Dec 10, 2020 - ¿Cómo llego de la isla de Mindoro a Manila y al aeropuerto de Manila?

Después de 10 días en Mindoro, nos fuimos a Malasia. Malasia nos estaba esperando... Pero primero teníamos que ir de Mindoro a Manila al aeropuerto... ¿Cómo hacerlo sin las aventuras que tuvimos en el camino a Mindoro? No queríamos separarnos de White Beach tan pronto. La isla de Mindoro, las Filipinas en general y los filipinos en particular eran muy de nuestro agrado! Entonces, ¿cómo llegar de Mindoro al aeropuerto de Manila? En la parte central de White Beach hay una oficina de reservas de la compañía mencionada anteriormente, Father 'n...

Oct 29, 2020 - GINADAGAT

Kis-a lang man ako nagapanglugayawon. Gusto ko lang mabal-an ninyo nga ang akon kabuhi puno sang pagpanglakaton. Sa nadumduman ko, ang una ko gid nga pagbyahe, Hunyo 30, 1991. Amat-amat nga nagakadula sa akon paghaklo ang matam-is nga huyop sang hangin. Aga-aga ato. Halin kami sa Binalbagan, Negros Occidental kag mapuli sa Banga, Aklan kay ang akon nga amay tumandok kabay nga Aklanon. Duha lang anay kami ang nagpuli kag maapas lang sa dasun-bulan ang akon iloy kag duha ka manghod. Madugayan gid siguro antis ko makita liwat ang naga-aso nga...

Mar 4, 2018 - Manila, Philippines – mix of Philippine and Spanish with a little USA thrown in

High rises abound at the port of Manila, Philippines. Lots of volcanic islands surrounding the big U-shaped harbor. The culture is a mashup of Malay, Pilipino, Spanish and American. Manila was key trading harbor with China and Malaysia well before the Spanish arrived in 1600s. The Spanish built a huge walled city (bigger than the Vatican) with 15 feet high and 12 foot thick walls and a moat. The city/fort held for 300 years until the British breached one side and ruled briefly. Philippines became a US territory in 1888 as part of the...

Mar 4, 2018 - Manila, Philippines

History: Founded by a Spanish explorer in 1571, Manila is one of the Philippines” oldest cities. A major center of Spanish trade in the Far East and almost entirely destroyed during WW II. It is identified by the quote ‘I shall return’. Gained a lot of info about Manila, Santiago, Japanese occupation and how the philippoes were brutalized. Also visited the 5th largest mall in the world, the Mall of Asia.

Jan 6, 2018 - Phillipines -- Southeast Asia Cruise

We departed Honolulu on Philippine Airlines to Manila with a follow-on to Singapore. I was wearing a back brace which turned out to be a pretty bad idea. I just could not get comfortable in the airplane seat. Luckily, the airline offered over 100 free movies to watch so that “kinda” kept my mind off the pain as I watched movie after movie for the over 11 hours flight to Manila. I also lost out on the dinner which was a “take it or leave it” fish something. Anything that comes out of the water does NOT like me. I made a bad Catholic growing...

Jul 18, 2017 - Masbate

To say that Kairo and I got up early would not be accurate. We went to the late showing of "War for the Planet of the Apes," came back to the guesthouse to pack up, and caught an uber to the airport at about 1 a.m. Dave went to the movie with us and hung out until we headed out for the airport. By some stroke of good fortune, all of the flights--Kairo's flight to Gen San, my flights to and from Masbate, and my flight to Bali--would all come to Terminal 3. Nice. Plus, Terminal 3 had a left luggage center. For about $7, I could leave all my...

Jul 16, 2017 - Manila, Week 2

Fortunately, one of my mentors, Rick Yount, wrote a book on Educational Psychology. This is very good because for the second time, AGS has asked me to teach Educational Psychology. Since this is not an area of particular expertise for me, I decided again just to teach Dr. Yount's book. I guess I should have some sense of how to teach the class since it is really an application of psychological principles (I did do all but a final project for a Masters degree in counseling) to education. By using a combination of lecture, case studies, group...

Jul 8, 2017 - Manila

Arrived in Manila on Saturday evening. Took a bus here from Baguio. It was a nice bus, potty on board and all. And it was direct. No stopping to pick up lolas (Filipino grannies) with live chickens for tomorrow's adobo. It made for a nice ride. As we winded through the mountains around Baguio, I intended to read, but was taken by the mists swirling around the trees, terraces, and distant hilltops. Eventually, the mountains gave way to the faster and flatter roads to Manila. The mists yielded to rice patties with plows pulled by Carabou...

Jun 30, 2017 - Baguio

Everyone was worn out from the trip to Macau, so I didn't wake anyone until I was ready to go. Mom seemed sad I was leaving. I was glad Kim was with them. I had planned to take the subway to the airport. However, when I got to the subway station, I found a sign with "hours" posted and the subways wouldn't be running for an hour. There were a lot of bus stops nearby, so I thought I might be able to find a bus going to the airport. When I saw a guy with a suitcase, I followed him to a particular stop and asked him, "Does this bus go to the...

Jun 2, 2017 - Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar Bagac, Bataan

No Regrets! no regrets in spending much money for a very Awesome weekend experience at Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar ("The houses in the Philippines of Acuzar"). This hotel/resort was a brilliant idea of Jose "Gerry" Acuzar, the owner of San Jose Builders. He decided to rebuild different mansions from the Spanish Era. He bought most of them from different places in the Philippines such as Manila (Tondo, Binondo and Quiapo), Quezon City, Bulacan, Pampanga, La Union, the Ilocos and Cagayan. He dismantled each houses brick by brick from their...

May 14, 2017 - Back to reality

And here I am,back to the UK, so this is my last journal. I probably don't have to tell you how do I feel. I actually feel confused and a bit down. When I landed today, I left the plane and the whole thing was so surreal. To see 'normal,modern' people, the train,just everything. People were arguing and being inpatient...it wasn't like this in Asia. People are kind,patient and helpful there. I travelled by train...there was no train there. Or it was for a very expensive price. So we used the cheap but very dodgy buses. Sitting on a...

May 8, 2017 - Beautiful Philippines

We are in Siquijor in the last 2 days. It's a small island Southwest from Bohol. We heard about witch crafts and woodoo but we haven't noticed anything unusual. As it's my last week,I decided to treat myself and get a bit better accommodation. So we are in a beautiful house on a beautiful beach. We arrived yesterday about 1pm from Bohol,Tagbilaran. The ferry ride takes about 1.5-2 hours and it cost 700 pesos/person one way. As soon as we arrived to the port,we bought a ticket to the way back because I wasn't sure if it won't be full...