Philippine Travel Notes

Dandering ? Aw, let me use that as a synonym of ' drifting ', ' gallivanting ', ' wandering '! Roaming without an itinerary - all left to 'chances', by breaking away from my group! For that is what happened here hehe! Yep, I didn't really come to this place to tour-around, as I usually do. I joined a group of friends for a benevolent Christmas Day Program - but, with an itch to look beyond ! Shhh, huwag na maingay. Silip-silip lang naman ang ginawa ko! Not a bad idea, right? Aw, I stuck with our scheduled activities 100%. But there were chances - like during lunch breaks, I'd sneak away to look around and/or shoot pics! That said, everything I will tell you, were most likely unplanned or unintended. As we say in Tagalog: kung ano lang ang nakita, natagpuan, naranasan. In short: whatever! This gave me a different kind of thrill. So let me tell you about some of them! First, a briefer on the not so obvious things (to many Pinoys) ...

This is the 2nd leg of Another Circle Trip . Let's Go! For a 0710H flight, I was not early at the airport at 0552H. Not that late to cause any mess though. I know it isn't that crowded yet. But, I should have come a little earlier. Arrive early, to look around, and take pictures here and there. This is CEB T2 , again ! Those windows look better with the 'giant parols' as Christmas Decorations. Nice! Oh come to think of it, I did not shoot anything similar to the above 2 photos, during the last time I was here before daybreak. The colors surely made me do it this time. Well, I already talked about this "ugly" make of the floor tiles before, right? But that scene at left was new to me! I initially thought I saw a cabin crew walking. I realized, it is a standee lang pala, riding on a trolley being pushed by a staff hahaha! Or is he, really? Why does he have a backpack and wearing a cap? Di kaya pasahero sya o taong labas , at naaktuhan ko lang na kinu...

I was on the way to the airport for my circuitous holiday travel, and I saw this... In my mind I was saying ' how apt ', ' what a reminder ', ' what a coincidence ', ' yes Lord '! I and driver had to stare and look closely if the thing was newly installed. No not new. It just so happened.., a very rare good coincidence.., that today was December 23! The phrase An Pinaskohan is Waray (Cebuano too) that means The Christmas Gift ! Driver was quick to joke 'serr, remindeeer' ! But I was also quick to say I already gave his "13-month-bonus" plus my gift to him and his wife and children hahaha. Ako pa! But he had the last word (nagmana yata sa akin) saying "bangin manla mayada pa"! Hmm, looking fun. This probably was a sign, that I am going to have a great holiday roam once again. Or maybe a reminder. And I said out loud (to my self) "ayay OMG"! Yes, it was a 'reminder' from heavens above hahaha! I ...

This is Part 2 of the Sights & Scenes On My Iloilo To Cebu To Tacloban Flights. So, after x-ray , I went straight to Mabuhay Lounge . Oks lang. Not too many people. Not long after I was in the lounge, there was excited, lively clapping and cheering on TV, as Steve Harvey was announcing things. At the same time, there was also a roar of claps & cheers - live from real humans, outside the lounge. Aw, Miss Universe na! Some passengers and crew! disappeared from the lounge, so I went to check it out . Such an event makes Filipinos drop everything to watch - at least the final round. At this airport, most of them passengers, crew, staff, including me hubbed in front of the bigger & clearer TV sets of the pre-departure lounge to watch the final moments! Wagi naman! And, I had the PAL Mabuhay Lounge Iloilo virtually to just me, myself and I ! Eh everyone including the staff was gone! And those three manongs (businessmen? executives? too old to care?) ...

This ride of only about 5 kilometers, took exactly 26 minutes. Yeah, that long! Ah yes, the world-famous Metro Manila traffic hahaha! Yet, I secretly wished for this ride to crawl a little bit slower! I wanted to see more. This was nostalgia time for me! Resorts World Manila and NAIA Terminal 3 Were Part of Villr Airbase How and why is that? Well, in my younger years, I often passed via this vicinity. This area we were departing-from was part of Villamor Airbase (earlier Nichols Airbase), until a big portion was expropriated in 1995 to become NAIA T3 and Resorts World . I do still remember many things here. For example, diagonally across HIE is PAFAM or the Philippine Air Force Aerospace Museum . It is technically just across the road. But I don't even know now, if one can go there by just crossing the road, as there are now three flyovers leading to, or from, various expressways and urbanities like BGC! Well, if you can cross from HIE (Holiday Inn Express) or ...