Philippine Travel Notes

My very unfortunate "Day 1" in Guimaras continues... After my Balaan Bukid hike, we were back on the red multicab to continue on with the tour. The driver did attempt to apologize with what happened (to me) at that Balaan Bukid "Kalbaryo", but I dismissed him and said "sige na, tuloy, drive"! So we moved, as if going back to where we started - the jetty port. But at a Y-intersection past the RORO Wharf, we turned right, instead of returning to the jetty port. Look, I even saw this signage on that corner... At least natawa ako on that ridiculous "validity" at the bottom of the signage. What is this place really trying to announce or 'show off' to the tourists anyway? That after 9-months they won't be complying any longer? And being so, sasalaulain na nila ang uring manggagawa? Ganun? Hahah, how incredible! Anyway, as we cruised along, I was silently appreciating how their roads are being improved... See the road shoulder at

Let me start with this picture, which was/is the last photo in my previous story ... the shrine. I heard these youngsters talking so I asked them. I knew it, mga igkasi taga-didto ha aton dapit! Waray folks who live and work in Metro Manila. I didn't tell them, but I knew they would have been of help, if I fainted or expired in that place due to thirst and exhaustion. Good none of that happened. Simbako! Anyway, they soon left, and I was all alone. Who was to annotate what I was seeing? Eh, my driver cum tour guide was more than a kilometer away, just waiting for me at the base of this mountain? Wala! So I roamed around, looking at whatever was there in front of my eyes. Wala rin namang pwede nakawin! Hahaha, mangungulimbat ka ba sa isang religious place? Hehehe eto... kung me laman hahaha! I took a pic of the box due to what it says: Limos sa pag-pakayo sa simbahan sa parokya sang Jordan . In Tagalog it says: Abuloy para sa pag-papagawa (pag-papaayos) sa simbahan ng parok

Okay folks, despite the misgivings as told in the previous story , I was on to my "day-tour of Guimaras". As agreed with the clerk at that bogus tourism information center, my tour would take somewhat of a counter-clockwise run starting with Balaan Bukid Shrine, winding to end at the Raymen Beach Resort. My first "wonderful sight" while on tour: Guimaras Strait with a view of Iloilo City out on the horizon! But that was actually not the point why I took that picture. I was more on trying to catch the beach on foreground of photo, as I was wondering how this place could have looked like when it was still clean. What a start, right? You might say I'm being too negative. Ah, in fact I was, and I still am as I write this. DAHIL, I was scammed by a bogus tourist information office, inside a government building at the port. Don't worry folks, I'll be pragmatic about tourist sights. But if I cannot be objective, I'll be realistic! Then we passed

Upon disembarking from the boat , I saw the Tourist Information Office that I wanted to visit. But I was surprised at some goon-looking men harshly directing passengers to enter said office, yet majority of them did not give a damn! The men were shouting something like "this is the way out", "you must first register inside". The tone was bordering on police-like to dictatorial as if shouting at criminals. Kulba! As I walked to that information office - which was my plan anyway, I still wondered why the men were hollering as if people who did not walk to the entrance of the information office were violators of any law! And why were majority of passengers ignoring them? I was actually alarmed why I seemed to be 1 of just 3 who entered this office. Was I being scammed? First time I saw something like this ha? Kulba! Anyway, at this "information center", first thing I asked was about those shouting men. The desk clerk hesitated a bit, then told me that

At The Iloilo Ortiz Wharf Ortiz Wharf. In 3 minutes, the ticket booth went from zero to eight passengers lined up to buy their tickets. Whoa! Remember the last picture in my last story ? Let me put that back in here for reference ... I took that that picture as the manong taxi driver was writing my receipt. And, as I said in that story , it was 7:14AM. He pointed to me that yellow shack with a green roof (see the red arrow) to be the ticket booth for rides to Guimaras. See that? No people queued, right? I just got off the cab and walked to it. And at 7:17AM, I reached the shack and, ayayay pila na! Where did all these people come from?! I didn't come from somewhere far, right? OMG how swift they come (and go)! Imagine, I just got off the taxi, walked a very few steps, and there were already 8 people ahead of me. This early in the morning! I realized, the Saturday morning crowd had already started, argh! This early! But this was a "bearable" line for me. Fast i