Philippine Travel Notes

Similar story as the previous one : while I have been many times to Iloilo City, I have never really gotten to note places I happen to pass-by on arrival. Either because I would be busy with something else, or it is still dark (early in the morning), or already dark (as in gab-i na)! Taking the usual route for granted. So, like I did in the previous story  where I paid attention to airport arrival details and proceedings, this time, I intently noted my travel between the airport (in Cabatuan & Sta. Barbara towns) and city proper. This was my view as we exited the arrival area... We're turning left to the city, while straight ahead, that big roof on the right side is the cargo terminal or cargo building. Oh wow... Sta Barbara Heights... A high-end residential commercial village says my driver. "But that portion is not really the village yet, its just an advertisement", he says. Well, if my bearings are right, that (in there) should be the Sta. Barbara Golf & ...

A noontime flight, oh yeah. One of those I do not really cherish. Why? Because you rush to the airport at mid-morning so you do not get late for check-in. Then you wait at the Mabuhay Lounge, where food is predictably the same forever and ever. Or if you are not a Mabuhay Club Member, you wait with a dizzying multitude of people at the cramped waiting areas, and you don't feel like eating lunch at those stores all over again... Jollibee, Dunkin Donuts, Zubuchon na frozen lechon, Tsim Sha Tsui na parang 1000 times na ginamit ang cooking oil... and so on! Add to that, the flight itself is at lunchtime but there is no lunch. You are instead tossed a piece of "biskwit" by the stewardess haha. I have a separate story on that, next . Anyway, sometimes, even if you are a frequent flyer, you do not get to choose the times of your flight because... chadaaaan, si client ang masusunod. Haist! On this flight, I did not really mind my stomach that much. Because, I ate a hefty ...

This topic started with this article Bato means stone or rock. Cabatuan means a place with a lot of them stones. Cabatuan, thus, is a name of many places as obviously there are a lot of 'stony' or 'rocky' places in this country. Fortunately for our sake, there are only 2 towns named so. There is one in the province of Isabela and its namesake in the province of Iloilo. The one in Isabela is an agricultural town still high up in the cordilleras but its right beside the City of Cauayan which makes it a bit more populated than other farming communities. Well, its namesake in the province of Iloilo is more well-known to be the town where the new airport is being constructed! Of course it hosts the Hinirugyaw Festival which is a derivative (even a copy) of the Dinagyang and/or Sinulog! Now… now, wouldn’t any Pinoy think that these two towns actually derived their names the way the 3 towns of Bato got theirs?! Rightfully so! And there is even a town in Masbate called Batuan i...