Learn to surf in Baler with two SEAIR tickets plus surfing lessons up for grabs!

You and a friend can fly to Baler, Aurora and go surfing with two SEAIR tickets up for grabs! Ivan About Town and the SEAIR Adventure Club is giving away round-trip tickets to Baler and free surfing lessons for two to one lucky person. All you have to do is leave a comment in Summer fun in Baler and tell us why surfing is fun and why Baler is such a great place by Sunday, 4 May 2008, at 8:00 p.m.

Like the previous raffle, make sure you place your full name in the name field since you will need a valid ID to claim the tickets if you win. The winner will be drawn at random and will be notified by e-mail so make sure you double check your e-mail address before submitting your comment. Finally, one entry per IP address so only the first entry from each IP address will be counted. Tickets will be valid from now until 15 October 2008. Good luck!

Boracay is just 35 minutes away

The belief that getting a flight to Boracay during peak season weekends is close to impossible is a myth! And I realized that myself after flying to Boracay on several fully-booked weekend flights as a chance passenger.

It was a hectic weekend. I found out last Thursday night that I had to be in Boracay Friday and Saturday night. But I already had commitments Saturday morning. So what was the solution? I was a chance passenger on the 3 p.m. SEAIR flight and that wasn't a problem. Then I was to risk being a chance passenger again for the 6:45 a.m. flight back to Manila the next day, hopefully to get to my 9 a.m. appointment in Makati. It's a good thing SEAIR has 35-minute flights to and from Caticlan.

Then it was another SEAIR flight to Boracay on the same afternoon to catch another event in the evening. I had to be back in Manila on Sunday since I had to catch a flight to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam on Monday!

As planned, I got on the 6:45 a.m. SEAIR flight back to Manila and made it to my 9 a.m. appointment in Makati. I was back at the airport after lunch and got on the 3:00 p.m. SEAIR flight as a chance passenger. The next day, I was back on the 9:30 a.m. SEAIR flight back to Manila, again as a chance passenger. And the first thing I did when I got home was to take a nap!

SEAIR's Let 410 UVP-E back to Manila

I had an early morning SEAIR flight from Tablas back to Manila. It was my first time to ride in a Let 410 UPV-E plane. This 19-seater plane is quite versatile since it could service both paved and unpaved airstrips.

The plane flew lower than the usual commercial aircrafts so I got to take really nice aerial shots.

Romblon is more than marble

Romblon has always been synonymous with deposits of high quality marble that are reputed to be among the best in the world. But I would discover that Romblon is more than that. Gone are the days of tiresome ferry travel since Manila to Romblon flights are now available with regular SEAIR trips to Tablas three times a week.

For this route, SEAIR uses their 19-seater Let 410 UVP-E plane. But for the flight to Tablas last Saturday, I was on a fully-booked proving flight of SEAIR's Dornier 328 since they will be using this larger plane in the future given the high demand for flights to Romblon. Flights to Tablas are usually an hour but since we were using the Dornier, it was just 30 minutes.

At the Tablas Airport, I was met by Romblon Congressman Eleandro Madrona who was on his way to Manila. But he was kind to assign people to take me around his district. Our first stop for the day was the town of Odiongan where the Kanidugan Festival was being held. On the way, we stopped to check out the port in Looc where a regular ferry service to and from Caticlan leaves four times a week.

In Odiongan, we arrived just in time as the street parade was moving out of the central school. Kanidugan means kaniyogan and celebrates the abundant coconut produce of the town. As in most festivals in the country, the highlight of the Kanidugan Festival is the competition of various "tribes" or performing teams during the street parade.

After taking a few photos, we proceeded to the town of San Agustin to have lunch at the Madrona Residence in Brgy. Bachawan. Our plan was to take the 1 p.m. pump-boat ferry service for Romblon island which leaves from the port of San Agustin.

How to get there
SEAIR flies to Tablas three times a week. Flights leave Manila at 7:20 a.m. every Monday and Saturday and arrive at 8:25 a.m. On Thursdays, flights leave at 10:50 a.m. and arrive at 11:55 a.m. Call SEAIR at (02) 8490100 for booking.

The M/V Aikho from Caticlan arrives in Looc four times a week. It leaves Caticlan at 9:45 a.m. every Sunday, Wedenesday and Friday and arrives in Looc at 12 noon; and on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. arriving in Looc at 10:00 p.m. The two-hour ferry costs PHP200 one-way. SEAIR has regular flights to Caticlan.

There are also regular ferry services from Manila and Batangas to Odiongan, and from Batangas and Lucena to San Agustin.

Getting around
Jeeps are scarce in Tablas and there are a limited number of trips a day between major port towns. From the Tablas Airport in Tugdan, you can walk over to the National Highway to wait for a jeep to pass by. But this will need a lot a patience and jeeps are usually jam-packed like a can of sardines. If you have already pre-booked with a resort, it's best to arrange airport transfers with them.

San Agustin has daily pump-boat services to Romblon and Sibuyan. Aside from public transportation, another option to get there from the airport is to hire a motorcycle. But a trip from the airport to the port in San Agustin is said to cots about PHP800. For groups, a van or pick-up truck charter to the port would cost about PHP2000. Pump-boats leave San Agustin for Romblon twice daily at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. and cost PHP85.

Part 2: Romblon, Romblon is a heritage town
Part 3: Romblon's food surprises
Part 4: Aglicay Beach and Trangkalan Falls in Tablas

Win a SEAIR ticket to Boracay!

I'm so happy about SEAIR, I've decided to give away a free round-trip airfare gift certificate to Boracay to one lucky blogger. So how do you join? The only thing you have to do is blog about SEAIR and say why you deserve to win the ticket.

To qualify, your blog entry must have a link to the SEAIR website and a trackback to this entry. Deadline is on 26 February 2008, 8 p.m. and I'll randomly draw the winner from all qualified blogs that evening. The gift certificate I'm giving away will be valid from now until 15 October 2008 except during super peak dates like Holy Week. Also check-out SEAIR's Hangar in Multiply to find out about the latest deals. Good luck and happy blogging!

Butterfly garden at Seair Caticlan

Since our group was divided into two flights, and I got pushed forward to the earlier one, we had to wait an hour and thirty minutes for the second batch to arrive. It was a good thing there was a new attraction at the back of the Seair office in Caticlan. So if you're killing time at the Caticlan Airport, check out the butterfly garden.

Seair's Dornier 328 plane to Caticlan

I've always wondered how it felt to ride those small commercial aircrafts in the Philippines. I had already taken the ATR42/72 from Guam to Saipan before and was surprised by the smooth ride. That's why the prospect of taking Seair's Dornier 328 plane to Caticlan excited me. And it's the fastest flight to Boracay at 35 minutes.

It was an ambitious gathering of Philippine travel and photo bloggers organized by blogging guru Abe Olandres. We were divided into two flights. A group was scheduled to leave at 7 a.m. while I was with the 8:30 a.m. flight. I chose to arrive at the airport early to avoid rush hour traffic and got there 6:30 a.m. in time to watch the first group board. The next thing I knew, my name was called on the PA system for me to board as well!

Since we were flying at an altitude lower than the regular commercial aircraft, the views were different. We were closer thus to the ground and at the level of many mountain peaks. The views were surreal! The sun was resplendently rising behind Mount Banahaw. And below us was a perfect view of the Tagaytay Ridge and Taal Volcano. We also flew past the grand mountains of Mindoro before reaching Caticlan. The Seair flight is itself a must-try with all these great views!

Adventure Pass
Now this is something I'm getting for the summer break. For P18,500++, you can ride all you can for 45 days on Seair. The first two flights are bookable but the rest are based on seat availability which means you'll be a chance passenger. But with so many great destinations from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi, you'll never go wrong with this pass!

South East Asian Airlines (Seair)
Tel No. +63 2 8490100

Transit in Tacloban

This trip was in the works since I bought my P1 ticket on Cebu Pacific last February. But the funny thing was I had not planned at all for this trip! I simply rode the plane to Tacloban and played everything by ear.

I had informed my brods that I was coming over. But I didn't want to hassle them. I was already seated in the waiting jeepney when I texted my brods informing them that I had arrived. What surprised me though was a reply from one of them for me to wait at the airport since he would pick me up. So I got off the jeep and happily waited. It really touched me since we had never met before.

He took me to the MacArthur Landing Site in the neighboring town of Palo. Just a few days before, on October 20, they had celebrated the anniversary of Mac Arthur's landing. We then had breakfast at the nearby MacArthur Park and Beach Resort, one of those classy resorts built during the Marcos days to house the Miss Universe candidates in 1973. It's supposedly a class "A" resort but service was crummy. When we arrived, they were cleaning up the restaurant from a wedding reception which obviously happened the night before (a real hotel cleans up right after the event) so the place was quite messy. What do you expect from a government agency like the PTA?

We then proceeded to the Duptours terminal to check out the schedule of vans to Borongan. I got a seat on the 11:30 a.m. trip and spent PHP180 for it. Since I still had time, I visited the DOT regional office a few meters away to get brochures since there were none at the airport. At least I could read up while I was in Borongan and decide where to go next.

Then I dropped by the Price Mansion further down the street which served as Gen. MacArthur's headquarters while he was in Leyte. It's now owned by CAP and there is a small museum inside with memorabilia of MacArthur's stay in the house. The even preserved the hole created by a Japanese bomb which luckily did not explode. Before leaving for Borongan, I had lunch in the house of a brod who lived in front of Duptours.

It was a four-hour trip and I got to pass by the San Juanico Bridge as well as Samar Province for the first time. I slept for most of the trip since I did not have sleep the night before (I took the 5:10 a.m. flight). Check out my photos in Multiply.

Airbus A380 lands in Manila

The Airbus A380, the largest passenger jet in the world, lands in Manila! That erases all doubts on whether the NAIA is capable of receiving such a large aircraft. I was lucky to witness its arrival first-hand. It's off to Clark today.

Related article
Largest passenger jet touches down in Manila

Around Cotabato City

I had been looking forward to this weekend for months. I went to Mindanao with brods Ryan and Allen, and our friend Ching. The tickets were booked way back April (yes, it's the P1 fare promo). We took a flight to Cotabato City (the airport is in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Shariff Kabunsuan) where the van of Ching's cousin picked us up.

We visited Small World in the same town. Aside from the zoo, everything else was closed since the park is fully-open only on Sundays. The Lourdes Grotto is also there but since the priests who own the place make it such a hassle to visit (you have to get a permit and leave your driver's license and all), we decided to move to our next stop, the Tamontaka Church, a national historical landmark.

I had expected to see an old church. But it was totally new. The older church was destroyed by a fire several years back. It was declared a national historical landmark just in 2004, long after the new and current church was built which thus came as a surprise to me since I know that the NHI requires a certain percentage of authenticity before declaring structures.

Anyway, we passed by the new Cotabato City Hall before proceeding to Mang Gorio for a late lunch. We ordered barbeque chicken and buko halo-halo. We also dropped by the Kuta Wato Caves but that was a big disappointment. It was so dirty, and you had informal settlers residing above the caves. I could just imagine where all their human waste goes. The city government should take out that tourism sign outside because it is no longer an attraction. It's such a pity since the natural pool inside the cave would have made it such an enchanting place.

From there, we proceeded to the old city hall and town plaza. Our plan was to drop by the tourism office but it turns out, government offices close early on Fridays in this part of the country. Friday, is a day of prayer for Muslims and I was told it had been practice here that after services, employees don't go back to the office anymore. Oh well!

The local government should encourage the rehabilitation of the early post-war commercial buildings in the town proper. These structures give the city a lot of character.

We also took pictures by the Rio Grande de Mindanao and its tributaries before driving to Midsayap, (North) Cotabato where we stayed for the night. I can't remember how long the drive was because I dozed off at times. The view of the Mindanao countryside was a refreshing sight. Anyway, More photos in Multiply.

Speaking engagement in Tuguegarao City

I'm in Tuguegarao City to speak at the 2nd Regional Youth Leadership Congress in St. Paul University. I took an Air Philippines flight which was two hours delayed! When I got here, we rushed to the Callao Caves to watch the bats fly out but since it was raining, they didn't. Maybe next time.

The congress was today. I slept early last night and also slept the entire morning since I wasn't feeling well. For the sights in Cagayan, just check out my older Cagayan entries. For this trip, I just visited the Ermita of San Jacinto which is in front of the campus.

Now I'm just waiting for my bus ride back to Manila. I could have opted for a plane but there is no flight which would allow me to make it to my flight to Cotabato tomorrow. This Tuguegarao to Cotabato journey would be my personal record for the farthest distance traveled in the Philippines in a 24-hour period.

Experiencing old Saigon and cosmopolitan HCMC

Day 1 in Ho Chi Minh City. I arrived at 9 a.m. after a two and a half-hour flight from Manila. Although I was at NAIA as early as four, the lack of sleep did not deter me from rushing out to explore this dynamic city.

First impressions do last. I was pleasantly surprised that a new and modern Tan Son Nhat airport welcomed me. How I wished that the Philippines opened its new terminal sooner since all other ASEAN countries have modernized their own gateways. Outside was an orderly line of taxis waiting for passengers. I was expecting to argue with the driver as one travel guide warned. But as soon as I sat down, he turned on the meter. I was booked in a hotel along Pham Ngu Lao Street, Saigon’s backpacker haven.

Most guides to HCMC always recommend a visit to its many pagodas and temples. I thus decided to drop by one or two to get the ball rolling. I took a cab to the Giac Lam Pagoda, believed to be the oldest in the city. It was quite a distance from the city center. And the trip made me a spectator to the organized chaos that passes through the many tree-lined motorcycle-choked boulevards of Saigon. There was not too much activity in the temple as what I’ve seen in other Buddhist temples in Southeast Asia. But there were a few devotees doing rounds around the different images with their joss sticks. By the time I exited its gates, it was time for lunch.

Since I was on the run, I tried to look for the neighborhood bahn mi vendor. These are the local sandwiches which may look Western but definitely taste Vietnamese. I just love the way the pate, meats, and herbs mix very well with the baguettes, a culinary blend of East and West indeed. After walking under the sun for several meters, I finally found a stand. Until now, I still cannot fathom how a sandwich that costs only VND5,000 (approximately 15 pesos) in the streets of Vietnam is sold for ten times that much in Manila!

After that quick bite, I visited nearby Giac Vien Pagoda. The first thing I noticed as I entered was a number of shrines on each side with photos of the departed. I walked around the hall for a while and was resting on a stool, preparing to leave, when the lone monk in the hall blurted out something in the vernacular, as if calling me to come closer. When I got to his table, he threw a few questions at me which he asked in English, albeit with a bit of difficulty. He stood up, picked up a few joss sticks, and asked me to follow him. He toured me around and I made my rounds around the temple like the locals.

It was another cab ride to my next stop, the Reunification Palace. The former presidential palace of the defunct South Vietnam, it was where the Vietnam War was said to end when tank number 843 rammed into its gates on April 30, 1975, the day Saigon surrendered. It has been left the way it looked on that momentous day for Vietnam. Even the command center in the basement of the building still has its war maps, telephone and radio equipment, and other items on display in the different rooms as if the war had just ended yesterday.

From the palace, I walked to the nearby Notre Dame Cathedral and General Post Office which stand beside each other. The red-brick neo-Romanesque cathedral, built between 1877 and 1883, towers over the area. Right beside it is the well-preserved post office building, one of the more elegant French colonial buildings of Saigon. There are in fact many more buildings like it.

Further down the road was Ben Thanh Market, the best place to start shopping in HCMC. I’ve gone shopping there before. But for this trip, I had no plans of spending on anything. So I decided to skip it since warnings and tales of bad experiences are very familiar to me. No matter how alert or good you are at protecting your things, sticky fingers around the place can get really sneaky. And I didn’t want to lose my camera or wallet while even just a few seconds caught off guard.

So I walked back to my hotel in Ð Pham Ngu Lao to get some rest before going out for dinner. The streets around Ben Thanh are also alive in the evenings. As soon as the shops inside close, those outside set-up tents for the night market. Right beside the market building, a row of stalls offers fresh seafood which they serve dampa style.

Right beside my hotel, was Allez Boo bar where I got to chill out, watching people and motorbikes go by this busy bamboo-walled street corner. I ordered the house special, Allezboo Slammer, a mix of amaretto, sambuca, brandy, lime juice and cointreau. Check out my photos in Multiply.

Island-hop to Guimaras

For our last day in Iloilo, we decided to visit the island province next door, Guimaras.

We were at the Ortiz Port near Ateneo de Iloilo at about 9 a.m. and from there, we took a 15-minute pump boat to Jordan for PHP11. We had arranged for a minicab to take us around for PHP1000 (they have rates at the tourism office at the port based on distance) since you need to have your own vehicles to check out the sights.

Our first stop was the OLP Trappist Monastery in Jordan where one could buy various products, mostly made from mangoes, such as jam, yema, candies, tarts, bars, piaya, and many more. We then proceeded to Alubihod Beach in Nueva Valencia for a swim in the waters of Guimaras. Don't worry about the oil spill since it's in a different part of the island.

After an hour of swimming, we were off to the Navalas Church in Buenavista, the oldest Church in the island. Although the facade is perfectly preserved, the other parts are totally gone (walls and interior) as a result of renovations by several priests (as always). Why can't they just preserve these old churches, especially since this seemed to be the only one in Guimaras.

Nearby is the Roca Encantada Heritage House owned by the Lopez Family. We were lucky enough to be given permission to enter the premises. From afar, I thought it was a modern vacation house until I saw the marker. I could not understand how this modernized house got the seal of approval of the National Historical Institute for Heritage House. There are fewer traces of the original features of the house. With all their wealth, I hope the Lopezes restore even just the exterior of the house back to the way it looked before so that it lives up to the prestige of the NHI marker. I also hope they install the marker in a better way since it was just attached to a piece of wood. Markers like these should be screwed to a hard surface like a wall.

But the setting of the house was so picturesque with the balconies offering a 180-degree view of the sea, Siete Pecados Islands and its lighthouse, and the nearby islands of Panay and Negros.

We had to rush back to Iloilo City since we had one last stop, Breakthrough Restaurant in Arevalo District, which is very popular for its seafoods. It was a treat of Danya's family. After a sumptuous feast, we made our way to the Iloilo Airport in Cabatuan. This new airport shames our crummy Manila Domestic Airport. And mind you, we paid a terminal fee of PHP30 compared to the shabby Manila Domestic's PHP200.

Seafood binge in Capiz

I flew to Iloilo today to attend tomorrow's launching of the Ateneo Alumni Association - Iloilo Chapter. Our flight arrived at the new Iloilo Airport in Cabatuan, Iloilo at 6 a.m. We decided to proceed first to our hotel in Iloilo City to drop off our stuff.

Since Sta. Barbara and Pavia were along the way, we decided to pass by to check out their churches. We had to pay PHP200 for a taxi since the new airport is several towns away from Iloilo City.

Before proceeding to the bus station for Roxas City, we had batchoy for breakfast at Ted's. The bus to Roxas was about two hours and costs PHP113. We arrived at 11:30 a.m. and went straight to the Baybayon Seafood Plaza in Baybay Beach to savor the seafood. Capiz claims to be the Seafood Capital of the Philippines.

The food was great and really cheap! We were shocked our bill was just PHP334. The small batya of talaba (oysters) was just PHP25; scallops were PHP5 a piece; the big pusit was just PHP40 a stick; cagaycay (shells) for the soup was PHP35; the slice of blue marlin was PHP80 and the kilawin was just PHP25 a serving. The non-seafoods include pork barbeque at PHP10 a stick and tayuba (liempo) at PHP35.

From Baybay, we took photos at the center of Roxas City, where you can find the Capiz Provincial Capitol, the Cathedral and Panublion Museum, a water tank which was converted into a museum. We then took a jeep to the town of Pan-ay to check out the church and the largest bell in Asia (the third largest in the world). The Pan-ay Church is a National Cultural Treasure and National Historical Landmark.

We then went back to Roxas City, and took a bus back to Iloilo City. Traffic was bad when we got back so we didn't have much time to rest before dinner with the Ateneo alumni. My SSEAYP batchmate, Winwin Sanchez, dropped by the hotel to say hi. Then the group of Tito Chito Tinsay, Danya Jacomille and Pam Go arrived to pick us up for our dinner at the Mango Tree Restaurant, owned by Ateneans as well.

The ambiance of the restaurant was great. They have a large garden at the back which one could use for functions. Don't forget to try out their sizzling bulalo steak and their frozen mango iced tea which I liked very much.

If you thought the night was over, it wasn't! The group proceeded to Smallville to hang out. Smallville rocks! This is the new hip nightlife area of Iloilo City. We didn't stay up too late since the launch was the next day. More photos in Multiply.

The P1 fare of Cebu Pacific... take two!

They're offering it again. Round-trip Visayas tickets are less than PHP2000 while Mindanao destinations are about PHP2500. Check out Cebu Pacific for more details. And yes, I booked again, this time to Cotabato and General Santos City with friends.

The P1 fare of Cebu Pacific is back!

I heard the promo is supposed to start tomorrow but you can now book P1 fares on Cebu Pacific for both local and international destinations! I just booked a trip to Puerto Princesa for my birthday and Tacloban during my sembreak. The roundtrip tickets, inclusive of taxes and fuel surcharges, were just PHP1967.84 each!

The funny thing is that news spreads fast. And even though they haven't announced it yet, the flights are going fast! A few minutes after I booked my flight, the P1 fare was no longer available for my Puerto Princesa flight. Oh well! Check out http://www.cebupacificair.com.

Many thanks to Renz Ticsay for the info.

Stopover in Manila

To those asking about what one can do in Manila while in transit and waiting for their flight out, here is a suggestion: Go to the SM Mall of Asia!

Ton, my SSEAYP SG-mate from Thailand, was in Cebu the past few days for the 12th ASEAN Summit being part of their Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was all work for him and he didn't get to see much, just Shangri-La Mactan, Cebu Midtown and the CICC as well as the sights along the way. To add to that, he only had three hours in Manila today from the time his PAL flight arrived in the NAIA Centennial Terminal 2 to the time his Thai Airways flight left the NAIA Terminal 1.

So Pam, my SG-mate from the Philippines, and I played it by ear and met up with him at Terminal 2. The vehicle from the Thai Embassy was there to bring their group to Terminal 1. So we joined them in the van.

We found out that they were having lunch at the SM Mall of Asia after they checked their luggage in. Good news, since at least we get to have lunch with Ton. So we waited outside until I received a phone call from Ton that they had left Terminal 1 from the VIP level of the arrival area which I had forseen since obviously, the vehicle had diplomatic plates. Haha! We had no choice but to take a taxi to SM Mall of Asia.

The trip was less than 20 minutes and we spent PHP75 for the taxi. If you are a passenger in transit and want to save on a cab since the airport taxi is costly, go to the departure area and sneak into one of the taxis that had just unloaded its passengers. Hehe!

We only had an hour to go around and eat lunch. So we rushed to find the first Filipino restaurant we saw. The name of the place was Bangus. Since Ton wanted pork, we ordered sisig, crispy pata, and chicken and pork adobo, as well as garlic rice. He enjoyed the sisig but found the adobo quite salty. Same reaction here, their adobo was quite salty. We got to walk around a bit after but not too far since we had to be in the van by 1 p.m. So much for my first visit to the SM Mall of Asia! Haha! Sad to say it was my first visit too. Haha!

Anyway, I haven't really traveled much these past few weeks. I regret not going out of town during the Christmas break since now, school, work, the Senate meetings on the proposed Heritage Bill, as well as meetings for the Ateneo Alumni Association have occupied most of my time. So in the meantime, I'll write about my trip to Taiwan, also in 2003.

AirAsia is giving 1,000,000 free seats!

Those who already know about it will kill me for posting this. But those who might find out about it when it's too late will kill me too for not posting it. It's like a damned if you do, damned if you don't thing. Hehe! Anyway, AirAsia is at it again. I almost thought they weren't giving away free tickets this year. So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the announcement in my inbox, that they had 1,000,000 free seats up for grabs.

In fact, I've already booked flights to Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta this June! Although the fare is free, you pay for taxes, surcharges and other expenses. My round-trip ticket from Clark to KL came out at PHP3,290. Add the PHP1,620 travel tax you pay at the airport plus the terminal fee of PHP300 (I'm not sure about the security fee), it's really cheap! I also bought a round-trip ticket from KL to Jakarta for just RM175 (PHP2625).

Hurry because the free flights are going... going... gone!

ATR42/72 plane to the Northern Marianas

Today, we left Guam for Saipan. Our flight was in the afternoon so we had some last minute meetings before we flew out. After breakfast, we made a courtesy visit to Walter B. Dias, the Staff VP for Sales and Marketing of Continental Airlines. After the visit, we were invited to visit the Hyatt Regency Guam to check out the facilities and savor their sumptuous buffet lunch.

The view from the rooms was picturesque! All their rooms are actually on the side of the beach and thus get a wonderful view of Tumon Bay. Lunch was at La Mirenda Retaurant. Everyday, the theme of the buffet changes so expect to try out something new. For today, it was Mexican so I had nachos and made my own burrito with guacamole in it. But the pièce de resistance was actually their dessert table. Yummy!

We were running late and had to rush to the airport. The counters were actually closed when we got there but they let us in anyway. We were already late, but when we placed our bags on the weighing scales, everyone was overweight no thanks to the shopping! So all of us were frantically opening our luggage and taking out stuff. Good thing Lou gave us a travel bag from Continental so we were able to balance out the stuff between the two bags. Whew!

The plane is actually a 42-seater ATR42/72, the ones with the propellers. I already had some misconceptions about these planes and was pleasantly surprised that it was a smooth flight since I had motion sickness. In fact, I was asleep for the most part.

We landed at the Saipan International Airport at about 3:30 p.m. To get into the Northern Marianas, you either need a U.S. visa or a visitor's entry permit. You could get an application form at the Marianas Visitors Authority office in Manila and fax it to CNMI Immigration. Forms can also be downloaded at the website of the CNMI Attorney General's Office.

We got a warm welcome when we got out the airport courtesy of our hosts, the Saipan Grand Hotel. They gave each of us plumeria leis which really smelled good.

From the airport, we went to the hotel. But they took us for a brief drive around the island center in Garapan first. Our rooms had a really great view of Susupe Beach which was right beside the hotel. The group had a lot of time to rest since our only activity today was dinner. So after getting settled, I went down to the beach to swim a bit.

We had a BBQ dinner at the beach. The atmosphere was so relaxed and we had our feet on the sand. They served us salads, roasted oysters and mussels and steak. They also let us try Tinian chili. I dipped the tip of my fork in it to try it out. Wow! The effect of that very small amount was overwhelming since the chili was just soooooo hot!

The great thing about this hotel was that they had free Wi-Fi internet access at the lobby! Hehe! Anyway, time to sleep now. Lot's of stuff to do tomorrow.

Guam, where America's day begins

Hafa Adai from Guam! Today was a full day for me since I’m on a familiarization tour of Guam courtesy of the Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB) and Continental Airlines. Have tons of work to do here for Pilmap Travel & Leisure. So watch out for the December 15 issue.

I left Manila yesterday night at 11 p.m. I was at the airport early since I had to get my ticket at the Continental office at the 4th floor of NAIA. Good thing we were given invitations to the MIASCOR Lounge so I was able to relax a bit, check my mail while waiting, eat some dinner and drink a few glasses of red wine. The rest of the group had left the night before. And last night, only myself and Probe Team host Cheche Lazaro were on our way to Guam. I got to chat with her since we were seatmates as well on the plane.

We arrived in Guam at 4:20 a.m. which is two hours ahead of Manila time. That meant we had less than three hours of sleep! Good thing our call time for the day was still at 9:30 a.m. so we had time to sleep some more before we buckled down to work.

The group was billeted at the Royal Orchid Hotel, a four-star hotel in Tumon which is quite near the airport. The rooms are great. It was funny too because the bathroom area is as big as the sleeping area since it had a dressing room, etc. And you could slide the bathroom windows so that you could watch TV while you’re in the tub.

I was up at 8:45 a.m., took a quick shower and went straight down for buffet breakfast at the Brooklyn Café. Then we were off.

Our first stop was the Gef Pa’go Chamorro Cultural Village in Inarajan were we were given an introduction to the Chamorro way of life. There were several huts which featured various aspects of Chamorro culture such as salt making, rope twining, katupat weaving, etc. They charged US$10 per person.

The village, just a few huts and nothing fancy, was quite ordinary. But you learned a lot since the experience was hands-on. Imagine, we could do something like this in the Philippines such as in the Cordilleras or in Mindanao. And it could help preserve the culture since the income from tourism would encourage the indigenous communities to preserve and showcase their culture.

From the village, we walked towards one of the old houses of the village. You could see how much they value their heritage since, for Philippine standards, this was just an ordinary old house. Yet it was listed in the registry of heritage houses both in Guam and the United States because it represents the common folk, the Chamorro people.

In the Philippines, commoners’ houses would most probably not be considered as heritage houses by the NHI since they may not fit in their criteria as “exemplary” examples of Philippine architecture.

The house had a little marker inside made of wood designating it as a heritage house both locally and nationally; unlike at home wherein the NHI, at times, has to consider its budget first before declaring a structure since the cast iron markers are expensive. I hope the NHI just keeps on declaring heritage houses since unlike the other categories such as national shrines, monuments, landmarks or historical sites, I feel that the criteria for heritage houses should not be stringent since we are declaring based on cultural significance rather than historical accuracy. And the more we declare, the more we preserve, the better!

One thing I was also surprised to see was that the matriarch of the house was in a terno! Check out this photo. It just shows the deep-rooted connections between us Filipinos with the Chamorros.

Anyway, from the house, we walked to the nearby St. Joseph’s Church. For a village church, I was surprised that it was air-conditioned inside. There were stained-glass windows portraying the different patron saints of the villages of Guam.

We went back to the Gef Pa’go Village to have lunch. The community served us traditional Chamorro food, a fiesta plate consisting of spiced ground chicken, fried chicken, pancit and java rice. There was so much to eat since everything on Guam was American-sized servings so that was two pieces of fried chicken and close to two cups of rice!

Our next stop was the Two Lovers Point in Tumon. But we made a brief stopover at Yoña at the viewpoint for Pa’go Bay.

Two Lovers Point is one of the more popular tourist attractions of Guam. Aside from being a scenic spot, it has a legend attached to it, a tragedy with a Romeo and Juliet-like plot. It was about two lovers who chose to end their lives together by jumping over the cliff rather than living separate lives.

The girl was a daughter of a Spanish aristocrat and a Chamorro woman of noble lineage. Her father had arranged a marriage with a Spanish captain. Learning about this, the girl ran away from Hagåtña (Agana) until she found a secluded shore. There she met a Chamorro warrior from a modest background. They immediately fell in love with each other.

Upon learning of the relationship, the father demanded that the girl marry the captain immediately. That same day, she ran to the same spot to meet her lover. They were pursued until the tow were cornered and trapped between the edge of cliff and the soldiers.

Seeing that they could not escape, the tied their long hair into a single knot, looked at each other’s eyes and kissed for the final time before jumping to their deaths from the cliff. The father could only but rush and stare in aguish at the waters below where only their knotted hair was seen floating. The two became a symbol of true love, the knot a symbol of two souls intertwined in life and in death; which is why the cliff is called Two Lover Point.

From the cliff, visitors are afforded spectacular views of Tumon Bay and the downtown Tumon area. At the top of the cliff, you would notice several padlocks attached to the grill. These were placed by lovers as a symbol of their love for each other. After the padlocks are locked to the grill, the keys are thrown over the cliff and down to the water. Some couples have even chosen this location for their wedding.

From there, we proceeded to Underwater World. This 800,000 gallon aquarium has a long viewing tunnel made from a special acrylic 2.5 inches thick. It is home to various species of sharks, stingrays, turtles, groupers which weigh as much as 500 pounds, and thousands of other ocean animals.

On the second floor is a sea life gallery which features unique and rare species such as garden eels, giant spider crabs, stingrays, and even a bamboo shark at the touch pool. Yup, I got to touch the shark.

But hear this! In the evening, the tunnel is transformed into a popular nightspot called Kaitei Lounge. Tables and chairs are set up in the tunnel where exotic cocktails are served to guests.

For the evening, we visited two festivals. The first was the Christmas Festival in Hagåtña and the lighting of the big Christmas tree as Skinner Park. I was touched by the sense of community of the people since even if it was raining, everyone stayed to watch the program under their umbrellas. Good thing it stopped raining while the program begun. We also got to chat with Madame Joann Camacho, the first lady of Guam. Although born in Guam, her father is from Bataan.

Our next stop was the Annual Autumn Festival at Ypao Park in Tamuning organized by the Japan Club of Guam. It was packed full with people despite the rains earlier. It was a chance for the Japanese of Guam to showcase their culture. Aside from the performances, many of the performers came straight from Japan, there were food booths offering various Japanese favorites while the game booths kept everyone busy with traditional Japanese games.

Although our plan was to eat dinner there, we decided not to since there were just so many people