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Antipolo to any point of the Philippines

I wrote several times in the past about every road leading to Antipolo. Recently, a new route opened between Antipolo and Iloilo. This is interesting for me since my father’s hometown, which I also consider mine, is Cabatuan, Iloilo. We usually flew to the province though we also rode on inter-island ferries when I was a child. I have memories riding on the ships operated by the now defunct Negros Navigation and Sulpicio Lines. I had never used the SuperFerry ships that now connect the major islands of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Buses at the public transport terminal at Robinsons Antipolo include those regularly dispatched to Cubao and Quiapo. There are many provincial and RORO buses including those bound for the Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas (i.e., Samar and Leyte). The latter are operated by several bus companies including RRCG whose buses are shown in the photo.

RRCG bus bound for Iloilo via Batangas, Mindoro, Aklan (Caticlan), and Antique. The fare to Iloilo City is 2,700 pesos. It’s 2,400 pesos until Caticlan.

New sign for the route connecting Antipolo City and Iloilo City. Caticlan in the province of Aklan is along the way. I estimate the travel time to be roughly a day considering the bus will still go to Marikina’s transport terminal across from SM City Marikina. From there, the bus will proceed to Batangas Port via C5, SLEX and STAR Tollway. The bus will queue to be loaded unto a RORO ferry bound for Mindoro. It will travel by land to cross Mindoro Island before being transported via ferry from Mindoro to Caticlan.

One bus company provides services to destinations in the Bicol Region. Both air-conditioned and ordinary (non-aircon) buses are available. 

 

Another look at the Mactan Cebu International Airport Terminal 1 – Part 3

This is the conclusion to the series on MCIA Terminal 1. Here I am sharing more photos of the shops and also include photos of what used to be the old terminal 1 boarding gates areas that have now been completely renovated.

Electronics shop at the MCIA Terminal 1

There’s a sports bar at Terminal 1

There’s a Kultura shop at the Terminal 1. Kultura is SM’s 

Liquors and wines store at the terminal – I was not able to inquire if these can be duty free considering the people including foreign tourists who may avail of this.

Passengers seated along a row of restaurants at the old Terminal 1 domestic wing. This area used to be crowded with so many chairs that they tried to fit in the area.

Familiar brands Dunkin’ Donuts and Bo’s Coffee are there. There are also vending machines for drinks for the more straightforward purchases.

The pre-departure area of the old T1 domestic wing now appears more spacious.

Corridor to the old T1 domestic wing now full of shops

 

More on airports soon!

Pasig to Lucena vans

I was surprised to see a sign at the transport terminal of SM East Ortigas announcing van services between the mall and Lucena City (SM City Lucena terminal). This seems to be a very convenient service and it is via a route I consider to be quite scenic. This is the one via the “backdoor” of Rizal through the towns of Teresa, Morong, Tanay, Pililla in Rizal, Laguna province (Famy, Paete, Lumban, Pagsanjan, etc.) and Quezon province (Luisiana, Lucban, Tayabas).

Modern jitneys (actually more like mini-buses)

Close-up of sign showing the transport service between SM East Ortigas and SM Lucena in Quezon Province.

Zamboanga City Integrated Bus Terminal

I open the year by sharing photos of the Zamboanga City Bus Terminal. It is a ‘central’ terminal as most most buses terminate here and cannot proceed to the city center. At the terminal, passengers may transfer between buses, jeepneys and vans.

View of the terminal from the national highway. There are driveways leading to and from the terminal from the highway and one can appreciate the expanse between the facility and the main access road.

There are covered walks connecting the terminal to the national road.

Provincial buses and long-distance vans at the terminal

Provincial bus arriving at the terminal

Jeepneys at the terminal

Motorcycles parked along a shaded area. The lamp’s vintage design seems to be a good accent to the terminal.

Close-up showing the spacious parking area shared by cars, jeepneys, motorcycles and even tricycles

Another look at the covered walkways leading to the national highway. Not all public transport go to the terminal because of the fees and the distance for the diversion from the highway. 

Jeepneys waiting to be filled with passengers prior to departure

A look at the front of the terminal shows a wide driveway and the connection of the covered walkway to the main entrance

Another look at the integrated terminal from the highway

We will be evaluating the terminal soon as part of a study we are doing for the city. More photos and some assessments about its features soon!

Mactan Cebu International Airport – newly opened lobby area at Terminal 1

Arriving in Cebu, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the airport’s Terminal 1 has a new lobby that is now open to the public. Here are photos taken during our recent trip to Cebu last month.

View of the newly opened lobby from the baggage claim area

Passengers and well-wishers (mostly people waiting to fetch arriving passengers) at the MCIA’s new lobby

This is the arrival level and one can use the escalators or the stairs to get to the departure level

Escalators at the MCIA’s new lobby

The corridor to the transport terminal is unfinished but the path is spacious enough as shown in the photo.

This is the area closer to the older exit from the arrival area of Terminal 1, which is actually closer to the transport terminal.

A preview of a much more spacious area where a driveway used to be

I made sure to take more photos of the lobby upon our departure from Cebu. Here are those photos:

Workers walking along the newly completed pathways at the ground transport interphase for the departure area of the airport’s Terminal 1.

A familiar scene: passengers saying their farewells to relatives at the airport terminal

Carts neatly placed for use by travellers

Information signs and columns are sleek and modern. These show the way to the check-in counters.

A very spacious departure level lobby

View towards the escalators to the arrival area, which is one level down from the departure area

Shakey’s seem to be one of the first to establish a branch at the newly refurbished Terminal 1.

Corridor to the terminal’s domestic flight check-in counters

Newly installed information board showing scheduled departures and their status

More about Cebu’s airport soon!

Another look at the Francisco Bangoy (Davao) International Airport – Departure Part 2

This is the last part of the feature on the Davao International Airport. Here are the last batch of photos I took of the airport departure areas.

Spacious departure level containing the airline check-in counters

Passengers wait for their check-in times and counter for travel tax payments

Passengers with their luggage filing into the terminal

View of the airline check-in counters from the escalator

Another view of the airline check-in counters and the departure area. This photo also shows the shops at the second level. 

View of the terminal entrance from the escalator

Another view of the ground floor area showing the airline counters and the escalators and stairs to the departure level lounges

After clearing the final security check, passengers pass through this corridor towards the departure lounge and boarding gates

Passengers waiting for their boarding calls.

Coming up soon are photos of Changi (Singapore) and Bandaranaike (Sri Lanka) airports. I haven’t been to Singapore in 7 years and it was my first time to go to Sri Lanka so I made sure to take a lot of photos at those airports.

Public transport terminal at the Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall

Sta. Lucia’s East Grand Mall reconfigured its transport terminal and made it somewhat more formal than it was before. Previously more like a informal terminal with jeepneys parked along their driveways, the mall relocated its terminal to be closer to the Line 2 Station currently under construction just across from the Robinsons Metro East Mall and Sta. Lucia’s main access road from Marcos Highway.

Jeepney station for eastbound PUJs including those bound for Cainta, Taytay, Angono and Binangonan via Felix Avenue (formerly Imelda Avenue) and Cainta Junction

There is space for 4 to 5 jeepneys depending on how they are parked. There are also seats for waiting passengers and the area is fully occupied during the peak hours in the afternoon and evening when there is higher demand and jeepneys are not able to come back as fast to pick-up passengers.

This is a welcome development as passengers have a better place to get a ride. The terminal is more secure and protected from the environment (i.e., it is practically covered as shown in the photos). Then, of course, there is the proximity from the Line 2 Station making transfers between rail and road transport more efficient. The walk between the station and the terminal is not a difficult one as there should be adequate space along the Sta. Lucia mall driveway that has an improved pedestrian sidewalk, too.

I will post more photos of this terminal soon!

Mactan Cebu airport arrival – Part 2

This is a continuation of the feature on arriving at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA). In the previous post, I shared photos of our arrival at the new Terminal 2 and our walk from T2 to the domestic Terminal 1.

Passengers continue to the corridor on the Terminal 1 side

Take-off run for a commercial flight

Cramped corridor for arriving passengers heading to the baggage claim area

Bridgeway or tube at T1

We emerged from the corridor to the T1 building and a sign showing us the way to the baggage claim area

Descending the stairs or escalator to the arrival level and the baggage claim area

Visitors are greeted with posters showing Cebu’s attractions as well as ads for residential and resort developments. Also shown in the photo are information boards on arriving flights. 

Baggage claim area for domestic flights – notice the passengers with their carts or trolleys crowding along the conveyor system.

Another look at the baggage claim area and a less crowded conveyor

More photo of the arrival including the taxi stand soon…

Mactan Cebu airport arrival – Part 1

We were treated to a somewhat pleasant surprise upon arriving in Cebu’s Mactan International Airport a couple of weeks ago. The surprise was that our plane taxied to and berthed at the new Terminal 2, which was for international flights.

A view of the MCIA Terminal 2 from our taxiing aircraft

A closer look at MCIA T2 as our plane turned towards the apron

Passengers deplaning via the T2 tube

A view of MCIA T2 from the airbridge

View of the tarmac and one of the airbridges as we walked along the corridor lined along the terminal’s departure level that connected to another corridor for the old Terminal 1.

Corridor along Terminal 2 connecting to Terminal 1

A snapshot of the tarmac

The interior design elements of MCIA Terminal 2 evoke a local, Asian flavour

Spacious corridor towards Terminal 1

A look at an aircraft berthed at MICA T2

Bridge connecting Terminals 1 and 2 with a view of the air traffic control tower

Passengers walking to T1

Interphase of T2 with T1 at this point of the bridgeway

More on MCIA soon!

On good transit stop designs

We interrupt our regular programming to share this good reference for designing bus stops:

Transit Center (2018) From Sorry to Superb Everything You Need to Know about Great Bus Stops, transitcenter.org, http://transitcenter.org/publications/sorry-to-superb/#introduction [October 2018]

This is a new publication and though the focus is on bus stops, the principles and guides presented are very much adaptable and applicable to other public transport modes as well, particularly the road-based modes we have in the Philippines. The article contains a link for those who want to download the entire report.