Philippine Travel Notes

Find those words for yourself hehe. This big big signage is nailed to a tree over at Isla Del Sta Cruz Grande’s pink-sand beach! Yep, in the city of flowers :)

Here is a cute sample of that mixed Visayan Spanish Malay and Tagalog for a language. I was surprised at myself. I may not be able to literally translate it, but I could understand the reminder well - "Please leave your footwear here, downstairs" or something like that, right?! Yey! This was at that museum inside Fort Pilar in Zamboanga City. Where we were not being allowed to enter, remember? Because they have just cleaned and the tourism boss was coming, remember? Chingga! (I hope I spelled that last word correctly hehe) Oh well, the interesting ‘signs’ of our times!

So, have you been to Zamboanga? Which Zamboanga?! Zamboanga City? Zamboanga Del Norte? Zamboanga Del Sur? Zamboanga Sibugay? Or do you actually know what and where those places are, huh?! Afraid? Why? What are you afraid of anyway? You just heard something on radio or TV and you so quickly decided Zamboanga is a dreadful city? Shame! It’s far from being a war zone, believe me. And save for some eyesores, the place is actually grand! So let me tell you about things Zamboanga the way I have seen or encountered them. To make everything easy for you, let us focus on just one place for starters – Zamboanga City. This city has its own kind of charm that after the first visit, you’d want to be back there by the next available long-weekend. Here we go: How did I know about this place? Honestly, my first visit of Zamboanga was not anything I yearned for. It was an official assignment from my previous employer and I had no choice. But I guess this was one such opportunity that led...