seen or heard of such a thing riding on an airplane! P&O is an ocean shipping and holiday cruise company. Bakit napadpad dito? Cute! Takeoff: Cebu Entering and turning left on Runway 04 to finally fly back to Tacloban... And off we rolled! Good I was on the left side of the plane. I could see the airport! And lift off! Woh...

This is Part 9 of the Sights & Scenes On My Iloilo To Cebu To Tacloban Flights. Arrival: Cebu Buses ferried us to the terminal (as usual), where we saw this Manang! It looked like she was putting those sheets into the clear plastic trash bag. Some of those sheets were flying off, and she was having difficulty catching-securing those. Fellow passengers helped her pick some sheets blown towards our path, and that's what caught my attention. Hmn, old memoranda and tables/statistics of/from PAL. Aw yes, since that's a PAL office inside that door. I wanted to go hop by and remind them that rubbish should be secured in the trash bag 'while still inside their offices'. Paano naman kasi, ang sikip-sikip na ng office na yan for an entire Station Control . I think its width is only 4 meters. They should relocate to some wider area at say, T2. No, I did not peep in. I had to rush. I remembered I was still going home. Mind Your Trash But I know something about...

This is Part 8 of the Sights & Scenes On My Iloilo To Cebu To Tacloban Flights. What/Where Is Remote Parking Being a small propeller plane, our flight was not to dock at any of the gates of T1. It is normal herearounds, and we're all used to this, right? We get ferried by busloads! There there.... we were headed to the Aircraft Parking Bays across the MCIA Cargo Terminals . Oist, if in the past I hated this bus part of air travel, nowadays I cherish it. Why? Well, I get to see other, derivative, amusing parts of airport/airline operations! The Scenes At MCIA Remote Parking Here's a fantastically alluring example scene of many separate activities: First, there are 2 separate and different planes. It just so happened that at the time I took the shot, my position (angle) accidentally made them look as if just 1 airplane! In front is an Air Juan plane. It's a Cessna Grand Caravan 208B EX. That is their land version (obvious ba?), as they have a seaplane ve...

This is Part 7 of the Sights & Scenes On My Iloilo To Cebu To Tacloban Flights. Wonderful Views Again: Mactan I heard sighs of relief, probably including mine hehe! Landing time. This is Cordova . Approaching from south of the island. Therefore, we were landing into Runway 04. This happened before .., I could see the Cordova Tourism Center in Brgy. Day-as. Syempre, Lantaw Floating Restobar right side of the causeway. Pioneer in that area. Oy, I saw parts of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway ( CCLEX ) under construction! I will be honest, I'm not that excited about this CCLEX as most other people in Cebu. I have two reasons - personal and analytical (yes, me ganun)! 1] On the personal side, wala man koy labot ana gud hehe! I live in Banilad Mandaue, V&G Lacion and future home is Catarman Liloan. All got nothing to do with that link . I will probably only be able to use it just for curiousity's sake, or when I'd be roaming around with my usual bu...