Travel and Tourism

World Airports 2: Most Hated, CNN list

2011-12-01T02:06:00.000-08:00

CNN GO also released its

10 of the world's most hated airports

The smelliest toilets, the longest queues, the rudest staff ... sometimes air rage feels justified

By Jordan Rane 9 November, 2011

I've seen only #s 5, 3 and 2.

Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has 3 terminals. Terminal 1 is for non-national airlines or for foreign airlines only, Terminal 2 is exclusively used by the Philippine Airlines (PAL) for its foreign and local flights, while Terminal 3 is mainly used by Cebu Pacific, both for its international and local flights. There are other foreign budget airlines and local budget airlines that are using T3.

I went to London Heathrow airport, my first and last visit, in June 2005, during the "Global Development Summit" organized by the International Policy Network, and I was one of the panel speakers. It sure is a big airport. I can't recall if our landing was delayed, but our departure was delayed by at least 1 hour. We boarded on time, but the plane left the passenger boarding area late, then we queued for a long time at the tarmac. My connecting flight (London-Amsterdam-Manila via KLM) at Amsterdam airport was already boarding the last few passengers when we arrived. A few of us who have that connecting flight were practically running at Amsterdam airport from our landing gate to the boarding gate, we arrived just on time, whew!

And I went to LA airport first time last April 2009, when I attended the Atlas Liberty Forum, organized by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. I took Korea Air. I landed at LA airport, and flew back at San Francisco airport, because I visited some friends in North California, I went there via Greyhound Bus. I thought that LA airport was rather small, at least compared to many Asian international airports that I've seen, and considering that LA is rather famous worldwide because of Hollywood, etc.

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5. Ninoy Aquino International, Manila, Philippines

Wear a helmet -- the first collapsed ceiling in 2006 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Beleaguered by ground crew strikes, unkempt conditions, soup kitchen-style lines that feed into more lines and an overall sense of futility, NAIA brings the term “Stuck in the 1970s” to a new level.

At Terminal 1 all non-Philippine Airlines remain crammed despite serious overcapacity issues and a new and underused Terminal 3 is occupied by a few minor carriers.

A rash of bad press this year (including a “Worst in the World” ribbon from Sleeping in Airports) was capped by a collapsed ceiling in T1, a paralyzing ground service strike at T2, and the usual charges of tampered luggage, filthy restrooms, seat shortages at gates, re-sealed water bottles sold in retail shops and an Amazing Race-style check-in routine spiked with bureaucracy, broken escalators, lengthy Dot Matrix passenger lists and creative airport departure fees.

4. Toncontín International, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Over-priced corn chips will be the least of your worries.

When do the most common airport gripes about inefficiency, uncomfortable gate chairs, dirty floors and lousy dining options suddenly become irrelevant? When you’re preoccupied about whether your 757 will actually be able to stop before the runway does.

Nestled in a bowl-shaped valley at 957 meters above sea level, Toncontín’s notoriously stubby, mountain-cloaked landing strip was recently lengthened another 300 meters following a fatal TACA aircraft overshoot in 2008.

Not enough though to avoid being named the “second most dangerous airport in the world” by the History Channel.

Nepal’s hair-raising Tenzing-Hillary Airport in the Himalayas is the top seed, but receives fewer gripes from its thrill-seeking Everest-bound clientele.

3. London Heathrow, London, England

"You'll fly through departures -- at the speed of a penguin."

Depending on which of Heathrow’s five terminals one is funneled through, the average experience at the world’s third-busiest airport ranges from mildly tedious to "Fawlty Towers" ridiculous.

With its rash of -- as they were politely called -- “teething problems” in bright and airy T5 (remember that riotous grand opening with 34 canceled flights?) and nicely matured problems in Ts 1, 2 and 3, the issues passengers are beset with run the gamut.

Parking messes. Busted baggage carousels. Deadlocked security lines. Long walks (or, more commonly, runs) between gates to a frenzied soundtrack of “last call” announcements. Realizations that getting out of Heathrow took longer than actually flying here from Madrid.

In the airport “where the world changes planes,” it all boils down to a chronic inability to cope with this many people. Plans for a sixth terminal should help sever even more nerves.

2. Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, United States

It's not even a good spot for celebrity sightings.

If the world’s seventh-busiest flight hub was an old ballpark resting on the stale reputation of its Dodger Dogs and that great 1959 series, LAX might have some endearment value.

But it’s an airport -- a dramatically undersized and moribund one with the architectural élan of a 1960s correctional facility and several publicized concerns about how its 1,700 takeoffs and landings a day can be sustained in a facility a fifth the size of healthier cousins like Dallas/Fort Worth.

The unsupportive donut-shaped design -- it’s been called “eight terminals connected by a traffic jam” -- makes dashing between airlines feel like a diesel-scented cardio test.

Plunked in the middle is the airport’s landmark Jetsons-style restaurant and only mentionable amenity, Encounter, but how does one actually get inside this place -- at least before being nailed for a petty traffic violation by some of the most ticket-hungry airport cops west of the Mississippi?

1. Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris, France

Don't expect to make friends during a storm closure.

“A great country worthy of the name,” President Charles de Gaulle once opined, “does not have any friends.”

True or not, it’s this sort of attitude that has helped CDG become the most maligned major airport on earth. What’s fueling it?

Grimy washrooms with missing toilet seats don’t help. Nor do broken scanning machines and an overall lack of signage, gate information screens and Paris-worthy bars, restaurants or cafés.

The baffling circular layout is worsened by warrens of tunnel-like structures, dismissive staff and seething travelers waiting forever in the wrong queue.

The worst part may be this airport’s aura of indifference to it all. “Waiting for a connection here,” notes one commuter, “is like being in custody.”

If you’re actually staying in Paris, you may be okay. If you have the gall to just be passing through between Malaga and Montreal, you can cut the spite of this place with a cheese knife.

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CNN's 5 other hated airports are:

10. São Paulo-Guarulhos International, São Paulo, Brazil

Whether it's 9 a.m. or 9 p.m. this airport experiences round-the-clock rush hour.

9. Perth Airport, Perth, Australia

Kick a dog while it's down: The Qantas strike didn't help PER's reputation.

8. Tribhuvan International, Kathmandu, Nepal

Don't look the officers -- or the dogs -- in the eye.

7. John F. Kennedy International, New York, United States

Fans flooded the airport to welcome the 1964 British Invasion, but it seems they never left.

6. Jomo Kenyatta International, Nairobi, Kenya

Can't be disappointed if you're not expecting much.

World Airports 1: Most Loved, CNN list

2011-12-01T01:48:00.000-08:00

CNN GO released its

10 of the world's most loved airports

Not all airports are exasperating mood-foulers: These 10 make delays enjoyable

By Jordan Rane 17 November, 2011

I'm lucky to have seen the top 4 airports in its list.

I first went to Munich Airport in October 2003 on my flight back to Manila. I went to Sweden for a 7-weeks training on "Sustainable Agriculture". After the course, I visited by bus Denmark, Netherlands (The Hague and Amsterdam) and Germany (Miesbach, about 50 kms. south of Munich, Bavaria). Then I went back to Munich airport in November 2008, after I attended a week-long seminar on "Local Governments and Civil Society" in Gummersbach, Germany (I landed at Cologne airport, then car to Gummersbach), sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF).

I first went to Seoul in 1996 for a 2-weeks "Technology and Policy" seminar sponsored by KOICA. I was working at CPBO, House of Representatives then. Then I came back in 2002 when I joined the PDE-UPSE study tour in Seoul and a few cities, Incheon airport was only about 1 year old then. I came back again in 2006 to attend the Asia Pacific Taxpayers Union (APTU) meeting. In 2009, I went to Los Angeles, I took Korean Air, it naturally landed at Seoul-Incheon airport from Manila. But it was only a stop over, going to and back from the US.

Singapore, I've been there about 4x (2002, 2009 2x, and January 2011). Last year when I went to Jakarta (October 2010), I took Singapore Air so from Manila it landed first in Changi, then changed plane to Jakarta, same route coming back. Changi airport is really big and modern. The airport is itself a tourist attraction.

And Hong Kong, yes, among the busiest airports I've seen. I estimate there is one plane landing every 45 seconds I think, and another plane taking off every 45 seconds too. If you are seated window seat, try looking up after your plane has landed, you will most likely see 3 or 4 or 5 planes in the air on queue waiting to land.
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4. Munich Airport, Munich, Germany

Last year passengers napped on camp beds while waiting for air traffic to resume after the volcanic ash shut down airspace.

... Munich’s 1990s-era Terminal 1 is younger, fresher-looking and better organized than most terminal 2s and 3s on the planet. Its second terminal, home to Lufthansa and Star Alliance members, is arranged around a bright, central plaza that makes LHR and CDG look purgatorial.

Smack in the middle, the facility’s airy shopping and recreation area -- Munich Airport Centre -- is easily accessible to all passengers without feeling pushy.

A “Bavarian hospitality” ethos here means this is one of the few airports on either side of the Atlantic where a no-frills T2 passenger can enjoy free tea and coffee and a T1er can happily sit out a flight delay at Air Bräu, a micro-brew worthy of a college town.

3. Seoul Incheon, Seoul, Korea

"I don't even care if the flight leaves on time."

At 10 years young, South Korea’s pin-up airport continues to wow passengers with its bright and airy arrival halls, its futuristic connecting train terminal, its Pine Tree and Wildflower gardens and its boggling array of amenities that include private sleeping rooms, free showers, round-the-clock spa facilities, ubiquitous Internet lounges, a golf course and an ice skating rink.

And all this without forgetting why most people actually come to airports: not so much to work on their double axels or putting, but to get somewhere else as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Crowned as the world’s top airport in the annual, customer-survey-based Airport Service Quality Awards, ICN is one of only three in the world with a full five-star Skytrax rating -- along with the next two airports on this list.

Why is Seoul number three? Bring Cirque du Soleil here and we’ll see about next year.

In the meantime, check out the traditional Korean music performances or acrobatic shows on the first floor open stage. And don’t forget to swing by the Korean Culture Museum.

“It was nice to see several cultural experiences placed around the terminal,” writes one airlinequality.com passenger. “How many of us go through an airport and learn nothing of the country we are in?”

2. Singapore Changi, Singapore

If this isn't good enough, there's always the theater room.

Is there a bigger compliment to an airport than travelers routinely scheduling more time here just to have fun and relieve stress?

Spotless, flawlessly organized and stocked with conveniences that continue to lock Singapore for the gold, silver or (in an off-year marred by constructing more improvements) bronze in every serious annual airport poll, here’s the place that re-invented what airports can be.

That is -- places with pools, whirlpool baths and massage tables, prayer rooms and rooftop bars, LAN gaming areas and free movie theaters, koi ponds and butterfly gardens.

Changi’s massive interiors may require some hiking -- on efficient travelators or shuttle trains -- to distant gates or between terminals. But as long as you’re not running to catch a flight, it’s no O’Hare or Heathrow-style headache. More like a tour of what an elite international airport can and should be.

Above all, it’s the mandated comfort factor here that’s most appreciated by passengers gravitating to relaxation lounges or, in a pinch, reclining slumber chairs with flat-screen TVs spread throughout the terminal floors.

Based on its four C voting criteria -- Comfort, Convenience, Cleanliness and Customer service -- Sleeping in Airports has granted SIN its coveted Golden Pillow Award for 15 straight years.

1. Hong Kong International, Hong Kong

Top dog? This airport's too busy to gloat.

Now that its place as one of the great land reclamation projects of the 20th century is, well, 20th-century, HKIA is onto newer benchmarks -- including entering the world’s 50 million annual passenger club (shared with only 10 other airports) and becoming the busiest freight airport on earth.

This kind of pressure might sink a less inspired or prepared facility (the airport currently has a multi-phase Master Plan 2030 in the works which will see it through the next couple decades), but Hong Kong keeps looking better and more five-star functional with everything thrown at it.

And not just for cargo carriers, but for more than 900 daily flights’ worth of satisfied travelers whisking through this foolproof hub -- offering loads of opportunities for lounging, golfing, fine-dining, 4-D movie theater-ing, free Wi-Fi’ing and simply wishing that this year’s Skytrax World Airport of the Year could be replicated in London, Paris, New York, Juneau … anywhere outside of Asia.

Considered one of the most accessible airports in operation today, Hong Kong’s swift and driverless Automated People Mover is both ultra-convenient and kind-of-forbidding.

Hong Kong’s express train service to/from downtown offers remote check-in and has reinvented just how simple it should be to reach or depart a remote-looking airport. That is, if you ever want to depart.

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The next 6 most loved airports -- I have not seen them yet -- are:

10. Auckland Airport, Auckland, New Zealand
The Rugby World Cup was the perfect excuse for a face-lift.

9. Montevideo Carrasco, Montevideo, Uruguay
An airport worthy of Ryan Bingham.

8. Victoria International, Victoria, Canada
Canada, we get it, you're good at nature.

7. Zurich Airport, Zurich, Switzerland
An airport so clean, you can eat your over-priced sandwich off the floor.

6. Tampa International, Tampa, United States
When your state is like Las Vegas for the elderly, you'll need an efficient airport.
5. Ushuaia-Malvinas Argentinas International, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
Ski lodge or airport?

UPSE Reunion, September 3, 2011, UP Diliman

2011-08-27T00:43:00.000-07:00

Hey fellow alumni of the UP School of Economics -- undergrad, MA, PhD, PDE -- let's meet again this coming Saturday, September 3, 4pm at the SE auditorium, UP Diliman. Each reunion is hosted by the graduates of the school 25 years ago. So for this year, it will be batch 86 (ie, they graduated in 1986) that is the main host.

The theme of the reunion is "Rebel Yellow". Why? My guess is that it was in 1986 that Marcos was toppled after 20 years in power (1965 to 1985) during the first Edsa People Power Revolution. Yellow, the symbolic color of the peaceful uprising. Yeah, the 1986 graduates, cool!

I have a number of friends from Batch 86 -- like Mino Encarnacion (then UPSE Student Council chairman), Jojo Chan, Camille Sevilla. Mino is now based in Singapore, Jojo in NJ-NYC, Camille in Manila. She's the chief of staff of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. I hope to see the 3 of them next week.

Bacolod-Silay Airport

2011-08-21T16:22:00.000-07:00

I am from Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, in central Philippines. I was born there, took my elementary and high school there. My parents and two siblings are still there, so I still go back to my province at least once a year. Bacolod City is the provincial capital.

It is good that a new and modern airport has been constructed. It's the typical glass and steel structure, though at a smaller scale compared to many big international airports in Asia and other countries. The old airport is literally really old and it was small. The new airport is also nearer to Cadiz but far from Bacolod. It's not in Bacolod actually, it's in Silay City, about 15 kms. away from Bacolod City proper.

Check in area. Airlines going there are PAL, Cebu Pacific, and Air Philippines. They have a combined flight of probably 18 to 20 a day coming from Manila alone. There are also flights to and from Cebu City. Not sure if there are flights now going to Davao.

Departure lounge. Negros Occidental is a big province in population size. Close to 2 million people now I think. So the volume of passengers is really big.

I hope that this airport will soon have limited international flights, say Bacolod-HK, Singapore, Seoul. There are many Koreans in Bacolod now. Then it is time to construct another terminal. The place is surrounded by sugarcane plantations. Thus, it's easier to acquire new lands for the buildings and a longer runway.

Mr. Silay and Mt. Kanlaon are clearly seen at the airport. These are big mountains. Kanlaon is an active volcano, but not as active as Mayon or Taal.

I just hope that ugly politics in the province and its cities will be minimized and hence, the corruption associated with such practices. I wish to see my province -- and all other provinces in the country -- to develop economically.

Taga-UP Diliman Ka Kung...

2011-08-20T23:58:00.000-07:00

There is a new facebook group called "Taga UP Diliman ka kung..." (You are from the University of the Philippines, Diliman, if you...") that is so hot. It was created only about 10 days ago by an alumni Cleve JD Mallari and it attracted 32,100+ members. The posting are so frequent and witty.

I am reposting this here so that other friends and readers who are not from UPD and hence, are not members of the group and cannot read the postings, can see them. I created one thread in the group, below, copy-pasted the significant comments and additions. Smileys and hahaha are removed here as all of these comments are for fun or wittily true. Pictures here are all taken from the group by other group members. Here we go!
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A girl was caught by UPD police making love to the Oblation.
Q1: Was a crime committed? Yes, statutory rape.
Q2: Can she be convicted? Yes, there is concrete evidence.

Victoria: And you know a Nonoy Oplas joke when you see one.

Jopay: noy... very hard evidence yan ah!

Lorenzo: so... will oble be imprisoned? or the girl? :)

Jopay: Depende... mukhang may consent naman

Nonoy: Some Diliman dorm jokes:
Narra -- dorm ng surot na tinatao
Kamia -- female version ng Narra (mga female na surot?)
Sanggumay - dorm ng mga manang
Ipil - dorm ng mga manong
Ilang-Ilang - dorm ng mga nai-ilang sa academic oval
Kalayaan (boys wing) -- silipan ng mga boys sa girls wing ng Yakal dorm

Some AS/CSSP male CR graffiti:
- The population of the world depends on what you are holding now.
- Pag inabot (ng ihi) mo ito (marker about 1 1/2 foot from your pototoy), astig ka.

Sa Narra dati, may issue re cats with 1 eye removed, 1 or 2 sq. inch of skin peeled, under observations pala ng mga Vet-Med students, the cats were roaming around. Narra dorm council created a graffiti wall, "What to do with the cats?" Some comments in the wall:
* itapon sa Kamia residence hall
* What to do with the vet meds?
* pusang-ina oh!
* nga pusakal kayo.

Jopay: Teka, noy, paano kung na-injured si oble? Ano ang crime?

Nonoy: Pag na-injure si Oble, the crime is statutory injury.

Some dorm male CR graffiti:
Sa Molave: "Here I sit all broken hearted,
tried to shit but only farted."
Sa Narra: "Here I sit on my puwet,
my asshole opens up a bit
out comes something like velvet
No, its my brownish shit."

Meanings of TBA in UP:
Ordinary enrollment -- (teacher) To Be Announced
Martial Law days -- (Teacher & student leaders) To Be Arrested
Applicants sa mga frats -- To Be Arbored (at idaan sa hazing).

Some graffiti at the back of main library dati:
-- Aanhin pa ang damo, kung tulog na ang addict.
-- Ako ay may naaamoy, parang mabangong kahoy,
O damo, damo, pagkain ng kabayo.
-- Ako ay may syota, malaki ang dyoga
dyoga, dyoga, nakapanlalata.

Jopay: Noy, malicious mischief ang crime pag na-injure si oble! baka maitanong yan sa bar!

Nonoy: 2 bus lines plying UPD in early 80s. JD bus line and MMTC, air-con or double decker. Ang JD, lawanit lang dingding, so in case of emergency, pwede na tadyakan ang dingding. Sa MMTC double decker, madami takot sumakay sa itaas kasi walang drayber :-)

Pag tingin mo mababa score mo or babagsak ka sa exam, ganito ang palusot: "Don't let your academics get in the way of your education." Halata ano ha.

UP noon vs ngayon:
-- dati pag nagrar-rally, sa plackard lang. ngayon nasa ipad na
-- dati UP IKOT lang, ngayon may TOKI na
-- dati pasok lang walang ID, ngayon may signs na NO ID, NO ENTRY or WEAR ID AT ALL TIMES
-- dati unli rice lang sa Area 2 at walang Via Mare, ngayon coño na...
‎-- dati kasabay mo nag-aantay ng jeep sa Edsa/Q.Ave mga kapwa estudyante, ngayon hatid-sundo ng mga drivers nila.
-- dati mga freshmen na uhugin, ngayon mga de-kotse na, loaded pa
-- dati, madaming mga dugyutin, amoy pawis na klasmeyts na mababangis sumagot sa recitation, ngayon mapoporma at mayayamang klasmeyts na walang muang sa mundo
-- dati mura tuition, ngayon mahal na...

The administrator of this group, Cleve JD Mallari posted that they will disable posting from Sat 7am to Sun 11pm but people can still read the various threads. Riot ang mga response, like these:
- yes! makakapag pahinga mga mata ko!
- Makakasubo ng konti at makakajingle.
- An tagal !! ... May gamot ba kayo pang detox bago mag 11 pm ng Sunday?
- ayos, para di na umusok yung computer ko
- ayan pwede nako maligo!
- Para may family time naman! :)
- i see symptoms of withdrawal....
- we will come to realize na "there's life beyond UPD group/site pala"..
- Withdrawal yan. Patay ang mga addict.
- So if I start getting the shakes and shivers this weekend, I'll know the reason why.
- puede na ako mag groceries, mag car wash at matulog!
- That's enough time to check in na into a rehab center.
- Ok, kaunting break. Galit na asawa ko dahil mukha ko nasa computer na lang at naka ngiting mag-isa
- Pucha, yung pinatanggal ko na eyebags at inalagaan ng tatlong taon, nawala in three days...

Weena: may ID na, may Via Mare pa??!! homaygulay~!!!

Nonoy: Some dorm stories, from other threads in this group:
- Nasubukan mong ma-harana sa sampaguita...
- naririnig mo yung malakas na tilaok ng mga manok ni mrs cantuba sa sampa
- nakaramdam ka ng multo sa Sampa
- Sampa, Napagkamalan akong multo sa CR kc maputla ako, naka-nightgown, bagong kulot biuhok
- pag weekend, nagtitis ka ulamin ang lucky me pansit canton kasi sawa ka na sa aristocart at nagtitipid ka
- 730am ang class mo at going late ka na kaya suot mo ang pantulog mo pagpasok ng klase!
- tanghali na gumising. maaga ka pa sa class...

Rache: Noon walang kalaman-laman ang mga parking area especially sa AS park lot pero ngayon kulang na kulang na sa parking palaging puno kaya minsan nasa side streets na and it will cause traffic. Inside UP, traffic!!!

Nonoy: More dorm stories, about the (10pm curfew), from other threads in this group. Thanks for these stories, naalala ko dorm life ko in the 80s (Molave, Yakal, Narra):
- bibili kayo ng "bribe" na pagkain para kay manang guardya para di ma-record na curfew ka
- dahil sa curfew, mas pinipili mo na lang na matulog sa labas kaysa madagdagan violations mo sa dorm..
- Yakal, yung bomb threat doon e gawa gawa lang yata ng isang dormer na inabutan ng curfew at gusto pa ding makapasok ng dorm. Me media coverage pa ha!
- Narra, isang minuto lang tinatagal ng curfew. 10PM ang start pag 10:01 open na uli ang gate....

Kwento or alaskahan sa College of Engineering:
EE - eng na eng
CE - conting eng
ME - medyo eng
IE - indi eng

Florence; e yung GE? ;)

Nonoy: grabeng eng? hehe. Mga taga-EE nagpa-uso ng jokes na yon.

Florence: malamang sinabi nila "gagong eng'g"

Nonoy: Yon MetE (Metallurgical Eng'g), ano itatawag nila don, "metopak eng"?

Someone posted, "UPD ka kung magaling kang gumamit ng pythagorean theorem. 'The sum of 2 sides is alway greater than the hypotenuse.' Then showed a picture of a curve but paved walkway near Vinzons Hall, and an unpaved but straight pathway. Heto ilang comments:
- the shortest distance between two points is a straight line
- Noon yun! Ngayon "The shortest distance between two points depends on where you're going!"
- There is no such thing as a straight line. What you conceive as straight is just a line segment of a curve.
- depende yan sa weather..pag umuulan at maputik ang hypotenuse, dun ka sa longer distance dadaan(paved e)

Iloilo Airport

2011-08-19T18:28:00.000-07:00

My wife is from Iloilo, and we go there to visit my in laws once or twice a year. The new airport is about 20 kms. away from Iloilo City proper, passing by 2 or 3 municipalities. The far distance is compensated by a good and modern airport, glass and steel structure. There is also a big space for future expansion like building a new terminal or extending the runway. I believe that this airport will soon become international, flying passengers to and from Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul and other Asian cities with big volume of trade and tourism with the Philippines.

This is the old Iloilo Airport in the city. I took this picture two years ago. So it must be dilapidated by now, if not yet demolished. Beside this old airport is a big SM mall, and many houses around it. There is little space for expansion.

The entrance/exit area. On the right side are for greeters and senders.

It is also well-lighted at night time. There is also a big parking space in front, but the parking rates are higher than what the big and modern malls in Manila would charge.

The passenger departure lounge. A few food shops on the left, boarding gates on the right. Sometimes (or often?) the toilet is dirty though. It's something that the airport administration should always remember, to have clean toilets. Passengers pay P200 as "terminal fee", similar to the fee in domestic terminals in Manila, even if they just stay at the departure lounge for just an hour or less. To have a clean, non-foul-smelling toilet is a must.

Pinoy Jokes, Part 4

2011-06-25T00:37:00.000-07:00

Some good jokes from a friend from UP, Raoul Abreau.

"I just wanna be an angel, flying around you, risking all I have just to kiss you, even if it can cost my life." -- Lamok, nag-e-english, hehe

A man was throwing knives at his wife's picture, and all were missing target. Suddenly he received a call from his wife who asked him what he was doing. He replied, "Just missing you."

Guy 1: My wife is an angel.
Guy 2: You're lucky. Mine is still alive.

Husband: Hello, what are you doing, my darling?
Wife: I'm dying.
H: (jumping with joy) How can I live without you?
W: You idiot! I'm dying my hair!

5 words women use:
1. FINE -- when they want to end an argument, think they're right and want you to shut up.
2. 5 MINUTES -- if she's getting dressed, this means half an hour.
3. NOTHING -- the calm before the storm. Arguments that begin with Nothing usually end in Fine.
4. GO AHEAD -- this is a dare, not permission. Don't do it.
5. THAT'S OK -- means she wants to think long and hard before deciding when you will pay for your past mistakes.

--> Send this to men to warn them, and to women to give them a good laugh because they know it's true.

Great person, ikaw yan.
Great father, ikaw ulit yan.
Great looks, aba, sayo talaga yan.
Great husband, sayo pa rin yan.
Great taste, Sobra na, kape na yan eh.

Mga katotohanan:
Hindi lahat ng kinakalabit, gitara.
Hindi lahat ng binobomba, poso.
Hindi lahat ng pinapasukan, eskwelahan.
Hindi lahat ng nilalabasan, exit.
Hindi lahat ng sinusubo, pagkain.
Hindi lahat ng pinipisil, pisngi.
Hindi lahat ng pisngi, nasa mukha.
Hindi lahat ng binibiyak, prutas.
Hindi lahat ng tumatayo, may paa.
Pero lahat ng may ulo, tumatayo.
Lahat ng BERDE ISIP, ngingiti.

Erap: "Walang kumpare, walang kamag-anak."
PNoy: "Walang kamag-anak, puro kaklase at kabarilan lang."

Di nila ma-justify yong 7 Pajero na binigay sa mga obispo. Dapat kasi ang binigay nila ay SAFARI, madali i-justify. Para SA FARI.
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Filipino Store Signs

* A parlor in San Juan: 'Cut & Face'
* A Bakery: 'Bread Pit'
* A tailor shop: 'James Tayloring'
* Another tailoring shop: 'Elizabeth Tayloring'
* A drugstore: 'Pharmacia with love'
* A Petshop: 'Petness First'
* A Taxicab: 'Income Taxi'
* A balut wholesaler in Batangas: 'Starduck'
* A laundry shop in Manila: 'Summa cum Laundry'
* A petshop in Ortigas selling cats and dogs: 'Pussies and Bitches'

* A beerhouse in Cavite, 'Chickpoint'
* A laundromat in Sikatuna: 'Star Wash: Attack of the Clothes'
* A salon somewhere, 'Curl Up And Dye'
* A store selling chicken feeds along Sucat road: 'Robocock'
* A shoe repair shop: 'SHOEPERMAN: we will HEEL you, save your SOLE, and even DYE for you'
* A 2nd hand watch store: '2nd Time Around'
* An aquatic pet store in Malolos: 'Fish Be With You'
* A Laundry: 'Wash Your Problems Here'
* A beauty salon: 'Saudia Hair lines'
* A neighborhood pizza store: 'Pizza Hot'

* A mobile massage slogan: 'Asian Mobile Massage Service: Massage only, God is watching'
* A shrimp store: 'Hipon Coming Back'
* A ceiling installer: 'Kisame Street'
* A car repair shop: 'Bangga ka 'day!'
* A bakery in a village: 'Anak Ng Tinapay'
* Ice cream parlor: 'Dila Lang Ang Katapat'
* Chicharon store: 'Chicha Hut'
* A barbershop in Cagayan de Oro: 'Pinoy Big Barber'
* A party needs business: 'Balloon-Balloonan'
* A goto resto: 'Goto Ko Pa!'

* A flower shop: 'Susan's Roses'
* A pet shop in Kamuning: 'Pakita Mo Pet Mo'
* A Resto in Baclaran: 'The Last Supper'
* A small internet cafe opened among squatters named itself, 'Cafe Pindot'
* A restaurant in Pampanga, 'Mekeni Rogers'
* A restaurant in Pasig, 'Johnny's Fried Chicken: The 'Fried' of Marikina'
* A tombstone maker in Antipolo: 'Lito Lapida'
* A copy center in Sikatuna Village, 'Pakopya ni Edgar'
* A carinderia: 'Aling Karing Deria'
* Name of a kambingan, 'Sa Goat Kita'

* Shoe repair in Marikina : 'Dr. Shoe-Bago'
* A water refilling station in Dapitan, 'Wa-Thirst'
* A squid stall in a wet market: 'Pusit to the Limit'
* A bank in Alabang: 'Alabank'
* A gotohan, 'Goto Haven'
* A sign on a stall selling chicken, "Dina Fresh"
* A 24 hour eatery: "Doris Day and Night"
* A home cooking resto: "Ang Cooking ng Ina Mo"
* A competitor beside it: "Ang Cooking ng Ina Mo Rin"
* A boxing gym in Taguig: 'Blow Jab'

* A fishball cart: 'Eat My Balls'
* A bait and tackle shop in Boracay: 'The Master Baiter'
* A Hair Salon in Makati : 'Hair We Go Again'
* A Japanese resto: 'Murakami'
* A grillhouse: 'It Doesn`t Matter Inihaw'

Houston Hobby Airport, Texas

2011-06-02T01:40:00.000-07:00

Last May 2010, I first set foot in Texas, in Houston, to visit two former officemates when I was still working in Philippine Congress in the 90s. It was the last leg of my US trip then (Chicago-Detroit-Houston), the last 2 cities were tours after my conference in Chicago. I have Filipino friends in those cities who would pick me up from the airport and bring me back there, host in their house and tour in their cities for free, why not grab the opportunity.

Houston from the air is wide and expansive. It has two airports, I landed at Hobby airport.

Houston is the home of NASA's space program then, I think until now. Thus, the airport terminal has exhibits and decorations of rocket ships, space shuttles, astronauts, and related stuff.

Like this one, photo exhibit of the international space station. I don't know if such exhibit is permanent or being changed from time to time.

This looks like the "feet" of those space shuttles landing in the moon or something. Sorry, I didn't ask around what it was.

This airport's arrival and departure areas are mixed on the same floor. I think it's the same for many other airports in the US. So people enter or exit on those gates. Unlike in many big Asian airports, all arrivals are on the ground or lower floor, and all departures are on the 2nd or higher floor.

Departure lounge. Passengers waiting for their flight out of the airport.

Nothing so important here. It just caught my attention, DVD rentals for $1 each, a mobile phone charging station for a fee. Cute.

Tokyo-Narita Airport

2011-05-30T21:58:00.000-07:00

Last May 26, 2010 or more than a year ago, I set foot on Tokyo-Narita Airport Terminal 2 for the first time. I've been to Terminal 1 (mostly US airlines) since 2004, I even thought that the Narita airport was "small" then. Not until I set foot on terminal 2, mostly for Asian airlines.

The reason why I came here was that my original flight, Tokyo-Manila (Delta Air, from the US) the day before, was given to passengers whose flight the day before was cancelled. Delta was forced to bring us to a hotel in Chiba, near the airport, the previous night, and booked us to Philippine Airlines (PAL) the next day as the Delta flight to Manila that day was also fully booked.

I was fascinated by its hugeness and modernity, glass and steel structure. There were so many passengers, mostly fellow Asians.

This huge billboard tells departing passengers all the scheduled flights within the next six hours or more, including their status (on time, delayed, cancelled). The info are posted in Japanese then English and vice versa.

After the airline check in area, passengers go to the various shops or the immigration area, then to their boarding gates. Very clean and modern airport indeed.

It is impossible to get lost as there are proper directions to all boarding gates. There are more than a hundred gates there, am not sure if gates for domestic travel are already included here.

Walkalator to some far gates. The main duty free area are behind this area. Only a few small food shops are posted in these areas.

Finally, the departure lounge at the gate where passengers will take their plane. Spacious, natural lighting. That's one beauty of glass and steel structures. There is ample sunlight to come in, reducing electricity consumption.
------

May 10, 2010, I wrote this:

This coming Saturday, I will go back to the US again. I will go to Chicago to attend the 4th International Conference on Climate Change (4th ICCC), May 16 to 18, sponsored by the Heartland Institute. I will talk about the conference in another note. And since I am accumulating air mileage, I will take again Delta Airlines. I started getting mileage with Northwest airlines before, now merged with Delta.

A Delta air flight to the US always stops at Narita-Tokyo International Airport, whether going to California or the Mid-west. Since I’m going to Chicago, I can choose to land either in Detroit or Minneapolis international airports, Delta’s 2 big hubs close to Chicago.

Narita airport is not really big if compared to other Asian international airports, say those in Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. It is sort of circular in shape, the walkalators are not very long. But it is very modern, typical glass and steel structure.

The escalators are very quite and produce very little noise when moving. This walkalator is cool: short but with live “twig” like flowers on both sides.

The duty free shops are not that plenty, but they are very neat.

The toilets are also very clean, like this one.

Some art works on glass in one of the several passengers waiting areas.

And if people bring along their kids, there is a small and well-padded children’s play area.

I haven’t gotten out of this airport though. I always pass by here only as a transit passenger. Delta Air cleans, re-fuels and re-supply with passenger food and drinks all airplanes going to the US. Normally about 12 to 13 hours from Narita to Minneapolis or Detroit.

I hope to visit Tokyo someday so I can get out of Narita airport too.

Pinoy jokes, Part 3

2011-05-29T01:11:00.000-07:00

Recently I was posting some short Filipino jokes in my facebook status. They're getting lots of Likes and comments, much more than my political and economic commentaries. Which means many of my friends appreciate me if I deliver more jokes than political commentaries? :-)

Here are the Pinoy jokes I blurted out in fb recently, with their funny additions:

1. Customer: Miss, may wi-fi ba kayo dito?
Jollibee/McDo cashier: Wala po Sir, meron lang kami mango fi and apple fi.

Sa Pan de Pidro, Pan de Manila, madaming tina-fi.
Sa Pizza Hut, madami sila pizza-fi.

Restaurant owner: Bakit mabilis maubos mga toothpicks natin?
Waiter: Ewan ko Sir. Kasi ako pag gumagamit ng toothpick, binabaliki ko rin dyan.

Customer: Bakit madali mabali toothpick nyo dito?
Waiter (asar): Ewan ko sir, sa dami ng gumamit ng toothpick na yan, kayo pa lang nakabali.

2. Q: Bakit may sabaw ang balut?
A: Ikaw nga ikulong sa shell ng matagal, saan ka ji-jingle?

(Pero jingle nga ba yon? Di kaya pawis na tagaktak dahil hindi naman air-con ang shell ng balut?)

3.‎ Aanhin ang ganda, kung wala namang Papa
- Kung gusto mong maglandi, tiisin mo ang hapdi.
- Aanhin ang maganda, kung di naman malandi.
- Aanhin ang gwapo, kung mas malandi pa sayo.
- Ang lalaking mabilis maglakad, may hinahabol na gwapo.
‎- Aanhin pa ang damo, kung meron namang shabu.
- Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan, may stiff neck.
Or may utang na iniiwasan at ayaw bayaran.

4. Patient: Dok, bakit nang ma-opera mo ulo ko, hindi nakasara ulit?
Doctor: Mabuti yan, at least open-minded ka na ngayon.

Isang Pinoy na doctor nag-introduce ng isang "special device" pampalaki ng male sex organ, zero side effect. Ang tawag sa device na yon ay magnifiying glass.

Anak: Nay, tutoo ba yong kasabihang "first love never dies"?
Nanay: Aba oo. Tingnan mo yang tatay mo, hanggang ngayon buhay pa ang animal.

5. Here is the expected max temp today from PAGASA: Baguio 24 Celsius, Cebu 32 Celsius, Davao 31 Celsius, and in Marikina they sell shoes.

Q: Ano mangyayari pag nawalan tayo ng weather bureau?
A: Mawawalan tayo ng PAGASA.

Ang tawag sa maliit na meteor ay??? meteorite.
At ang tawag sa maliit na asteroid ay??? asterisk.

Ang tawag sa star sa hilaga ay... northern star.
Ang tawag sa star sa timog ay... southern star.
eh ano tawag sa star sa gitna nila?.... bitu-ween.

6. Tagalog ng: Deduct - ang pato
Defeat - ang paa (ng pato?)
Detail - ang buntot (ng pato?)
Predicate - pakawalan ang pusa
Dedicate - pinatay ang pusa.

Contemplate - not enough pinggan.
Punctuation - pera pang-enrol
Ice Buko - Is my hair ok?
Tenacious - sapatos pang tennis
Calculator - tawagan kita mamaya
Devastation - sakayan ng bus
Protestant - tindahan ng Prutas.

7. Ang tawag sa maliit na aso -- kapiraso.
Sa maliit na kambing -- kapiranggoat.
Sa maliit na pusa -- cat-titing.
Sa maliit na pato -- panduck.

May dyu-mingle na tao sa kabukiran, may 5 hayop nakakita sa kanya, tapos nag-ingay sila:
Kambing -- may umi-iheeeeee! Baka -- Oo ngaaaaa!
Aso -- Wow, wow, wow! Manok -- nakakataaaaa-kot!
Turkey -- Kelaki-lakiiiiii!!

Bakit palaging nakayuko at nahihiya ang:
biik -- kasi baboy ang nanay nya
sisiw -- kasi tatay nya walang itlog, nanay nya ang may itlog
batang kambing -- kasi nanay nya may balbas at bigote.

Biik: Nay, sino tatay namin?
Baboy inahin: Ewan ko anak, kasi nang ginawa ka namin, nakatalikod man ako.

Atlanta Airport

2011-05-21T00:52:00.000-07:00

Exactly a year ago today, I was in Atlanta Airport, on my way from Detroit to Houston via Delta Air. Perhaps there was no direct flight between those 2 cities, but there were plenty of flights between Detroit-Atlanta, and Atlanta-Houston.

It was my 2nd time actually to land in Atlanta Airport. The first was in April 2008 when I attended the Atlas Liberty Forum held in that city.

This is a big airport, judging from the big number of people and passengers who are inside the various terminals....

And from the big number of airplanes that land and take off in this airport. See here, there were probably 8-10 airplanes behind us on queue for take off, mostly Delta Air planes. The other airport I saw then with a big number of airplanes on queue whether for landing or take-off was La Guardia airport in NY.

I think there are 7 or 8 terminals parallel to each other. One can go from one terminal to the next via walking and walkalators, or via the underground airport train. This walkalator is almost empty, not because there are not enough passengers between these two terminals, but people are using the train. It's free, to move from one terminal to the other.

The doors in front of a train station under the terminals and runways.

One thing I notice in Atlanta is that almost all staff at the airport -- ground crew, personnel in various food shops, bookshops and souvenir shops inside the airport -- are blacks. I think there were some whites too but I hardly saw them. Atlanta is where Martin Luther King came from.

The underground train. No train pilot, it's operated from a control room from afar.

Chicago O'Hare Airport

2011-05-16T01:20:00.000-07:00

A year ago today, I landed again in Chicago O'Hare Airport via Delta Air. I went there to attend the 4th International Conference on Climate Change (4th ICCC) sponsored by the Heartland Institute, a free market and independent think tank based in that city. The first time I went to Chicago was in late April 2004, when I attended the Heritage Resource Bank meeting then the Atlas Liberty Forum. My trip then was sponsored by Atlas.

I have almost zero recollection then of this airport when I first came here in 2004. What I could remember was that it was one of those big airports in America. Well, Chicago hosts some of the tallest buildings in the US, next to those in NYC perhaps.

Like in most big international airports, it is almost impossible to get lost as there are clear signs going to what terminal or concourse, or where the baggage claim is. No need to ask other people or the information center.

A boarding gate for Delta Air. I don't remember which airline uses this as its main hub. Maybe American or Continental?

The waiting area for the airport buses going to certain destinations and hotels. These airport buses and hotel limousines look sturdy and cute. I think I took a van going to my hotel, Marriot Magnificent Mile Hotel, right in the center of the city.

Will write about the city in another blog post.

Detroit Airport (McNamara Terminal), Michigan

2011-04-30T00:29:00.000-07:00

I wrote this in March 12, 2009:

It was my 6th time in that airport (3 arrivals, 3 departures). My 1st time was in 2004 and it would also be my 1st time to visit the US. I was fascinated by that huge airport of glass and steel then. It’s one of the main hubs of NWest Airlines.

What I like in this airport is that it is one long terminal (should be about kilometer, +/- a few meters), so it is very easy to find your departure gate. There are plenty of walkalators on the long stretch, and there is a small train on the top that moves people from the north gates to the southern gates, with a stop at the middle. It is clean, spacious, fast, and unmanned.

On the left side of the terminal are mostly (perhaps entirely) domestic flights, and mostly (if not entirely) international flights on the other side. If you’re coming from any domestic flight to Detroit and moving to an international flight, and if you’re lucky, you come out from the left side of the terminal and just move to the right side.

There are plenty of duty free shops and food shops over the whole stretch of the elongated structure. There are also plenty of clean toilets along the whole stretch. There is alao a water fountain in the middle, it's good. And there is an underground pass with lights and music, but I did not bother to check it even once.

But although this airport is beautiful, I don’t wish to see it again in my succeeding trips to the US eastern side, except perhaps when Detroit City is my final destination. Six times is too much actually, when I have not seen other big US international airports. Thus, I need to take other airlines perhaps, Asian airlines in particular.
-----

Additional pictures and observations today:

An elongated terminal with boarding/arrival gates on each side. It is difficult to get lost in this airport as all one has to do is take the walkalator, or the skytrain, and move from one end of the terminal to the middle or the other end.

The escalator going to the sky or elevated train station. There are 3 stations there: north, middle and south stations. The glass and steel structure makes this structure neat and nice to look around.

Inside the train. It has no pilot or operator inside, it's operated from a control panel somewhere. All it does is move from the north station to the south and back, morning till evening.

This is the train track. The train should be running at around 40-50 kph, so transfer from end to end should take just a few minutes, including a stop at the middle station.

Pinoy jokes, Part 2

2011-03-25T01:17:00.000-07:00

(1) Customer: Miss, may wi-fi ba kayo dito?
Iba-iba pero magpi-pinsan na mga sagot:

a. Jollibee/McDo cashier: Wala po sir. Meron lang kami apple fi at mango fi.
b. Pan de Pidro, Pan de Manila cashier: Wala po sir. Meron lang kami tina-fi.
c. Pizza Hut cashier: Wala po sir. Meron lang kami pizza-fi.

(2) Restaurant owner: Bakit mabilis maubos mga toothpicks natin?
Waiter: Ewan ko Sir. Kasi ako pag gumagamit ng toothpick, binabaliki ko rin dyan.

(3) Customer: Ano ba naman itong toothpick nyo, iisa na nga lang ang dali pang mabali.
Waiter (inis): Alam nyo sir, ang dami ng gumamit nyan, pero kayo lang nakabali.

(4) Learn Spanish:
1. I love my lawyer -- Yo te amo mi notario publico.
2. My girlfriend is a deodorant model -- Mi amiga es el modelo del tawas.
3. My friend failed the medical exam -- Mi amigo es albolaryo.

(5) Learn Japanese:
1. Is this your car? -- Otomoto?
2. This is my car -- Otokoto
3. What's your opinion? -- Kuro-kuro mo?
4. Speechless -- Wasabi
5. You a regular customer? -- sukikaba?
6. Thin -- purobuto
7. Handsome -- kamukhako
8. Ugly -- kamukhamo.
-----
(Note: all photos of cats here are from www.funnycatpix.com)

Some classic jokes

Wonderful school quotes:
- Don't dare talk in front of my back.
- Both of you three, get out of my class!
- Why are you so late? Say Yes or No.
- Take 5 cm wire of any length.
- I have two daughters, both girls.
- All of you, stand in a straight circle.
- Quiet! The principal just passed away!

BF to girl's Dad.
BF: I want to marry your daughter.
Dad: Do you have work?
BF: I'm a theology scholar.
Dad: Can you afford a wedding?
BF: God will provide.
Dad: What about a house, raising a family and kids' education?
BF: God will provide later.

Dad walks upstairs, wife asked,
Mom: What's the plan?
Dad: The guy is poor, shameless and he thinks I'm God!

When a male judge makes love to a woman, it's called Honorable discharge.
When a male congressman makes love to a woman, it's called Congressional insertion.
-----

More text jokes from Raoul Abreu:

Lovers' motto:
Do not do unto others
What we did last night.

Man sitting at home drinking cold beer with his wife beside him, says "I love you."
Wife: Is that you or the beer talking?
Man: No, it's me talking to the beer.

One spelling mistake can destroy a life. A husband sent this text message to his wife:
"I'm havin a wonderful time. Wish you were her."

Q: Why do men cheat and lie to their wives?
A: Because it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

They say that as women grow older, they live a more pious life.
Paayos ng mata, paayos ng mukha, paayos ng balat,...

DOM: Inday, will you marry me?
Inday: Yes!
DOM: Thank you Inday. I promise you will be the apply of my eye.
Inday: Ok lang dong, you will be my bread and butter.

Couple having sex...
Girl: Ancelmo, Ohhh Ancelmo!
Man: Lintek ka, sinong Ancelmo?
Girl: Gago! Ang cell mo, nasa pwet ko, nagba-vibrate!

Hyatt Hotel, Singapore

2011-03-10T00:24:00.000-08:00

The last time I went to Singapore was late last January this year. I was one of the panel speakers in the "Think Tanks' IPR meeting", held in Hyatt Hotel in this city. The event was organized by Prof. Julian Morris of Buckingham University, London.

My room was nice, I liked it. The bed was huge, and good, wide working area, with complimentary internet connection. If I have a speaking engagement and a good working area, chances are I will stay more time there than in my bed. And that was exactly what happened.

Nice and wide, flat tv. But as usual, between working and writing my presentation (ie, cramming to add more content to my powerpoint) and watching tv, the ratio between the two, for me, is something like 10:1 :-).

Nice, shiny bathroom. I like staying in the bathtub for a few minutes with lukewarm water. To relax, or to ponder on some of my powerpoint slides :-)

The hallway going to my room. Nice. With my work cramming then, I did not even check the hotel's swimming pool, etc. Only the lobby, restaurant, the seminar room, and my room, argh!

I thanked Julian profusely for the opportunity to speak during the forum and stay in this nice hotel.

Pinoy Jokes, Part 1

2011-03-05T01:30:00.000-08:00

Mga makabagong kasabihan (from Doods Salvador)

A. General quotes

- Ang sakit ng kalingkingan, kailangan ng alaxan.
- Kapag maikli ang kumot, tumangkad ka na.
- Better late than pregnant.
- Its better to cheat than to repeat.
- Pag di ukol, di bubukol...siya ay baog.
- Kung may isinuksok, may mabubuntis.
- Hindi lahat ng kumikinang ay ginto.. muta lang yan.
- Kapag ang puno mabunga...mataba ang lupa.
- When it rains...it floods.

B. Corny Edition

- Ang hindi marunong magmahal sa sariling wika ay lumaki sa ibang bansa.
- Beyond the clouds, are airplanes.
- Lagi nasa huli, ang matangkad.!
- Ang magkaibigan, saan man makarating, uuwi din.
- Ang iyong kakainin, sa kaldero mang-gagaling.
- Ang taong nagigipit, sa bumbay kumakapit.
- Kung kaya ng iba, ipagawa mo sa kanila.
- Hindi baleng tamad, di naman pagod.

C. Kagandahan Edition

- Aanhin mo ang ganda, kung wala ka namang Papa?
- Kung gusto mong maglandi, tiisin mo ang hapdi.
- Talbog ang matigas na tinapay sa tigas ng muka ng nagmamagandang inday.
- Mabait man daw at magaling, ang chaka chaka pa rin.
- Aanhin ang maganda, kung di naman malandi.
- Aanhin ang gwapo, kung mas malandi pa sayo.
- Ang lalaking mabilis maglakad, may hinahabol na gwapo.
- Aanhin ang sexy at magaganda - kung katabi naman ako :-)
- daig ng kati ang hapdi.

D. Ang di marunong...

- Ang di marunong magmahal sa sariling wika, sa call center naglipana.
- Ang di marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan, matigas ang leeg.
- Ang di marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan, may beke (or goiter).
-----

Ano'ng hayop ang...

Palaging olrayt -- Ox.
Palaging durog or bangag -- Hyena.
Palaging nahuhulog -- Dog!
Palaging tinatawag ng mga movie directors -- Cat!
Paborito ng mga politiko -- Croc.
Pangit -- Cow.
-----

Jokes from Raoul Abreu.

Lolo: Astig ngipin mo hijo, parang exam.
Apo: bakit lolo?
Lolo: One seat apart.
Apo: Kayo din lolo, ngipin nyo astig, parang test.
Lolo: bakit hijo?
Apo. Fill in the blanks.

Man 1: Kumusta mga anak mo?
Man 2: Panganay ko doktor, pangalawa nurse, pangatlo, yong inaanak mo, electrician, ang bunso magnanakaw.
Man 1: Haaa, bakit di mo pinalayas ang bunso?
Man 2: Heneral kasi sa AFP, malakas kumita, hehehe.

Kapag balisa ka, Relax.
Kapag inis ka, Smile.
Kapag may problema, Pray.
Kapag walang pera, Think of me.
Bakit? Kasi di ka nag-iisa.
Ang pera ko, parang Coke.
Kung hindi Sakto, Zero.

Girl 1: Nakipag break ka daw sa bf mo?
Girl 2: Oo, di kasi marunong mag-kiss. Isang style lang ang alam.... flying kiss pa!

Sa isang botika...
Man: Isang condom nga miss.
Salesgirl: Size sir.
Man: (pabulong) small lang miss.
Salesgirl: No sir, size pesos ang isa.

Reporter: Bakit ka dapat iboto?
Pacquiao: Mabuti ang bagong katulad ko, wala pang sungay.
Reporter: in English?
Pacquiao: Well, I'm brand new, I'm not horny yet.

Benefits of exercise?
1. If walking is good for your health, the postman would be immortal.
2. A whale swims all day, only eats fish, drinks water and is fat.
3. A rabbit jumps and jops but lives only 15 years max.
4. A turtle doesn't run, walks very slow yet lives up to 450 years.
To hell with exercise!

A famous inspirational speaker said:
"Best years of my life was spent in the arms of a woman who was not my wife."
Audience was in shock and in silence.
He added, "She was my mother."
Applause and laughter.
A top manager tried to crack this at home.
After a drink, he said loudly,
"Best years of my life was spent in the arms of a woman who was not my wife."
Standing for a moment, trying to recall the 2nd half, he later blurted out, "I can't recall who she was."
When he woke up, he was on a hospital bed recovering from burns of boiling water.

A man buys a lie detector ROBOT which slaps liars. He tests it at home.
Dad: Son, where were you today during school hours?
Son: At school.
Robot slaps the boy.
Son: Ok, I lied. I went to the movies.
Dad: Which one?
Son: Toy Story.
Robot slaps boy again.
Son: Ok. It was porn.
Dad: What? At your age, I didn't even know what porn was!
Robot slaps Dad.
Mom: Forgive him dear. After all, he's our son.
Robot slaps mom!

At a drugstore...
Woman: Give me some arsenic!
Pharmacist: What for!
Woman: to kill my husband!
Pharmacist: I can't do that!
She reached into her bag, pulled out out a photo of her husband in bed with the Pharmacist's wife and handed it to him.
Pharmacist: You didn't say you have a prescription!

Husband: Yesterday, a sexy girl came in my dream. What a girl she was!
Wife: She must be alone.
Husband: How do you know?
Wife: Her husband came in my dream.

Husband: Honey, you are the music of my life.
Wife: Really, why do you say that?
Husband: Because you have a Flat nose and a Sharp tongue.

A priest at Forbes Park once commented:
"When I start the mass and see the congregation, I ask myself, where are the poor? After mass, when I see the collection, I ask myself, where are the rich?"

Q: Ano tawag sa batang mahilig sa regalo?
A: Gifted child.

Man 1: Pare, tinatakot ako ng misis ko, humihingi ng sustento.
Man 2: Di ba matagal na kayong hiwalay?
Man 1: Yun nga eh. Pag di daw ako magbigay, babalik daw sya sa akin!

Mrs.: Honey, bago mo ko naging asawa, ilan ang chicks mo?
Mr.: Seselos ka lang, hwag na.
Mrs.: Sige na!
Mr.: Kulit mo ah. O sige. There was 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ikaw, then 7, 8,...

Dok: May taning na ang buhay mo.
Patient: Wala na bang pag-asa dok? Ano pa pwede ko gawin?
Dok: Meron pa. Mag asawa ka ng pangit at bungangera.
Patient: Gagaling po ba ako don?
Dok: Hindi, pero mas gugustuhin mo pang mamatay kesa mabuhay!

Erap: 5 ang kabit ko ngayon!
Chavit: Magaganda ba at seksi?
Erap: Oo, at magkakamukha sila.
Chavit: Magkakapatid?
Erap: Hindi. Pare-parehong mukhang pera!

Anak: Tay, meron ba tayong kamag-anak na mahirap?
Tatay: Meron, pero di ko kilala.
Anak: Eh kamag-anak na mayaman?
Tatay: Meron, pero di tayo kilala!

Quote: Money is relative. More money, more relatives. :-)

Sydney airport

2010-10-27T02:43:00.000-07:00

These are my photos when I was departing Sydney, October 3, 2010. I did not take photos when I arrived at the airport, September 28. I arrived there around 6:30 or 7am, was still groggy and sleepy after my evening flight from Manila and a transfer at Brisbane airport.

The main information booth. Well, if you have your itinerary or plane ticket and you just check the big billboard at the background, indicating the schedule of departure flights, no need to approach this booth.

A big passenger lounge, different from the departure lounge at each boarding gate. This is in the middle of the terminal, after passing the immigration, if I remember it right. There are many shops surrounding this lounge.

Another huge billboard for departing passengers. It is difficult to lose your way as the signs are very clear, so long as you know which gate to board your flight.

And shops, shops all around. The shops are silently whispering, "Hey, before you leave Sydney airport, come on in."

One shop is selling these traditional instruments by the aborigines. Colorful and shiny.

Oh my, more shops to pass by before going to your departure gate.

On certain days of the week, there are no Sydney-Manila flights, even via Brisbane. My flight that day was Sydney - HongKong (via Qantas), then Hong Kong - Manila (via Cathay, a partner airline of Qantas). I was in a hurry to fly back home, my wife was already in the hospital, about to give birth to our second child. So even a longer flight via HK was ok with me then.

I was very happy to see Sydney. Thanks again to the sponsors of the conference that I attended there, especially the Americans for Tax Reforms.

Sheraton on the Park, Sydney

2010-10-26T01:15:00.000-07:00

It was my first time to see Australia, wow. I went there to participate in the 4th Pacific Rim Policy Exchange, September 28-30, 2010. The event was mainly sponsored by the Americans for Tax Reforms. I was one of the speakers in one of the panel discussions there.

The hotel is just across the huge Hyde Park in central Sydney. It is walking distance to many beautiful places like the Sydney Opera House, Darling Harbour, etc. The park itself is already a good tourist destination. Sydney is really beautiful.

My room, my bed, wow, really cool! But since I was a speaker in the conference and I always cram my presentation, I did not maximize sleeping in this very comfortable bed. I slept just a few hours instead.

My work area is also cool. Wide, flat tv near it, but I did not open the tv much. I did not have complimentary internet access in my room, but there are plenty of free wifi area in the hotel, at the lobby, at the 2nd floor, etc.

See the bathroom, really cool! As usual, I like the bath tub, dip there for several minutes to relax, or to ponder about some slides in my powerpoint presentation. But I did not see the hotel's swimming pool. I was busy with reading and writing, going out and see the city, etc.

I thanked Grover Norquist, President of ATR (right in this photo; between us was Peter Wong, Executive Director of the Lion Rock Institute, Hong Kong), and Kelsey Zahourek, Executive Director of the Property Rights Alliance (PRA), another sponsor of the conference, for the travel grant they gave to me to participate in the said conference.

Brisbane airport, Australia

2010-10-21T02:01:00.000-07:00

My first time to see Australia. I was going to Sydney to attend a conference. I took Qantas Air, left Manila airport September 27 evening, around 8 or 9pm I think. Qantas has no direct Manila-Sydney flight that day, I have to change plane at Brisbane, and that's how I got into this airport.

My plane landed at Brisbane airport the next day around 4.30 or 5am. The immigration area here. The airport should be open 24 hours, but there are very few arriving passengers at such time of the day.

Hallway going to the baggage claim area. We have to get our checked in bags and move to another gate for the flight to Sydney.

Duty free shops area. Very few shops were open at such time. Nonetheless, the whole area was well-lighted.

Baggage claim area.

Going to another gate for the flight to Sydney, I passed by these artworks. Perhaps about the aborigines of Australia.

Sultan Hotel, Jakarta

2010-10-20T00:41:00.000-07:00

My first time to set foot in Jakarta, Indonesia. I went there to participate in the Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia Annual Conference, October 7-8, 2010, held at Sultan Hotel. The event was sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF).

The hotel is a bit old but it's big. It also has a wide parking space, other outdoor facilities. This is the lobby of the hotel.

I went there to be one of the moderators of several panel discussions. The theme of the conference was "Migration and Freedom". I saw many friends there from the Asian free market network.

This is my room, nice comfortable bed. The tv was the old, thick model, not the slick and thin flat tv yet. My working area was fine, we had complimentary internet connection in the room.

One of the many hallways going to various seminar/conference rooms, or to the ballrooms. The hotel is really huge, I got lost in some of the hallways going back to my room :-)

The hotel also has several restaurants, in the basement, on the ground floor, the second floor, I don't know where else.

There was a painting exhibit during our stay. I don't know how often such exhibits are held in that hotel. But the paintings are beautiful, they must be expensive.

Notice the wide hallway, this is going to one of the side entrances of the hotel. The painting exhibits made the hallway more lighted.

Extension of the painting exhibits near the hotel lobby.

I thanked the organizers of the EFN Conference and the FNF, especially Jyoti Sachavirawong, for the travel grant to Jakarta, for the opportunity to participate in the conference, and for moderating a panel discussion with two bright minds as speakers, Aco Patunru from Indonesia and Zubair Malik from Pakistan.

Jakarta airport

2010-10-19T01:57:00.000-07:00

My first time to visit Indonesia, really. I've been to Kuala Lumpur twice, Singapore, about 3x or 4x, but never been to Jakarta before. So I was very happy for the opportunity.

Jakarta airport is more like Manila's NAIA terminal 1, the old but main international airport terminal. Jakarta airport is a little bigger than terminal 1. Of course if we combine the international sections of terminal 2 (exclusively used by PAL) and terminal 3 (mainly used by Cebu Pacific), the combined floor space of those 3 terminals in Manila airport should be bigger.

Hallway for exiting passengers, going to the arrival area. Unlike the glass and steel structure of modern airports, here it's an enclosed wall of cement, except the departure lounge.

The duty free shops and food shops. Not too many shops because the terminal is not big, but nonetheless, one can buy a number of souvenir items there.

Baggage claim area.

Immigration area for departing passengers. Big difference with the Manila airport: in Jakarta airport, the immigration area has short lines. Well, when I was flying back to Manila, there was no line actually, I went straight to the immigration officer. I was out of his booth in about a minute or less.

Well, one advantage of having a Philippine passport and if one is traveling to any ASEAN member-country like Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, etc. No need for a visa for visits of 30 days or less. The immigration officers are more friendly to passport holders of their fellow ASEAN member countries.

Sydney, Australia

2010-09-28T23:49:00.000-07:00

Today is my first time to set foot in Australia, the country and the continent. I am here to attend the 4th Pacific Rim Policy Exchange that will start tonight and proceed for the next two days. The event is jointly sponsored by the Americans for Tax Reforms (ATR), Property Rights Alliance (PRA), Heartland Institute (these 3 are US-based) and the Institute for Public Affairs (IPA-Australia).

Travel time from Manila to Brisbane (brief stop over) is about 6:45 hours. Brisbane to Sydney is about 1:20 hour. Australia’s immigration procedure is very quick and efficient, the officers never ask what’s my purpose in going to Australia, they just looked at my passport, Australian visa, and the immigration/customns report card, and I was done in about 2 minutes starting from queuing.

It’s Australia’s customs and quarantine that is very strict. From the start of queuing until I got out, probably 25 to 30 minutes. I already indicated in the immigration/customs report card that I did not bring any cigarette, alcoholic drinks, other commercial items, but still they ask verbally if I have cigarettes in my luggage, what’s inside, I said clothes and books. Then the last part, all bags – except cameras and laptops – have to pass through an X-ray machine again to see any prohibited items. The prohibited items are long – not guns, ammo or bombs – but fresh flowers, fruits, insects, hidden pets, cigarettes, alcoholic drinks, etc. Then there are also items that you may bring in but you have to declare to the quarantine – like surf boards, scuba diving gears, etc.

The trains are efficient. I took the double deck city train, looks old but fast. From international airport to St. James station is about 18 minutes, fare is A$14. From St. James station, our hotel, Sheraton on the Park, is only about 50 meters walk. Nice location of the hotel, it’s in front of the huge Hyde Park.

I toured the park along with fellow conference participants from Lahore, Pakistan, Khalil Ahmad (Alternate Solutions Institute) and Jose Tapia from Lima, Peru (ILE, Institute for Free Enterprise). From the park, to Sydney botanical garden, to Sydney opera house, back to the CBD and back to the hotel. We passed by McDonald's for a late lunch. Sydney is indeed expensive judging from their McDo price compared to McDo in Manila and other Asian cities.

Ok, the opening cocktails should start in a few minutes, gotta go. Will meet more friends from other countries, and especially the conference organizers.

Lemons and flight cancellations

2010-05-27T01:09:00.000-07:00

I have discussed earlier my experience in two flight cancellations with Delta. Here are my other observations.

1. In my original itinerary of 9 flights (or 9 boarding passes) from Manila to the US and back, Delta was on time in 8 out of 8 flights, up to my Atlanta to Narita flight. So Delta was doing well in serving its passengers.

2. Delta crew did not explain clearly to us passengers what went wrong with the plane when our Atlanta-Narita flight turned back and landed in Minneapolis. I think we were already over Canada-Alaska border when it made a U-turn. Upon landing at Minneapolis airport, I knew there was some mechanical trouble as I saw at least 2 firetrucks and 2 ambulances with sirens blaring that seemed to be waiting for us.

3. I heard from some fellow passengers that they heard from some crew, that the plane won’t fly high. I also thought that if airport controllers in Narita would know that the plane has some mechanical trouble, they may not allow the plane to land as any accident on the runway will directly affect its very busy airport, with lot of planes landing and taking off.

4. For our overnight stay in Minneapolis last May 23, Delta spent the following:
a) hotel, perhaps $150 (with breakfast)
b) dinner voucher, $12/passenger
c) overnight kit (t-shirt, toothbrush/toothpaste, hairbrush, etc.)
d) coupon discount of $100/passenger if we purchase another Delta plane ticket in the future.

For me, it was a good arrangement. Lucky that I have no important activity to do in Manila the next day after my scheduled arrival.

5. The next day on our new flight, Minneapolis to Narita, Delta did not assign enough staff at the check-in and boarding area. Our scheduled flight that day was 11 am. We arrived at the airport 9am, after some security check, we started queuing at gate G4, departure lounge. The line was long. Earlier, there were only 3 or 4 Delta staff processing the issuance of new boarding passes. About 10:20am, they added 1 or 2 more staff as the line was still long and boarding should have started already. I got my new boarding pass around 10:40am (or I queued for 1 ½ hrs), they added a 6th staff then. All in all, our plane left the gate around 1pm, 2 hours delayed.

6. Minneapolis-Atlanta flight, zero hitch. Delta crew reiterated their apologies for our delayed flight. They pampered us with lots of drinks, so long as you request from them. For instance, I got two extra cans of beer, instead of just one. One lady requested several glasses of red wine, she got drunk. She got naughty, touching other people’s hair, I saw she even touched the butt of one female crew. I saw one tall black guy watching at her. Later, the crew transferred her to another seat and another black guy, this time much bigger, occupied her seat. When she returned to her seat, the man kept watching at her. I assume that those 2 guys and perhaps more, are US marshals who guard each international flight of US airlines.

7. Horror and dismay resumed when we landed at Narita. We queued once again, to get a new boarding pass to Manila. There was already a notice that Delta flight to Manila is over-booked as the flight to Manila the previous day was cancelled. The plane that came from Atlanta was supposed to be the plane that will go to Manila. This time though, lots of confusion and discontent happened.

8. Delta prioritized those who were stranded the previous day in Narita. For us Manila-bound passengers from Minneapolis who just arrived, Delta booked us to several airlines. Some chose to get Delta flight two days later, others were accommodated in Delta flight the next day.

9. Delta at first showed some insensitivity. They wanted us to take Singapore Airlines’ 6:40pm (5:40pm Singapore time), Narita-Singapore flight, arrive Singapore 1:15am, then take Singapore Air’s 5:45am Singapore-Manila flight. They gave that boarding pass to me. Whaaatttt???? After almost 12 hours of Minneapolis-Narita flight, 2 hours queuing at Narita airport, take another 7 ½ hrs flight to Singapore, then stay for 3-4 hrs at Singapore airport, then take 4 hours flight to Manila? That’s a very tiring trip.

10. I and many other Filipino passengers protested at such plan, they gave us that itinerary and boarding pass without consulting us first if we would like that kind of plan. Later the Delta staff in Narita, about 7 of them, all Japanese, rebooked us. Some were to take JAL, Singapore air, or PAL the next day. The plan to book us at PAL seemed to be a last choice for Delta. It prioritized Singapore Air despite the lousy and long flight. From Japan, fly overhead Manila to land at Singapore, then fly again to go to Manila, really not a wise plan.

11. My (and other Filipino passengers’) total queuing time at Delta’s connecting flight station in Narita was 3 hours. Later we filled up the Japan immigration form as we will get a “shore pass” visa, get out of the airport, and go to Radisson Hotel in Chiba, not far from the airport.

One will experience fatigue in various queuing, transfer to a hotel, check out of the hotel and go back to the airport. That’s lemon. The only consolation is that I have checked-in in two hotels (Embassy Suites in Minnesota, then Radisson Hotel in Chiba) for free, got out of Minnesota and Narita airports for the first time, and I saw Japan on the ground again. That’s making lemonade out of lemons .

The fist and last time I set foot on Japan outside of its airport was in 2004, in Nagoya, when our Nagoya-Manila evening flight was cancelled as it was too late for the airport to allow our plane to take off by midnight.

12. Delta put us in business class in PAL for our Narita-Manila flight, wow! I enjoyed the wide space, lots of food, drink and music.

13. When we arrived yesterday in Manila via PAL (terminal 2), the first thing we looked for was our bag/s that we checked-in at Atlanta airport. PAL airport staff said we should go to terminal 1 where Delta lands. At terminal 1 baggage release section, we could not find our bags! We went to Delta office at the 4th floor. The staff there were friendly and helpful, but they are helpless in locating our bags either. I was told that they traced my bag and it’s still in Singapore airport. They gave us their office number and told us to call the next day, hoping that 2 Delta flights from Narita would bring our bags.

14. Today, I called up Delta operations office at terminal 1. Hard to make a call as the numbers were always busy. They should be swamped by various callers from previously stranded flights. When the phone was later picked up, I was told by a young helpful lady staff that my bag is still in Singapore. Now I figure it out: when Delta staff in Narita gave me my boarding pass of that lousy itinerary with Singapore Air which I rejected, the ground crew may have already loaded my bag to that Singapore Air plane.

So I will call again tomorrow and hope that I will finally get my bag.

Many people think that being a “jet-setter” is a wonderful experience. Yes sir, it is. But when you encounter flight delays, if not flight cancellations, you become helpless, you get tired, you become desperate to get the next closest flight that can bring you to your final destination.

In my case, I could make a lemonade out of lemons that came my way. For other passengers though, like the Filipina-American guy couple who only had 7 days stay in Manila then fly back to the US, a delayed arrival of almost 3 days + further delay in getting their check-in bags, it’s a big loss.

Embassy Suites at Bloomington, Minneapolis

2010-05-27T00:45:00.000-07:00

With the cancellation of our Atlanta-Narita flight and our plane landed in Minneapolis/St. Paul airport last May 23, Delta booked us (about 400 stranded passengers) in different hotels. I was among those who went to Embassy Suites at Bloomington. We arrived there late, around 9:30pm.

The hotel looks like a medium-rise cube from the outside but inside, it’s a beautiful structure with an 8-storey-high roof with a fountain at the base.

And this the view from the top (8th) floor. In front of the fountain is the lobby and check-in area. The fountain is bordered by coffee tables around it and flowers. Nice view.

Not far from the fountain is the bar, where we took our late night dinner. Delta gave us $12 dinner voucher. The cheapest food is a sandwich for $11 but it’s big enough for 2 people perhaps. Beer is at $4.50.

Now to my bed… homey 2 beds with 2 large mirrors on the side and a wide flat tv in front. Very comforting and inviting to relax or sleep. Internet connection in the room though is not free, $10.50++ for 24 hours. No need to pay for that service as I only need an hour or less and there is also a free internet at the business center beside the check-in area.

What I like further in my room is that there is a sala, with another flat tv. There is a dinner table and mini-kitchen in the sala. This is the view upon entry at the door.

There is also a pool and sauna at the ground floor. I do not know how much is the room rate per night (with free breakfast) in this hotel, maybe $150 as it is not in a downtown area and there are no commercial establishments beside it. But it sure is a good and spacious place to stay.

Radisson hotel, Narita

2010-05-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

This hotel is about 20 minutes from Narita-Tokyo international airport by car or hotel bus. Situated in a non-crowded area, so it has a wide space. The entrance is perhaps 50 meters away from the main road. I checked in here last night, along with other stranded Manila-bound passengers from Delta Air.

The lobby is wide, spacious, high ceiling, and not crowded. The hotel staff are very efficient and very fast in processing incoming guests. Upon presenting my passport, boarding pass for tomorrow and the hotel guest form, I was out of the check in area in less than 2 minutes, the staff gave me my room card and 2 meal vouchers for buffet dinner and buffet breakfast.

There is a flowery lounge next to the lobby. The flowers are colorful and growing robustly.

The elevator is very quiet, and has a nice glass design ceiling, like this.

My room, ahhh, another big and comfortable bed! If my family were with me, I’m sure my daughter will like this bed, for her to jump-jump-jump like a trampoline. A flat tv beside it, Toshiba – at least not Korean tv, as in the case of most hotels in the US.

My working table. With free internet, wow! On this table, there’s a sign, “Our goal at Radisson is 100% Guest Satisfaction…” For me, I am 101 percent satisfied!

Japan and Korea, being technology-advanced countries, are known for their hi-tech toilet bowl. I remember when I went to Seoul in 2006, the toilet bowl has several buttons – to clean our behind. One can choose to use cold or warm water, one- or multi-direction water cleaner of our behind, a warmer bowl seal or not, all through buttons. That was very impressive for me.

Here, the buttons are on one side, not on the seat bowl. Pretty neat! One can choose the strength of the water spout from his/her behind – weak, strong, stronger… Really cool!

Our buffet dinner last night was impressive. I assume the buffet breakfast later this morning will be equally impressive. Really a wonderful way to start the day, and perhaps start another round of queuing again in the airport?

10 boarding passes in 12 days...

2010-05-25T08:09:00.000-07:00

The past few days were possibly my busiest and craziest foreign travel experience. I took Delta Airlines. To accumulate more mileage. The sponsor of my conference in Chicago, Heartland Institute, paid for my plane fare and hotel there.

May 15, 2010:
1) Manila – Narita/Tokyo; change plane
2) Narita – Minneapolis, Minnesota; US immigration, re-check baggage
3) Minneapolis – Chicago, Illinois; attend a conference May 16-18

May 18:
4) Chicago – Detroit, Michigan; visited a Filipino friend in Monroe, he toured me around Detroit city

May 20:
5) Detroit – Atlanta, Georgia; change plane
6) Atlanta – Houston, Texas; visit another Filipino friend

May 23:
7) Houston – Atlanta; change plane,
8) Atlanta – Narita; on the way back to Manila

Plane encountered some mechanical troubles, made a U-turn when it was probably above the Canada-Alaska border, went back to Minneapolis. So the flight became Atlanta – Minneapolis.

Delta brought us in some hotels in the city. I went to Embassy Suites in Bloomington, Minn. Nice hotel. We arrived there around 9:30pm, had dinner and rested. Checked out 8:30am after breakfast the next day.

May 24:
9) Minneapolis – Narita; arrived Narita 3pm of May 25, 400+ passengers on a B747.
Narita – Manila was over-booked as the flight yesterday was cancelled, our plane that came from Atlanta was supposed to be the plane that will go to Manila.

May 25: we were stranded again in Tokyo. Delta brought us to Radisson hotel, not far from the airport.

May 26:
10) Narita – Manila; via Philippine Airlines (PAL).

My consolations in those 2 days of aborted flights were the following.

a) I was able to get out of the Minneapolis airport (yesterday was my 3rd landing/arrival in that airport), stayed in a nice hotel.

b) I was able to get out of Narita airport today for the first time (landed and departed from this airport several times, at least 8x), had a “shore pass” Japan immigration in my passport, and stayed at an even nicer hotel, Radisson.

There’s a saying, “When life gives you lemon, make a lemonade”.
The past 2 days, I just did that 

The various queuing though, were very tiring:

i) Get a hotel and dinner voucher in Minneapolis airport, May 23 (about 1 ½ hours).
ii) Get a new boarding pass at Minneapolis airport to go to Narita, May 24 (almost 2 hours).
iii) Get a new plane booking and boarding pass for flight the next day + hotel booking, Narita airport, May 25 (about 3 hours).

Johnson space center, Houston

2010-05-23T02:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my hosts in this city, Ronald and Glo, brought me to the Johnson space center in Houston, Texas. This facility maintains the control system for NASA, as well as training ground for astronauts. I was very curious to see the rockets used by NASA in the past, especially the Apollo where 3 American astronauts, Scott Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Collins were the first humans to set foot on the moon, sometime in December 1969.

This is the entrance to the facility, replica of two small airplanes.

There was an audio tour of the control panel during Apollo trips to the moon, but it did not interest me much. Then the tour continued.

This time, to the real rockets. Here’s the smaller rocket

And the bigger one.

But the “main event” is the visit to Saturn V, a huge multi-stage liquid-fuel expendable rocket used by NASA’s Apollo and Skylab programs in the late 60s to mid-70s. Here’s the view from the outside.

And inside, a giant reclining space vehicle is displayed. View from the rear.

And view from the front.

A visitor from Manila posing at Saturn V’s rear rockets :-)

Beside the giant rocket are pictures and brief chronology of NASA’s space programs during that time.

I like these 3 guys – Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins. Hoopss, there’s a 4th man, a non-astronaut :-)

At the main entrance after getting the ticket (about $20 perhead), there are play areas for children, like this one.

Or a huge game, “clone wars”.

Thank you Glo, Ronald, for that wonderful tour.

Chicago’s Marriott Magnificant Mile

2010-05-15T23:47:00.000-07:00

Back in Chicago! Arrived here several hours ago from Manila. My first and last time to be in Chicago was in late April 2004 and my recollection of the city now is a bit hazy.

I came here to attend the 4th International Conference on Climate Change (4th ICCC) sponsored by the Heartland Institute (www.heartland.org) which will start tomorrow here at the Marriott Magnificent Mile, downtown Chicago. It’s a big and tall hotel although the lobby is not very big. There’s a bar in the middle with 6 TVs on 3 different channels, and all the few tables are filled with people unwinding the day.

While Heartland will pay for my room accommodation for 3 nights, I will have to pay for the incidentals – in case I will make a phone call, or use the internet in the room, etc. Since I don’t have a credit card, I said I will just make a cash deposit. I was expecting they would require a deposit of something like $75 to $100 a day, but they required only $20/day. Thanks!

My room will be on the 27th floor. I took the “low floors” elevator that run from the lobby to the 28th floor. The “high floors” elevator would run on the 29th to 46th floors. Inside the elevator are lighted pictures of the restaurants and bars in this hotel. And there’s a small tv monitor that flashes some news updates. So guests can get entertained even while riding the elevator!

Marriott NY Marquis, where the 2nd ICCC was held last year, also has the same fast elevators with tv screen inside, flashing some news updates.

This is my bed. Nice and very comfortable. Should be nice to rest and sleep here.

And here’s my table, nice to read and write here. But oopss, the flat tv is also very enticing. Upon opening the tv, it was “Bourne Ultimatum” that was shown on one channel. If I didn’t watch that movie, I would have posted this note much earlier. :-)

From my room, there’s a good view of Ohio Ave, a busy street. It’s Saturday evening (around 7:30pm and see the high traffic volume. Which means that on regular working days, the traffic build up could be a kilometer long or more?

And here are some of the buildings on one side of the building, view from the 27th floor.

After the movie, I went outside and walked a few blocks. The hotel driveway is also not big. Notice the limousine outside which perhaps can’t fit in the driveway curve. That limo is waiting for me. Hehehe.

A building next to the hotel has a Harley Davidson motorbikes shop.

I have not explored the hotel yet, like the meeting and function rooms, swimming pool, etc. Will do that tomorrow. For now, posting this note at the hotel lobby with free wifi. And after that, time to go back to bed and zzzzzz….

Mayflower hotel, Washington DC

2009-11-08T19:12:00.000-08:00

Finally reached my hotel, 4 hours ago. It's nice, the lobby is not so big but elegant and bright. Here's the hallways, 4th floor, to my room.

From the time I entered Manila airport (NAIA) yesterday until the time I got out of the Reagan DC Airport, it was exactly 24 hours. But this is shorter than my previous trips to NY (last March) and Atlanta (April '08) of 27 hours, also via Northwest. Both via Narita-Detroit. Today, it's via Narita-Minneapolis/St. Paul. The waiting time for my connecting flight at Narita was short, less than 30 minutes after coming out of the Narita security check. Also the waiting time at Minneapolis for the flight to DC was also short, only about 1 hour. In my earlier trips via Detroit, there was a long waiting time in-between connecting flights.

Renaissance Mayflower Hotel will be the venue of the Atlas’ 2009 Freedom dinner and conference that will start tomorrow until Tuesday noon. Then there will be an Atlas’ Think Tank 101 seminar after that until Wednesday.

Below is my bed, it looks very comfortable and very nice to sleep. Unfortunately, I have other things to do tonight, so I will still cut some sleep and enjoy the bed only for a few hours this evening.

The TV is nice, but it’s not a flat tv yet. Maybe they have flat tv in luxury and more expensive rooms. Not a problem for me either, as I won’t watch tv either.

Outside my room, nothing much to see. There's an office building probably 10 storeys high.

Btway, outside the Reagan airport, I went to the super shuttle. I waited for more than 10 minutes as their staff was busy coordinating a ride for a group of travellers on a seminar or what. They said that the fare is $14. I got impatient, I went to the taxi. I queued for only about 2 minutes. The hotel is within the 4.5 miles zone fromu the airport. It was a short drive (well, it's a Sunday early evening), and I paid $16 or $2 more for a faster, no hassle ride.

SAN MIGUEL (Sa Aming Nayon, May Isang Grupo...)

2009-09-13T22:59:00.000-07:00

For those who still reminisce the old bottle (circa 80s) of San Miguel beer pale pilsen, here's one heart-melting story, really dramatic :-)

In that old SMBeer bottle, the print in the bottle were as follows:

PALE PILSEN
SAN MIGUEL
EXPERTLY BREWED
PALE PILSEN
AND BOTTLED BY
SAN MIGUEL BREWERY
PHILIPPINES
NET CONTENTS 320 ML

Here now is the story. Each letter of those words meant something. This is a product of many nights of drinking beer with so many friends 2 decades ago :-)

(1) PALE PILSEN
Pag
Ang
Labanan
E

Pabilisan
Ingat
Lang
Sapagkat
Etong
Nangyari.

(2) SAN MIGUEL
Sa
Aming
Nayon

May
Isang
Grupo
Uminom
E
Lasing

(3) EXPERTLY BREWED
Erbe (beer) at
X Ekis (gin)
Pinaghalo
Eh
Rindi
Talagang
Lasingan
Yan

Bawat
Round
E
War freak
Eh
Di

(4) PALE
PILSEN
Pati
Ako
Lasing
Eh

P____
Ina
Lasing
Sila
Enjoy
Na

(5) AND BOTTLED BY
Ang
Nangyari
Dito

Bawat
Order
Trouble
Talagang
Lasing
Eh
Dumampot

Buti
Yelo

(6) SAN MIGUEL BREWERY
Sampu
Ang
Naupakan

May
Isang
Gago
Umeksena
Eh
Loko

Binanatan
Rumesbak
Eh
Walang
Enabutan
Riot
Yan

(7) PHILIPPINES
Pati
Hostess
Inupakan
Lahat
Inupakan
Pati
Pulis
Inupakan
Nahuli
Eh
Stockade

(8) NET CONTENTS 320 ML
Ngayon
Etong
Tangang

COnstabulary
Nakatulog
Tangengot
Eh
Nakatakas
Tumuloy
Sauna
320
Masahe
Lang.

hehehe.

Hampton Inn, Daly City

2009-05-03T23:35:00.000-07:00

April 29-30, 2009

Kris wanted me to be closer to SF City as Rocklin is nearly 3 hours away from this big city. She asked her provincemate from Laguna, Ronnie de Luna, to find me a good and cheap hotel. Ronnie works at Hilton SF, he reserved me a room at Hampton Inn, Daly City. It’s a sister company of Hilton.

The hotel is about 15 minutes walk from Daly City BART station. It’s not big but nice and clean. Ronnie got a big discount, an employee discount. But it was Kris who paid for my hotel for 2 days, such a very kind friend!

It has 4 storeys, the lobby is on the 3rd floor. My room was on the 2nd floor. Big and spacious bed, wide table, wide toilet, wide screen (but not yet flat) tv, I like that place. I don’t know if internet was really free, but Ronnie secured a complimentary internet connection for me. It was a blessing because on my 2nd day at the hotel, I was supposed to roam around SF city, but my tummy wasn’t fine, so have to stay the whole day in my room, composed and posted the various travel notes, read newspapers, watched tv and rested.

There is a complimentary breakfast – bread, fruits, fruit juices, coffee, etc.
For someone looking for a comfortable place to stay, cheap and near the airport (it’s between SF city and the SF international airport), this hotel is good.

Oyster Point fishing Pier, SF Bay

2009-05-03T23:03:00.000-07:00

May 1, 2009

On my last day in SF, my new friend Ronnie de Luna, brought me along to their fishing-bonding event with his fellow Filipino staff at Hilton SF. We went to Oyster Point Fishing Pier, near Daly City. This place is made from reclaimed land. It’s not far from the SF airport, so from the pier, you can see the planes landing and taking off.

There are hundreds of boat docked nearby. Ronnie explained that when you go fishing on a boat, you need a license from the government. If you go fishing at the pier, no need to secure a license.

There’s another group of fishermen-hobbyists on the outermost part of the pier. Some of the guys there nearly caught really huge fishes, their fishing rod would be bending hard, it took them minutes to pull the struggling fish in the water. After several minutes of “struggle”, the fish would escape as the fishing line would break or be cut.

One guy caught a stingray. The same long “fight” to bring up the fish. When the stingray was finally hauled up, it was still flapping its wings and wanted to get away, it was making a noise that seemed like it was crying. I pitied the fish. The guys removed the hookline on the fish’ tongue or inner throat, pulled it and dragged it into the edge of the pier and threw it back into the water! The fish immediately swam away.

Ronnie lent me a small fishing rod, I was able to catch one medium-sized fish, nice thrill. By early afternoon, strong winds accompanied the rain showers, we packed up and went home. I was very thankful to Ronnie and his pals – “Kapitan” for the ride, Rey and his wife.

Amtrak trains

2009-04-30T18:20:00.000-07:00

(this picture from http://studenttravel.about.com/)

When I moved from Rocklin-Roseville to SF yesterday, I took the Amtrak (Roseville to Sacramento by bus, Sacramento to Emeryville by train, then Emeryville to SF by bus). The Amtrak buses look more modern than the Greyhound buses. It was also good that the bus driver from Roseville to Sacramento was a Filipino. Had a brief chat with him before I went to the train.

This is the first time that I will take the Amtrak. I thought that Amtrak trains are ugly compared to the trains in Europe, because Americans are generally car drivers, not train riders. So when I boarded the train, I was surprised that it was nice and spacious inside. I rode on the upper deck. The seats are clean. I sat on chairs with a table.

Though these seats with a table are spacious, the legroom is not as wide as those in the InterCity Express (ICE) trains in Germany. In terms of speed, Amtrak trains are slow, may 100 or 100+ kph, partly because they are heavy, have double decks, while the ICE can run up to 300 kph.

Riding on the upper deck is nice, wider view of the scenery outside. I won’t see or appreciate those sceneries if I ride a car because there are plenty of trees that can block the view.

When you board the train without a ticket, the conductor will charge a 50 percent surcharge. Well I got my ticket one day before.

Greyhound Bus

2009-04-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

In April 2004, I took this bus from Washington DC to Blacksburg, Virginia. The trip was about 8 hours long. It was a good sightseeing activity. Nice to see Virginia’s other cities and rural landscape. I was also surprised to see some drivers in the cars overtaking us, they were holding the steering wheel but their feet were curled up or somewhere else except the accelerator pedal! I was informed later by a friend that cars in the US have sort of a “speed lock”, so drivers don’t worry about speeding or slowing, they just hold the steering wheel.

Last April 29, I took the Greyhound bus again, my 2nd time, from LA to Roseville in northern California, 1:30am trip. Fare was $58, purchased a day before. The same purpose – sight seeing, plus the fare is cheaper.

Greyhound buses in general look old. There’s another bus line I saw in the terminal, Glucero, they look more modern. Well, at least it looks comfortable inside the Greyhound, and there’s a toilet at the back of the bus.

The bus made several stops, 5 minutes on average on smaller cities or towns. Then we stopped for 30 minutes at Fresno. It seems to be a big city. Then the long stop is at Sacramento, about 1:45 minutes, where we got off and waited for another bus that will take me to Roseville. My bus was going to Reno, Nevada. From Sacramento to Roseville, it was only about 35 minutes. At Roseville station, my friend Kris came shortly after. I will stay in their house in Rocklin for 2 days.

The buses run slow, but they always leave on time, they also arrive on time. They are also often not fully occupied.

Hyatt Regency, LA

2009-04-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

April 24-25, 2009

The Atlas Liberty Forum 2009 was held in this hotel. It’s on a fancy street name called “Avenue of the Stars”. There are just a few high rise buildings in this area where the hotel is located. On its back though, there is a big mall and shopping center.

Being a travel grantee, I shared a room with Dan O'Connor, he's an American working at the Lion Rock Institute in Hong Kong. Our room was on the 16th floor. Each room in the hotel, those facing the Avenue of the Stars, have a veranda, nice view outside.

The lobby is wide, a bar greets visitors at the entrance, the concierge is on the left side. The swimming pool is at the back of the building in an open space, the conference rooms and sort of "tent" are on the next floor below.

The "foyer" looks cool. Beside it is the grand ballroom, a huge area. The opening dinner speaker was Mr. Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico.

The hotel is of course expensive. I didn't ask for the rate, my room was paid for. Since I didn't have a credit card, I made a cash deposit in case of incidentals (phone calls, food or drinks consumption in the room, internet use in the room, etc.). Their rate is $100/day. I didn't use any, so I got back my $200 deposit.

One of the bell boys is a Filipino. He suggested I can have free internet access at the lobby, great! I composed my articles in my room, go down the lobby and send it out, also check my emails.

It's nice to find Filipinos in foreign places, they can give you some tips on many things.

Hollywood, LA

2009-04-29T02:44:00.000-07:00

(Facade from the movie, "Lord of the Rings")

After the Atlas Liberty Forum, my friend from my university days, Joey Dayao, picked me up from my hotel last April 26, and toured me around many interesting places in Los Angeles. It was my first time to move around and see that city, aside from my trip from LA airport (LAX) to the conference venue.

Joey brought me to the expensive neighborhood of LA’s rich people like Hollywood’s top actors and actresses, Playboy publishers, etc. Then the UCLA campus, then the city proper. It was good that it was a Sunday, so there was no traffic congestion in the city. Then the Hollywood district. I told Joey a number of jokes while he was driving me around.

We got hungry, he brought me to the Hooters restaurant, where the attending ladies are wearing skimpy shirts and shorts. There was one Filipina there, a Taiwanese lady, and I think the rest are all Americans. One American lady approached us, Joey and I had pictures with her.

The “look alike” guys in the Hollywood street were attracting attention from tourists and visitors. There were the Spiderman, Pirates of the Caribbean, Friday the 13th, the Transformers, other characters. The Transformer seemed to be the most popular as it was getting lots of people who wanted their photos taken beside him. Look-alike characters make money from the tips of people having their photos taken with them.

In the evening, Joey and I visited another friend from UP ETC, Jim Villar. Jim's house is not far from Joey's. Jim immediately pulled a camera. This photo is from him. Then he asked me if I wanted rhum-coke or tequila, I said beer, he didn't have one, so I chose tequila. Then the exchange of jokes and stories back home started.

When old friends meet after several years, the exchange of stories, jokes and lessons in life can be endless. We went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, later we saw that we were the only customers left, the restaurant staff were cleaning the tables and floor, and it was already 11pm.

We packed up as I also have to go to the Greyhound bus station to catch my midnight trip to Roseville, CA via Sacramento.

Atlas Liberty Forum, LA

2009-04-29T02:19:00.000-07:00

The forum was held April 24-25 at Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, LA. This would be the 3rd Atlas Liberty Forum that I have attended. The first was in Chicago in 2004, the second was in Atlanta in 2008. The liberty forum is held annually by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation to gather leaders of free market-oriented think tanks, public policy institutes, and some academics and individuals who are thinking of putting up their own think tanks or research NGO. In those 3 liberty forum that I attended, the most important lesson that I gained was the networking with new and old friends. The discussion panels on certain topics were helpful too, but it's the networking during coffee and lunch break, opening and closing cocktails, and small meetings that are very helpful.

Here with Peter Holle of FCCP-Canada, Jo Kwong, Atlas VP, Margaret Tse of IL-Brazil, and Xingyuan Feng of CIPA-China. My network with leaders of fellow Asian think tanks is also expanding.

One may also befriend some known personaties in the liberty or free market movement. Among the cool guys that I met there was Michael Reagan, a son of former US President Ronald Reagan.

Atlas is further strengthened with the entry of Tom Palmer, formerly with Cato. Tom is now the head of the Atlas Global Initiative where major international projects are being undertaken by Atlas, like the Freedom to Trade (F2T) campaign and coalition, in association with the IPN in London.

Atlas is very kind to me, especially Jo Kwong. They helped me with some travel scholarship to enable me to attend those huge forum that usually attracts nearly 300 people from 30+ or 40+ countries every year.

Snowy mountains and beer

2009-04-29T00:39:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned below, I did not know that California’s mountains would have thick snow at this time of the year, it’s now end-April and summer would be approaching. The last time I saw snow up close was last month in New Jersey and those seen from the plane, and November last year in the mountains and glaciers of northern Austria (see notes below).

Today, I would see thick snow again, in the mountains of north California. Though I saw some remnants of the burned trees and mountains last year, the view in the mountains here are mostly thick green trees in the lower and middle elevation, and rocky or mountains with trees and ice in the higher elevation (above 4,000 feet above sea level).

Having a bottle of cold beer up in the mountains is also another good way to further cheer up this new experience. I am really thankful to the Kris-Harold Cabrera couple!

Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada

2009-04-28T23:22:00.000-07:00

This should be the among the biggest lakes, if not the biggest, in California and Nevada. About 2/3 of the lake is in California and 1/3 in Nevada. It was our 3rd stop from Rocklin (Donner lake 1st, Squaw valley 2nd), and our main destination.

It’s huge and wide, and it is dotted by dozens, if not hundreds, of hotels and inns nearby, big and small, on both California and Nevada sides. I actually fell asleep while Harold was driving on the eastern side (California) of the lake. I woke up when we were near the northern side of the lake. Wow, lots of ice and snow in the mountains on this side of the lake! And the wind can be strong and very cold.

In the parking lot, there’s a huge white rock. Visitors have to walk a few meters down to see the lake, amazing view! Down below, there’s a small island protruding in the lake and there was a small castle built right on it.

To the right side above the lake, there’s are short waterfalls that flow down into the lake, the water coming from the melting ice on the northern mountains.

We pursued the route up north-west, there’s another parking area overlooking the lake. The trees there are huge, radius could be about between 1 to 2 meters wide. One can see the other side of the lake, there are markers for important places too.

Going down further to the southern part, the area is flat, just a few meters above the lake, and this is the main commercial area. The hotels here are big, and this is where the California-Nevada border is marked. I think only a narrow street separates the 2 neighboring states here. Two big hotels on the Nevada side are among the landmarks. One or both of them have casinos, whereas casino is not allowed in California.

On our way back to Rocklin, Harold took another route. Here, the trees in the mountains are much thicker, dark green trees on the horizon.

Donner lake, California

2009-04-28T22:49:00.000-07:00

Before Kris and Harold brought me to Squaw Valley resort, we passed by Donner Lake. On our way there from their house in Rocklin, I was intrigued by the snow in many parts of the mountains of north California. At 3,000 feet (above sea level elevation) mark on the interstate highway, I think I already noticed pockets of snow from afar. At 4,000 feet, the ice in the mountains were getting plentier. At 5,000 feet, and 6,000 feet, ahh, what a sight to behold!

The highest part of the road along the way could be the 7,227 feet mark, then the road started descending, a little uphill somewhere.

Those ice in the mountains are slowly melting, producing water for the creeks that end up in Donner Lake and nearby rivers and lakes. Donner lake is not very big or wide, but it’s situated on a higher elevation than Tahoe Lake. There are plenty of vacation houses and small hotels or lodging houses near the lake. It should be very cold here in the evening even during spring, brrrrr!

Squaw valley ski resort, California

2009-04-28T22:28:00.000-07:00

Here at the house of my friend, Kris Asinas and hubby Harold Cabrera, at Rocklin, CA. This is next to Roseville, and near Sacramento, the capital of CA state. Kris is a friend way back in our university days, the UP Pol Sci Club (UP Sapul) in the 80s. They have 2 kids, Kimy and Kimo.

I arrived yesterday from LA where I attended the "Atlas Liberty Forum" last April 24-25. Today, the couple and their youngest, Kimo, brought me to the mountains of north California.

The ski resort was the venue of the Winter Olympics about 2 decades ago. The place is really beautiful, I thought I was in north Austria again! The snow are still thick, though could be thin on some parts.

The cable cars though were close today, not many visitors. But I think the cable cars are open on weekends where there are plenty of visitors. I never really thought that such a beautiful and famous ski resort exists in California considering that it is a southern state of the US. Well, I'm not that familiar of the US geography in the first place.

I told Kris and Harold, "This is like north Austria that I saw last month, or north Italy or Switzerland that I saw in the pictures!"

RORO Boats

2009-04-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

The roll-on, roll-off (RORO) boats were designed mainly to transport vehicles, big and small. They are a good and useful invention because they have facilitated the transportation of people and their goods over long distances. But since it was on the eve of the Holy Week, vehicle and passenger volume was huge. Congestion was the natural consequence.

Congestion can be minimized if there are plenty of boats to carry people and vehicles anytime of the day.

Outside of peak travel seasons like Holy Week and Christmas vacations, I don't know if the same level of congestion can be observed.

Roxas Port, Oriental Mindoro

2009-04-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

Essentially crowded especially during peak travel season. The holding and waiting area for buses, trucks and small vehicles while waiting for their turn to enter the RORO is relatively not big enough compared to the big volume of vehicles.

Consequently, passengers exceed the capacity of the passenger lounge, one is a new structure, air-conditioned, with 2 tv and toilet rooms. The other has a roof but no walls, wider, the seats are old and dilapidated, no toilet.

The port collects P15/passenger “terminal fee”.

Pictures shown were as of 1am of April 6.

The RORO ships plying the Roxas-Caticlan route are bigger than those plying the Batangas-Calapan route, but there are not enough ships. A delivery truck driver I talked to said they arrived 6pm and as of 1am, they do not know when their truck can be accommodated. On some occasions, trucks have to wait for 1 day or more as the RORO ships prioritize buses, next are smaller vehicles, trucks are the last.

I think there is a need to either expand the capacity of Roxas port, bring in more boats from existing shipping lines or from new players. Another option is to build another port even further south of Mindoro island, which is actually closer to Caticlan than Roxas. Of course there are other navigational and engineering considerations like depth of a port, some cover from strong winds, etc.

The boat was jampacked, many passengers, me included, could not find a seat and have to sit on the floor the entire trip from 2 to 6am!

Batangas port

2009-04-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

This is a modern port compared to most seaports in the country. Wide and spacious, the road infrastructure inside is good. Motorists seem to encounter only one bureaucracy, at the Gate for RORO bound vehicles.

There are plenty of RORO boats (Montenegro Lines, Starlite,...) so waiting time of vehicles and their passengers wanting to be moved to Mindoro island is shorter.

There is also a port for small boats, those with outrigger, bound for Puerto Galera, Calapan, I dont know where else.

SLEX and Star Expressway

2009-04-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

(Pictures, STAR on top, SLEX bottom)

The South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) was a pathetic "highway" in recent years. Construction work was very long, the potholes and detour roads were plenty, so motorists were punished for long.

Until about late last year or early this year, a big portion of SLEX has been improved, 4 lanes, now motorists can really call it an "expressway".

STAR Expressway in Batangas is another toll road starting from Sto. Tomas all the way down to the entrance in Batangas Port.

Thus, one need not pass through Lipa City and Batangas City and endure the traffic there. Tollgate from Santo Tomas to end of highway at Batangas is P55 for cars and P109 for buses. The road could be about 30 kilometers long, +/- a few kms.

Dimple Star Transport

2009-04-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

April 5, 2009

I was going to Iloilo via the Nautical highway (Batangas, Mindoro, Aklan) on roll-on, roll-off (RORO) boats. I took the RORO way because the last time I took this route was about 4 years ago, so I wanted to see if there’s “something new”. But more importantly, I wanted to see the province of Antique. I’ve seen the 3 other provinces of Panay island – Aklan, Capiz and Iloilo – but I’ve never been to Antique before.

The lady at the ticket office in Cubao terminal said the bus would leave 11am, April 5, and I have to be there 1 hour before to find out the bus number that I will take. I arrived at the terminal at 10am, the terminal was so crowded.

I would take bus no. 744. But instead of leaving 11am, it left the terminal almost 1 hour late. Ok, I could bear that one. On its way in Edsa, it took a right turn at South Road, a street before Boni Serrano. The bus line has another terminal there and it picked up passengers again. It stopped there for another 50 minutes I think. There I began shaking my head.

It moved again, but instead of going to Alabang, it went to Pasay and stopped again in its terminal to pick up more passengers! This time, there were complaints from some passengers because they have a reserved seat but their seats were already occupied by passengers from Cubao and South Road terminal who have no prior seat reservation. The problem was somehow solved, the bus moved again. I slept.

When I woke up, the bus entered another bus terminal in Alabang! This time, a big number of passengers with piles of huge cargo were waiting there! Another 1 hour stop over!

When I took Ceres Liner several years ago, when it said departure is at 4pm, it left Cubao about 4:10pm, and went straight to Batangas for the boat. Here, Dimple made 3 stops to jampack the bus with murmuring passengers and their huge cargo. The bus was obviously overloaded, it was running slow.

My advice to passengers taking the RORO to Iloilo or Antique, ask the staff at the ticket office if the bus will go straight to Batangas or it will make 2 or 3 more stops before proceeding to Batangas. Or don’t take that bus line! Take Ceres or Gasat or Alps, provided these bus lines will not do the same multiple stops at Metro Manila bus terminals.

A passenger from another Dimple bus though that I met at the boat, said her bus left Cubao 2 hours late but at least it went straight to Batangas.

Cubao Ali Mall bus terminal

2009-04-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

April 5, 2009

This terminal is prominent because it hosts different bus lines going to Bicol region, the Visayas and Mindanao islands. I think there could be nearly 2 dozen bus lines using that terminal.

The terminal is privately owned, fronting Ali Mall. So some people who are buying their tickets or traveling that day can do their last minute shopping in that mall and its neighboring malls.

I left on a Sunday before the Holy Week, so passenger volume was huge. It’s a bit chaotic because there are many buses from different bus companies.

San Francisco, April 2008

2009-04-01T06:54:00.000-07:00

Another friend from my university days, Kris Asinas-Cabrera, who then lived in Roseville, CA, visited me at Monchit's house in San Ramon. Kris's hubby, Harold, took a leave from his work for 1 day and the couple would tour me around SF City. I will have the chance to have a picture at the Golden Gate Bridge!

San Francisco is a sprawling city but not too many skyscrapers, unlike in Chicago, Atlanta and NY. Harold drove us to a hill where there is a good view of the city center, it was nice looking around. It was an almost cloudless and sunny day but chilly and windy.

The bridge is huge and long, a few kilometers long. From the city proper, you cross the bridge, there is a viewing deck with ample parking space at the other side. This is where tourists stop to have a picture of the bridge in the background. There are also souvenir shops and food shops in this viewing deck.

Harold’s car has a global positioning system (GPS). It was my first time to ride in a car with a GPS with audio. I was amazed at the technology: you just indicate where exactly you are going (house number, street and city) and the GPS will guide the driver whether it’s 5 or 500 kilometers away. It guides the driver whether to turn left or right or go straight in an intersection, which road or highway to take where there is less traffic, it tells the driver if he’s just 10 meters away from his destination, and if he has reached his destination, right in front of the house or office of his destination!

I was very thankful of Kris and Harold for that whole day tour.

I will see them again late this month in their new house in Rocklin, CA.

San Ramon, CA, April 2008

2009-04-01T06:11:00.000-07:00

Late April last year, after attending the Atlas Liberty Forum in Atlanta, Georgia, I proceeded to visit a friend in San Ramon, California, Monchit Arellano. Monchit is a friend in Manila way back in the mid-80s. I stayed in his house for about a year. He later migrated to the US with his family (wife and 2 kids) nearly 2 decades ago, but he retains his Filipino citizenship.

It was a long trip from Atlanta: Atlanta to Minneapolis, then Mineeapolis to San Francisco, then train from SF airport to San Ramon. I remember my plane left Minneapolis around 7am, the temperature outside was only 1 Celsius. On the air, I saw plenty of snow and ice in the mountains of Wyoming, other mountainous states.

The train ride from SF to San Ramon was about an hour. I enjoyed watching the views of Bay Area from the train.

San Ramon is a valley, surrounded by small hills. It's not very cosmopolitan but it's not congested either, very spacious. Monchit's house is about 20 minutes by car from the San Ramon train station.

Clouds

2009-04-01T02:45:00.000-07:00

See the clouds they drift so far below
Ever changing as they come and go
Makes me wonder why I’m up so high
When really I am down so low
Of all the wonders I was one aloud
I think that I would always choose a cloud
Always brings my feeling right out loud
Weather I’m ashamed or proud.
-- "Clouds" by Bread

That song was among my favorite several years ago. Well I guess until now maybe, David Gates is a great singer and composer.

Whenever I'm up in the air on a plane and its daytime, I always look outside to see the big cities below, or simply the clouds. So whenever I fly, I always tell my travel agent or the check-in staff, "Window seat please, and away from the wings!" Since the seats in the front (away from the big wings) are always taken ahead, I usually sit at the back of the plane. Could be "bumpy" sometimes when the plane encounters strong air pockets, but at least I can see many things below the plane and the view is not hampered by those 2 huge and wide wings.

Low level clouds and gases in the troposphere are among the last line of defense or protection of the earth surface from strong sunlight. So when you look out of the plane window and there are thick clouds below, those clouds are very bright because they reflect back a huge amount of sunlight. And when you look up in the sky, it's a bit dark, reflecting that it's the wide and limitless outer space out there.

Snow-covered farms

2009-04-01T01:55:00.000-07:00

When farms in temperate counries are covered by snow and ice, what will the farmers do? I assume that the answer is: Nothing. They wait for the snow to melt before they can till or plant on the soil.

Another case with a different variant is, there are no more snow on the farms, but the lakes, rivers and streams that can irrigate the farms are still frozen, can the farmers still plant? Maybe yes, if they melt by electricity some of the water into their irrigation canal, but that could be expensive, and the farmers will be irrigating super-cold water into their crops. Won't the roots of the crops shrink and wilt? I don't know. A more practical option perhaps, could be to wait for some of those frozen water in the lakes and rivers to also melt naturally.

Of course there are greenhouse farms now, where crops and vegetables are planted under plastic or glass houses, protecting the crops from thick snow and super-cold weather. The enclosed structures trap some of the heat inside, giving some warmth to the leaves, flowers and fruits.

Snow and Ice, North America

2009-04-01T01:39:00.000-07:00

March 13, 2009

Like my transit trips to Detroit, this is my 6th time to see the “ice wilderness” of north America (north US mainland, north Canada, southern part of the North Pole, Alaska), sometimes Russia’s westernmost areas near Alaska. And in all those 6 flights, I was always amazed and fascinated, 100 percent, by the hugeness and vastness of the “ice wilderness” of this part of the planet. While our regions in the tropics, north and south of the equator, are the “heaters” of the globe, those wide ice areas are the “freezers” of the globe.

From east Asia to Detroit or the east coast US (and vice versa), the plane has to fly near the North Pole for a shorter distance. This allows interested passengers to enjoy watching super-wide ice deposits below the plane. Something like for 4 hours or more, you see nothing but ice below, assuming they are not covered by the clouds.

My thoughts are on the people who live there: how could they endure 5 months or more of all snow and ice around them every single year? Well, man is intelligent, he knows how to adapt. Those who cannot adopt would have died many years ago, whether they are living in super-cold states or countries in the north or south pole, or in super-warm countries near the equator or in the Middle East desert.

Ice and snow, huge expanse of them, they just make my day, just looking at the pictures!

New Nagoya Int'l Airport, Japan

2009-03-30T00:39:00.000-07:00

(picture from en.wikipedia.org)

March 13, 2009

In April 2004, on my Manila-Nagoya-US trip, the plane landed at the old Nagoya airport. That airport is now called Nagoya Airfield.

The New Nagoya or Chobu Centrair Intl. Airport, is new, opened for business only in February 2005. It's built from reclaimed land, it is surrounded by the sea. It is one of those typical Japanese architectures – huge, modern, very clean, high-tech, glass-and-steel structure. The escalators and walkalators for instance are very quiet and have sensors, meaning no persons riding on them, they won’t run, which saves electricity, wear and tear and maintenance cost.

From Detroit to Manila (and vice-versa) via NorthWest, now New Delta airlines, the plane stops here to do many things: unload Japan-bound passengers, get new Manila-bound passengers, refuel, unload the garbage from Detroit to Nagoya, get new set of meals and drinks for the passengers to Manila, and the Detroit-Nagoya plane crew and pilots of American-Japanese crew (ooppss, there was one Filipino crew in our flight) will be replaced by mostly, if not entirely Filipino crew.

So all passengers, including Manila-bound passengers, have to get off the plane. And go through another airport security checks – laptops out, hand-carried bags to X-ray machines, remove all coins, keys, belts, pens. At least they don’t ask passengers to remove their shoes. This process, queuing from the plane and get out of the security checks takes about 25 minutes, shorter if you get out of the plane first, longer if you get out last due to the long lines.

The Japanese airport administrators don’t believe that American and Filipino airport security officers (for planes coming from the US and the Philippines, respectively) have checked the passengers 100.0 percent. Maybe they’ve done their job only 99.99 percent, so there is still a 0.01 percent possibility that some “terrorists” might have slipped in? I think it’s weird. But then again, this is their land and their airport, they can set their own policies.

There seem to be not too many foreign passengers in this airport. The duty free shops have few people, sometimes empty. Japan is not that visitors-friendly, not only because of the language problem, but also because everything is expensive.

This is one of those few international airports that provide free internet connection, though the place is on the far side of the departure area. International departure lounges seem to have spacious tables and comfortable chairs with electric outlets, so people can put their bags and/or laptops to read or write something. There are also wifi access in all of them, but one has to buy an internet card to get internet access. If one wants free internet, he/she has to go to the lone designated area which I mentioned earlier, is on the far side of the departure area.

Vince and Jojo, NY

2009-03-20T09:51:00.001-07:00

March 11, 2009

After I checked out of my hotel that day, I went to City College of NY (CCNY). From my hotel, I walked 3 or 4 blocks to 50th street, took the Metro train 1, got off at 181st street, the "city college stop". I will meet my host for the day who was also my host for 2 days on my first visit to NY in 2004, Dr. Vince Boudreau. Vince teaches at the Political Science Department of CCNY, he speaks fluent Filipino, been to the Philippines countless times, married a Filipina, Tonette, and would give occassional lectures at the University of the Philippines (UP) from time to time.

CCNY has a big and sprawling campus in uptown NY. I noticed that most of their students are Latinos and blacks, a few Asians, then white people. My picture here shows 3 of the academic buildings of the college.

Vince is also the Director of the Colin Powel Center for Public Policy Study. The office is in honor of the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, US Armed Forces. Gen. Powell was the first Afro-American to hold such position. The Center is on the 5th floor of the white-grey building, it has a good view of the surrounding areas of uptown NY.

I was looking for a place where I could connect to the internet for free with my laptop, so Vince offered me his wide cubicle in his office. He also introduced me to his staff in the Center, they are nice and friendly people. They asked me what would I need that they can help provide, I said "nothing, just internet connection" :-)

Vince left for a meeting, came back by 6pm, and he pulled me to a nice bar in downtown NY where we had several glasses of various beer classes/tastes. His wife Tonette later followed us in the evening for a dinner at a Venezuelan restaurant, another yummy-yummy dinner.

I stayed at Vince's place for the night, then headed to LaGuardia airport the following morning for my flight back to Manila.

I did not take my picture with Vince while I was there, but my Filipina friend Lalaine Sadiwa-Stormoken, has a picture of him.

Visiting old friends in their places, a good chat over beer and nice dinner, are among the most fantastic and memorable activities one can do when travelling abroad.

I am very lucky to have good friends Vince, and Jojo Chan who hosted me for 2 nights in his place in NJ.

Marriott NY Marquis Hotel

2009-03-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

This is my hotel during the 2nd International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC) sponsored by the Heartland Institute last March 8-10 this year. It's right in front of Times Square.

The ground floor is just the entrance to the hotel, 4 revolving doors (2 each in the front and the back) and a long table for the building security officers. The hotel reception is on the 8th floor, the 2nd to 4th floors are for shops. The 5th floor is for various meeting and function rooms, the 6th floor is the grand ballroom. I dont know what's on the 7th floor, I did not bother to visit.

The hotel is a huge building, about 45 storeys high, my room was on the 34th floor. From the ground to the 45th floor, there is an open space in the middle of the building, the "hollow" is much wider from the 9th to the 45th floors.

Elevators. In many hotels, guests have vin cards for their rooms, and the cards have to be swiped in the elevators. People who have no cards mean they are not guests of the hotel and the elevators will not move. At Marriott NY Marquis, there are about 14 high speed elevators, about 8 are made of glass so that guests can view the entire building from within, from the ground to the top floor. The other 4 or 6 elevators are made of steel, no view of the building from within.

Guests push the floor where they wish to go in a number keypad on a wall, and the number keypads will direct the guests or visitors which of the 14 elevators (labeled elevators A to N, I think) they can take. Once inside the elevator, there are only 2 prominent buttons to push: door close or door open, although the doors open or close automatically. All elevatos have monitor screens, about 2/3 are for some news updates, the other 1/3 of the screen are for ads. So guests will have little "idle" time as there are information to chew or entertain ads to view even inside the elevators!

The rooms are nice (mine has 2 beds), the tv is wide (Korean LG). There are no mini-bars (maybe in other rooms), only bottled water are available in the room ($5 and $10 for the small and big bottles).

High speed internet connection for 24 hours, noon to noon, plus unlimited calls (I think) for any of the 50 states in the US, are available for $17++. For me it's expensive, so I did not use the service.

This is my 2nd visit to NYC (the first was in 2004) but it's my first time to stay in a hotel there. I stayed with my American friend, Vince Boudreau's house, in uptown NY in my first visit. And I was very glad to stay in a big hotel right in front of Times Square!

Times Square, NY

2009-03-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

Times Square in the center of NY City is a famous place: bright, animated lights and ads that run 24 hours day, 7 days a week; the scene of New Year festivities in NY every year; the home of broadway musical, etc. It is the junction of Broadway and 7th Avenues.

My hotel was right in front of Times Square. So upon going out of the hotel, the first thing that greets the guest is the Times Square!

I am amazed by those huge, animated lights and video walls on buildings fronting the Square. Well, the place does not look like a "square", more of a rectangle. But those 2 buildings facing each other on the left and right sides of the rectangle, that's where those huge video walls are posted.

The Square attracts thousands of people every days -- tourists, employees of offices and shops near and around the place, both morning and evening. It also attracts some street performers, who further attract more visitors.

After I checked in at my hotel, I immediately went out and there was one performer on the Square, the "Naked Cowboy". The man is a hunk -- tall, muscular, good looking, and funny. He was only wearing a brief and a tall white boots, and a guitar. His guitar, brief and boots are painted with "Naked Cowboy".

Many women, mostly teenagers or in their 20s, have their pictures taken with him, and he would make seductive poses with them on a first shot, the second shot he would put the ladies' hands on his butt, and he would either put his hands on their butt too, or simply hold their hips. These poses were attracting and amusing many passersby, including me, hehehe.

I don't know who are the other regular street performers or entertainers on the Square, but it's a very entertaining place to visit.

Shovelling snow

2009-03-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

Although I have seen piles of snow in the past (in my trips to Europe, especially), I have not seen (or don't remember seeing) snow actually falling from the sky.

About 5 days before I arrived in NJ, a heavy snow storm hit NY, NJ, surrounding states and cities. Although most snow have already melted after 5 days, there are still some remaining small piles of snow.

I took that opportunity to "shovel" snow :-)
This is in front of Jojo Chan's house.

Statue of Liberty, NY

2009-03-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

March 7, 2009

After the tour at Ellis island, we boarded another boat to take us to the more famous landmark of New York -- the Statue of Liberty. I was kidding Jojo and Lalaine that I have seen that statue being bombed, demolished, blasted into pieces, toppled by giant waves and snow storms, etc. -- in movies! :-)

The structure looks very imposing as one approaches it. NY and neighboring states just recovered from a bad snow storm a few days ago. On the day we visited the place, it was sunny, the weather was good, and it was a Saturday, so the place attracted thousands of visitors on that day alone.

A picture at this great landmark is surely one memorable event to bring home. My endless thanks to our host, Jojo Chan, for bringing us to this place. It was never in my agenda or imagination that I will step into these 2 places (Ellis island and the Statue). I only wanted to attend the conference in NY, my main purpose in coming here, plus a visit of some local places in NJ and NY.

Ellis island, NY

2009-03-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

March 7, 2009

Our first stop (me, Jojo Chan and Lalaine Stormorken) was Ellis island. This place is very famous because it used to be the office of the US immigration several centuries ago, for migrants coming from Europe and other continents travelling by boat.

The pictures and display of various luggages, shoes, clothing, other personal belongings of the migrants then are properly chronicled. There are also enlarged photos of letters written in German, Polish, Swedish, Italian, French, etc. where migrants who have settled in America were writing to their folks back home.

In other rooms, there were pictures and replica of the boats and later steamships, that transported the hundreds of thousands of migrants. Or a dormitory for newly-arriving migrants (a 3-level hanging beds per column, generally congested.

One will realize that America really owe its economic development and cultural evolution from those numerous and anonymous migrants who travelled for many days and weeks, just to reach a "dream land".

Manhattan, from a boat

2009-03-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

Manhattan, the famous commercial and financial center of New York City, really looks amazing from a distance: huge skyscrapers very close to each other over a wide area.

These views (pictures) are from a boat when my Filipino friend, Jojo Chan, who has been living in New Jersey and working in NYC for a long time now, toured me and another Filipina friend, Lalaine Stormorken, last March 7, 2009. We went to Ellis Island then the Statue of Liberty. These 2 places are very famous for both tourists and locals. Everyday, these places attract thousands of visitors.

The view from a boat is spectacular because it allows one to have a wide view of Manhattan and its skyscrapers.

Newark and LaGuardia Airports

2009-03-15T11:47:00.000-07:00

(Pictures taken from www.en.wikipedia.org)

These are two of the 3 airports serving New York City and its surrounding cities and states. The third airport is JFK airport and it’s far from NY City proper. Newark Liberty is in New Jersey, just across the Hudson (?) river fronting NY City, while LaGuardia is the nearest to Manhattan. LaGuardia is the smallest of the 3, serving mainly (if not entirely) domestic flights, and it’s very busy, maybe because of its smaller facilities.

On my recent trip to NY early this month, I arrived at Newark Liberty airport (Manila-Nagoya-Detroit-Newark), and departed at LaGuardia (LaGuardia-Detroit-Nagoya-Manila). On my return flight, our plane left LaGuardia gate on time, but it took us about 35 minutes to finally take off. Not because of bad weather or other factors, but because of the long queu of planes landing and taking off. I heard our plane pilot announcing something like we’re number 14 of the planes landing and taking off. I saw something like 5 consecutive landings, then consecutive take offs, the space between planes taking off is about 2:10 minutes. When our plane was about to take off, I saw 10 planes queuing behind us! 9 on the right side, 1 on the left.

A Filipino friend whose hobbies included flying small airplanes, Sam Aherrera, made this short observation:

“All major airports -- detroit, chicago, reagan in dc, lax, boston, dulles in Virginia -- have multiple landing and take-off. NY and NJ airports are more critical, not so much because of so many planes, but because they’re very close to each other with multiple landing and taking off. That air corridor could be one of the most dangerous (in the world). The air traffic controllers there could have hypertension because they’re always on the edge in air traffic. Whenever I go to Boston from Virginia, I pass jersey and new york along I-95 North and am always amazed at the abilities of the traffic controllers and the pilots who must coordinate very well in this very tight airspace. And imagine this air traffic when flying in bad weather!”

Northwest Airlines

2009-03-07T11:54:00.000-08:00

I have been to the US mainland thrice in my life. The first in 2004 (Michigan, Chicago, Virginia, Washington DC), the second in 2008 (Atlanta, San Francisco), and the third this month (New Jersey and New York). In all those 3 trips, I took Northwest Airlines only. Two years ago, I also went to Honolulu, Hawaii, but I took Philippine Airlines, the only airline that has direct monopoly route between Manila and Honolulu (being a monopoly, the fare is about similar to Manila-LA or SFO despite shorter distance for Honolulu).

Northwest is a big airline, and it has grown bigger with its merger with Delta Air only recently. The travel time to US east coast area though, is long because from Manila, it stops first at either Narita-Tokyo or Nagoya in Japan. Then stop at Detroit airport, one of its main hubs in the US. Passengers from Manila and Japan go through immigration and customs procedures, then take a domestic flight to anywhere in the eastern side of the US. I remember my trip last year, from the time I checked-in at NAIA-Manila airport, to the time I got out of Atlanta airport, was 25 hours! On this trip, from the time I checked-in at NAIA-Manila airport till I got out of Newark, NJ airport, was 26 hours because of more than an hour flight delay from Detroit..

A Northwest flight from Manila to either Narita or Nagoya (and vice-versa) has an all-Filipino stewards and stewardesses. From Japan to Detroit, it’s an American and some Japanese crew.

Most NWest planes that fly from Manila to Detroit don’t have individualized screens for passengers. Only wide screens in the middle and small monitors on both left and right alleys of the plane. Thus, passengers cannot choose a movie or documentary to watch, only those short films or programs shown by the plane’s crew, or the plane’s tracking system (location, speed, altitude, temperature outside, distance traveled, remaining travel time, etc.).

Passengers can choose some audio programs (music and an audio documentary program) through with their headphones, but there are only 8 or 9 audio programs to choose. I was searching for a rock n roll audio channel, there was none or their rock music collection was not my type. In instances like this, the best thing to do is to remove the headphones and either sleep or read something.

I remember my flight last year from San Francisco to Manila, the NWest plane has individualized screens. I wasn’t able to rest well because there were many movies or programs to watch (from comedy to sports to travel and documentaries), or many music programs to listen to (from rock to classical to jazz). So I arrived home groggy and sleepy 

Food at NW was just fine. For instance, from Nagoya to Detroit in this trip, choice for dinner was (a) Korean style chicken with mixed veggies and steamed rice, or (b) beef BBQ sauce with mashed potatoes.

A number of Filipinos I know who live in the US East coast fly via Asian airlines – China airlines and Eva Air (via Taipei), Korean Air, Cathay Pacific, etc. I hope to fly with one of these Asian airlines someday to the US.

Philippine International Airports

2009-03-07T11:49:00.000-08:00

(Note: pictures here are from en.wikipedia.org)

The country has several international airports scattered around the archipelago’s major islands. These are:

1. Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila.
2. Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) in Mactan island, Cebu province.
3. Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark, Pampanga.
4. Davao International Airport in Davao City, Mindanao
5. Laoag International Airport in Laoag, Ilocos Norte

The Kalibo Airport in Kalibo, Aklan, I’m not sure if it’s also an international airport because Kalibo is the nearest big airport to Boracay, a globally-famous white sand beach resort. Also the airport in Subic and La Union, I’m not sure if they are international airports too.

NAIA is the biggest of all international airports. It has 3 terminals. Terminal 1 is the oldest and is used by all foreign airlines. Terminal 2 is used exclusively by the oldest local airline, Philippine Airlines (PAL) for its international and domestic flights. Terminal 3 is the newest and biggest, it has been finished about 6 or 7 years ago but never opened immediately due to politics and heavy corruption scandals. It was finally opened only in August 2008, and is currently used mainly by the new but biggest local airline, Cebu Pacific, for its international and domestic flights.

NAIA 1 is a very small international airport by world standards. It’s small and old, yet collected several millions of $ from passengers’ “terminal fee” alone, currently at PhP750 (around US$15.5). The smallness, oldness and lack of modernity of NAIA 1 being the premier terminal of the country for the big airlines in the world, should have contributed to the small volume of foreign visitors coming into the country. There are many factors being considered by foreign visitors, of course, it’s just that an international airport is the first structure that a first time foreign visitor will set foot and see in any country. Terminal 3 that was supposed to accommodate all foreign airlines currently using Terminal 1, took many years to be opened, and still not being used by those foreign airlines.

It is good therefore, that other foreign visitors can land in other international airports like those in Clark, Cebu and Davao. They can go nearer to their final destinations somewhere outside Metro Manila.

Given the country’s archipelagic nature (7,100+ islands), the high population (90 million, the 12th largest population in the world), the high mobility of Filipinos abroad, and the plentiful beautiful resorts in many islands, there should be more international airports in the country. More international airports means more choices for foreign visitors and returning Filipinos from abroad to see their provincial and city destinations more directly, and to fly out.

Airport Security Checks

2009-03-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

After 911 attacks in the US in 2001, airport security checks almost everywhere have become more strict. But in some countries and airports, the security checks are overly strict and redundant, perhaps OA. Like the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 in Manila.

At NAIA 1, an international passenger goes through 2 security checks: first upon entry at the airport terminal building (person, hand carried and check-in luggages), and second after check-in and passing the airport immigration. Here, passengers have to remove their shoes, belts, coins, keys, hand-carried luggage go through x-ray tube.

If passengers are going to the US and fly an American airline NorthWest, they will have to go through a 3rd security check and repeat the 2nd procedures. Total time spent from entry at terminal building to the departure lounge for a US flight would be about 45 minutes on average.

Aside from those security checks, there are also plenty of private security guards at the airport. The first group are outside the terminal building, checking passengers’ plane tickets and passports. After passing through the 2nd security checks, there are again security guards checking passengers’ boarding passes on the way to their departure gates.

In many international airports in the world, like those in Asia and Europe, passengers check-in first, and they go through only one security check, them and their hand-carried bags only, before proceeding to the departure lounge.

The big difference between them and NAIA 1: the former have big and wide terminals and few airport personnel, the latter has a small terminal and plenty of airport officials and personnel per square meter of terminal area.

Atlanta, USA, Atlas Liberty Forum

2009-02-16T23:52:00.000-08:00

April 2008

Sometime in February 2008, when Jo Kwong, VP for Institute Relations of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation (www.atlasnetwork.org) and Yiquiao Xu, Jo's indefatiguable officer for Asian relations, invited me to join the 8th Atlas Liberty Forum in Atlanta, I immediately answered YES! Atlas would provide me a travel grant or scholarship.

Atlanta is famous for the Atlanta Olympics in the 1980s I think, and the headquarters of CNN and Coca Cola are in Atlanta. It is also the birthplace of Martin Luther King.

The Atlas conference was held at Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, a big and sprawling hotel. But I stayed at Wyndham Gardens, a smaller hotel 2 blocks from Sheraton Atlanta. I met plenty of old and new friends during the conference, friends mostly from Asia and the US. A few friends from Europe, Africa and Latin America was also there. It's really refreshing to see them, talk with them how things are going in their respective countries and institutes.

Among the guys in the pictures here are: Jo Kwong, Mr. You of Japanese for Tax Reforms (JTR) and Hiroshi Yoshida (in the Atlas ice sculpture). Also Cindy Cirquitella, Whitney and Nicki, along with Mr. You again. And Franklin Cudjoe (Imani, Ghana), Colleen Dyble (Atlas) and Wan Saiful Wan Jan (Malaysia Think Tank).

I am very privileged to be among the good friends of Atlas. The networking support that they provide me and our think tank is really priceless.

Miesbach, Germany

2009-02-16T23:20:00.000-08:00

November 2008

The Beil family -- Christian, his Filipina wife Astrid, and their 2 sons -- was very warm to me. Christian and his eldest son, Simon, met me at Munich central station. I came from Gummersbach, then Cologne that morning. The Inter City Express (ICE) train that I took from Mannheim to Munich (via Stuttgart, Olm, etc.) was very spacious and comfortable.

Astrid works full time in the house -- most household chores, taking care of 2 young boys. She grew up in the Philippines having a yaya/nanny, a house maid, and did not worry about cleaning the house, do the laundry, cook, etc. In Germany, she had to do everything, she was laughing while narrating those things to me.

Miesbach is a small town, but it is attracting plenty of migrants from Munich and other big cities. The beauty of Miesbach is that it is near the Bavarian Alps and the mountains and lakes nearby, it has a thriving commercial area, and it is just 50 kms from Munich. So that technically, it is between a big city (Munich) and big mountains (the Alps).

This was my 2nd visit to Miesbach, the first was in October 2003. So long as I have another opportunity to visit Germany again, and the Beils are still there, I will always go back to see and visit that beautiful town and its surrounding lakes, mountains, and the warm and friendly family.

Bavarian Alps, Germany

2009-02-16T22:57:00.000-08:00

November 2008

I forgot to post my climb at a mountain in the Bavarian Alps. It was my first outdoor activity with Christian as the mountains are just less than half hour from his place. We climbed a mountain before we went to Salzburg the following day, then Kitzsteinhorn ski resort a day after Salzburg trip.

We started at around 900 meters above sea level, Christian parked his car, and we started the climb. It would be another mountain hiking after my last climb about 2 or 3 years, at Mt. Pinatubo via Tarlac in the Philippines. Though here we did not carry a backpack in this climb in the Alps, except for some water and bread for snacks, my legs and lungs were rusty. So after walking for more than an hour and reaching a plataeu, a farmer's house in the mountain at around 1,400 meters elevation, I wanted to quit. I wanted to ask Christian that we go back, as the summit is still about 200 meters higher and would take my rusty legs another 30 to 40 minutes climb. But I was ashamed to say the words, "I'm quitting, let's go back". So I pretended that I was still ok despite very tired.

When we reached the summit though, all the hardships and wobbly legs seemed to have disappered, the view at the top was great! We had a 360 degrees view of the nearby mountains, hills and the lowlands. The summit is about 1,600 meters above sea level, the towns below are at 700 meters, while the city of Munich even farther in the lowlwnds is at around 500 meters elevation.

When we came back to their house, I was tired but still happy with this conquest -- a conquest of my weakening lungs and wobbly spirit for mountaineering. We ended the day with a few rounds of locally-brewed beer, and rested for another trip the following day -- a visit to Salzburg, Austria.

Kitzsteinhorn ski resort, Austria

2009-02-16T22:20:00.000-08:00

November 2008

The pinnacle of tour given to me by Christian, is a visit to a glacier in Austria! Upon hearing the word "glacier", my ears clapped like those wide ears of an elephant. I see only glaciers in the movies and tv documentaries, for me to see a real glacier will be a great treat of my life!

Christian brought me to Kitzsteinhorn ski resort, in northern Austria not far from the mountainous areas of Bavaria, Germany. He said it's more than 3,000 meters above sea level, and there are thick snow there.

It's nearly 2 hours from Christian's place in Miesbach, we passed by small towns and winding roads. At first the scene were those of rocky mountains, no vegetation or snow. As we approach the area, snowy mountains began to appear. I was grinning already.

The jump-off point is about 900 meters above sea level already. There's a big and wide parking space for hundreds of cars. The fee in the afternoon, after 2pm, is lower by about Euro 5 compared to morning fees. From the base, we have to take 3 cable rides to reach the top.

The first cable ride was from 900+ meters to around 1,450 meters elevation. There were plenty of cable cars moving, and there are a few pockets of snow on the ground. The second cable ride was from around 1,450 to about 2,500 meters elevation. Here the snow was thicker and plentier. The third cable ride, the cars are big, could take up to 15 people, probably more, and there's a cable car operator riding with us.

I wore 5 layers of clothing, including a winter jacket that Christian lent me. Also a winter glove, but I was only wearing a maong jeans, and a pair of subber shoes! To compensate for my thin rubber shoes, well it's my walking and jogging shoes actually, I wore 2 layers of thick socks.

Upon reaching the landing at the end of the cable ride, it says, "Felhaus Kitzsteinhorn 3,029 m"! Oh my, oh my! I pondered, we climbed Mt. Apo, the Philippines' highest mountain at around 2,990 meters elevation, for 10 hours in 1994, when our legs and lungs were still a lot younger and stronger. Here, I reached more than 3,000 meters and I did not even hike!

But I felt weak at the top, maybe I was hungry and thirsty, I was just tired or sleepy, I didn't know. So we immediately ate our snacks. I got full, but I still felt a bit dizzy. I realized it was the thin air at the top! I moved slowly as I was gasping for some air. I think I was able to adjust to the thin air after about 20 minutes. My pictures at the top though, belied that I was gasping for some air, really awesome feeling to be in a glacier, in a high mountain and all snow around you.

I repeatedly thanked Christian for bringing me to a glacier. It was a great "farewell trip" as I was flying back to Manila the next day. I ponder, I am very lucky to have a friend like him, plus his Filipina wife and 2 handsome sons.

Salzburg, Austria

2009-02-16T01:21:00.000-08:00

November 2008

My German friend, Christian Beil, brought me and his family to Salzburg, Austria. It was my first time to set foot in Austria! When I visited them in their place in October 2003, we were supposed to go to Salzburg too, but his son, Simon, got sick. So I ended up visiting a German public hospital, which was also a first time for me. I was so fascinated because the hospital was very clean, spacious, and has only a few patients, unlike public hospitals in the Philippines which are always crowded.

Salzburg is probably 100 kms. from Christian's place in Miesbach, Germany. But driving at probably 90-100 kph average speed, the place can be reached in a little more than 1 hour. We passed by the Innbruck exit. And when we reached the Germany-Austria border, I saw the marker, wow, I finally set foot in Austria!

The houses before Salzburg city proper seem smaller and less beautiful compared to average houses in Germany. I thought maybe the standard of living in Austria is lower than in Germany.

When we reached Salzburg's commercial center, we entered a parking lot inside a huge rock! Wow, they bore through this rock to create a multi-level parking!

The main commercial and tourist area is a narrow road, only for pedestrians, no cars allowed.

We passed by Mozart's house. With Christian, his 2 sons Simon and his younger brother.

Salzburg's famous attraction is the "Fort of Salzburg", a huge structure on top of a tall hill. The lift was not working on the day that we visited it, so we have to walk looooonggg uphill. I was wearing my leather shoes, not my rubber shoes, because I thought that Salzburg visit was just a walking tour of a flat, commercial area. So my feet were punished that day!

But the view at the top was really nice. The city proper, the cathedral, the river, the forest land from afar, small castles and other structures.

It was a long, tiring but memorable visit in one of Austria's great cities.

Cologne, Germany

2008-11-14T04:24:00.001-08:00

Cologne is a big city, judging from the volume of tourists that visit the Cologne cathedral, as well as the size of the Cologne central train station ("Koln Hauptbahnhof").

The main tourist attraction here is the Cathedral, among the oldest in Germany, perhaps in Europe too. During the Allies' bombings of Germany, it was the only structure in the city that was spared, almost all other buildings around it were damaged if not flattened.

From outside the city, the Cathedral is prominent because it is tall. Well, there are very few skyscrapers in Cologne. The wide Rhine River softly flows under a long bridge at the heart of the city.

The structure is old yet designed very elaborately. Inside the church, the stained glass window designs are very colorful and elaborate, really beautiful.

Gummersbach, Germany

2008-11-14T03:55:00.000-08:00

Gummersbach is a small and hilly city in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the richest among 16 states in Germany. It is 56 kms from Cologne.

Our seminar on "Local government and civil society is held at Theodor Heuss Akademie. It has complete facilities -- lecture rooms, meeting rooms, wide lobby, dining hall, internet corner, 8-storeys dormitory, etc. It is operated by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty.

The akademie is on top of a small hill. The city proper is below it, on its back. In front of the akademie is a forested and open grassland area, very serene and beautifully-landscaped.

Trip to Gummersbach

2008-10-26T01:38:00.000-07:00

I arrived here in Gummersbach, Germany late last night. It was another long and tiring trip.

First, almost 13 hours flight (KLM air) from Manila to Amsterdam Schipol airport.
Second, a long walk at the airport, long but quick queu at the immigration, then 2 hours lay over for a connecting flight.
Third, nearly one hour flight from Amsterdam to Cologne, Germany.
Finally, about 45 minutes trip to Gummersbach, 56 kilometers from Cologne.

Audio and video entertainment at KLM air was good. While my seatmates were watching various movies, I contented myself with listening to rock music, then pop and later classical music, and rested and sleep. I lacked sleep before that flight.

Amsterdam´s Schipol airport is big and long. It was the 3rd time I set foot on this airport. The first was in 1987 when I attended a 3-months seminar in Amsterdam, the second when I went to London for a conference in June 2005. The airport´s tarmac and runway fields are very wide and well lighted.

From Schipol to Cologne is like a "show of lights" down below. I was seated on the right side of the plane, the city of Amsterdam could be in the left side as there was a very wide expanse of all lights below. The plane is small, only 4 seats per row, so it was flying low, and good for sightseeing at night. For the entire trip of nearly 1 hour, there were dozens of clusters of well-lighted areas and communities below, all the way from Amsterdam to Cologne. It's like a wide area of wild fires in California shown on tv. There was a portion that was dark, I suspected it could be a lake or a wide cloud that covered the view.

Cologne is another wide expanse of all lights city. The airport is not so big, but it is a steel and glass structure. After getting my luggage, a staff of the International Academy for Leadership (IAF), Martin, was waiting for me at the exit. He will bring me to the Theodor-Heuss Akademie in Gummersbach.

Germany's roads are smooth and excellent. I didn' see a single pothole on the roads. Martin was driving a van, but he was flooring the accelerator at 130, 145 kph. No speed limit in Germany, except in some busy intersections. This alone should give this country a good score in individual freedom.

Gummersbach is 56 kms from Cologne city proper, but we reached our destination in about 35 to 40 minutes. The akademie, operated by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNFL), is on top of a small hill. The dormitory is an 8-storeys structure. My room is on the 5th floor, and there is a good view of the small city below the hill.

The seminar I am attending here is on "Local Govt and civil society", Oct 26 to Nov. 2.
We´ll be 23 foreign participants, from S. Africa, Latin America, Asia and middle east, Europe (Turkey, Kosovo, Lithuania, Ukraine). I´m the only Filipino in this seminar. The IAF is conducting about 12 different seminars every year. Initially there were about 63 of us participants from many countries, including 2 other Filipinos, in the online seminar phase. The IAF choose the "top 24" among participants in the initial online seminar, and that`s how I got invited here.

Today the weather is good. But yahoo weather says the temperature will fall starting tomorrow and the next few days. Breakfast at the akademie is plentiful, but typical European food -- bread, various cheese and meat slices, fruits, fruit juices, coffee or tea.

The internet corner is spacious, and its free.
Our seminar will start at 6pm today.

Back to Germany

2008-10-23T01:28:00.000-07:00

Two days from now, and a day after my birthday, I will fly to Gummersbach, Germany. I will attend a week-long seminar on "Local Government and Civil Society" to be sponsored by the International Academy for Leadership (IAF) of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty. My route will be Manila-Amsterdam-Cologne (KLM air). From Cologne airport, a car will fetch me and bring me to the venue in Gummersbach, 56 kms. away.

This will be my 2nd visit to Germany. My first visit was 5 years ago, in October 2003. I came from Sweden for a 7-weeks international training on "Sustainable Agriculture". After the end of that seminar, I took Eurolines and travelled to visit a friend in The Hague, Netherlands, passing by Denmark and northern Germany. It was a tiring 17 hours road trip, but nonetheless lots of sight-seeing. After 2 days, I took Eurolines again and took a 13 hours trip from The Hague (left there close to midnight) to Munich, Germany, to visit another friend. We were very few passengers in that trip.

When the bus reached Stuttgart, there were only 4 of us. The bus driver made a phone call and several minutes later, we were transferred to a van and it will take us 4 remaining passengers to Munich. I sat at the back of the driver. I immediately noticed the speed of the van. While buses and trucks have speed limit of 100 kph maximum, cars don't have speed limit in many of Germany's "autobahn" or expressways, except in some congested intersections. The van was running at 125 kph on average, and I saw several cars whizzing by at probably 150 to 200 kph! I exclaimed to myself, "so this is the autobahn!"

My friend, Christian Beil, is a German lawyer. His wife, Astrid, is a Filipina. At Munich central station, the couple and their son were waiting for me. They immediately toured me around some interesting areas in Munich: the BMW plant, the Olympics stadium (about 1972 Munich Olympics), the city hall, other interesting places.

Christian lives in Miesbach, about an hour by car south of Munich. It's a tiny but cool city. It's near the ski resorts of Bavaria too. Christian brought me to a ski resort high up in the mountains. I enjoyed posing for pictures in the snow. It was good that there was a thick snowfall in late September or early October of that year in the mountains of Bavaria. From the mountains, we went to Tegernsee Lake, then another resort with sauna, a swimming pool, etc.

From below zero Celsius at the mountains, up to probably 70 or 80 celsius sauna in a matter of an hour or so, it was really weird! I was glad I didn't get sick then. In the evening, Christian would always have a few bottles of locally-brewed beer ready as we chat on many things.

At the end of our seminar in Gummersbach, I will visit again Christian and his family in early November. This time, they have 2 kids already. And this time, I will take the train, from Cologne to Munich. They will meet me again in Munich.

I am excited to see that city again, also Miesbach, the lakes and the ski resorts in the mountains!

Thailand trip, part 2

2008-07-22T03:21:00.000-07:00

On our 2nd day, June 2 this year, we checked out of the hotel and Samran picked us from there. He rented a van, big and comfortable enough for us. His Filipino wife, Letty, joined us. Letty has lived in Thailand long enough, and she comes home after every few years, so she was happy to speak again in Filipino.

From our hotel, we went to the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). We picked up Samran's other Filipina friend, Redia, who was visiting her daughter who is working and staying at AIT. Redia was a soil scientist, she used to work at PCARRD in Los Banos, Laguna. She is now working at the Senate Committee on Environment as Committee Secretary. Redia brought her grandson, about 5 years old. Our toddler was happy to have an older "kuya" as her playmate for the next few hours of our travel.

From AIT, our first stop was Bangsai. There's a beautiful resort and shopping center. A big concrete multi-headed dragon spewing water (not fire) in a lagoon is the main attraction. The lagoon is big and well-sculpted.

There's a big shopping area nearby, but most of the stalls were close if not abandoned, only a few stalls and food shops were open.

In a bigger structure, is a big, clean and air-conditioned shopping center and shops were selling various souvenir items. There's another concrete dragon and Buddha inside.

From Bangsai, we went to Bang Pa-in palace, the King's summer palace. It's not far from Bangkok city proper, maybe about 80 kilometers. Entrance fee I think was Baht 100. This place is wide and sprawling. A number of beautiful structures, wide and long lagoon, an observation tower about 6 or 7 storeys high. One can reach the top level by foot only, and shoes and slippers to be left outside. The view at the top level is beautiful -- well manicured lawns, the lagoon, the palace, the temple, etc.

(to be continued...)

Scenes from the air: Manila-Cebu

2008-07-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

Three days ago, I went to Cebu to attend the wake of an uncle who died of cancer. I took the afternoon flight from Manila and I was seated window seat, right side.

Upon take off from Manila airport, the scenes in southern part of Metro Manila is basically those plenty of houses. There are very few sky scrapers to see. The ones at Filinvest corporate center in Alabang are noticeable, several tall buildings, but not plenty. Ayala Alabang village is noticeable with big houses detached from others, and there are plenty of trees, those green vegetation partly covering many roofs.

Laguna lake is brownish in color, representing muddy waters coming from the farms, and polluted waters coming thousands of households and firms surrounding the lake. There are plenty of wide fishpens (mainly for tilapia aquaculture) and these should be contributing to the muddy and brownish waters of the lake.

After crossing the lake, it’s Batangas province. Relatively populous by virtue of its proximity to Metro Manila. Going out to the sea, the first island-province to see is Marinduque. It’s a small province compared to most provinces in the country, both in terms of land area and population size. Relatively flat, with 2 open pit mines with lakes in the middle (this could be Marcopper mines), relatively in the middle of the island. To the province’s southern part, there’s a tall mountain that looks thickly forested because of its dense green view from the top.

After Marinduque, it’s Romblon province’s several scattered islands. The one nearest the plane’s path could be Sibuyan island because of the prominent presence of a big, tall and thickly forested mountain, it should be Mt. Guiting-guiting. It’s one of the memorable mountains to me because it was among the most difficult and most dangerous mountains I have climbed, about 12 or 14 years ago, along with a few friends. Anyway, beside Sibuyan island are 2 islands to its right, should be Romblon island (the smaller one) and Tablas island (bigger and wider). There are about 2 or 3 other smaller islands nearby.

The plane started descending a bit, and the western tip of Masbate island is more visible. Masbate is shaped like a seahorse with an elongated and extended nose pointing towards Panay island. This part of Masbate is flat, there seems to be no mountain or tall hills here. A few cluster of houses below. And there seems to be a few forested area, perhaps these are among Masbate’s famous cattle ranches where a ranch is several thousand hectares wide of mainly grassland. Panay island is not clear because it’s a bit far from the plane’s path.

Descending further, I saw a small flat island with plenty of houses. This could be Bantayan island on the northern side of Cebu island-province. A few minutes more, the plane was hovering above Cebu’s northern villages and towns. There’s a plateau and on top of it are hundreds of small hills, they look like the “green version” of Bohol’s “Chocolate hills”. After the plateau, the lower hills and farm lands, could be mostly coconut plantation, the plane crosses the western side of the island-province, seems sleepy towns up there.

Mactan island is not far behind, it’s a flat island adjacent to Cebu. The 2 long bridges connecting the 2 islands – the old Mactan bridge and the new Marcelo Fernan bridge – can be seen now. Mactan’s big hotels and resorts are mostly on the left side of the island, fronting the smaller Olango island. While on the right side of the island are its industrial (like Mactan Export Processing Zone) and commercial centers since they’re just facing Cebu city and its domestic and international seaport on the other side.

Among the prominent structures of Cebu City from the air are naturally its tall buildings like Marco Polo hotel up on a hill, those in Fuente Osmena circle, and those around the Ayala business center.

For a one hour trip from Manila, it’s worth foregoing sleep and rest during that period and watch the various islands and mountains below the plane.

Thailand trip, part 1

2008-06-09T23:32:00.000-07:00

Upon the invitation of Dr. Samran Sombatpanit, Immediate past president of the World Association for Soil and Water Conservation (WASWC), I went to Thailand last June 1. My wife Ella and daughter Elle Marie came with me. Samran reserved us at Maruay Garden Hotel, a bit on the outskirts of central Bangkok, and just a few kilometers from his house.

We took the late night flight from Manila on May 31, and arrived at Thailand or Bangkok International Airport around 1am of June 1. The airport is so big and beautiful, both from a distance and inside it. The blue neon lights mix up well with the rest of the lights in the tent-type roofing of the terminal.

I have been to Thailand twice, the first in 2001 I think, when I joined a study tour of the PDE from the University of the Philippines, School of Economics (UPSE). The second in 2005 when I went to Phuket to attend a conference, although here, I did not go to the city. From Manila, I only changed plane from the Bkk airport to Phuket. The current airport was opened only 2 years ago, and it really looks grand. Although I have read in the past that when they first opened it, there were a number of technical glitches. Then there was some corruption issue in the construction of the new airport.

Anyway, the immigration section was neat and the queue was very short. The baggage claim area was big but orderly. After we got out baggages, Ella's 2 Filipina friends, Kareff and Kissy, both working at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), have been waiting for us at the exit area of the airport. It was very kind for these 2 ladies to stay late and waited for us even though it was past 1am when we got out of the airport. They arranged for a taxi and came along with us to our hotel.

The road infrastructure from the airport to Bangkok city was impressive. We passed by 2 tollgates, the roads were wide, smooth and well-lighted. A big portion of the road was elevated too.

In the morning, Kareff accompanied us again, and we took the MRT. The train system is more modern than the MRT/LRT in Manila. Bangkok's MRT coaches are wider, and the trains are longer, so there was no congestion inside the trains. But then it was a Sunday, so perhaps on weekdays, the trains are congested and packed with people.

We went to the National Stadium station, there's a big mall attached to it. I noticed there were many western tourists, buying different stuff. I'm no shopping or malling buff even in Manila, so I wouldn't know how cheaper or pricier the goods are compared to their counterparts in Manila's shops and malls, although my impression is that they are generally cheaper compared to those sold in Manila.

By late afternoon, our daughter was tired and sleepy, I have to go back to the hotel so she can sleep well, while Ella and Kareff resumed shopping. I saw a long line of traffic, mostly on the road from the outskirts to central Bangkok, even on a Sunday! So I would imagine the traffic congestion during regular days should be a lot worse.

Many buses in Bkk are government-owned; there are a few private buses but they need to get their business permit or franchise from the government. In a set-up where the government is a regulator and competitor at the same time, one cannot expect that the private buses will be able to compete well. Hence, the public bus system is a bit inefficient, so people have to rely on the MRT, taxi and their private cars. The taxis are all privately-operated and owned, and the service is generally good. Flag down was Baht 35, then Baht 2 for every succeeding few hundred meters.

In the evening, I was visited by my Thai friend, my batchmate during the "Sustainable Agriculture" seminar for 7 weeks in Sweden in late 2003, then in the "follow-up sustainable agriculture" seminar for a week in Hanoi, Vietnam in December 2006. Orasa brought her 18-year old daughter, who speaks good English as she has studied for 1 year in UK as sort of an exchange student.

Orasa treated me and my daughter to a buffet dinner at the hotel, with an entertainment by a local band that sang 70s and 80s era, western popular songs and ballad. It was a good dinner-entertainment at the hotel, I profusely thanked Orasa for the hospitality.

Passports and visa

2008-05-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

Foreign travel is always an exciting experience for people who have not gone outside their country yet, or for those who are visiting another foreign country for the first time. The anticipation and the joy of seeing other places and people, other culture is itself a source of joy and excitement.

For people who travel a lot though, foreign travel is a drudgery, a stressful experience, except when attending an important meeting or conference.

Below are 2 rather emergency and weird cases that I have experienced.

(1) Has passport but no visa yet, and flying the following day!

This happened to me sometime in October 2006. I was going to Seoul, S. Korea to attend the 2nd Asia-Pacific Taxpayers Union (APTU) meeting. Although I have been to Seoul twice in the past, the meeting was something new to me. In addition, the organizers – the Korea Taxpayers Association – would pay for my hotel, plane fare and other expenses, so it was a very attractive opportunity and I didn’t want that opportunity to pass. But they gave that offer rather belatedly, only a few days before the meeting, so had to get a Korean visa very quick.

I had a valid passport, a plane reservation already but could not pay it yet because I still have to wait if the Korean embassy will give me a visa.

I got my visa around 3pm, immediately informed my travel agent, got my e-ticket 5pm, and flew the following morning!

(2) Has visa but no passport, and flying the following day!

This happened to me last April. I was going to Atlanta, Georgia, USA to attend the Liberty Forum sponsored by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation A week before my flight, my passport accidentally got wet. My two friends from 2 separate travel agencies have the same opinion: I need to get a new passport, otherwise, it’s possible that I may be denied departure at Manila airport, or be denied entry at the US immigration.

With a formal invite and a paid e-ticket, I looked for friends of friends who are working at the DFA. The regular issuance of a new machine-readable passport is 14 working days. An overtime issuance is 7 working days. I wanted my new passport to be issued preferably in 2 working days!

The DFA personnel that I talked to said it’s impossible. They narrated a father who has to leave quickly to attend to a son who will be beheaded somewhere in the Middle East, and the man still got his passport in 4-5 working days!

Have to cancel my scheduled flight on April 21 morning, and hoped that my new passport will be released on April 23, even though the scheduled release is April 24 (5 working days). My trip was getting hopeless as even though I can get my new passport soon, all Northwest flights were full. One option was to take the Philippine Airlines (PAL) for a Manila-SFO or LA flight, then connecting flight to Atlanta via Delta Air. But this will be an expensive flight, about $2,100+ including taxes for a return ticket, while my Northwest promo fare was only $1,560+ including taxes.

April 23, I went to the DFA to see – at a slim possibility – that my new passport will be issued that afternoon. I arrived at the Passport Director’s office around 2:30pm, and was so surprised to learn that my new passport is already available! Upon holding it, I immediately called up my travel agent for a possible slot in Northwest (in case one passenger will cancel) the following day, or with PAL that same night. An hour later, my travel agent texted me that indeed, one passenger, just one, cancelled his/her flight, so I will be able to get in!

So here’s how it went:April 23, I got my new passport at 2:30pm, 3:30pm got a lone slot in Northwest, received my new e-ticket at 6:30pm, and flew the April 24, 8am flight!

That trip though, was very long and tiring. I entered NAIA April 24, 5am (3 hours before scheduled departure), flew Manila-Narita-Detroit-Atlanta (3 plane transfers) and got out of Atlanta airport around 6:30am April 25 Manila time, or a total of 25 ½ hours!

Since it was my first time to see Atlanta, the tiredness was erased when I finally saw the Atlanta airport, got out and saw the city.

Yeah, the pain and gain of foreign travel!

Tagaytay highlands and midlands

2008-03-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, my PDE batch 33rd in UPSE were invited by our then batch adviser and our wedding sponsor, our Ninong Prof. Ruping Alonzo, to visit them and their house at Tagaytay Midlands. Two of my batchmates came, Cynmthia and Joey. I brought my wife Ella and our baby, Elle Marie. We hitched with Cynthia, she was driving a Ford Everest, wow!

From SLEX, we took the Calamba-Batino road. It's less scenic, the roads are narrow, lots of humps, but so near. Before you knew it, you are already in Midlands. There's another route going there, via Sta. Rosa exit, but you have to pass through Silang, then Tagaytay, then go up to Tagaytay Highlands, go down to Midlands. The Batino road is shorter by around 14 kms., quite a lot of savings in time and fuel.

Before we went to Sir Ruping's house, we toured the whole area, watching the beautiful vacation houses. The streets there are named after condiments like Basil, Mint, etc. There are more vacant lots than houses, though I think it won't take long and the place will be teeming with more new houses.

Ninong Ruping's house is cool -- fresh air, clean surroundings, neat interiors, 2-storey, the window glasses are wide. You don't need electric fan or air-con and you don't need lights, the glass windows allow ample sunlight. They have a butterfly house/net with lots of colorful flowers. Ninang Mel likes some gardening.

The couple brought us to Tagaytay Highlands for a tour. We visited the nipa cottages, some accommodations there are affordable. There are 2 swimming pools, one each for adults and children. Then we went to highlands country club. It's beautiful and spacious. In front of it is a wide and clean swimming pool, an arch footbridge over the pool, artificial waterfalls on the sides, a view of the log cabins/houses and golf course on the other side. We obviously took lots of pictures.

Then we went for an ice cream at a small pond where people can rent a fishing rod and catch tilapia. Whatever you catch, you can bring them home, no need to pay them. Problem is that the fishes are small, so people normally throw whatever they catch back to the pond.

Near the pond is the chapel, it's cool too -- circular, like the UP chapel, but this one's smaller; all wood structures, the roof is cogon, the benches are those solid wood. The Jesus on the cross is also made of wood.

A few meters away is the horse-back riding oval. The horses look healthier and taller than the horses in other resorts at Tagaytay proper.

Then we went to the tallest part of Highlands -- a restaurant perched atop a narrow but tall hill. From the top, you can see the high-rise condos and log cabins of Highlands, the bright-colored houses in the Midlands, on one side, and Taal lake on the other side. And here's the killer: the wind there is so strong and cold, those who did not bring a jacket have to stay away after sometime. My baby enjoyed the strong wind so much!

From there, we went for a brief train ride, steep downhill, from highlands to midlands, it's free! We sat in the front car or train, it's a bit scary looking down the steep downhill as the train move downwards. Three minutes later, we're at the midlands clubhouse.

We were supposed to ride the cable car too, but they did not operate it that day, the wind was strong for the cable cars, Sayang.

From there, we went back to Ninong Ruping's house. Other friends from PDE batch 37th who joined us brought lots of food, so we had a heavy afternoon snacks. Some just sat or played around in the open grass area in front of the house, others stayed inside. It's very comfy whether you're inside or outside the house. My baby enjoyed it outside.

The sun has already set when we bid goodbye and profusely thanked the couple for the invite. Prodded upon by the kinetic energy released by the 4 bottles of beer in my brain, I gave an extemporaneous brief speech, something like, "dahil sa kabayanihan ng mag-asawa, tayo ay sumaya!" Heh, corny. I didn't say that. I said,

"In the absence of the real and biological children of Sir/Mam Ruping-Mel (their 2 kids are now US-based, have their own families there), the social and academic children are here, coming from different points of the country to express great pleasure for the hospitality of the couple. We enjoyed the place, the tour, the food, the kindness. Bring in the band!" Hehehe.

Eden resort, Davao City

2008-02-21T01:33:00.000-08:00

Second week of January this year, my wife has to attend a training seminar and hold some meetings with their partners in Davao City. Venue was the Eden Nature Park and Resort (www.edennaturepark.com.ph). Though she has been to that city several times, it will be her first time to see that place, so she brought our baby and I tag along to watch our daughter. That was my second visit to Eden; my first visit was sometime in 2002, but it was only a day tour. This time, we will stay there for 3 days and 2 nights.

The place is at the foot of Mt. Apo, around 2,600 feet above sea level (roughly 1/4 the height of that mountain, which is the highest mountain in the Philippines). It should be a little less than 30 kms. from Davao city proper. The place is cold, well at least compared to those areas in the lowlands. In the evening, one can see Toril district of the city and its bright lights.

We stayed at Holiday lodges, just below the greenhouses and the hydroponics farm, and near the mangosteen grove, prayer garden, and mini-ampitheater. There's an open air training or conference area. So participants stay at the lodge, and walk just across the road towards the conference area.

The rooms are non-air-con for obvious reason. There's an electric fan though. The tv is small and no cable connection. No wi-fi network too, except in the business center and the main dining area. But I like the toilet and shower area. The toilet bowl is beside an open area with a few colorful flowers; sunlight, wind and rain can penetrate as it's covered only by fine nets to keep out the mosquitoes and other flying insects. Hence, no need for an electrical exhaust system.

The main dining area is big and wide. It should be able to accommodate 200 people. Just below the dining area is a small covered court with stage, for events with plenty of people. Toril district can be seen behind the stage. But what makes the place unique is the presence of free-roaming peafowls, mostly female. About 1 or 2 males (peacocks) accompany the females and if you're lucky, you should be able to see the males displaying their tails -- wide, tall and colorful -- to court or attract the females.

Outside the dining area is the mini-Indiana Jones ride. It's a short cable ride, maybe about 50 meters long only. Further down the Jones ride, are the campsite and a half-court basketball area....

zoobic safari

2008-02-11T18:41:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, my wife and her friend from college days, Ireen, also a mother to a nearly 2-year old boy, went to Subic for a weekend stay. We brought our daughter Elle, 1 year and 4 months old.

We went to "zoobic safari", on the western side of Subic bay area and near the Morong, Bataan gate. The place is quite attractive to many tourists especially on weekends. Entrance fee is P400 per head, babies are free. The package includes a walking tour of a zoo -- different birds, animals and rodents. They have a good collection, definitely much plentier than one will find at the government-run Manila zoo.

There's a short entertainment in this part of the zoo. In the "Aeta trail", there are 3 or 4 male Aetas on G-strings. One plays the guitar, as one dances the graceful "butterfly dance"; another one dances the quick "monkey dance", complete with a very quick climb on a pole and quick descent; then 2 guys dance the belligerent "war dance".

There is also a covered place where different species of smaller alligators (iguana, monitor lizard, etc.) and snakes (from python to indian albino species).

But what makes the place unique compared to many other zoo in the country, both government- and privately-operated, is the close encounter with tigers on the loose. Well, they can walk and run around in a fenced area. Visitors ride a jeepney with steel bards to protect them from the tigers. Visitors buy dressed chicken for P200 a piece, a zoo staff joins in as "feeder". The tigers' area has double gates.

Upon entry of the jeepney on the 2nd gate, just a few meters you will see the tigers -- about 4 or more of them. The "feeder" shows the dressed chicken, and 1 or 2 tigers come close, well very close, you can see their face, claws and teeth as they eat the chicken little by little right across the steel bars! While one tiger is eating the chicken piecemeal, another tiger would roam around the other side of the jeepney, sniffing if there's another chicken available. Tigers that are full don't come close anymore, they just lie down on some corners but are still visible to the visitors inside the jeepney. This close encounter lasts for about 10-15 minutes.

After the tiger encounter, the jeepney goes back to the main building. Then visitors can choose whether to ride the train-truck (P50/head) or bring their own car. First destination is the tiger breeding area. Here, huge and mature tigers are kept for breeding. It's a good tiger farm. Next destination is the savannah -- a fenced area where many ostrich, wild (now tamed) pigs, ducks and turkey roam around freely. if you get off from your car briefly, you can have a quick picture taking with these birds and animals up close, although the tour guide does not allow this practice, i think. The ostrich can kick you perhaps.

Finally, the last destination is the crocodile farm. There are around 200 different species of crocs there. Visitors can buy a quarter- or half-sized dressed chicken tied to a long stick for P50, then use the chicken to attract the seldom-moving animals to move and attempt to eat the bait. I kidded our tour guide, "Luthy", that perhaps they should change the name of the croc farm to "House of Representatives", other visitors who heard my joke laughed too.

There are 2 souvenir shops -- one in the main building where briefings are made, and at the Crocs cafe.

The place is a good learning area for children and adults alike about various animals. The staff are articulate and friendly too.

Going to Boracay

2008-01-15T22:44:00.001-08:00

November 2007

Boracay can be reached by boat from the municipalities of Caticlan and Malay, Aklan province. To reach Caticlan say from Manila, (a) by plane, there are 2 small airlines that serve Caticlan; (b) by bus via RORO (Manila-Batangas-Calapan-Roxas-Caticlan-Iloilo). By small planes, travel time is around 50 minutes; by bus, it’s around 20 hours.

Transpo expenses, Malay town (Panay mainland) to Boracay

1. Environmental fee, P50 per head
2. Terminal fee, P20 per head
3. Boat fare, P20 per head
4. Tricycle, port to beach resorts, P100 per trip

If your hotel is not accessible by tricycle, like the road going there is being repaired, and you have plenty of baggage and/or you’re carrying a baby, you may have to hire a ‘trisikad’ (bicycle with side car), fare depending on distance and/or number of baggage.

5. Trisikad, P20 to P50 per trip

When the winds are strong, the boats cannot dock at Jetty Port in Malay, so they dock at Tabon. But they can’t come close to the shallow waters, so passengers have to ride those small bancas and transfer to the bigger boats. In Boracay island, the same boats have to dock at the eastern side where there is no port, so passengers will have to ride again a banca from the boat to the shore.

3a. Banca ride, Malay to boat, P 5 per person
3b. Banca ride, boat to Boracay, P 5 per person

In situations like this, the ‘terminal fee’ should not be collected since there was no ‘terminal’ being used, and passengers have to pay extra for those banca rides. Anyway the banca operators pay a certain registration or accreditation fee to the municipal government.

* Going to Boracay can be inconveniently expensive. Or expensively inconvenient.

Kalibo, Aklan

2007-12-17T19:09:00.000-08:00

November 2007

This provincial capital of Aklan is famous for its ‘kalibo Ati-Atihan’ festival every 3^rd or 4^th week of January. I think that in the Visayas and elsewhere, Kalibo pioneered the Ati-Atihan festival (from ‘ati’, or Aeta in tagalong). The Iloilo Ati-atihan is now more famous because of bigger prizes and bigger corporate sponsorships, hence the competing ‘tribes’ are more expensively dressed and trained. This festival is very lively and colorful, with several dozens of drums and drummers per tribe giving danceable beat to their respective ‘warriors’, dressed in colorful and intricate costumes, normally made of local raw materials, who can dance from slow to rock to acrobatic steps.

The town also prides itself of having its ‘Bakhawan Eco-park’. This is a wide plantation of mangroves plus a recreation area, more than 80 hectares, and has an ‘eco-walk’ made of bamboos, right in the middle of the mangroves.

Other tourist attractions of the municipality are the ‘Pina village’, a place where the folks weave and sell pina cloth out of pineapple leaves. Then there is the ‘Ati-atihan village’, the Museo it Aklan, the Kalibo Cathedral, the Aklan Freedom Shrine, and Tigayon hill and caves. More details, one can visit the official website, www.kalibo.gov.ph.

The municipality is small. One can see the central municipality in a few minutes tricycle ride. No high rise structures, a few fast-food chains. A modern-looking hospital, the ‘Tumbocon memorial hospital’, named from a former politician, is also visible around the town center.

Kalibo Airport

The airport is just a few minutes from the town proper. But when the plane lands, you would think that the town proper is far away because the wide and long runway is surrounded by rice fields and just a few houses, it looks like a secluded barrio.. But this is a good thing because the airport will have a wide space for more expansion someday as the volume of visitors and passengers who come to the province, as well as those going to Boracay, is increasing.

The airport terminal is pathetic. There are no trolleys for departing and arriving passengers. So if one has plenty of baggage, he/she will be compelled to hire a porter. The porters have t-shirt uniforms, with their corresponding number and family name at the back, fine. But they mix up with arriving passengers at the baggage claim area, which is already small, and it makes that area more crowded. Why the heck would porters compete for an already limited space with arriving passengers?

Maybe the porters are unionized, or at least organized. And through their lobbying, plus the indifference of the local airport authorities, passengers will be deprived of having trolleys so that they can carry their baggage on their own, and have some space to an already small passenger arrival area. Porters will be needed of course by some passengers who really have plenty of cargos, but they should be out of the baggage claim area. They can be positioned at the exit area to help passengers transfer their baggage from the trolley to the vehicles waiting for them.

The exit system from the baggage claim area, like in many airports in the country, is somehow funny if not stupid. Passengers are asked to show their duplicate stub as proof that the baggage being brought out are indeed theirs. Fine, it’s a standard practice, especially for those who are leaving ahead. But when all passengers have already claimed their baggage, and no one is reporting or complaining of any ‘lost baggage’, then it should be assumed 100% that all baggages being brought out belong to their respective owners. But the guards still keep checking the stubs, making the exit queu unnecessarily long and disorganized as people simply want to get out of the airport as quickly as possible. But then again, the private security guards are only implementing ‘orders’ by the local airport authorities. So it’s actually the latter who make those rigid rules.

Nonetheless, this is an international airport as there are a few direct flights from Seoul and a few other Asian cities to Kalibo. The passengers are mainly tourists heading to Boracay. For some passengers coming from Manila going to Boracay but are afraid to ride small planes (about 40 seaters) that land at Caticlan airport, which is very near the port going to Boracay, they ride bigger planes that land at Kalibo then take a 1 ½ hours land trip to Caticlan port, for a boat ride to Boracay.

There is an increasing number of Koreans landing at Kalibo airport, evidenced by some notices and instructions at the airport terminal which have Korean translations.

Aklan’s Road Network

The province’s road network is generally good and smooth. The province is mountainous, so roads have plenty of curves, ascent and descent. Usually these roads would tend to deteriorate quicker than flat and straight roads, but the roads were constructed well, and/or maintained and repaired regularly. Credit should go to the provincial government for this good job.

Kalibo’s Police

The driver of the van that we took from Kalibo to Caticlan was apprehended by Kalibo’s policemen who were very eager and early in apprehending some drivers of public utility vehicles. We rode the van around 6:15am. By 6:30 am, before the van crossed the long bridge (was it Aklan river?), 3 policemen stopped our van. Passengers are always inconvenienced by delays caused by such apprehensions. With nothing to do as one policeman was issuing a traffic violation ticket to the driver, I approached the team leader and asked why they apprehended the van driver. The policeman replied, “Not wearing seatbelt, driver wearing slippers, and waiting for passengers in a non-designated area, outside regular van terminal.”

Oh well. Perhaps one reason why many criminals go scot-free is because the policemen are busy apprehending drivers not wearing seatbelts, or motorcycle riders who don’t wear helmets, other minor offenses. When the van driver asked, “Why don’t you apprehend the colorum vans? Your fellow policeman, Vargas, operates colorum vans.” The police officer who issued him the traffic violation ticket just walked away as if he never heard the van driver. Oh well.

Our van driver told us that perhaps those policemen have ‘marked’ him because they know that he’s a migrant from Manila and not an “original” Aklanon. But he has already migrated to the province and all he wants is a decent income for serving passengers. He murmured because those violations would cost him nearly P1,000 in penalties.

Mactan-Mandaue, Cebu

2007-11-11T20:17:00.000-08:00

Mactan island

Mactan is a flat and small island, not a single hill to see. It's on the western side of Cebu island-province. It is surrounded by usually shallow and rocky beaches, especially on the eastern side, facing Cebu city. On its western side, there are a few white sand beaches, so some high-end hotels not far from the airport are found here, like Shangrila Mactan and Holiday Inn. Lots of new and cheaper hotels, various commercial establishments and residential areas have sprang up in Lapu-lapu city.

The Mactan-Cebu International Airport is located in Lapu-lapu city in this island. It is Cebu’s main gateway to and from many airports in the country and some cities in Asia. It's relatively modern and spacious enough for an international airport in the province. Since the second half of this year, more than 2,000 domestic aircrafts (from 5 domestic airlines), plus more than 600 international aircrafts (from around 12 international airlines), land and take-off from this airport monthly. In terms of number of passengers, since the second half of this year, more than 230,000 domestic passengers and more than 80,000 international passengers, arrive or depart from this airport monthly.

The island is connected to Cebu city by 2 long bridges. The old one is used by vehicles from Lapu-lapu to Cebu city proper and hence, traffic is usually bad here. Vehicles coming from the airport take the second and newer bridge, the “Marcelo B. Fernan bridge”, in honor of the previous Supreme Court chief justice, former senator, and pride of Cebuanos. Big ships from abroad, from Manila and from other islands and cities of the country pass under these 2 bridges.

From the airport to the Fernan bridge, traffic flow is normally light, and the roads are lined up with neatly-planted mahogany trees, which should be about 10 years old, I think. There is also an overpass from the bridge on the way to the airport above a busy intersection of Lapu-lapu city.

Mandaue City

Coming down from the Fernan bridge is Mandaue city, previously the industrial zone neighbor of Cebu City. In recent years, many commercial establishments as well as sprawling residential areas have sprung up here. The newly-constructed Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) is found here, not far from the Fernan bridge. The ASEAN summit was held in CICC early this year.

Traffic is light for a few kilometers after the bridge until about CICC, as there are just a few commercial establishments on both sides of the road. Traffic build-up is in Mandaue city proper, all the way up to Cebu city proper. Compared to Metro Manila’s traffic on a per kilometer basis, traffic on average is worse in Mandaue-Cebu than in Metro Manila. This is because the roads in Cebu are mostly narrow, no underpass road yet, and just a few overpass on top of the city’s many busy intersections.

The new Iloilo airport

2007-10-21T01:18:00.001-07:00

The old Iloilo airport is in Manduriao, Iloilo City. And the most prominent structure near that airport when a plan is about to land, is.... an SM City Manduriao!

Having an airport within the city proper is good because passengers from the city and Guimaras island will not need to go far if they're flying. The only problem of course is that an airport in the city proper naturally will have limited space for any expansion. Or no space at all for any expansion.

The new airport, opened only a few months ago this year, is in the town of Sta. Barbara. It's about 22 kms. from the city proper, passing by the town of Pavia. The airport should be ok for some international flights because it is modern enough. Departure lounge on the 3rd floor, arrival area on the 2nd floor, and airport cargo equipment and staff on the ground floor. The design is like a midget or small version of many big Asian international airports.

The runway should be at least 1 km long, could be 1.5 kms. Hence, it can possibly handle a B737 or equivalent size of Airbus planes. Surrounding the runway and passenger terminal and other structures are vast rice fields and rural houses. So a further expansion in the future should pose no problem.

One thing impressive about this airport is that despite its modern design and features, the terminal fee is a modest and very reasonable rate of only P30/passenger. If you compare it with the current old, ugly and congested domestic terminal in Pasay charging P200/passenger, the rate of the latter, operated by the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), would really look like a highway robbery.

Hong Kong

2007-10-21T00:42:00.000-07:00

I've been to Hong Kong 3x. My first was in April 1998, during the PDE (Program in Devt. Econ., UP School of Economics) study tour; second was in September 2004, during an international conference on "The Role of Government in Asian Economies", sponsored by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF). And my third was last September this year, for a short meeting with some friends among the International Policy Network (IPN) circle.

In my 1st visit 9 years ago, the airport was still in the city, and we didn't move out too far from the city proper (HK and Kowloon areas), where we attended some meetings and briefing with a number of HK government economic agencies. HK's skyscrapers were really impressive, and they didn't seem to be tiring building more. We also visited the Ocean Park, other urban parks and amusement centers.

We had a day tour also at Shenzhen, China. At that time, I remember the roads were very wide, there were a few skyscrapers, but the development plan was meant for something really big -- a big city, a big future commercial center.

In my 2nd visit 3 years ago, we landed at the new, bigger, Chek Lap Kok Airport at Lantau island. I remember I was impressed by the huge infrastructure investments put by the HK government in connecting that island to the main islands of HK territory. That long bridge for instance going to Kowloon was really huge and modern. Also the several kilometers long of stone-cement terraces to prevent land slides and falling rocks on roads along steep hills.

Nonetheless, the conference schedule was very tight, we had little or no time to move around the city, except after dinners. One of those nights, our friends from Lion Rock Institute, particularly Andrew Work, toured us to some of the most interesting strips of bars in HK. I was proud telling friends from other countries that the performing rock bands in most of those bars are from the Philippines. Those bands they could amplify the pulsating night with lots of fast-beat rock music from the 70s onwards.

In my 3rd visit a month ago, this time, the schedule was not hectic, but it was only for 2 days and 1 night, had to rush back to Manila for the 1st bday party of my daughter. From the airport, one can take the Airport Express train to the city for HK$90. I thought it was rather expensive. I asked how much the bus fare, it's only HK$33 up to Kowloon, my destination. So I took the bus. It's a comfortable ride, of course not as comfy and as fast as the train. But I also enjoyed watching the territory from Lantau island to Kowloon. It took the bus about 45 minutes to a bus stop in Nathan road, and the bus driver told me to get off where my destination, Intercontinental Grand Stanford at Mody road, is nearer.

There are other 5-star hotels along this road and neighboring streets. This area is near the Causeway bay, where one can see HK island and its glittering skyscrapers, particularly the very tall and very bright International Finance Center building, just across the bay.

At night, those skyscrapers are really fantastic to see. One can imagine how many big powerplants would be needed to sustain the energy needs of those buildings, the roads, parks, and residential areas.

I haven't been to HK Disneyland, and I haven't gone back to the Ocean Park since my first and last visit to that place. They should be good places to tour my daughter and wife someday.

On a Satruday night at Nathan road, on my way back to the airport, I noticed there was a big mosque for Muslims. I saw many many Muslims coming out of the mosque. I didn't realize that there is now a big population of Muslims in HK, but they are mostly migrants -- from Asia and Africa especially.