Philippine Travel Notes

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

Do I hear someone singing? Bakit ka kumakanta? The song is "Ang Kawawang Cowboy", ito Baboy! Ah the things we see on the road, they are not only educational, they are also somehow entertaining! Windows were all closed, airconditioning was on and driver was playing some music (because there is no radio reception in this area of the highway in W. Samar). Yet, we could hear a pig's cries of distress! I asked the driver where that was coming from, since there were no houses along the way - at alangan tumatakbo kasabay namin ang bahay na me baboy na imiiyak 'no! Driver pointed his 'nguso' up front! When I looked, I saw that habal-habal with a pig tied "upside down" (I mean not upright, according to a pig's point of view - yes me ganun hehehe), on the right-side passenger footrest of that motorcycle. Can you see it? So, it kept wailing in distress. Kahit ikaw naman, di ba? Subukan mong itali ka ng ganyan patiwarik sa isang humaharurot na

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

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