Traveling

The Indonesia trip I took several weeks ago is the last personal foreign trip I am taking this year. Other than it's expensive to travel, I think I already had my fill of foreign trips this year, with two exciting destinations in the first quarter of the year - Siem Reap, Cambodia and Indonesia.

Traveling is always fun.  It became more fun when Seat Sales and Piso Fares came into the picture. Suddenly, there is a surge in region-trotting Filipinos; I was surprised to learn that Filipinos make it to the top five of tourist arrivals in Cambodia.

Travel blogs documenting travels and whatnot have also dominated the blogosphere, and many are joining the bandwagon. My friend and former co-teacher has gotten herself a URL to aptly describe what she is and does: Ang Lakwatserang Guro. At one point, I was fearing that this blog was turning into one, but I reasoned and told myself that traveling involves some form of commuting, as well. 

On one hand, because traveling seems to be the vogue, many grab every possible  vacation leave, holiday or ticket sale to make a contribution to tourism but go on borrowing credit cards and money to make that Asian dream destination happen.  I hear stories of friendships falling out because of this. As a personal rule, I shall only go to places I can afford; thus, US, Europe, Australia, Latin America or four-fifths of the world is still off limits.

So, I am doing domestic travel in the meantime. I recently went to Tacloban with friends. Why Tacloban? I really don't know, but it happened to be one of the many places in the Philippines I haven't gone to. So I said yes to my friends who planned the trip. Besides, I always look forward to new and exciting destinations. 

Like in my Dumaguete Trip, I was not to make expectations, but I had to make sure that I go to Sto. Nino Shrine (Romualdez Museum) and San Juanico Bridge. I was not disappointed for I got to see them all. See the photos:

The signs says, "WELCOME to San Juanico Bridge"

 "San Juanico Bridge" just used to be the answer to the often asked question in Social Studies: "What is the longest bridge in the Philippines?" Seeing it for myself was surreal; it used to be just a concept, an idea when I was growing up in Mindanao. 

The Sto Nino Shrine was a pretentious display of ill-gotten wealth, as it is now owned by the PCGG. The museum was in a sad state, and ventilation was  poor, so touring it during summer is not the best of ideas. Still, it was an interesting look into the lifestyle of the former dictator and his family.

Tacloban offers other picture-worthy sights like the ones below:

The Provincial Capitol

Leyte Landing Memorial

The Park at the Leyte Landing Memorial was relaxing

We did not cross the San Juanico Bridge for nothing. We went to a beach resort called Calawayan in Easter Samar, just an hour's ride from Tacloban. It was a beautiful resort, but not for those on a tight budget like me. hehe.

As with all traveling, there is a point of embarkation. The Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport is our entry and exit point in Tacloban. All four flights that arrived within the hour of our departure were all filled, hence, the very crowded airport whose airconditioning was of little use to the weekend travelers.

Daniel Romualdez Airport

Outside the airport

I personally like this shot of the airplane.

With the trip over, I am generally happy that I took that trip to Tacloban and saw the sights for myself, with the company of nice people. Also, the trip taught me a lot of things, and not just the history or geography kind of lesson. I will write about them in future posts, maybe.

Shoes and shoestring budget trips

No commuter blog is ever complete without talking about a commuter or a pedestrian's aid - footwear or shoes- and what he or she does about them. In the Philippines, there is no better place than Marikina to discuss shoes. Marikina is known as the Shoe Capital of the Philippines, where the centuries-old industry still exists and flourishes. 

Growing in Mindanao, I heard of Marikina's famed industry. While I buy mostly local shoes, I was yet to see Marikina up close with its shoe industry until a weekend family trip to Marikina took me to a place devoted to nothing but shoes! The Marikina Shoe Museum, although small in size, was a rich depository of the special role shoes play in the lives of the Filipinos. Who else best exemplifies the Filipinos' love story with shoes but the former First Lady Imelda Marcos. She was so known throughout that international ads and shoe stores allude to her: "There is a little of Imelda in each one of us."

So it was not a surprise to see walls and glass-encased shoes paying homage to her hundreds of pairs in the museum. The entrance ticket of P50 was worth everything.

The Otto store near the museum seems to be a popular stop for people in search of affordable shoes

Also, quite recently, I was a first-timer tourist to another ASEAN city, Jakarta. Booking tickets and hotels in advance made the trip a good and affordable one. Jakarta is like Manila's twin city. I told my Imdonesian friends that I felt like I never left home. hehe.

Yes, they have Tuk-tuks there, Bajay, I think, it is called.

Thamrin, one of Jakarta's major thoroughfares, is a busy street.

 Thanks to my wonderful host, Aireen, who was my college classmate and thesis teammate, my trip to Jogjakarta was well arranged. We took a plane to Jogja (its other name), and I flew AirAsia for the first time. I noticed that the Jakarta Airport is a good one.

Jogjakarta tarmac

The Jogjakarta leg of my Indonesia adventure included Borobudur and Prambanan. It was wet in Borobudur and we still managed to admire the Buddhist structure. I had to ditch my Chinese shoes as they were wet. If kept them on for the next few hours, I would have gotten some more unwanted fungus.

So, I bought these nice sandals in Borobudur. I think I got a pretty reasonable price for the pair. Besides, when you're in Indonesia, you're a millionaire. 

I did some gustatory adventure as well. We went to Malioboro Street where strings of eatery open only at night. We had dinner there, sat on the floor and observed the locals as we joined them in tasting the local cuisine.

 

After the dinner and the walk along the long stretch of Malioboro Streets with all its Batik shops, we were tired and simply had to take a rickshaw, my first time, back to our hotel.

 The next day, we went to Prambanan.

Our less than 28-hour adventure in Jogjakarta was a memorable one. Other than visiting the world-famous temples, it was the company of a good friend that made the whole trip fun. It brings me pride to learn that while good friends and classmates are being blessed in their careers, they remain humble and generous. To Aireen, my host, I am very happy for you and I thank you.

But my gratitude did not end in Jogja as Aireen took me another beautiful place, Bandung, the next day. Seeing the countryside by car was refreshing. Our destination, Bandung, reminded me of Baguio and Tagaytay. It was a nature trip this time. 

I was brought to Kawa Putih (White Crater), where the water formed inside the volcano was whitish. It was simply beautiful although the sulfuric smell could trigger an asthma attack. To my surprise, it was a popular place for couples on dates.

Kawa Putih in Bandung, Indonesia

Now, not only do I thank my good fortune at work and the cheap airfare, I also express gratitude to people who share their time and resources in helping me create memories. Good times!

And to share the joy, I got these Batik slip ons as gifts to family and friends for 18500 Rupiah, that's around 90 in Philippine pesos. Not bad, I would say. Everything was good even.

UP there!

UP Dilliman

UP on a weekend

I never dwelled on the 'what ifs,' but I did ask myself once "What if I made it to UP?"

 

Not so long ago, I went to the University of the Philippines (UP), the bastion of great minds and dreams, not to get an education, but to kill time. I would have wanted to study there, but passing the UPCAT was not possible that time, so I ended up some place equally excellent, I would say. :-) 

In my high school, when I asked people how to get to UP, the response I would get was take the UPCAT; now in my  adulthood, the answer differs: I was told to get a PHILCOA jeep, then take another jeep, IKOT. If lost, ask. I made it to UP by commute to admire its greenery, the campus, the invisible yet palpable presence of greatness. I have the greatest admiration for people of who have burned the midnight oil to be among the UP alumni.

But the UP of my dreams has been in the news lately, not for its outstanding achievements but for the death of one of its students. 

There is nothing more I can contribute to issue that has already been discussed in every platform known. However, I do share the sentiment of many on the avoidable loss of life of a promising scholar. May she be the last of those who died because institutions and policies and other external forces drive them to take their own lives.

I was once a teacher who failed students, but only did unreluctantly so for 'deserving' students. What I was not very comfortable doing was handing them a notice of non-payment or partial payment of tuition fees which the Accounting Office released weeks before the exam. So, instead of calling out their names in class, I just discreetly leave the notice on their desks. My own three-year grade school experience in a private school reminded me that I should not let my students experience what I had experienced. 

I transferred to government schools when I reached second grade, and I am forever grateful for this transfer. I was exposed to life. At some point I was in a rowdy class of sixty; we were contented with manila paper for our visual aids; the old books which were issued to us at the start of the year served their purpose until school year ended; the simple classmates I had, whose parents were ordinary folks, taught me the value of humility and simplicity. I could go on detailing the education I gained from my grade school to graduate school in government education institutions.  But, then, it appears now that not all students in government schools are as fortunate as me.