Philippine Travel Notes

Yes, I bought 3 seats on a Grand Tours Van - all for Me, Myself and I! Sumusobra na ba ako? I don't think so. I just did not have much of a choice. In fact, on hind sight, good this happened, so I have a new topic to tell you Pinoy Travelers! The story Continuing from my last story .., after that brunch at Hotel Lorenza , I went straight to the VS Grand Tours Terminal in Tacloban, so I could get a 2-hour ride to Catbalogan. I got super ultra excited (of course la!) stumbling upon this scene at the terminal. Three of their buses were around (can you see the 3rd one across the street?) ! Surely, therefore, dapat one of them would be going to Catbalogan that I could catch, right? Wrong! They were waiting for 2 more, as 5 of them were "specially hired" by an NGO for some community activity! Mal Viaje! Para akong binuhusan ng ice-cold tsunami! The next available van that still had my 'desired van seats', was that one at the back (barely seen in th...

Eleven days after I flew in (also from Cebu), here I was again - on my second entry to Tacloban by air, after Yolanda/Haiyan ravaged the city - ah the whole region actually. How did I get out of Tacloban anyway? Ahehe, I thought you wouldn't ask. But I exited on the 16th via Calbayog. Remember this ? Yep, I went home to Cebu by boat from Calbayog, after some Catbalogan gigs. Let me tell you fellow travelers, that nowadays, it is not easy to quickly get flights to Tacloban - wherever from - unless you book them way in advance. Tsambahan lang! Yep, that is the daily reality. So, for us who live on "spur-of-the-moment" decisions to fly into, or out of Tacloban, "luck, prayers and patience" becomes our next-best tool! Next best? What's the best way then? Aw, travel by sea or land - nasa sa iyo na kung lalangoy o maglalakad ka hehe! Otherwise, you hunt for flights on tsambahan basis! Why is that? Well, believe it or not, beacuse of Yolanda too!...

Sunrise This has happened a number of times before, though I'm not sure I already told you about them. Plus, I have lately been catching sunrise at sea . So from the air naman! Well, from the airport actually, since I lost it when my plane took off heading east! I was standing on the bus that ferried passengers from Gate 25A to our Tacloban-bound plane (ATR72), when I caught sight of the sun inching its way up the horizon. Not everyone likes the sun rising like that. Isa na si Manong Driver - nasisilaw sya! Oo nga naman ano? Those golden rays get in the way of his being able to work well. Looking at him, and the sun, and our surroundings, it came to mind that he may not, therefore he can't be wearing shades at this time of day. It was still dark everywhere. A precarious situation for drivers. Still dark everywhere, but when a low-angled light of the rising sun hits the eyes, it's harsh. You'll need a special type of shades for that. Ta! Pag specia...

MCIA. Some things are a changing around here, one cute little bird told me lately. For the better naman daw. So, I told my self to look & see, before more changes happen. Many of them are 'still new' to me, tapos magbabago na? I better take a closer look! I said maybe I should start from-one-end-to-the-other, since there are many places & things at airports, that I do not bother to see, when I've got nothing to do with them! And so... I was on a Cebu Pacific early-morning flight to Tacloban kanina - therefore, can't use PAL's Mabuhay Lounge hehe! But a fine chance to see the corners I'm curious about . One of them is The Enclave Cigar Bar and Wine Lounge . It's a posh-looking bar at one end of this airport's pre-departure area (near the CRs). Well-appointed with dashes of eclectic art here-and-there kaya mukhang mamahalin ! Look at the ceiling just above the bar, if you haven't done so, yet. Notice anything? Yes, "s...

I did a reverse boat ride again - Calbayog to Cebu. Ah it was uneventful with nothing much that we don't know yet! Well, there were little notable things, still worth telling! Grand Tours Departure I started this trip at Catbalogan on a bus ! So, let us begin my story from here... That's the Grand Tours Terminal in Catbalogan as my bus to Calbayog pushed back. Why the picture? Ay, I was (at first) interested in capturing those contact numbers of all their terminals/stations for my future reference . Yet I ultimately dropped the idea! Why? Ah eh.., parang hassle na isa-isa kong kopyahin ang mga yan to my phone! At sa truth and nothing but the truth lang... paano kokopyahin, eh blurred yung picture! Da! Charge to experience hehe! I guess those are available online anyway. St. Bartholomew Church Hoy I hope I already said this: every Grand Tours trip to Calbayog exits facing this: Yep, the historic St. Bartholomew Parish. As you can see in the façade, year 161...

I went for a quick meetup at this town before proceeding to Marabut right after that. Not so many chances to look at this-or-that , but I tried my best kahit mabilisan lang! If their munisipyo will be our basis, we might say thankfully it was not that affected by Yolanda, though I saw many ruined houses. But, no storm surge here. Landlocked ito! I think that municipal building is a bit new and made well with good engineering and proper mix of materials - nakatayo pa eh! It looks like a sturdy concrete block to me! Yet those banners tell me, Pastrana was also affected. Tinulungan din e! They won't have sought help kung di naman sila nasalanta, diba? Maybe at other parts of town. Looking around, well, just across that building, I saw signs of Yolanda's wrath. At the left edge of that picture, after the monument, are the skeletal remains of their covered court. Just bended or twisted steel rods, which must be difficult to remove. Well, you can see their stage at r...