Philippine Travel Notes

Last leg of my 3-legged flight today. And I was ready to enter Clark's departure area but saw this... I had to stop and watch. This was what I've been advocating all along - let all public transport vehicles deliver/pick-up passengers as near to the airport terminal as can be, just like how private vehicles do . Clark 'partly' does it! THAT, is one of the regular buses that comes from Metro Manila. It can be done! Yes it can be done, for I know it had been done, AND being done by many countries around the world except the Philippines - mga utak tungaw kasi ang mga nasa transport department. "Colonial" brains. Actually not "colonial mentality" as if they're the colonists. To be precise, they have "slave mentality"! Ang unang iniisip "dapat me espesyal na dadaanan ang mga boss, ang mga mayayaman". Ganoon sila! Mga utak alila, isip alipin (na sipsip sa mas nakayayaman)! Sinanay kasi tayo ni Padre Damaso! Haay naku!

In just 6 days, here I was, flying from Cebu to Clark again, as transit passenger again, though not going to Boracay this time. I was on my way to Panglao Island, Bohol. Hectic? Nah, not really. I'm enjoying it! As they say... if you love what you do for work, it does not feel like work at all. True! But, why did I fly to about 700 kms northwest, when I was just going to about 84 kms southeast? Ah eh, I already mentioned in a previous story , that those circumstances happen when you know what to do! In fact, for this trip, I had not just 1 but 2 same-day flight transfers, and it was all worth the while! TAC-CEB PR2237 0935H/1020H 06D P3,654 CEB-CRK 5J0606 1150H/1350H 01A P2,569 CRK-TAG PR2871 1500H/1620H 53A P2,386 See that? I flew Tacloban to Cebu to Clark to Panglao (3 flights) for a total cost of only PHP8,609 which already included prime seat reservations for each flight! That price is comparable to any other means. And if you're meticulous, you would have not

Let's continue my story from the previous article... Oy, I didn't forget I had a connecting flight to Caticlan hahaha! Pasok ang iyong Dear Pinoy Traveler! I just looked around those check-in counters (for whatever it is worth), since I was already holding my boarding pass to Caticlan, issued at Mactan. Yes, I left Cebu with boarding passes of my two flights na. Airline people call it "through-check-in" or "check-through" - but we already discussed that topic long ago, right? Where upon checkin at your origin, you get 2 boarding passes for your 2 connecting flights. Then I made my way to the pre-departure area... I know those colorful walls are also temporary! But nice that they hung old pictures of Clark Airbase, to adorn this inclining claustrophobic hallway! I must tell you though, the ugliest part of this whole Clark Airport Experience was that 'security check' (xray) area just before this hallway. It is a bottleneck, a conglomerati