Philippine Travel Notes

No long tale to tell. I happened by the Sto. Niño Church of Tacloban for the 5:30PM Sunday Mass. Being a little late, I had nowhere else to stand but way back outside. I was aware of the nice warm weather and interesting clouds. So I clicked some! The first photo I took at 1740H was still too bright and bland, though I could already see some orangy wash. Ah it went well with the ongoing sermon - about politicians! But I waited a little bit more until communion time, and clicked again heheh! Luckily, the church outdoor lights also started coming on. And all I could say was: Oh Wow! The 2nd and 3rd photos in the above collage, I took at 1810H. Ayun o! Bursting with colors na! Oy I didn't edit anything. Their colors just came out interestingly like that! If you noticed, the 3rd panel even captured the 'almost-half-moon'. Achievement! Was it the Vivo Phone? Maybe. But I'm only interested in the finished product hehe! Why the fuss anyway? Ah, I just remembered ...

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...

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...

My final flight of the day, but just the 4th in my 13-flight Circle Trip . From the earlier story , it was a quick free shuttle from Noi Bai International to this Domestic airport. Let's go sago! Ample time to bum around. Three hours to be exact! This was the first thing I saw: Of course I had to tinker with them. Ako pa na curious sa lahat ng techy things! Just to see for my self, if they work fine. What did I do? Nag-print ng boarding pass hehe! Eh that was the only thing I could do, to try and use a kiosk - since I already did web check-in last night! Verdict: ayos lang, gumagana, mabilis parang sa Changi Airport! Compared to self check-in kiosks in the Philippines? Yung sa pula at sa dilaw? Mas mabagal ang computer systems sa atin. Pero, laging merong staff na naka-antabay! Is that good or bad? Ah eh, the system response sa atin is parang negligible naman. It's just that not many of us Pinoys like using the kiosks - kelangan pilitin (ni AirAsia) ! And t...