Philippine Travel Notes

My buddy said ‘this guy is too light-skinned for an igorot’. A companion joined in with ‘his physique does not seem to show he works in the farms, ang laki ng tiyan eh’! Then another said ‘baka politician yan or school supervisor’. But I was more curious about that thing in his right hand. And then… There it is, now transferred to his left, as if the plant could conceal what he is doing! Can’t that txtng wait until end of the parade? He is/was trying to represent/portray an indigenous people IN a grand parade and IN Manila – which is like or even more than a stage play. This float was one beautiful tableaux by the way (in concept that is). And all who participate in the Aliwan Fiesta are the best of the regions. Couldn’t the damn txtng have waited? Ah I went near to tell him just that hehe! Well, a friend pulled me away. I was supposed to add “you might as well also wear your rolex, your rayban, your rollerblades, and wear a baseball cap”! Oh well, when modernized folks of our times tr...

Well well well… who does not know Baguio?! The summer capital of the country, the place that let a thousand flowers bloom every February, the place where your mom and grandma would go for an AUV-full of vegetables so you end up eating ceasar salad from morning till night – in three consecutive weeks! Any more memories?! Yes, the ukay-ukay capital of the country – definitely with more choices than you have in all of Cubao and Aurora Boulevard, right? I cannot disagree. But for me, there are a lot of other (good or bad) things Baguio worth remembering! For now, let’s talk about the various ways on how we go up to this summer capital. Getting there Easiest is to take to the air and land at Loakan Airport, 4251 feet above sea level – which is actually still “below” the city of Baguio. Flights from Manila take less than an hour but you will need land transportation from said airport about 20 or so minutes to the city proper. Don’t worry, there are jeeps and cabs! For the commuters, most co...

Whatever happened to your bottled water? It now comes in a 'mouthful size'? Ows?! As we voraciously gorged on our barbecues over at the freezing Abanao Square, we had to meticulously ‘examine’ the dear little bottle. Some ingenious dude cut the middle portion of the plastic bottle and re-attached the top and bottom portions so that it perfectly became a handy toothpick container. Clever indeed! Oh well, the wonderful signs of creativity in these our times…

Literally! This broke my heart. Promise! We just came from a visit to the La Trinidad flower and strawberry farms and were driving our way back to Baguio City when I chanced upon this girl. I initially thought that was a Tagalog romance novel or a ‘songhits’ she was busy reading. Fortunately, my companions got attracted to the carrots in her stall. So we stopped and crossed the road (and I took this pic). When we got to her, she immediately closed the book and attended to my companions. I glanced and saw that it was a high school book on something like ‘social studies’ or something. We asked if she was a student. She replied that in fact she was getting ready for an exam at 1 o’clock that afternoon. Just waiting for her mother to finish lunch so she could start off for school. Ah! It was exactly 12:12PM when I took this photo. Oh well, the way it is to study in these our times…