Philippine Travel Notes

This is a beautiful beach, still a daily tableau of the "rural life-and-recreation"! Potong Beach , is not (yet) that much publicized, thus, not in the bucket-list of many a traveler, and I think I like it that way (greedy ba?) , but by-and-by, it is getting 'found'! If not yet widely-known, how did I know about this place? Ah eh, I have my ways, let me count the ways... hehehe! Honestly, I saw this last year, while at Sunrise Resort. By my guesstimate , Sunrise Resort will probably be somewhere at that yellow arrow, or probably even nearer. My green arrow points to Momoy and Sinulog resorts area. Learning about Momoy and Sinulog, I bucket-listed them. After a year, here na me ! Oy it looks like, and very similar to other beaches, like Binogawan for one. The sand here is just lighter in color. But another place, another experience - that's the essence! The essence of "travel pa more", di ba?! Oh, what I loved about this visit was the reali...

I roamed around this little village, where Araw Beach is a part of. Not for any special reason, but just a go-see really, at its present-day look , before more changes happen. Why? What changes are happening? Aw, just like everywhere else in this country. By and by , yes, even if too slow, remote rural areas do get upgrades. That's what I mean. Examples: 1) on arrival, I saw that streets are fairly newly-paved; 2) above Nathalie's (since it's a hill, at the back), the street is being extended to 'above the beach'. O ha! Signs of progress. And, I think it will be more towards that situation, as Araw Beach becomes more and more visible, to the local and even international tourist markets. Who knows, baka pag balik natin eh this barangay could already be a crowded area of highrises! O, optimist di ba? It'll be best if we visitors have memories of the past! Ayay, take it from me, I always say now: "if only meron nang phone camera or kahit na digit...

Wasn't I lucky again that my party was happening here? Yes I was, so I booked here. But let me tell you first, "little some things" that I know, about how this hotel started! Historical and still in business ! It's been a hotel for decades now, starting as Rama Tower Hotel (1970s) owned by a local operator/s, becoming a Crowne Plaza in the 1980s and as Holiday Inn in 2003. Hindi ko inabot lahat ng iyan ha, huwag kang ano! I do remember, in the '90s it was already named Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza . I think the Holiday Inn part of the name was chosen to remain (in 2003) because Crowne Plazas at that time, were being re-positioned by IHG as their higher-end or upscale product. Remember the Pan Pacific Hotel at the other end of Silom (Rama IV Road), which is 2kms away from here? It became Crowne Plaza Lumpini Park in 2011. Timely di ba? I am mentioning these, so you don't get confused, because this is different from the 'Holiday Inn Bangkok...

Sunrise This has happened a number of times before, though I'm not sure I already told you about them. Plus, I have lately been catching sunrise at sea . So from the air naman! Well, from the airport actually, since I lost it when my plane took off heading east! I was standing on the bus that ferried passengers from Gate 25A to our Tacloban-bound plane (ATR72), when I caught sight of the sun inching its way up the horizon. Not everyone likes the sun rising like that. Isa na si Manong Driver - nasisilaw sya! Oo nga naman ano? Those golden rays get in the way of his being able to work well. Looking at him, and the sun, and our surroundings, it came to mind that he may not, therefore he can't be wearing shades at this time of day. It was still dark everywhere. A precarious situation for drivers. Still dark everywhere, but when a low-angled light of the rising sun hits the eyes, it's harsh. You'll need a special type of shades for that. Ta! Pag specia...