Philippine Travel Notes

Ah, that is a double good morning greeting! First good morning was when I arrived at this city which was shortly after midnight. Next good morning was when I woke up for breakfast to hurry and run fast to the CWC for my 8AM to 12NN day tour! Hectic! But fun, really! As told in the previous stories, the long trip form Calbayog took me some 10 hours on the road, departing on a drizzly 2PM and there I was in Naga just shortly after midnight. Whoa! So my first “good morning Naga” was a groggy one, but not in any way grumpy. Of course I startled the Villa Caceres guard who was already on some kind of “prayer” (a.k.a. sleeping on the job) when the tricycle I took from the highway brought me in! But the front desk lady was up and all smiles. I knew she was expecting me since I called earlier in the day from Allen. Another sleepy dude was asked to help me with my luggage up to room 314. I was sure they also roused him up for my arrival. Not only did his eyes show it, but his heavy breathing as...

Allen is on the northwesternern tip of Northern Samar and Matnog is southern tip of Luzon. And this RORO ride is the sole direct connection between the two islands. Takes just about an hour and a half of actual sea travel, but the waiting time at either of the ports before and after arrival makes the whole thing look like its a 3-hour gig or even more! I heard friends who drove passing this way and tell something like it took them 5 or even 6 hours. Maybe it was due to documentation needs. Other friends who rode buses this way tell us the same. Maybe I was lucky? I usually am, actually hehe! My bus arrived at the Allen port at 3;44PM and at exactly 6;45PM, I was already boarding my bus again in Matnog after it emerged from inside the RORO! How is this ride? Generally uneventful, but if it is an afternoon run on a summer day, you probably will call it one of the best. RORO departs from the Allen port at 5PM, just before the sun slowly inches down beyond the islands. Fantastic view of Sa...

Just a single picture and I learned a lot. Yes I took that picture, but in my mind I was saying “that is one big wedding cake” hehe. I knew it was some monument significant to this city, but at first glance, it looked like a cake to me! I thought that would be a good landmark for/in Naga City that should be easily remembered by travelers. But a thing led to another. I reviewed the photo in my camera and tried zooming it to see if I was getting good shots at such a time of day. The historical marker instead caught my attention. Golly this must be a big thing for it to have that black slab of the NHI! So I went nearer to read what it was saying. “Labinlimang Martir ng Bikol” so the marker announced. Wheh, there is something like that? How come I don’t know (or I don’t remember) that? I tried recalling if it was ever mentioned in Teodoro Agoncillo’s ‘History Of The Filipino People’, the textbook we used in college history (PHI – Philippine History and Institutions). Ah, can’t remember heh...

Fantastic sunset as we landed in Manila from Naga City. But I was not home yet! Home isn't Quezon City anymore. I was just passing by NAIA 3 on my way to Cebu since there are no direct Naga-Cebu flights. In fact I was already holding my MNL-CEB boarding pass issued at naga when I checked-in for this WNP-MNL flight. And I did not want to reverse my Cebu-Legaspi-Naga-Caramoan route because I had the luxury of zero-fares! I do not get to land in Manila at such a time of day since we all avoid it, right? Yeah, the excruciating afternoon traffic. But since I was just in transit to Cebu, I liked it that this flight was arriving MNL at about 4PM. Here’s part of that story… Turboprops (propeller airplanes) do not use any of the gates at Terminal 3. And I know that. Its useless for an airline to use them anyway. Why? Because these planes are too small, they cannot be reached by the aerobridge (air tube) for a more comfortable disembarkation of passengers. And my flight from Naga was using...

Look at that! She is slim, ladylike with long hair and carrying an armalite! Caught this shot as I boarded my flight from Naga City in Camarines Sur to Manila. Good that passengers before me were taking too long, I got to talk to her a bit. I asked if she really knows how to use that thing and she said “oo naman, part of training”. I asked if there were many girls as sexy as her in the uniformed service and carrying guns and she said many more are taller and sexier! She was smiling and approachable enough. Yes I asked permission to take this picture lest she get mad and do the ratatatatat with that thing shes carrying hehe! If I were that Cebu Pacific employee, I’d stand elsewhere. It makes him look like a swan hehehe. Not sure if he is a load controller or ramp agent. Whatever, in this highly patriarchal and even male-chauvinist country, its just quite unsightly to see a man wearing earplugs, carrying a sheet of paper and standing beside a slim young long haired lady with a pig-tail...

I arrived from Caramoan too early at 10:44AM for my 2:55PM flight to Manila! And the kind driver, probably sensing that he was too fast and too early arriving in Naga City, decided to make that detour and drop me at the very door of the airport’s departure area. That’s about 200 to 300 meters off the main highway, and some passengers even asked where we were going. Driver said just to drop me at the departure area and even asked if other passengers were destined for the airport. None replied except for a woman who asked “me flight ba ngayon?”! Yeah yeah, I knew she either meant to tell or even ridicule me that I was damn too early for the next flight out of that airport hehe. The airport was virtually closed! The entrance door was open yes, but you cannot go anywhere than that. Off limits except the little sari-sari/souvenir store at the space near the stairs where a lady was busy arranging her food containers getting ready to sell lunch. But elsewhere, the personnel were either som...

6:30AM I was already checked-out, up and about, then started to walk my way to the van terminal for Sabang. With a groggy head! Ah, I must have gulped more than enough last night. No thanks to my Naga friends who kept me enjoying the night as if I was not leaving early. But I did not tell them I was going to Caramoan, right?! That’s why! But I was not complaining hehe. That pair of biogesic and alaxan does the trick. Whoever told me about that years ago, it actually works! The hangover goes away in a flash hehe! Hopping and skipping along the railroad tracks, I arrived at the van terminal to learn that the 3rd departure for Sabang has just left a few seconds ago. Argh! Drivers and dispatchers told me 3 vans departed earlier due to the number of passengers who came early. Anyway, the 4th van was waiting though front seat was already occupied. Double argh! Hey, if I considered most vans from Legazpi to Naga as filthy, this van in front of me should be in the ranks of junk that can stil...

This was planned. Because the flight from Cebu to Legazpi is at noontime and the trip from Legazpi to Naga takes 2 hours or so. That would have meant impractical for me to proceed to Caramoan. And while I did not have any plans to roam Naga again, it does not really hurt me if you keep throwing me into this city hehe! It has an admirable nightlife. Oh, since the transport terminal is now just beside SM, I chose the nearest cheap but livable accommodations in the area. It was a choice between Sampaguita Tourist Inn and Sunny View Hotel both by the bridge. I think I heard in my conversations with the crews of both places that they belong to just one owner, so I opted for the cheaper one. Anyway, after dropping my bag at Sampaguita, I proceeded back to SM. Just to roam and see the place really, and for the little things that I may have ‘miraculously’ missed in preparation for Caramoan. Like? Yosi hehe! The mosquito repellent lotion too was already too negligible that I thought it better...

The Legazpi airport is still the same as it has been that I remember from long ago. If there’s anything new, conveyor belt (yes there is hehe) is now laced with a lot of pictures inviting people that its an available ad space. And arrival was pretty straightforward with just a few men outside arrival area and virtually none of those that would mob you for a colorum “taxi” or such things. Not even people meeting their passengers! Hmm, maybe because this was a hot midday. But the parking area teemed with a lot of vehicles! So I merrily just walked outside of the gate and hailed a trike going to the “FX/Van Terminal for Naga City”. Wow! Just about a year since I last happened to be in this place and some significant improvement is already in place – at least as far as land transport staions are concerned. Hey, “GT Express, I already know” but “FILCAB” is new to my ears! And what a big and clean terminal! There are separate buildings for buses, jeeps and the vans. Now I think “FILCAB” is...

Who takes that flight anyway? Well, if Cebu Pacific operates that daily flight, then there is a market between Cebu and Legazpi. Am sure they could easily stop that if the route is not earning well. And good for me who is a trying hard Cebuano (am resident for almost a year now), I was able to grab a one-way zero-fare from Cebu to Legazpi, so I did not have to go home to Manila again just to come back down via another flight to Naga or Legazpi. Yey! VisMin folks, take note of that, there is a direct flight from Cebu to Legazpi. And it’s a wonderful flight! Why? It also uses the ATR (propeller aircraft that does not fly way high above the clouds), so we could see the places below as the plane cruises along! Just like flights from Cebu to Tacloban, Surigao, Siargao, Ozmais, and many other islands. What is there to see during such a flight? Ah, at the start, its like flying to Tacloban where you see the Cebu environs, the Camotes Islands, then the northern Leyte area with Biliran a haze...

Back from my half day tour of the CWC, first ting I needed to find was lunch. Did not want it at CWC since the pocket was already a bit shallow. Aw c’mon, this was Day 9 since I left Manila for Tacloban, then Samar, and now hopping along the land trail going home. Did not also want to eat at Villa Caceres Hotel as I already took my breakfast there. I needed to be at some place else, if only to see more of Naga. So I asked the Villa Caceres crews where might be a good place to have lunch. After explaining my “requirements”, hotel crews were unanimous in telling me to go find Geewan and have my lunch there. Good I asked about the restaurant’s name and signage as I really thought they meant G1. Clarifying I said, “so I will just look for a G and the number 1”. The front desk lady said “no sir, its spelled GEEWAN”! So I found it easy. And signage alone, I knew I was in for a good sampling of the local food. It says “The Home of Bicolano Dishes”! Yey! Surprisingly though, this place is not ...

Done with the boarding, I opted to roam the facility. Just so I can see whatever is there and tell friends and family (that’s you) about CWC or CamSur Watersports Complex. The “CamSur” stands for Camarines Sur province, of course, in case you are still wondering. So here goes what I think is worth remembering… Space? Ample! This is one big complex converted from what seem to have been rice fields in the past. Trees? Not so many (yet). Thus, the place, though always windy, feels summery (a.k.a. hot humid) especially during Philippine summers. At least it is obvious they have not felled big trees to give way for the complex as common with most urban constructions. Its more on the other way around – meaning they are growing trees here and there instead of what may have been vast fields of rice paddies and grass. Front Office? Nice clubhouse-like set-up. The building is good, the crews are giggly cheerful, the locker rooms and shower areas clean with modern amenities and there are even dis...