Philippine Travel Notes

Saw this again, parked in front of Office of the Vice President in Nulatula Tacloban. Wala lang hehe, nakita, nilapitan, pinektyuran. Yun lang! A good looking bus anyway. Okay okay fine.., the reason I took that photo (I even wanted to board and peep inside - kaso sarado, walang tao, Sunday kasi eh) was... it is still a hot topic on social media discussions, not just in Tacloban but even in the whole Region VIII (Eastern Visayas) ! Like what? Like lately, the topic has been some jeep & bus drivers of/to the northern barangays were complaining that their earnings are affected by this 'Libreng Sakay'. The funny thing is: it has now become A Household War - of fathers (drivers) versus mothers (their wives, mainly vendors) and students (their children in college, even HS) ! Haruy adto na! Hala bibra sasari kamo! What is Libreng Sakay Program " initiative of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) which aims to ease the daily burden of commuting by p...

This was not really in my itinerary, although somewhere in the recesses of my brain was saying, I'd love to drop by, even for just a while. And it happened... Opportunity! Let's start from the very beginning... From the previous story , I hopped on a van at Gamay with Oras as my destination. It went well, with just one little caveat , that I would give up my Seats 1 & 2 at Arteche. Arteche Arrival Van stopped at the side of Arteche Covered Court ( Multi-Purpose Building ), to let off some of its Arteche-bound passengers. Here. This was the last pic in my earlier story . I learned, not all Arteche-bound passengers have-to or need-to alight here, although I saw people get-off or wait-for their rides here. The 3 ladies with 5 'big suitcases' did! Those of us not getting off, sat tight waiting (due to offloading of bags and boxes). Tricycles strategically wait for passengers also at this corner (babaan at sakayan nga naman ng vans & buses) , alth...

How do you get out of Palapag? You can count the ways! Yes, there are options. In most cases, travelers just reverse the way they came in. It can be via a bus, van, jeep, tricyle or habal-habal, depending on where they're going - e.g., westward to Catarman, or southward to Lapining, etc.! Syempre, if you're driving your own vehicle check your map. There could be a better way, in terms of "what to see", than via that road you passed coming in. If there are! If you're riding buses or vans , you head out to the transport terminal behind the new public market ( Merkado Palapag ) - via a tricycle, pedicab, habal-habal or even walk. That place is about 800 meters from the municipal plaza passing by their cemetery! Who rides the buses ? Those going to far places like Bicol or Manila would be better off riding the big buses. They just pass by Palapag from far south (as far as Guiuan) . Of course, the reverse is similar: if you're going to places fa...

Let's go (na talaga) ! This was it! To Northern Samar's Pacific Coast I went! How My D-Day Started D-Day (departure day ba!), 2 days after I went to reserve this ride, 06:51AM, I was at 7 Eleven beside the highway, waiting for a call. None so far. It was still early anyway. If the van left their downtown terminal exactly 7AM as scheduled, it probably would take 15~20 minutes max, to where I stood at Nulatula. Not a long wait, but anxious! Enough time for me to ransack the shelves of 7 Eleven! Marlights, seldom do hinter town sari-sari stores have that; Coke Zero, but I cannot cram those in my backpack. I said 'let me drink at least one can before I fast on this beverage for the next few days.' Argh! But happy thoughts lang, maglalakbay tayo! Oks na, sinamahan pa ng Siopao! I usually don't eat breakfast, but hello, this was to be a 7, 8 to even 9-hour ride . Who knows if the driver would even stop anywhere and for how long. Ang Hypoglycemia! Alrigh...