Philippine Travel Notes

I have always said, never ask a local about what to see in his neighborhood cuz chances are he wont be able to tell you the best information about it. Take my case and the La Mesa Ecopark… many friends (some of you are reading this blog) kept asking me about it. My usual reply was “malay ko” or “not sure but its probably just another park by the edge of the dam”. While those replies would not be misleading, they were not very helpful at all, right? So, because of the so many questions, I decided to go for it – even if reluctantly hehe! Let’s set the mood please. I live in the Fairview area of QC and way past the La Mesa Ecopark or Dam from center of metropolis. That means I have been passing by (at least the corner leading to) the park for decades of my life. I did not think it most important to find myself in there since deep in me I thought, its just nearby anyway. But thanks to the coercive persistence of many of you, I went there… and I liked it! Where is it? Just google it! That w...

Really?! Really! Few days ago, I flew PAL from Cebu to Manila on their 747 aircraft. Only them has that - other airliners in this country don't have 747s! AND, that flight booked via the web was cheaper than anything I could get from Cebu Pacific! But that was the best of it! During boarding, when I saw that 42DEFG were unoccupied, I sat at 42G and no one reprimanded me. Snoozed the flight off after the daily papers and the snacks. Yes again, only PAL (still) has those and that's why I love PAL. However, midway through the flight, a stewardess tapped my shoulder asking for my boarding pass. I asked why. She said she needed to see my seat number. As I was still trying to fish the boarding pass from my pocket, I said 46G. Then she said "oh, you cannot sit here sir"! I asked "bakit"? Her reply was, "it is against regulation". I asked "which regulation, the flight has already taken off, the seat-belt sign is off and we're even almost arriving,...

Just passing by from our Carcar and Sibonga visit, San Fernando’s church and municipal hall attracted us so we got off and roamed the area a bit. The church looks beautifully ancient with a spacious frontage garden. Sunday afternoon service was in progress but we still went in – and in the process attended mass too! See?! We were just by the main entrance as the church was very full (all Sunday afternoon masses in this country are, right?) and we were admiring things of and around the church. Suddenly a voice whispered unto my left ear saying “ang kapal mo coming here in shorts and naka-tsinelas”. That was a familiar voice so I immediately turned. OMG, a long lost friend, an ex-workmate. I was about to exclaim my surprise loudly but he placed his forefinger on his lips to tell me keep quiet hehe. We went a bit farther out of the entrance to talk more and reconnect. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? That was first the question. My reply: how would I, I didn’t know you come from t...

This is that town in the province of Cebu where the poblacion or center is a virtual unknown having been overshadowed by one of its barrios made famous (or infamous, whichever way you wanna look at it) by monks up in the hills. And I have gone twice to that monastery but never even seen center of town. Going to Sibonga, me and the friend were waiting for a bus along Carcar City’s main road across the market. However, we heard habal-habal and tricycle drivers calling out for passengers to Simala. We looked at each other and deduced that if vehicles were getting passengers to Simala, then they must also be taking people going just to Sibonga – nearer and center of town. So we hailed a trike and went off with our P30 ride (P15 each)! Of course we headed to the Sibonga church first, the Nuestra Senora Del Pilar Parish. Oh my, that church is really old, even almost ugly. But its very rustic look makes it more interesting. And if the ceiling of Carcar’s church mesmerized me, this one in Sib...

“Sorry I can’t go with you today, there’s an urgent errand in Carcar that I have to attend to”. So said my friend one Sunday morning. When it comes to roaming around, I consider myself a very fast-thinker and very flexible… so I replied, “can I go with you?”… and in no time, we met at south bus terminal! I was off to Carcar City! Yey! Though I have been passing by this place many times going southeast or southwest of the island, I never really got to step on it and have even just a quick look around. Ah during the bus ride, the friend told me I can go around while he attended to the errand and we set a time and place to meet again. He gave me pointers on what to see and we even discussed its plight to become a city! Ah yes, many of us know that Carcar (together with Naga and Bogo) is part of the 16 municipalities that were converted by congress into cities, then stripped of it, then reinstated. I know though Carcar is a big town just judging from the bustle in its market and the activi...

This is a pretty archetype on how to degrade public service by playing, listening to politics instead of the riding public! Let me describe what it was (good) and what it is now (getting bad). Then 01. Your car/cab enters a clean and orderly compound 02. You pay P10 for vehicle entry and get a receipt (doc stamp) 03. You get off at a designated entrance with a turnstile 04. You drop a five-peso coin to pass thru 05. An attendant gives you a documentary stamp as receipt 06. You walk up to your bus company’s counter 07. You choose a time of departure 09. You choose a seat 10. You are given a boarding pass 11. You wait in the airconditioned waiting lounge 12. While waiting you watch TV or eat at the food stalls 13. Someone announces boarding to your bus and on what gate 14. You line up at a glass door (gate) where a guard checks 15. You pile in and look for your seat 16. Bus departs (announcer hollers if its time to go and bus won’t) Remember these? That was then! Now 01. Your car/cab ent...

Now now... since we mentioned this airport in the previous post , let us say something about it a bit more! Just so we have a benchmark hehe! The Borongan Airport was so ceremoniously celebrated when it received its first commercial flight in the first September morn of 2008. I heard the governor was beaming with pride as the airport was touted to help boost business and tourism in the province. No it was not Asian Spirit as they all have been singing about. It was SeaAir that the governor or the president was finally able to coerce hehe! In fairness, the destination appeared at the airline's booking website for some time. I even checked that out and the cheapest I could see was something like P4,000++ one way. Yes, ONE WAY! In March of 2009, attempting for an April trip to Borongan, the airline did not anymore have any flights to said destination. Called them up to ask why. The reservations girl said they were not told of any reason but flights to said destination were suspend...

Yey! I went to Calicoan, yeah! And OMG did I learn a lot! An Island that is not Technically and officially, Calicoan (pronounced ka-li-ko-an more like “kuh-lee-ko-un”) is an island but you will never easily feel or observe that indeed it is. Composed of four barangays, its still part of the town of Guiuan as anything else southwards. The proximity with mainland has long ago prompted folks to build a bridge/causeway over at Barangay Pagnamitan. Looking down both sides of this bridge, you will already see people having picnics either by the mangroves, islets or in their little boats. The shiny clear emerald waters are most inviting. But no, that is not (yet) what made this island famous! Then, over at the southern end in Barangay Sulangan is another bridge that connects to yet another island. As you would realize, going Calicoan even further to Sulangan is a straight landside ride even if those are really islands. Oh nope, its not Homonhon yet. While it is also part of Guiuan, Homonhon i...