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Change in scenery
We had an off-campus workshop last week in Baras, Rizal, and it was a welcome change in environment and pace. The venue also afforded a view of the provinces of Rizal, Laguna and even Quezon.
We had a nice view of Laguna de Bai. At the center of the photo is the town proper of Tanay, which has an old church at the center and along the old national road. In the background are mountains, volcanoes actually, including on the left Mt. Banahaw in Quezon Province. Mt. Makiling in Laguna is also in the horizon on the right.If you notice the power lines in the photo, these connect to the two power plants in the area – the Malaya Thermal Plant and the Pililla Wind Farm both in Pililla, Rizal.
Tanay has a small port and a lighthouse. There are many fish pens in the area so most boats using the port are probably fishing boats. There was a proposal many years ago for extending the ferry service along the Pasig River to towns along the lake. This required clearing the lake of many fish pens to make it navigable. I hear the plans are being revived but I think its a wait and see in as far as these projects are concerned.
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Fare rates for the Antipolo – Iloilo bus service
I found these information on fare rates for the newly opened Antipolo – Iloilo bus service:
The information above indicates that there are three routes to Iloilo:
1) On the left is the route via the central roads of Panay Island (i.e., via Passi City, Iloilo);
2) In the middle is the route to the east of Panay Island to Kalibo, Aklan and Roxas City, Capiz, and terminates at Estancia, Iloilo; and
3) On the rights is the route along the west and crossing the province of Antique. This terminates at Oton, Iloilo and will pass through the town of Miag-ao, which is famous for its church recognized as a UN Heritage Site.
To book a seat on the bus, here is the step-by-step procedure shared on social media on the official Facebook page of Robinsons Antipolo:
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Dog on board – a cute dog on our Cebu Pacific flight
As we were boarding the plane that will take us to Cebu, we were ‘treated’ to the presence of another passenger. One passenger brought his dog with him on the flight. I don’t know what breed this is but it was really cute. One of the flight attendants carried the dog as the passenger placed his bags to the overhead bin.
Wearing the shades and hood as they deplaned.This was the first time I was on a plane with a passenger who had his/her pet with him/her. Bigger dogs would have to be on carriers and transported as baggage/freight. I know some airlines allow for big dogs to be in the main cabin if they have a ticket and a seat like other (human) passengers. There should be some guidelines for this as to what breeds are allowed including whether the dog has a pleasant temperament.
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Airline food on Thai Airways
We booked Thai Airways for our flight to Bangkok. We had initially looked into both Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific thinking they would be cheaper, especially Ceb Pac, which is supposed to be a low cost carrier (LCC) or a budget airlines. They both turned out to be expensive so I suggested to the wife to check out Thai Airways since we were spending anyway and we wanted to have the full service that included decent inflight meals. Lo and behold, Thai Airways was actually cheaper than PAL or CebPac (note that we booked early so we had a lot of options for the latter airlines).
Our Thai Airways Airbus A350 at the NAIA Terminal 3. Also shown in the photo is the old Philippine Village Hotel building that surprisingly has not been demolished despite being abandoned for more than 3 decades. This is the proposed site of a Terminal 5 for NAIA that will be constructed and operated by San Miguel Corporation.
We had two choices for our inflight meal – stir-fried shrimp with chili sauce and rice or chicken in tomato sauce with pasta.
The stir-fried shrimp with chili sauce came with carrots and young corn on the side. The set included salad, cake for dessert and a bun.
The only difference between the set was the main course. This is the chicken and pasta I eventually ate when I exchanged meals with my daughter who surprised us by preferring the spicy shrimp.
The A350 was equipped with a tail camera for those who wanted this view of the plane. I took a video of when the plane landed to show my students about the landing including when the plane exited the runway via the rapid exit ramp.
We thought the food on economy class was okay and definitely better than what could have been served on either PAL or CebPac. What are better (on economy) if not similar in quality would be the food on Singapore Airlines and Japan Airlines.
More on our travel to Thailand in the next posts.
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Back in Bangkok
We’re back in one of our happy places to be in again. Bangkok’s been one of our favorite destinations since the 2000’s. There was a time when we were here twice a year. Those trips were mostly business, actually academic-related as from 2001 to 2008 we had collaborative research network among ASEAN Universities hosted by Chulalongkorn University. I’ve returned several times after but the last time I was in Bangkok was in 2018 for a seminar on road safety. This is the first time we are in Bangkok with our daughter (her second ASEAN country) so we’re only very happy to share with her the experiences in Thailand.
Clearing immigration at Suvarnabhumi Airport
Where to and how to get there? We decided to take the airport taxi to our hotel.
Marveling at the spacious terminal.
I will post about Bangkok and transport in Thailand in the next posts probably after we return from this trip.
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Alay Lakad 2024
I’m sharing here the announcements and maps shared by Antipolo, Cainta and Taytay regarding road closures and alternative routes during the Alay Lakad this Holy Week. The roads leading to the Antipolo Shrine will be closed from 5pm of March 28 (Maundy Thursday) to 6am of March 29 (Good Friday). Expected are hundreds of thousands of people making the trek to the Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, which is among the most popular pilgrimage sites in the country.
Many are probably walking as part of their panata or commitment in exchange for a favor they have prayed for. This may be healing for an illness or finding work or passing a licensure exam. Of course there are those who also pray for wants rather than needs like a new car, a big house or winning the lottery. And then there are those who are in it for the adventure, treating this as an excursion or a gig with the barkada.
Here are the maps and announcements posted in the official pages of the LGUs:
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What’s new at Zamboanga Airport?
We were back in Zamboanga last week to do some follow-up work on a project on road safety. We also paid a courtesy call to the new City Administrator to reiterate our commitment on helping the city address concerns about child road traffic injury prevention. Of course, I was able to take some new photos of places and food. Among the typical photos I take is of the airport.
Passengers arriving at the Zamboanga Airport
We were greeted by what looked like a new baggage carousel at airport
This actually looks like the old one transferred to this position. The new one is currently being set up where the old one was and will probably be operational very soon. That means the airport will be able to separately handle baggage from two arriving planes.
Colorful vintas on display at the arrival area just next to the baggage claim area
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Congestion near bus terminals during the Christmas season
I attended a formal event yesterday at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City. Along the way and back, I already noticed the congestion along Gil Puyat Avenue (formerly Buendia Avenue) as well as the congestion or how crowded the bus passenger terminals were. In fact, the buses at the JAC Liner terminal along Gil Puyat were all on the streets. The terminal itself was filled with passengers, many of whom were queued as they waited to board their buses. Others I assumed were in line to purchase tickets there. The latter apparently have not done so online, which is already an available and more convenient option for provincial travel.
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| Buses lined along the Makati-bound side of Gil Puyat Avenue. These are queued towards to the U-turn slot that will take them to the bus terminals on the other side and near Taft Avenue. |
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| Other buses are lined along the Pasay-bound side of Gil Puyat Avenue. These come from the South Superhighway where these buses eventually head to after boarding passengers en route to Southern Luzon, Bicol and even Visayas and Mindanao destinations. |
Then as now, the junction of Gil Puyat and Taft Avenues is a major convergence area for transportation especially provincial routes. Even before the construction of the LRT Line 1 (which has a station at Gil Puyat) there have been a number of bus terminals here. Currently, I am aware of the JAC Liner and DLTB bus terminal near the junction. There are others including small terminals or garages for provincial buses. These generate much traffic particularly during this Christmas, which is considered peak season for travel in the country.
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Back in Davao after 4 years
We conclude the month of November 2023 with a post on a recent travel, which allowed me to take new photos of an airport I’ve frequently used in the past. I was in Davao last week for a national convention. The last time I was there was in August 2019 and before the pandemic so it was a welcome trip for me. Back then and probably even now, Davao was riding high after 3 years of Digong as President. I am glad that Davao is still rapidly progressing. It has so much potential with or without a certain holding key posts in government.
I will be posting about the Francisco Bangoy Airport in the next days. There have been some improvements to the terminal but most remain the same as it was in 2019.
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On Undas traffic 2023
The past two years, I have not written about the traffic situation or conditions during Undas or the holidays corresponding to All Saints and All Souls Days (November 1 and 2). There wasn’t much to write about really. The usual traffic congestion would be along roads near cemeteries and memorial parks. Marikina City’s Barangka area and Bonifacio Avenue near Loyola Memorial are usually congested due to the city’s public cemetery and the memorial park combining for significant traffic generation during Undas. The days leading to Undas find people traveling, usually back to their hometowns but these days many go out for vacations instead. And so the roads near the airports, seaports and bus terminals are also congested. Tollways and national roads (especially the main corridors) can also be congested with the exodus of people from Metro Manila to the provinces in Luzon Island. I assume something similar occurs for other major cities as well.
Many people I know seem to be vacationing this week as they took advantage of the October 30 Barangay elections and the declaration of November 2 as a holiday to take the week off. Many probably took leaves for the two days that were not declared as holidays – October 31 (Tuesday) and November 3 (Friday). Many if not most schools I know declared a break for the week. It is, after all, an opportunity for students, teachers and school staff to take a breather. At UP though, this week came shortly after its Reading Break so its likely people were not able to gain momentum despite the opportunity to catch up on matters like assignments and correcting exams or papers.
I saw some social media posts early this week about expressways being congested. A few even opined that tollways were a scam because of the toll fees being collected despite congestion. I found those quite amusing as the alternative would have been national and local roads that would also be congested. Tollways have been proven to provide shorter travel times (and therefore higher level and quality of service) compared to the free roads. Also, its a free country so those who have their own vehicles may choose to take free roads. We also have apps like Waze to help us find alternative routes other than those that involve tollways. But for long distance travel (e.g., Manila to Baguio, Manila to Legazpi, etc.), tollways will always have the advantage over free roads. Of course, the timing of the travel also matters and the long Undas week should allow for some flexibility in travel especially those taking the road trips.
Here’s to a meaningful and reenergizing Undas!
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Caught (up) in traffic 