Philippine Travel Notes

On a clear day, yey! I like flying on clear (maaliwalas) mornings. We get to see the whole world below, as a plane glides by. Admittedly, that is one of my favorite things to do during a flight - look down! So on this sunny April morning, I anticipated being able to clearly see towns and cities from up in the air! Whoa, but even down on ground I already started 'clearly seeing' things I did not quite notice before! Yep, I pass by this airport every week (sometimes even twice in a week), but I wondered why I seem to have not really seen that big sign yet, ever! Maybe I was pre-occupied with other things while I passed by this place in those many times. Or, even if mukhang luma na, maybe that thing was newly installed! Really? Anyway, I like what it says, if only to remind people about littering. I know it really is an advertisement, but at least, it has a dual purpose. I think that's a better way of making your company or brand 'visible' to consumers - especi

As mentioned in my previous story (also on my cruise to Mabini ), tourists 'usually' paddle kayaks from the cave to the natural bridge. And this here, was even the last photo in that previous blog story, right? On sunny days (like during this visit hehe), the river is placid, so the paddling is easy-going as the river current is not that strong. Importantly, no rush during this tour as we were the only group. No one else was waiting for their turn on our kayaks! They have a lot of these colorful kayaks anyway - by the way! Oops wait, did I go to Sohoton Natural Bridge or the Sohoton Natural Bridge Park ? Let's clarify that! Confusing but yes and yes! A silly and oh well, a really interesting merry mix of terminologies that I am learning and getting familiar with, while enjoying my travels around Basey, Samar! Okay okay, Western Samar -- itself another confusing jumble of words - parang Cotabato , remember? Makabuang. Gayud! Let us extensively dissect "Samar, Ea

After more than two weeks (19 days to be exact), I was back in the area, this time not just passing by the cave system on my way to anywhere, but really visiting to tour the cave/s with balikbayan friends! Let me do some qualifiers first. In this story, I prefer to call it as "Sohoton Cave" (singular), contrary to how it is referred to by the authorities (as Sohoton Caves). Why and how is that? I know this is a wide "cave system" with many openings located at various locations, but as visitors/tourists, you may only enter via one and only one designated entrance/exit place. To avoid confusion let me call it "a cave" in reference to the single "cave system" that it is. Even if this is usually called "Sohoton Caves" by many! Let's go! After registration , briefing and wearing of life vests, we walked down to the boat boarding area.., I thought the life vests were "cumbersome" hehe. On my trip to Mabini , I was not ask