Philippine Travel Notes

I was on the way to the airport for my circuitous holiday travel, and I saw this... In my mind I was saying ' how apt ', ' what a reminder ', ' what a coincidence ', ' yes Lord '! I and driver had to stare and look closely if the thing was newly installed. No not new. It just so happened.., a very rare good coincidence.., that today was December 23! The phrase An Pinaskohan is Waray (Cebuano too) that means The Christmas Gift ! Driver was quick to joke 'serr, remindeeer' ! But I was also quick to say I already gave his "13-month-bonus" plus my gift to him and his wife and children hahaha. Ako pa! But he had the last word (nagmana yata sa akin) saying "bangin manla mayada pa"! Hmm, looking fun. This probably was a sign, that I am going to have a great holiday roam once again. Or maybe a reminder. And I said out loud (to my self) "ayay OMG"! Yes, it was a 'reminder' from heavens above hahaha! I ...

Going home time. Let's Go sago! Oh, I did not forget " let's start from the very beginning ". My departure from Iloilo! I took a cab from Seda Atria to the airport, and here I was on the diversion road... No traffic yet at 8:48AM on a Monday. Yeah! I think this was because the malls were not yet open, and most vehicles were heading 'downtown' on the opposite direction. At left is the Plazuela De Iloilo - my favorite strolling, window-shopping, dining place in Iloilo. It's a mall yes, but it has a different kind of vibe. It is 'sprawling', not vertical. Onwards, next to that, is SM City Iloilo . Ah, who does not know SM, right? That building at right is SM Strata , supposedly the tallest in Iloilo, until the Terranza Residences materializes. I heard SM Strata is not actually done yet. It's supposed to have 2 or 3 towers (daw, yun ang marites na nasagap ko)! Offices & BPOs daw yan. Further, is Injap Tower - you can see a litt...

Arriving at Seda Atria, I saw this thing and thought it was an obelisk or church ruins (such as a bell tower), that was "enshrined" to become a monument. I was curious. Soon as I tossed my bags at my room overlooking it, I went down to see it up close. Not an easy place to get to. Maybe monuments like these are just meant to be seen from afar! It's a rotund, so no stop-lights nor zebra-walks. Thus, all vehicles run fast. Well and aherm, where there's a will, there's a way . I still managed to get to it. Ako pa! This is the Donato Militante Pison, Sr. Monument located on an avenue bearing the same name, at an intersection with Pasencia Tijam Pison Avenue ! O ano, laban ka? While skirting around, looking at various details, I added two and two together, and I realized, I was at this thing many people online refer to as The Chimney Monument ! Haruy, ito na pala yun! Not an obelisk, not a bell tower, but the pausukan of a pugon ! Both the circular bas...

This ride of only about 5 kilometers, took exactly 26 minutes. Yeah, that long! Ah yes, the world-famous Metro Manila traffic hahaha! Yet, I secretly wished for this ride to crawl a little bit slower! I wanted to see more. This was nostalgia time for me! Resorts World Manila and NAIA Terminal 3 Were Part of Villr Airbase How and why is that? Well, in my younger years, I often passed via this vicinity. This area we were departing-from was part of Villamor Airbase (earlier Nichols Airbase), until a big portion was expropriated in 1995 to become NAIA T3 and Resorts World . I do still remember many things here. For example, diagonally across HIE is PAFAM or the Philippine Air Force Aerospace Museum . It is technically just across the road. But I don't even know now, if one can go there by just crossing the road, as there are now three flyovers leading to, or from, various expressways and urbanities like BGC! Well, if you can cross from HIE (Holiday Inn Express) or ...