Philippine Travel Notes

I finished my lunch at Café Le Sorelle at just about merienda time for most folks! And no wonder people kept coming and going to the cashier’s counter, some going away with boxes, some with just small packs. I learned they were getting those pastries, cakes and cookies as take-away afternoon snacks! Anyway, I had a thing to do and that was roam around. So, even if feeling still a bit heavy, I had to drag my royal self out of this café. The church was nearby, so I naturally headed for it. Immaculate Conception Cathedral, that’s what it is called. And relatively new if we compare this to many cathedrals around the country. I read the marker and it says “built in 1948… renovated in 1984… completed and blessed in 1985”. Well, that explains the relatively new architecture. Modern, in fact. I mean it is airy inside with a lot of ventilation, no big pillars to block your view and a simple altar without so many santos to confuse you where you’d turn your attention to in prayer hehe! Just the c...

I knew Hotel Castro does not anymore have a restaurant or anything like it. I learned about that yesterday when I called up the hotel and Honey told me about it. But she informed me there are a lot of eateries in the vicinity where she also told me there is even the very long line of barbecue stands just across the hotel. But this was lunch time, and I knew the grills would come alive only in late afternoon or evening. So I walked around. To see places and to look for lunch. Walking around, I spotted the city’s catholic church but went past it since I was looking for lunch. Oh there’s a McDonalds just across! Unfortunately, it is still under construction hehe. So I walked on, still on this street named Quezon Avenue! Then I saw a building with commercial establishments and a wide parking area. Over at an inner unit was something that looked like a restaurant or eatery so I went near. Café Le Sorelle. I told myself “argh! Just a coffee shop!” but went to check it out just the same, perc...

“What”?! “Are you serious”?! “You must be sick”! “Why don’t you just go to Kota Kinabalu”?! Those were just some of the comments of friends and family when I told them I was jetting into Cotabato City. But I was all set and determined to do it! I was just telling them, not asking for permission. I could not have foregone my ‘most valued’ zero-fare on Cebu Pacific hehe! I spent a sleepless night booking them zero-fares, so I deserved them. Oh, even an employee of the airline herself asked why I was going there, and my reply was “you don’t have any more destinations that I have not been to, that’s why. And if I don’t return alive, blame your airline for offering zero-fares” whahehehe! Actually, its not as if I am so naïve and clueless of current events in such destinations. I often watch the news, and for places like these, I do a little research. And when I say ‘research’, I do not just collect the bad events on the news. I try to pinpoint them as to exact location and how far they were...

Quite a unique way of announcing to the public that their store is to open soon. Catchy. And makes you smile! The owners sure know how to put an ad anywhere. And I don’t need to predict if they have sense of humor! Hope this one store stay for as long as they want it to. Ah, this was at SM MOA, just before you enter the Science Discovery area. Well yes, the “funtastic” signs of our times!

Boarding was called; passengers were bussed to the aircraft docked at Gate 115. I opted to board last to avoid the scrimmage. Why passengers (usually Filipinos) run for it, I still don’t understand! We all have our seats numbers anyway, so why run to be first at the aircraft? Duh! While purposely waiting for “me, myself and I” to be the last passenger, I observed that each gate has a pair of gate-readers – which obviously were installed by the airport authorities and not the airlines. Unfortunately, no one (yet) can use them! I just know, really! What is a gate-reader? Oh, I’ll explain that in anther story! The bus was half empty, no one was entering anymore and the ground staff told me I was the last passenger they were waiting for! So I climbed up after taking a shot of the bus, the blue sky and the moon – yes the moon was still visible and bright! All aboard and it was taking time for our flight to close doors and finally depart. I already knew from past experiences that there was s...

After the breezy check-in, I saw on my phone that it was just 5:03AM and I thought “here I go again… a long and useless wait” which I was later to know was even more hehe. So I killed time walking around the big expanse of the check-in area, looking at the various fixtures and everything else that caught my attention. There was the time I tried sitting on those many lounge seats niftily scattered all over the place. I thought they were comfy aside from being lovely to look at. Even visited a comfort room… clean so far. Climbed up to some kind of mezzanine or loft and there was a coffee shops even fastfood stalls. Walked the entirety of the terminal fee counters and I was amused why they have different names!! For Domestic flights, your P200 is a Terminal Fee and these are the counters (right side) that block your way going inside and unto the waiting lounges/areas. For international side (left and contiguously beside the “terminal fee counters” these are called “Airport User’s Charge” ...

My Cebu Pacific flight was scheduled at 7:10AM so I had to be at NAIA 3 just around 5AM. Good that my brods were going to the Tagaytay-Batangas areas a very early dawn departure so I hitched along and had a breezing ride over C5 to terminal 3. Left the house at 4:28AM and was at the airport at 4:52AM! Seeing that there was no big crowd (I was too early, I thought) I stayed at the curbside and puffed my first cigarette of the day. I noticed that there were two entrances in use, and that there were queues of just about 3 or four passengers deep. It was almost a crowd to me, but not quite yet, really. As I craned my neck for a clearer view of the entrance crowd, a uniformed man passed by where I was standing, herding some four or five other passengers to a 3rd entrance. I thought that was a nice move – opening all entrances for the passengers’ convenience. And I followed that group. Easy entrance – even if as usual we had to remove footwear and place them in plastic trays together with ce...

Another day of roaming around Butuan and its surroundings was over and I was ready to reward myself with dinner. I planned to take dinner at any of the better, more upscale places, if any. And omegosh it was just a few steps away from my inn. So, dinner was at Almont Hotel! Oops, that is not Almont Inland Resort. Am referring to the Almont Hotel right in the middle of the city just beside my dear old Luciana Inn. Yep, all three places are owned by the same family. First, I asked if Almont Hotel and Luciana shared the same kitchen since they’re just beside each other. The reply was no, thus, I proceeded. Almont Hotel’s spacious lobby actually doubles as some kind of a coffee shop. Half of it is dotted with tables for fine dining. The whole area has minimalist look sanz flowery frills or intricate designs. Even the furniture is simple and elegant without so many curves or out-of-this-world designs. And, the place is tastefully illuminated with subdued yellow lights via dimmer switches. A...