Philippine Travel Notes

Just about noontime kanina, I was not really in a good mood as I arrived at my Tacloban abode - on a weekend, due to some #$%$^ exigencies. Then I heard some singing that brightened my eyes and flapped my ears. Whoa, I literally dropped my bag at the gate and ran towards a neighbor's house where the singing seemed to be coming from. Note: I do not know this neighbor (yet) but I entered their gate anyway (yan ang totoong gate-crash hehe) to shoot this video hahaha! And, just as I thought... carolers, in the waray-waray old style way! So here it is: Akala nyo tapos na?! Nope! I followed them, thinking they would sing at another house hehe. But, argh, they sang at the little corner store where there were a lot of pedicab drivers etc hanging out in the area, and they even crowded around the singers. So, I waited, thinking I could follow them to another house. But they sat down just outside the store, to eat bread and drink sodas - yun kasi ang ibinigay sa kanila after singing. Har...

My title for this story should have been: I Saw Kalanggaman Island On A Flight From Tacloban To Cebu ! But that's too long, so I instead wrote the title above: "Aerial View of Kalanggaman Island". Pwede na! Now as you already know, I always try my best to do a "blow-by-blow" account of my travels, so here I go... starting from the time I left Tacloban, until arrival in Cebu via PAL's 9:35AM morning flight, PR2237. I was actually just transiting in Cebu going somewhere else. But let's do that in my next story! At 8:35AM, I was already inside Tacloban Airport's pre-departure lounge, ready and waiting to board. While that wasn't happening yet, I tinkered with the "panoramic setting" of my phone's camera. I have to somehow: 1] make use of what I already have; and 2] keep up with today's gadgets or technologies! Pwede na di ba? Masabi man lang we know how to fully use our phones hehehe. Do you? Travel is learning, as we...

This was another of those days where I was returning from Tacoban to Cebu. A late afternoon flight on a sporadically rainy day. Nothing much I thought. But as I keep saying, every trip is different, even if it is on the same path you take everyday. Since I always have my phone, I still take pics here and there. This time, a darker-than-usual day, I thought I'd play with the video - for whatever it may give me. Without expecting, what became the highlight of my otherwise boring evening flight was this: That is just another evening view of San Juanico Bridge , yet it still commands my amazed attention. It fares well in my stories like here , here and many more (just search for them on this blog). But evening views of the bridge from up in the clouds are really captivating - you'd wish you had a pro camera not a mere cellular phone! Although, tingnan mo ang pics & vids ko, mukhang kaya naman ng phone lang! With nothing much to do, it became automatic that I also sho...

The Oxford Dictionary defines pe·des·tri·an as a person walking along a road or in a developed area ; Cambridge Dictionary defines it as a person who is walking, especially in an area where vehicles go . Eh paano ang aso, pusa, manok, kambing, AND in this case, si Islaw Kalabaw and family, and friends? 6:30AM on a rainy Wednesday, and I was running late for an engagement in Guiuan Eastern Samar. My driver knew the situation, and was flying on the road (without me even requesting), but I liked it. Shh! Somewhere along Brgy. Diit in Tacloban, the vehicle suddenly slowed down, intermittently stopping. I asked why, driver jokingly smilingly pointed ahead saying " sir, unruly pedestrian on the road " (yes, in English pa)! Easy to grasp hehe, I knew he meant those carabaos. Not one, not two, but many of them! I curiously watched how he would 'manage' this very tricky "overtaking" situation. I was running (very) late for Guiuan, but this was such an int...

I was lining up to get some cash at the BDO ATM Machine at Robinsons Mall in Sagkahan, Tacloban. It had a very long line in front of it - I expected that, because that is always the case, I was 11th to front. However, all those before me would spend a very short time on the machine, then they would leave. I said to my self, "ah maybe they were just doing a 'balance check' - better for me, line was moving fast! When I was 3rd on the line, 2 men came, went straight to tinker on the machine - literally opening the insides (I was actually excited as this was the first time I was seeing the 'innards' of an ATM machine)! Probably to erase the boredom and anxiety of many who were on that line, I half-hollered at the guys saying "hoy, authorized ba kamo hiton"?, "how do we know you are not robbers"? Some folks laughed. Some people left the line without saying anything! The 2 guys paused, looked at each other, fished for their IDs from their ...

I like dogs, in general. I can play with dogs that know how to play with people, and not bite them. I do not like the mongrel-stray-types, that bark for no reason at all - and ever ready to chew upon people. I'm not a dog lover, if that means sharng a bed and my meals with them. I just like playing with them, not looking after their poo and/or grooming them or dressing them up like people. No, I am not that. During my childhood years (until I eventually went to find a job), I lived in a house where dogs were a no-no, though cats were aplenty. That said, if I say I like a dog, it probably is likable to you dog lovers. Now... there are dogs over at Yolanda's Eatery in Tacloban, that look really ugly to many people, to me and even to the owners themselves! But for reasons I do not know, I like them - and they like me too! They are 'free-roaming', meaning they are never caged nor tied by the restaurant owners, but they are not (that) dirty. But if you ta...

I happened by the Gaisano Capital Mall along Justice Romualdez St. (across SaveMore) and saw this... Cute, but I don't think that is how puppies are sold nowadays. I can't say it is illegal (I don't know the laws about pet sales). This scene just reminded me of a similar " pet peddling " in Cebu way back 2010. If I may compare this one to the Cebu scene, ah there was only that cage with two puppies, while back in Cebu there were so many of them! These are not the 'fancy breeds' but are cute enough as puppies. It appeared to me that the manong selling puppies is an "incidental vendor" - meaning he sells them because they are "extra" as his dog gave birth to many. I'm not too sure I want to believe him hehe. In the Cebu street scene, vendors there told me they really breed dogs to be sold. Whatever, howsoever, all puppies are cute. I just can't have any because of my lifestyle - they'll die of hunger when I travel! He...

In Tacloban, one late afternoon... We have seen this a number of times in our lives, right? At first, I thought this was just some show-off stupidity or "arte lang", "pasikat lang". As I'm not a frequent motorbike rider, I learned just lately, that some science (if I may call it that) is involved in this 'stupidity'. 'Economics and Ergonomics', probably ! Well, necessity leads to discovery. And necessity of those with limited resources leads to these quirky unimaginable solutions, that may be called 'idiotic' by rich people, but 'brilliant' to us the 'have-nots'! The wealthy may give up on things, but the poor will think of something. That pic is an example! I had the distinguished honor of discussing that photo with a friend over bottles of beer, nakisawsaw pa ang mga driver namin in that hilarious 'conference'. Conclusion: para-paraan lang ang buhay natin! Our analysis... Problem 1: You need to buy/re...

Let's go to Vietnam, okay lang? Okay na, andito na ako as I write this eh! 😁 Ah eh.., this is still my Philippine Travel Notes blog, and as always, I will not regale you with sights and scenes of other countries to entice you in going there. Aba oy, loyal Pinoy pa rin ako. Sometimes, I just need to describe them (like now) for comparison purposes, with travel-things in our dear inang bayan! So, I flew from Tacloban to Ho Chi Minh, but it required 3 connecting flights with layover in Singapore. Look at the white arrows representing my flight routes - 1] Tacloban to Cebu on PAL, transit lang (hey I passed by T2 on a bright time of day!), 2] Cebu to Singapore on Air Asia (slept at Changi Airport T2, as usual, para libre!), then early this morning, 3] Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon yan!) on Scoot Air. There are new (and updated) 'learnings' I want to tell you! As for the yellow arrows, yun ang pabalik ko, 4 flights yun! But let's talk about them later - as c...

Normal day. I was on the way home after a long happy day of engagements. Then I saw this... Not clear. I asked my driver to go closer saying buntotan mo yan . He was surprised but did it anyway. Okay... I got it... and here it is. Can you read it? Yes, you can! Teka, I didn't say kantahin mo ! Anyway, I was still trying to 'analyze', to understand what it was trying to 'convey', but my driver already reacted with a laugh, so I asked him what it really means. He explained that, this jeep's route was, and still is 'Palo to Tacloban Via Maharlika Highway and vice-versa' despite the availability of other routes! Note: At that corner (near 'Pisay'), jeeps from Palo either go straight to Real St. or left via Maharlika Hiway! All I could say was "ang Pinoy talaga, mga buang tulad ko"! But that's why it's fun in the Philippines ! Yes Mano, we sang Imelda Papin songs all the way to my apartment! Oh well, the signs of our time...

I was on the way to Kananga and Ormoc when I saw this signage somewhere in Palo, Leyte... It's a small garden-shop, I'm not even sure how such stores are called. But I liked the name, which was the reason I took that pic in the first place! Even my driver immediately recognized why it amused me! For those who don't get it, the store name is Meet Your Garden . Try pronouncing it faster and faster! Keep repeating that name, soon you'll remember Dong Shancai, Dao Ming Si, Huaze Lei and all of F4 ! If you still don't get it, ah just drop it. Baka di ka Pinoy o Pinoy ka na walang TV for the past 30 years! Oh well, the witty clever creative signs of our times... are entertaining!

We all have heard about Inflight Music, Inflight Movies, Inflight Radio, Inflight Food, Inflight Amenities, Inflight Magazines, Inflight Announcements, Inflight Calls and many other things 'Inflight', right? But, is there really a thing, or phenomenon, that's called (referred to) as Inflight Sunset or Sunset In The Air ? Ah well.., effective today as in now.., THERE IS! I am declaring so. Walang kokontra! So I flew on another PAL short hop flight from Tacloban to Cebu with a fantastic Inflight Sunset. Yeah! If you're still not getting it, I'm just finding a way to show-off my sunset pics today. Inflight Sunset it is! It started with... upon boarding the plane, I felt the world was 'unusually more colorful than usual'! Taking off on Runway 36 was normal, except that there were more vivid orange hues than usual... The sun just looked trying very hard to persist amidst the darkening clouds... Even on this shot, the highlight wasn't suppo...