Philippine Travel Notes

Let’s talk town and city names in the Philippines. Yes, many a first-timer can easily get lost without properly checking or asking around where a town or city is. Often though, the getting lost or confusion stage occurs during the planning of a trip. Research and the ever reliable “asking around” do get us to realize exactly which place we are headed to. Did you know there are more than 120 names in this country that are used by two or more towns or cities? That is counting only those places with exactly the same names! There are still others with the “sounds like” or “seems like” status. Here’s a sample conversation: Me : Yo, we just entered the NLEX and should be there in two hours. Friend : Gosh! You don’t have to fly on the road. Me : Oh San Fernando is just near, can we meet at SM or Robinsons? Friend : Ha? There is no SM nor Robinsons here, ano ka ba? Me : Di ba pagka-exit sa tollway ng San Fernando Friend : ‘Tado, that’s San Fernando City in Pampanga, my house is in La Union Me ...

I am sooo late at writing and posting many of my sojourns in the Philippines that many times, world events and calamities catch-up or overtake me to the extent that I have to revise what I wrote. Well, it is because something always gets in the way at my being able to finish my logs – and that is this thing called, WORK! This visit to Legaspi happened about 4 months before the area was struck with that calamity of overflowing volcanic mud that submerged many things into oblivion. Anyway… How did I know about this place? The news got me curious! First it was Mt. Bulusan. Every news source said it blew its top and was spewing lava and volcanic ash all over the place. Next came the news about Mt. Kanlaon also displaying some fiery activity. Then Mt. Mayon… slowly mildly erupting. Nothing violent but people were being evacuated. Ah, I just needed to satisfy my curiosity to see a volcano spewing lava or ashes or smoke! With all the media hype, the more I itched to go see how Mayon was doing...

Arriving in Manila and you want to take a cab? Depending on which airport you arrive at, there will be things peculiar or even mind-boggling! Let’s qualify that. The “taxis” or “cabs” in this topic are the metered taxis that ply about all the streets of Metro Manila. They are the common taxicabs that are mostly colored white or yellow or “white-and-green” or “white-and-yellow” while some are red and so on! These are not those “airport taxis” which are from car rental companies or limousine services or coupon taxis that have their own counters at the airports. Here goes: From NAIA 1 Most notable of a headache is when you arrive at the NAIA 1 – the old international terminal that houses all international flights except those of PAL. You won’t find metered taxis at any of the upper (original) nor the lower (extension) arrival driveways. To find one, you veer walking to the right immediately upon emerging from the arrivals lobby. And that is some 30 or so meters to the “MIA Road” at the si...

There is that ubiquitous letter “S” again… this time (see item 3) attaching to an already plural world, aw word pala – ‘children’! Yun lang! I got more amused on item number two. Do you know how to do it? Well, I do now hehe. On that raft, anyone going for the john had to properly declare and excuse themselves – so the remaining folks could balance the thing. Yep, this was at the “Tago-Tago Food Garden” in the outskirts of Legaspi City. Ah, the complications of our times hehe!

Who said you can’t roam around town on rainy days? It’s just a myth, really! For anyone interested in seeing various places, you may like to know that there are a lot of things to discover during the rainy season. Of course, as with any travel on any kind of weather, there are necessary precautions that one must consider. And I have discovered wiser ways of roaming this country during various moods of our dear inang kalikasan! Technique: when the monsoons are a blowing in the Luzon area, head to the western and southern islands like Palawan or Mindanao. While some parts will be cloudy on some days, rains will usually be sporadic. Then again it’s always wise to check weather underground or weather.com or even the local PAG-ASA! Example: last August 1, some colleagues were surprised when I appeared in the office with a skin darker than usual cuz I literally burned under the sun in Samar during the weekend. That was a weekend where rains were pouring to the max in Metro Manila! But going ...

Yeah, Davao! And this one is a strategically located accommodation place near to so many things. But its not something you may want to be shouting to the world about, though its not something you will also despise. Fact is, me and 4 friends could not decide what to really say about it. Reason why am telling you here, now! Its cheap! As in inexpensive or mura. Not the “other” meaning of the word, though I know it can readily fit into such a category hehe. Friends and I settled to calling it a… sleeping quarters hehe – because we could not say its bad yet we could not also say its grand, even for the price! And as I always say during my talks about travel, never ask a local regarding accommodations in his place unless it is his very home you are talking about. Why? Again, as I always say, because he will never have had the chance to stay in those hotels, inns, pensions or resorts as a visitor or tourist, since he has his very own home nearby. So he will never really know! YET, for this t...

This is a bakeshop, and usually the last stop of your Puerto Pincesa Day Tour itinerary, but... As you can see in the collage of pictures, I don't even have one that shows the bakeshop or the baked products haha! I let my companions do the buying, and I did the eating, in this fun, humurous gardens! Yep, the bakeshop could be crowded in the afternoons, when all the day tours are winding down, with this bakery as "the" or "one of the" last stops. But one of my wiser companions told us to look and see what we liked, while she already fell in line. Then we txtd her everything, while we enjoyed the garden!