Philippine Travel Notes

Is there such a thing? None! But it can be done via connecting flights, without touching MNL, which is what I did! Travel time was about 9hrs, including transit time. My calculator says this would have been about the same duration if I traveled by land. But this time, flying was more comfortable, and cheaper! Here's how it went.., I took the Cebu Pacific early morning flight from Tacloban to Cebu. This photo taken at 0538H! If at 5:38AM I already clicked this photo, imagine what unholy time at dawn I must have awoken.., and what time I must have taken a bath, left home and so on! Hmm, what time did I sleep last night? Did I? At 0616H, morning still misty, my plane was already on a take-off roll. Of course I was still groggy! Oh, if you notice a pinkish glow on the left edge of the pic, it was a sleepy Mr. Sun attempting to shine! Hey, it's late at night now as I write this, and I laughed at seeing my video clip during this take off run! I will put that somewhere here wh...

I need to do this. Not only for you, but also for me - a review and summary of the myriad of places and things (even people) I have seen, encountered, done, not done, heard, etc.! Including Tacloban, on this trip I visited or just passed by 43 localities in one big island. That's 39 towns and 4 cities in 2 provinces (3 cities and 25 towns in the province of Leyte; 1 city and 14 towns in the province of Southern Leyte). My driver says that was about 550kms from departure at, until arrival back in Tacloban. The route was: Tacloban => Palo => Tanauan => Tolosa => Dulag => Julita => Burauen => La Paz => Mayorga => MacArthur => Javier => Abuyog => Silago => Hinunangan => Hinundayan => Anahawan => San Juan => Saint Bernard => Liloan => Libagon => Sogod => Bontoc => Tomas Oppus => Malitbog => Padre Burgos => Macrohon => Maasin => Matalom => Bato => Hilongos => Hindang => Inopacan =...

Macrohon town proper is about 7kms on a northward run from Kuting Reef Resort which sits in one of its barrios. Though still gloomy, the ride was good with views left and right. Most of the road here is lined on both sides by trees that (I guess) were purposely planted to make their highway look beautiful. I also saw a couple of old wooden houses. A portion of this road runs along a nice clean river. My driver says the mouth of that river empties at the beach near Kuting. Hmm, this could be an interesting future tourist draw. Other parts run along white sandy beaches that, I think, are even better than the sand at Kuting. I noted the villages of Villa Jacinta and Sto Nino. Nice views from the highway! I wasn't able to snap a photo, but passing this way was also first time for me to see a "Multi-grade School" - whatever that means. The signage was "Aguinaldo Elementary Multi-grade School". What I only know is that elementary schools have multiple grades like...

A wonderful place! This is the entrance façade, also the 'default' photo-op area! The driveway circles to that foyer so you have a grand entrance at the door, under a roof. Parang Manila Hotel ba! The 'Baybayon Restaurant' is behind this building out on the waterfront... This is a big and breezy place. Not only good for a meal, I can sleep anywhere here hehe! Look: my driver talking to the young (OJT) waitress. Haagii nga pag parayaw... Surprising - we were the only ones in this place on a Sunday noontime. Well, a rainy July. I cannot complain... all the more that I liked this place... real peace and quiet... With good food in a well appointed place, I said I can live here. That tinola (fish) is good! From our table, I looked out front to the sea, and this is what I saw... The beach may not be white, its not even fine sand, but the views are fantastic just the same. Ehem, not to mention I composed that pic well! Imagine, if it wasn't a gloomy day. I looked...

My lunch destination for the day - Kuting Reef Resort and Spa in the town of Macrohon, Southern Leyte. Not really in the town center yet. Still some 7 kilometers before it. And this was already a northward run from Padre Burgos that is the southern end of the peninsula. The ride from Padre Burgos town center took only about 5 minutes, so, I would imagine, that distance would probably have been just 5 kilometers, or even less! Ironically cute, I just realized Kuting Reef Resort is nearer to the town center of Padre Burgos than that of its own Macrohon! And for those who got it all wrong like I did until this trip, Kuting Reef Resort is not in Maasin City. Still way far from it at about 22+ kms. For those driving, this is "hard-to-miss" since there are ample road signs like this... Those signs abound (yes, some are quotable quotes like that!) whether you're coming from the north (i.e., Maasin, Macrohon) or south, like where I came from, Padre Burgos. Well, some of the...