Philippine Travel Notes

In my  earlier story I said "as always, let's start from the very beginning - my departure from Tacloban". This was it. Rare funny and fun! You see the long line of yellow umbrellas by the side of the building? Those were passengers walking to their yellow plane parked to the right of our PAL plane ready to go. They were walking on the tarmac, but were "driven away" and asked to walk by the side of the terminal because my PAL flight was ready to pushback. And I quickly txtd " alisin ang mga alipin sa daan, lilipad na ang aking kamahalan" ! The reply was " iroy "! Hahaha, one of those in yellow umbrellas was a friend I was earlier joking with as we waited for boarding - we weren't sure which of our planes would go first! Eh nauna kami heheheee! Oist! 'Di nyo naitatanong, magaling din ako sa pang-aalaska, aba at kahit pang-aalipusta! I sent these: Yep, I sent that to the friend who was in that line. And my caption was ...

Immediately upon arrival from that great roam of Poro and Pacijan Islands, I settled at the videoke area of the hotel. It is actually a hallway / verandah just outside of their big ‘Celebrity Hall Function Room’, overlooking and has easy access to the swimming pool below. Just placed my things on one table and went straight for the pool. Seeing me do that, Manong Liloy (pool attendant cum gardener cum repairman) turned the Jacuzzi on. So I just sat there for a time to relax and let my tired body recover. Ahhh, the life! I heard a soft karaoke music and some guy singing. Stood up and looked out towards the sea. I thought it must have been from that famous (or infamous?) beerhouse far down from the road. But I could see it was closed and nary a sign of any living animal in there. Looked up to the hotel and oh, it was them the crews at the videoke area. They noticed I was looking at them and probably wondered if they should stop the singing. I signaled for them to increase the volume an...

From Tudela, we moved forward to the town of Poro and in just about 10 minutes, including a brief stop by the seaside highway with majestic views, we were already by the entrance to the town’s pier. Whoa, so that is where I arrived at last night via the fastcraft. Its bigger than Tudela’s and has more sprucing up underway. There are wire-mesh fences and gates, parking spaces and perched on a street-island even some kind of a slender pillar with a clock on top that is obviously new but non-functional. The clock said 08:35 but I took that pic at exactly 10:34. Unless Poro follows a different time zone hehehe! there was a boat (probably a RORO) docked at the time we passed by, so at least this is a real functional port and in use! We went to see the church. My my, they have an interestingly old looking church. Not too big like Boljoon or Bantayan but I thought it was already huge for the population of this town. The bell tower that is a separate structure standing beside the church is ...

Planning Session of Sorts! “Sir, there is none”! That was the reply I got when I asked what modes of public transport were there from the hotel to center of town. “Well then, aren’t there motorcycle rentals or habal-habal rides?” was my next question. The answer… “ah you can arrange that at center of town sir, there are a lot”! Exasperated, I exclaimed “but how can I arrange that at center of town if there is no ride from this mountain?”! Gosh my voice was reverberating in the restaurant all the way to the lobby and probably out into the pool hehe! No no no, I was not throwing my weight around, even if I could. We were bantering. The hotel crews gathered around me while I enjoyed my free breakfast “alone” at My Little Island Hotel. I still owned it, remember?! Alona, the front desk girl for the morning then said “but Randy will take you there, sir”! And I retorted with “which means I need to pay for that van, correct?”. But before anyone could respond, Randy told me his motorcycle migh...

Yep it’s a hotel called “My Little Island Hotel” located in the town of Poro, Cebu. And yes that is in the island also named Poro, part of the Camotes Islands! That is the first and only hotel in the island so far. Oh yes, you can check-out their website via this link as I probably am not telling you things that are already said in that website! How’d I get there anyway? Fault of the fastcraft hehe! The thing is, the craft’s schedule is not so tourist friendly. Imagine arriving at night, so you just look for accommodation even if it will still charge you a whole day’s fee. And it being night-time and your first time in a remote island, you wouldn’t wish to travel the distance to some resort or check-in at a so-so never heard of inn, right? Thus, the choice was My Little Island Hotel. They’re not cheap, but at least they fetch you from the port. Arrival Emerging from the small fastcraft, I scanned the number of people standing at the pier and the vehicles parked there. Well, I immediat...

It was a confusing start. I zoomed-in and zoomed-out Cebu Island on my Google Maps but could not find Camotes! Where are they? Aysus, I found out they’re nearer to Leyte Island than mainland Cebu! Then there was Pacijan, Poro and Ponson, and there is Poro, Pilar, Tudela and San Francisco! Just where was I supposed to start? Some say go via Ormoc, some say via Danao others say via Cebu’s Pier 1, some say Pier 3 and still others say via Ouano wharf? Hah! I even went to that travel office in Mandaue (towards old Mactan Bridge) to ask more about Camotes and scout around for tours and accommodations. Part of the dialogue was… Me: What else should I visit in Camotes? Clerk: Sir, aside from the beaches, there are caves and beautiful Danao Me: Ah yes, I will go to Danao City after Camotes Clerk: No sir, I mean Lake Danao Me: But that’s in Ormoc, I just want Camotes Clerk: Yes sir, in Camotes Me: ha?! Well, there I learned that Lake Danao in Ormoc is different from Lake Danao in Camotes! When I...