Casita Real: Your Very Own Beachhouse

Hawaiian Shot upon Arrival

Great ocean view with no crowds; walking distance to fresh food; great internet connection; well-furnished tiny house all to me and my friends; and backups good enough for scheduled brownouts: Casita Real is one of the best beach vacations I’ve ever had.

Road to Provinces Holy Week 2022

Provincial road trips may be trickier

 

I didn't see motorcycles in the expressway - duh - so I thought nothing of it. And then when we hit provincial roads they appear. One or two, here and there and then it became five or more. More than once our van was trying to overtake with only the space of a two wheeled motorcycle holding us back.

We were stuck in traffic in Tiaong, Quezon for hours. I didn't think of the possible significance then when I took this Instagram video. When a neighbor in the resort of Doña Choleng noted the same - those motorcycles - it hit me.

Scotland's Home of the Year (BBC Scotland)

Michael Angus (standing) with Kate Spiers and Anna Campbell-Jones at front
Images from The Herald

While still walking through the rabbit hole of Britannia I came upon Scotland’s Home of the Year (SHOTY). The show is a tour of houses without the historical slant that Restoration Home had and more of the owner’s personal taste. 

A big red heart symbolizes that taste which the owners will make known as the favorite spot. Judges look out for it and once found they stop to see through the owner’s point of view. Judges and episode winners see each other only in the grand finals.

Sagada Trip 2019

3 guys, #galingupis; me, paeng, and mike at the
Banaue Rice Terraces view deck

Santa Rosa Integrated Terminal Dry Run, Me Reading between the Lines

From autocar.com

The quoted passage below is from Laguna Transport Hub still Empty, a news article from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and published on the 30^th of April, 2019, Tuesday.

True Location Specific SMS

I was sent these messages by just being within range of Terminal 3 and Terminal 4. 

There was a time when people thought the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) emergency messages are excessive but I wonder could they be as location accurate as this one because the last thing people need in emergencies is a boy-who-cried-wolf situation.

2Go, Off Peak and Changing Bunks - Boracay 2017

I dropped the ball arranging a boat ride to Boracay. Ticket sellers for 2go at SM Manila had answered me that the Tourist Class was a room of 8. My biggest mistake was thinking that a mass of bunk beds was the only cheapest section of a passenger ferry like this one, and anything higher in price would automatically be a room.

It wasn’t a room. There the open air type and the type with air-conditioners, the Tourist Class was fortunately the latter. Only a confluence of long weekends that November 2017 saved the trip from being a nightmare.

How can you lose a boat and not know?

Looking at mainland Panay Island from atop the hills of Mararison Island.
Photo from Byajayro

As written in Panay News. 

The speedboat was three to four kilometers from the shoreline of Barangay Aras-Arasan at the time. 

All the passengers, except Dable, were able to hold onto the speedboat when it flipped. According to Jaromay, the speedboat hit Dable on the head.

Tan and Barrentos, on the other hand, swam for more than two hours to the shoreline to seek help until fishermen saw them, Jaromay added.

“Mayor Tan went on board a pump boat and went back to where the boat capsized and rescued his friends and visitors,” the police chief said./PN

I am someone who can't swim and has been to Mararison which is why this news is hitting me a little wrong. 

Leave No Trace - Potipot

Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time.

The popular traveler's adage literally means not to take, not to leave, and not to destroy anything from the places you visit. Sustainable travelling is the goal.

Pit stop in a Bypass Road?

Lead car overtakes the car in front of it and follow car came close behind. Lead car returns to the right lane because there was oncoming traffic, and then suddenly it signals left.  We waited until traffic was clear before we turned left to park at the Bangihan ni Kuya.

Finish it - Rose & Grace Bulalo

I looked at it quite sadly like I’ve never looked at a leftover before - a big bowl of bulalo. My eyes were measuring every angle of it for meat. There's no more green leafy vegetables in the soup because that was the first one I ate. Still a healthy or an unhealthy amount of meat is left.

Never planned to be in Baler, Aurora

Does having your picture with the name constitute as proof of visit?

Kung walang plano natutuloy, kung di naplaplano natutuloy. Roughly translated it means – if it’s not planned it pushes through, if it is planned it won’t come true.

Pinatubo Crater on Feb 25

This trip was two years in waiting. My 2015 plans did not push through because the pick-up point was farther than I was comfortable with especially in the early morning. This year when I saw Mt. Pinatubo Adventure Phils. on Facebook and that McDonald’s Edsa cor Panay Street was pick up point. Perfect!

Total cost is PHP 2,700, down payment is PHP 500.  I deposited the down payment and attached a picture of the deposit receipt to secure my slot. Mt. Pinatubo Adventure Phils confirmed.

Lando's and Lorie's Banay Banay Eatery

I never had it so good at a local eatery: Kaldereta, Calamares, Bulalo, Barbecue.  There was what looks like grilled tilapia which I didn’t get because it was on the other side of the table. I had line of sight too for some kind of shrimp dish which I refused because the shrimp was small and I had to work a bit to get into the meat.  There are times when the best meal is one which I can just throw in my mouth and chew.

A Day or so in Palawan

April 16 at around 4:30 p.m. I hopped on a plane along with two fellow employees of DBM and their families, onward to Palawan: from the afternoon of the 16th to the afternoon of the 18th.

Danger Zone

I guess this would fall as one of your ‘dodge the bullet’ type of situations.

Whenever I go to Cubao from my office at the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) I usually take the LRT at Recto station. If I am fortunate enough to catch an officemate with a car, then, I will ask to be dropped off just in front of Legarda station, where the officemate can either go back to the office or go straight to Quezon City. However, if I can’t find a car I’ll commute via the Pasig-Quiapo jeep going to LRT’s Recto Station.

Observe the sky-shot of DBM (building marked B), the street corner is a weird shaped intersection, looks like a melted cross. The building marked A is an apartment where all those who wait for Pasig-Quiapo usually stand and catch the jeep before it turns right – its last turn before reaching Quiapo. And like everyone else that is where I waited around 5-5:30 pm on September 3^rd.

As had been my usual I lined myself up at in front of the traffic as much as possible so that when the traffic stops I’ll have ample time to study if I actually fit in any of the incoming jeeps. I never liked having just one ass cheek sitting you see especially with so weak a lower body strength.

I had my eye on one, about four cars back; a great enough distance to observe it if it was packed or not. But before it got close to me (I actually wanted to ride it by then) to my surprise the lady in the front fell out of the jeep, almost face first. My mind raced for answers: boyfriend trouble, smelly passenger or a drunken passenger (either her or someone near her); slip, even attempted rape. It wasn’t long that I was soon dazed observing the puzzle unfold before my eyes as other passengers follow suit, through the window, door – so I was thinking mechanical trouble, maybe a bomb.

Failing to appreciate the situation and remaining relatively untouched from where I stood I watched on, passively. Soon with almost all of the passengers out scattering in all directions the insides of the jeep was clearer, there was a noticeable scuffle; how many I could not count. The answer was soon revealed because by this time passengers who got out at this time were already shouting hold-up.

Perhaps noticing the commotion they were causing, and also the lack of available victims, the two assailants got out of the jeep. Looking around realizing the attention was already too much (traffic was packed by now the jeep just stopped, plus the people at the store in the apartment) they ran away.

Thankfully no one was hurt in this incident but it did give me a front seat view of what the place’s reputation was all about.

That stretch of road (Arlegui to Palanca and General Solano), that general area, has its reputation of hold-ups and riots (I saw remnants of one in Palanca one late night: shattered glasses and rocks in the street), as well as being an area of dormitories, students, government buildings, and a wide array of colleges and universities. It’s not anarchy mind you so you can relax a little. Just keep in mind that if you do come by this area to just keep your eyes open and relax. Everyplace has its dangers.

Thankfully, I am still not part of that crime statistic unfortunately some DBM employees are. But the sad thing is, more of an annoyance in fact, is that because of the reputation of the place, taxi drivers often think of me as a potential criminal. I have experienced being passed over by passenger-less taxis a number of times during late nights at the office.

Anyway, I wish a safe travel for everyone. Be mindful of danger zones wherever you travel.

Fish at LRT Central

"Manang pabili ng buntot!"

Compare the fork of Mr. Art (middle) to the serving...its really generous; guaranteed to give a fulfilling lunch.

Fulfilling indeed!

Erosion in Puerto Galera

Topography is hardly something I try to notice in a beach. Who would study the physical features of the land when you can study the physical features of crowd especially the ladies….

A nice sunny day, fine sand, clear water, and an atmosphere that seemed derived from a Beach Boys song are all I the qualities I look for. And there are a lot of beaches that fit that description in this country of ours, Puerto Galera among them.

But recently in my recent trip to Galera just this past week, topography was something I noticed, because if I am right, one of the favorite summer spots in the country may have its days numbered.