Philippine Travel Notes

Many of you would probably recognize where these jeeps are found. But why did I take this picture? Well, even on a harried afternoon, after 2 days of standing in front of so many faces, arriving on a delayed flight, with rains on and off, and expecting heavy traffic (again) after the bridge, there are just things that can make you smile. And you don’t even need to look far! So… Don’t English me, I’m not school! Fun, aren’t us?!

Like I did at first, you’d think they’re being ridiculous putting those roof structures on their motorbikes, right? But when you catch them cruising along on a rainy day like today, then you’d probably say (as I did), “oh okay, practical”! It’s more fun!

Take this for a 'napping nook'! It is the baggage conveyor belt usually used by Cebu Pacific Air at the MCIA’s arrival area. That baggage handler I saw was really snoozing it off on the belt. Soon it whirred on and he jumped out like a grasshopper hehehe! The few of us passengers who were already there laughed at his bewildered look as he accidentally came out of those black strips due to his surprise. That reminded me of ming-ming, the furry purry fat cat at home who likes to sleep on the treadmill’s belt. When we would switch the thing on, she jumps high and out like, as if someone threw a snake into her whahehehe! Hey, I thanked that baggage boy of Cebu Pacific for giving us a real afternoon laugh! Oh well, its really more fun!

That is going to be the additional gate of the Mactan Cebu International Airport. That one connects to gate 5, so it probably is going to be an added convenience to domestic passengers. I think it’s wise of them to have this additional “finger” to the existing facility that obviously needs it. Overdue in fact. It has never been as chaotic in this airport compared to others. But, it is just a bit more inconvenient to many – especially women with children and the elderly. Come to think of it, with the number of domestic flights that arrive and depart at MCIA from midnight to midnight, it would be perplexing for many to realize that there are actually just two gates with aerobridges and two others that are “ramp gates”. Thus, especially for Cebu Pacific (since they have the most), even if your flight was using a jet aircraft that can easily be connected via the aerobridge, you still are boarded by climbing down and up stairs – no escalators nor elevators! Let’s hope that new ‘pier’ will b...

Am still on my love affair with Samar. Its the 3rd Monday I am passing this way and that poor little thing has not even moved a bit from that seemingly ashamed position. Maybe it thinks it is an ostrich, so it is trying to hide its head in the sand! Aw grass, aw ground, aw earth whatever! This scene is just 2 minutes away before the San Juanico bridge! My driver says, the owner probably just left it where it is, since the insurance company would take charge in retrieving it. Well and good, if that is really the case. I can only imagine, if this was in Metro Manila, not even 2 hours would pass and that little darling would have probably disappeared 'in toto' or chop-chopped to total “diffusion” hehe. And the insurance agents wouldn’t even know where it was hehe! Oh well!

Are those things allowed? I think, in the past, they were not. But lately, we are seeing them more often and increasing in numbers. As the bridge has a high and a bit steep of a climb, these very slow vehicles affect the otherwise normal flow of traffic. I wouldn’t want to imagine the famous San Juanico Bridge becoming like the Mactan-Mandue Bridge 1 where everything is a crawl – always, and there are even no trikes! Just thinking aloud. Lest someone out there be alerted to start attending to this.

This is one of the vans of Grand Tours, the cleanest and most well-maintained fleet in Eastern Visayas, I believe. But if it were not a bevy of saints, rosaries and flowers, many dashboards look like this. Colorful! Beautiful in fact :) I do wonder, don’t these little things distract the drivers? Are those little abubots considered safe? Am just wondering for at times, they do even distract me from concentrating on the wonderful views outside as we zoom through. Plus on this van, our bejeweled manong driver kept reaching for that phone, talking to his wife as to where we already were and where should the wife wait in Tacloban and that he has quite a heap of laundry for her and so on. They even discussed the school expenses of one daughter. And I think I already know their whole family story hehehe. Not to mention that Mr. Driver kept tending to the wire and charger of that phone. YET, we were still zooming fast on the road! He’s probably already a master of his craft but… WHAT IF?! To ...

Ang dahon ng saging... BOW! Got it? Okay, let me describe the intricate contraption for those who still can’t fathom this “very profound scientific discovery”… so help me God! The back-rider realized water, dirt and mud was pelting his back as they zoomed though the highway. That is because that kind of bike has no rear fender – by design. The seat is supposed to already serve as one, but obviously it doesn't. So, to avoid being scolded by his mom for another veeery dirty laundry, they chopped one big banana leaf somewhere and tied it to the bike’s tail light, hoping it would provide enough protection! It probably served its intended purpose for a time. But when we encountered them, the poor leaf was swaying and flapping like crazy, then started tearing itself apart into strips! The “act” eventually became a pathetically futile rendition that every passenger in my van (plus the driver, of course) was laughing instead of feeling sorry for this ultra genius green-clothed bastard h...