Philippine Travel Notes

Hello all! Some of you probably think, being 'in transit' usually applies only to our travels abroad, right? Add me in, as I also thought that way! You know, the likes of "on our way to Moscow we had to 'transit' in Bangkok, since there are no direct flights from Manila", or the likes of "we had to 'transit' in Seoul on our way to New York, as the fares are lower than the direct flights from Manila". "Transit" or "Transfer"! And we all know the drill, right? The next thing that happens is we ask "ha transit, ilang oras? ano kaya pwede gawin dun, ano pwedeng makita? pwede bang mamasyal?" - and so on, right? We all plan for it! However, for local trips, we don't even bother to ask those questions, right? Examples: not many of us even bother to see Batangas City on our way to Puerto Galera, di ba? Not many too (if any) would also consider roaming around Matnog while waiting for a RORO. Same with Cabanatua...

Day 5, Friday. We barely made it again, but this time the flight was on. After the check-in staff gave us our boarding passes, they put the “closed” sign. One of them monitored s through the terminal fee and security check until we reached the gate as it was on its final boarding process. Wohoa! The flight was uneventful. I like flying on those smaller crafts as they don’t soar way up high above all clouds and I can see the land, sea and everything below. We arrived at Caticlan on a very hot sunny noontime. We liked it that there is no more haggling for tricycle prices. All passengers pay at a booth – P25 each for the trike ride to the wharf (even just P50 for three pax) plus P50 each for “environmental fee” whatever that is! My companions were wondering why the boat did not seem to be heading for any of Stations 1, 2 or 3. They were not aware that this time, all boats head for the pier. I explained that yes, there is already a pier on the island and that passengers will still need to ...

Done with the Ati-atihan and done with Sampaguita Gardens, it was time for us to move to Boracay. And quite easily! Why? Because our home for the past two days and two nights in Kalibo, the La Esperanza Hotel, sits just a few steps  away from either the bus or the van stations going Caticlan or anywhere else for that matter! Once you emerge out of the hotel to the Landbank ATMs, just a few steps to the right is the Ceres Bus Terminal or a few steps to the left are all others! I went to check-out Ceres and a companion went to check the vans while others in the pack were still at the showers. During breakfast, we compared notes to wit: we have already missed the airconditioned Ceres bus and will have to wait more than 2 hours more for the next (that was my report hehe); the vans don’t leave until full but many can be hired anytime for a special trip with only the 6 of us on board. Done! We knew our best option! At the van terminal, we were a bit mobbed by the drivers and dispatchers ...

Its an OMG wonderful house inside the Sampaguita Gardens Resort. Even just from the outside, it already looks like a house from a fairy tale book. But this one is a real house, its just that its not a real home for a family, but home to thousands of Precious Moments dolls, figurines and the likes, that are either for sale or just for display for us to see and marvel about. Your heart will jump at the sight of so many interesting pieces, and you will agree with the owners… its Christmas everyday in this Christmas-colored house! But something else took my interest. The how and the why of this place. Thankfully, even for that, the staff are knowledgeable and can readily offer any information they know or are allowed to – which is quite a lot in the first place – so all the more that I got interested in asking so many questions! Let’s see what I can recall from these conversations… Who is Jojo? He is the Jojo Sonillo, president and of the resort and a friend of Samuel Butcher. He is the co...

So I watched the Ati-atihan this year. And yes, there were many things different if I compare it to what I saw or witnessed some 3 years ago. Still both are even radically different from what I saw many years ago. So it is evolving – to having some things I like and to some things I love. Just like any other festival actually. But what makes this Ati-atihan different from the others? Let me recount the ways… Foremost, it is widely recognized the the first such of many festivals in the country to have drawn attention from both local and foreign visitors alike. Long before, as in even many years ago, before the Sinulog of Cebu even materialized. If we are looking for just a difference per se, there you have it – you can actually say it was the original. Whatever! But there are more, and you can’t help but compare the Ati-atihan to other festivals and even to itself, if I may call it that way. Its a sooting festival! Read the word again… “soot”, yes! As before, and until now, aside from t...

Yeah, there we were on our way to the Ati-atihan 2006! And I said, Kalibo, here I come again! This btw, was the first festival I have seen outside of Metro Manila some years ago with my parents. It is probably the longest running tourist-drawing street spectacle in the country. I think this should be what everyone must watch first, before peeping into the other newer (and even) grander festivals. Both to get a feel of how it was and how it is now. Not that the Ati-atihan does not get to add some changes or spectacles to make it grander. It does, and by the year too. However, there is just a kind of “different feel” to this one as compared to other festivals. Anyway… Uneventful check-in, but as usual, we had to queue up a long line entering the Manila Domestic Airport. But at such an early morning, all heads are still sleepy cool and we even enjoyed the banter along the way. It was not a full flight – surprisingly – so we told the check-in agent to give us seats at the back, preferably ...

So how did we go about this? Here I go… On a Tuesday lunchtime at the office, I casually mentioned that I was thinking of hitting Kalibo for the weekend to see the Ati-atihan. It elicited a chorus of mixed reactions generally on the disbelief side that it was already less than a week to the festival and I was still on the “contemplating” stage! I said “where there’s a will…there’s a way” and the rest is history! History what? Well, phone calls and emails flew everywhere in the office and by mid-afternoon, there were something like 27 of us interested souls! I knew that was horribly impossible, but I told everyone we will plan only for everyone who has a confirmed booking by Wednesday evening! See?! When that Wednesday evening came, there were only 6 of us able to grab flights! And call it unfortunate or fortunate, all were on Asian Spirit’s early morning run to Kalibo – on the 14th! Hah! So I firmed up my earlier call to La Esperanza Hotel, the only available accommodation in Kalibo as...