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...

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...

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...

So, I arrived at 9PM. Now what? Of course I had to look for somewhere to lay my royal highness for the night! I didn't have reservations, since from experience, there are always available hotels in Clark. There was this relatively unknown place though, that had been inviting my curiousity since this morning, while browsing on googlemaps. It is the nearest, but misplaced! You see my red question mark? That's what the map was telling me. But I knew, that it is not precise. I often pass by the area, it is just a wide parking lot. Maybe nearby? Oh by the way, we can't always trust the accuracy of what we see in google or other such maps, since those are added by just about anybody with an account, who may have inaccurate brains hehehe! What I trust at least is: it must be somewhre nearby! Like in the above map, I trusted that the airport hotel must be in that vicinity! In fact, the reason I went looking for it was: I could see (also on googlemaps), there were othe...