Philippine Travel Notes

Excited? Naah... not really, but okay lang! There are times in my travel life where it starts with all the excitement, then suddenly falling flatly soo uninteresting, that I wish it could get canceled, or that lightning strike me hard, so I do not have to go! That was exactly what I felt going on this trip to Marawi. Bakit Why How? Ganito... One day, I received word from a Lt. Reliable Source that some pre-cleared, pre-identified personalities that included me and a friend from an NGO were being allowed to enter a specific area of Marawi City, under very strict pre-conditions, and only under the guidance (and control) of Lt. Reliable Source. Yea! Excitement was a gross understatement. I was ecstatic I immediately contacted the two personalities who were given that special privilege. With Lt. Reliable Source, we all agreed on a date of visit - today ! As if nothing else was important in my life, I prepared for this day , I booked my tickets early, followed all other pre-conditi

Arduous long travel? You could say that - if you did not like what you were doing - as this trip took me more than 9 hours just from Cebu. Eh I came pa from Tacloban the day before! It was for me another wonderful experience, anyway! Because this was first time I landed at Laguindingan and commute all the way to Malaybalay in Bukidnon. CGY airport is now farther away from CDO than it was in Lumbia! It is only about 130kms from Laguindingan to Malaybalay, and Cebu to Laguindingan takes about an hour, why did this take me 9hrs? You guessed it., Cebu Pacific is now the new PAL, Plane Always Late! For those not in the know yet, Cagayan De Oro City Airport, IATA Code: CGY, which had been on top of a mountain, 601 meters above sea level, at Brgy. Lumbia of the same city, since opening in the 1930s, has transferred 2013JUNE to Brgy. Moog, Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental, 46kms to the west of CDO. Baggage carousel looks familiar? It should be, as this was part of that batch of airport constru