Pinoy Blog Machine (Beta)

Manapa Beach

Agusan River scenery

Me and my 6 other friends have no clue what to do in Butuan and we still don’t have a place to stay. I’m now humming the tune of “Que Sera Sera” as my philosophy for this CARAGA region trip is “whatever will be, will be.” I’m glad that I was given free maps and travel guides of Butuan and Surigao during the Philippine Travel Mart I attended a few months ago at SM Megamall. My map and travel guide is now our lifeline to explore the city. It has the telephone numbers of recommended hotels in it and besides I don’t think that hotels will be fully-booked so I am very confident that we can walk-in straight to the hotel without any problems of securing 3 rooms.

I know there is so much to see there in Butuan and the whole province of Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur so I will just let my two feet bring us to wherever. Our first stop is the Butuan City Tourism Office to ask for recommendations where to go, what to see, what to buy as souvenirs and of course what to eat. Anyway, I believe that there will be no dull moments if I’m in company of good friends. I’m now excited to arrive in Butuan as I smell adventure in the making!

Have a great long weekend!

P.S. Thank you to my blogger friend Dodong for allowing me to grab his Butuan photos.

I am so lucky to meet a wonderful blogger named Rosilie. I was in General Santos City (GenSan) last week just to buy a t-shirt being marketed to bloggers. All I want is a t-shirt so I traveled more than 2 hours from Davao City but upon reaching GenSan I didn’t expect to gain new friends with my brief stay in the city. Even if I am a complete stranger to them, Rosilie, her husband and her sister treated me to lunch in a restaurant I didn’t even bother to know because I am preoccupied chatting to all of them. That restaurant serves the best tasting garlic fried chicken I ever ate.

The generosity of Rosilie’s family didn’t end there as we went to KCC Mall and had coffee after a leisurely walk inside the confines of the airconditioned mall (a luxury for a very humid day). We just talked about blogging and almost anything under the sun. I am so envious to her adventure-junky husband as he almost tried every extreme sport there is. He hasn’t yet gone skydiving but it is now included in his to-do list.

If you want to order “blogging-themed” t-shirts then all you have to do is contact Rosilie through her blog. She ships the shirts anywhere in the country. But when you personally buy your shirt at her store in GenSan I guarantee everyone that your purchase will come with a free friend or friends which to me is priceless.

The design of my blogger shirt is not one of these (see pictures below) as mine is a specially made limited edition type, hehehe

First of all, thank you again Cebu Pacific for this 2 roundtrip tickets to Roxas City, Capiz which you gave for FREE. Roxas is dubbed as the “Seafood Capital of the Philippines” as you can find almost anything edible that swim in abundance. My favorite seafood is oyster and when I once saw a truckload of oyster ready for distribution to nearby provinces I suddenly felt excitement in devouring tons of them. I love grilled or baked oysters with melted cheese, butter and garlic on top (the best in the world!!!). I mouth can’t also wait to devour those grilled squid with lots of onion, tomato, ginger and garlic stuffed in their cavity.

Thank you Cebu Pacific Air for my free roundtrip ticket to Cebu! This would be my 2nd Cebu City trip in less than a month. I don’t know what is my agenda in Cebu together with my friend. I would like to go back to Bantayan Island or explore Malapascua but we don’t have enough time to do that. Maybe we will just stay in the city and watch the Quantum of Solace at Ayala Center and then indulge ourselves to a seafood buffet in one of the restaurants near the mall and then we would probably attend the mass service at the Basilica del Santo Nino de Cebu.

When I was in Cebu last month I tried my luck at Casino Filipino at the Waterfront Airport Hotel to kill time waiting for the boarding time, luckily I won enough money to pay for my dinner, terminal fee, a few packs of dried mangoes and taxi from NAIA 3 to my house. I guess I’ll try it one more time and hope that lady luck is still on my side after a month. I only allow myself to lose up to 300 pesos before I head up to the door and never come back as gambling can be addictive.

Air Asia claims to be the first airline in the world to do away with fuel surcharge. And to make everything more special to the riding public they are offering 500,000 FREE seats in the sense that you will just need to pay for an “Adminstrative Charge” and “Airport Taxes.”

This is a very sweet deal as a roundtrip ticket to Kuala Lumpur from Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga will only set you back 1,100 pesos ($25) all-in. It is good to know that Air Asia offers a wide variety of destinations so if you love the beach you can go to Phuket or Bali. If you love old cities you can go to Siem Reap, Cambodia to see the Angkor Wat or Yogyakarta, Indonesia to see the Borubodur temple. If you love nature I highly recommend going to Vietnam to see Halong Bay or the breathtaking rock formations in Guilin, China.

You can go to any destinations in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Brunei, Laos etc. via Kuala Lumpur starting June 2009 for a total of less than 5,000 pesos all-in. That’s a steal in itself! Less than 5,000 bucks for 4 plane rides to your destination beyond Kuala Lumpur. Me and my friends purchased tickets to Kuala Lumpur and Phuket for less than 4,000 pesos all-in. Book ASAP as the seat sale will run up to November 16 only.

I own an Olympus digital camera that guarantees to be waterproof up to 33 feet and shockproof up to 6.6 feet. I have no plans to test its shockproof capability but to give justice to its waterproof feature I thought that I should start taking underwater photographs. I don’t know if I do well with this attempt as a novice underwater photographer. The following images where just taken from the lovely infinity pool of Amarela Resort in Panglao, Bohol. There’s nothing to see at the bottom of the pool so I just concentrated taking pictures of the beautifully colored building.

I also took underwater photographs few days ago in Boracay but it would be in a separate blog entry. I will try to enhance further my underwater photography skills there in Mactan in my next trip in several days. I am not yet a certified diver but I took scuba lessons before so if I have a budget I’ll go diving during the weekend to take more underwater pictures.

it would be my first time to ride this very cute PAL Express Bombardier Q300

This is the fruit of my travel bargain hunting last September 12 at the 19th Philippine Travel Mart in SM Megamall. As an avid independent traveler I am not really a fan of organized or package tours. I love to research something about a place, I also love being my own tour guide and I don’t want anybody to limit my time in visiting interesting places. But how can you resist a package from PAL Express consisting of roundtrip airfare, 4 days/3 nights accommodation at Escondido Resort, 3 breakfasts and airport-hotel-airport transfers for only 8,860 pesos for 2 persons (4,430 each). Is that a bargain or what? I know a bargain when I see one and upon learning about this rate I didn’t left the booth of PAL Express until I got the tickets.

There is a package even lower than our 4,430 Boracay package. Air Philippines offered a 3-day package for Palawan for as low as 4,100 pesos which is almost the same banana. I hesitated going to Puerto Princesa on a package because I have a friend who lives there and I can stay in her house for free which I gratefully availed a year ago. I also have a free overnight stay which I will avail soon in a hotel in Puerto Princesa for refering a number of my friends to stay there. I don’t have a friend who lives or work in Boracay so it is wiser to go to Boracay on a cheap package than in Puerto Princesa.

This would be my first time to try PAL Express and also my first time going straight to Boracay on an airplane. As my father is from Iloilo province, my previous 6 trips to Boracay all originated from Iloilo and one instance when my family tried the Ro-Ro Strong Republic Nautical Highway proudly being advocated by President Arroyo so I drove from Metro Manila all the way down to Iloilo with a stopover in Batangas, Mindoro and Boracay.

So now, to give justice to my post title… This is just a trivial analogy as I just noticed that since 1996 when I first saw the fine powdery white sand of Boracay I keep on returning on that island every Olympic year. I have been there the same year as the Atlanta Olympics (1996), Sydney Olympics (2000), Athens Olympics (2004) and now the Beijing Olympics (2008). Well, to keep in line with my sports-Boracay analogy, my three other non-Olympic year soujourns in Boracay all coincided with the regional SEA Games (1997, 1999 & 2005). So who says that sports and beach are not closely related? Hahaha!

NOTE: I will not approve comments related to this post which will say that it is a corny analogy

Asia’s first airline and the country’s premiere carrier Philippine Airlines has now what it calls EconoLight Class. Evidently it is a lower service class than what me and other are used to in economy class as it offers No-Frills service to its regional destinations for as low as $48++ and as low as 488 pesos all-in for domestic destinations. It is good that airfares continue to go down despite the present situation of the travel industry.

I am just a little bothered with the restrictions of availing this type of fare. According to the website the following are the fare conditions for EconoLight Class for regional destinations (Bangkok, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Macau, Shanghai, Singapore and Taipei):

What??? No meals? As EconoLight passengers will be seated on the last row of the aircraft then I just might as well get used to just inhaling the smell of the newly heated meals in the galley which is only a few feet away from my seat for nearly 4 hours when I go to Jakarta because I am not entitled to a meal. At least you can munch that free peanuts all you want. Even if you may be not a fan of airline food, a box of bland piping hot chicken looks so much yummy than the ham sandwich bought from the airport concessionaire and has been in your carry-on for 6 hours already.

This EconoLight Class are for able bodied passengers only. It’s so sad to know that my 84-year old grandfather and my cousin inflicted with polio cannot get cheap tickets for EconoLight Class because of their physical condition as they will have a hard time walking up to the last row of an aircraft. They should be contented with their regular Economy Class airfare.

Another thing, EconoLight Class are not for diabetics unless you want to starve for 3-4 hrs. when you go to Jakarta, Singapore or Bangkok. On the bright side, passengers can bring their own food. I love picnics 30,000 feet above sea level!

I’m sure that passengers don’t care not having Philippine Airlines facilities and services when they buy a Cebu Pacific ticket because they know that they will ALL receive the same services and treatment inside a Cebu Pacific airplane. That is why there is also a curtain separating the business class passengers with the rest of the cattle class so that the airline can make their pampering service discreetly from the rest of the economy class. Maybe there will be also a curtain which would separate the EconoLight Class passenger in the last row of the airlplane in able for them not to smell the ubiquitous airline food being served to non-EconoLight passengers.

If passengers want a budget airline airfare with budget airline services and treatment then why should they fly with Philippine Airlines which in the end will only serve them as if they are riding a Cebu Pacific airplane? And in the first place not all EconoLight airfares are lower than Cebu Pacific airfares.

Well, it all boils down to this… would I try this EconoLight thing? Yes, why not, moreover if the EconoLight airfare is more competitive than Cebu Pacific and with better time of arrival/departure in my intended destination. I don’t also mind seating on the last row of the aircraft. Many even believe that the safest part of an aircraft during an emergency landing or other situations is on the tail end. That is also why the black box is located at the back because there is where it can most likely to survive an accident. I would definitely try this EconoLight thing in one of my future flights but definitely not in any flight more than 2 hours.

I love competition! Now the rebranded airline Zest Air has a seat sale on all of its destinations for only 499 pesos which already includes fuel surcharge and government taxes. You must purchase the 499 bucks tickets up to November 8 if you plan to travel from January 15 to March 18, 2009. The good thing about this seat sale is that you can have your bags to be checked-in at the airport without any additional charge unlike the leading domestic budget airline. Zest Air may be considered as a missionary route airline to some extent as it offers destinations that other airlines would not offer because of being not that too profitable like Antique, Calbayog, Catarman, Marinduque, Masbate, Ormoc, Virac, Tawi-Tawi and Jolo. I’m very glad that there is an airline that connects these underdeveloped but very beautiful provinces to the rest of the country.

I think that Boracay, Cebu, Davao and other mainstream local destinations don’t have the monopoly (technically speaking it’s an oligopoly rather than a monopoly) of beautiful beaches, landscapes and fun activities. I’ve been to Antique, Calbayog and Catarman and they have many beautiful beaches, waterfalls and other thrills for the adventure vulture. As I don’t have yet a digital camera 3 years ago that is why I don’t have pictures of them to post here in my blog. If only Zest Air would extend the travel period to April and May I would love to go to Marinduque of Masbate as I have an inkling for small provinces like Camiguin, Guimaras and Siquijor so I know I would definitely enjoy my stay in Marinduque or Masbate.

Note: photograph taken from the official website of Zest Air

It’s sad to know that my 4th favorite local airline Asian Spirit is now a thing of the past as it underwent rebranding and change of ownership. It’s new business name is now Zest Air, Asia’s most refreshing airline, according at least to its owners. The company name is so catchy from a consumer’s point of view. I may view it as they are targeting young and single professionals who have a higher disposable income than young daddies and mommies out their. The company through its website promised to serve with enthusiasm and passion. Their passengers will feel the refreshing change of the Zest Air experience from the moment they book their tickets until they arrive their destinations. My most favorite line is: “Our passengers are the VIPs of Zestair.”

The president and chief executive officer of Zest Air is Mr. Alfredo M. Yao, who is more popularly known as Juice King of the Philippines for being also the Chairman of Zest-O Corporation. How I miss the ubiquitous juice drink Zest-O, as it is part of my daily diet until my high-school years, specially my favorite strawberry and mango-orange flavors. So I guess, by now you already know the reason behind the name Zest Air.

As I always believe in the beauty of healthy competition, I hope this “new” airline will give its top rivals like Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air a run for their money. According to Zest Air’s website it will offer some of the same aircraft as with Asian Spirit but they will also acquire new planes and it looks like that they will also be operating the Airbus A320 model. I know this will be a good investment for the airline.

It’s good to start with an appealing brand name, so now all they have to do is offer value for money flights and in no time they can be on top of the industry.

So what’s next? Will Cebu Pacific change its name into Chippy Airlines or C2 Airlines? Will Philippine Airlines change its name into Tanduay Airlines or Allied Airlines? I guess only time will tell although I love the sound of Chippy Airlines, hahaha!

I’ve been to Iloilo province countless of times already as it is the homeland of my father. But this will be the first instance that we will stay in a hotel as it will be the wedding of my older cousin Dr. Ramil. For the first time also I will feel like a tourist there because of our hotel stay as it would be impossible to fit more than 4 families inside our Iloilo house and it would be more convenient to stay in a hotel than in our other relatives.

I never felt that I am just a visitor in Iloilo as I can roam the city with ease and I never asked for directions even if I drive by myself. Although, I am not that familiar with the public transportation system there as I either drive or take a taxi when nobody is available to fetch me at the airport. I’m used to travel alone to Iloilo starting when I was 12 years old when my dad will just drop me off at the Domestic Airport and then my grandfather will fetch me at Iloilo Airport and vise-versa.

My dad is among the busiest person during this event as starting last week here in Manila he kept on shuttling all of our relatives either from NAIA or just the domestic airport and then his role will be duplicated in Iloilo as he will be the official airport meet-and-greet personnel. Our relatives from the U.S. either arrived via Northwest Airlines (late evening flight), Korean Air (afternoon flight) or Philippine Airlines (early morning flight) so I am very proud of the time management skills my dad had.

As evident in my previous posts if you follow this blog that I love FREE/subsidized travels (particularly free tickets). This time it is not due to the generosity of Cebu Pacific Air and I already used up my Mabuhay Miles from Philippine Airlines to upgrade my roundtrip Iloilo ticket to business class several months ago.

My very good friend Sukhbir, a Philippine-born Indian who is now a resident of Canada but works in the U.S., generously offered me to accompany him because he wants to go to a beach. It is too good to resist as he will be paying a big chunk for this beach trip. I would probably not go if I will pay for my expenses as I have many FREE trips to come in the coming weeks courtesy of Cebu Pacific. This is his first time to visit the Philippines in 6 years so he wants to explore the islands as he only been around just in Luzon during our high-school days.

He set a generous budget for both of us and I managed to get good deals from Triple-A category resorts in Panglao (Bohol) and in Mactan Island (Cebu) with few thousands of pesos more to spare. I could have even booked us business class tickets but we rather spend the extra budget in hotel food and maybe a massage by the beach. He is not interested to do a country tour of both provinces rather he just like to get a sunburn as when he goes back to Canada next month it would be the start of winter. I hope the weather would cooperate so he could defeat the purpose of visiting the Philippines. As for me I don’t mind it as the saying goes”beggars can’t be choosers” and I’ve been to those provinces 2x already.

I’m so happy that I chanced upon Ms. Lilette Gacera who operates Angelbert Tourists Transport Services. She seemed to be very accommodating and she answered all my queries regarding the tour I specifically want. She gave me a very good deal for the wholeday tour for Bohol. I highly suggest everyone to contact her mobile at (917) 304-2385 or email lpgacera@yahoo.com if you need transportation or even a good resort/hotel anywhere in Bohol. Of the countless transport & tour operators who were receommended by many travel sites, I know I made the right choice.

I like Panglao more than Boracay as it has a charm of being like Boracay in terms of physical beauty but with less crowd and less commercial activities. Panglao and Boracay are the same in many ways as sometimes my photographs of Panglao are being mistakenly identified by my Boracay-lover friends as Boracay. I don’t know if its a good or bad sign that you can’t find fastfood chains Andok’s, Mang Inasal and Yellow Cab in Panglao. Panglao is definitely much expensive than Boracay in terms of accommodation, restaurants and even transportation as there are more demand than supply of everything there.

I am not a stranger to Cebu but I have no idea what the beaches in Mactan Island looks like as I’ve only seen them from afar during takeoff & landings at Mactan International Airport. I’ve only been to the beaches of Bantayan Island in Northern Cebu but not Mactan. It’s good to know that we got a resort with a private secluded beach so there will be no jostling of a good spot with other vacationers.

I have a problem though… I will be attending a cousin’s wedding and family reunion on Oct. 25 in Iloilo City so I can’t bask in the sun very long as I want my best face forward during the two important events, not a sunburned peeling face

This is an artist’s impression of the proposed PAGCOR Tower to be erected within the PAGCOR Entertainment City near the SM Mall of Asia. Upon completion it will be the tallest tower in the world with a height of more than 650 meters. Many might confuse the tallest tower from the tallest building, it’s not the same banana. Currently, the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada is the world’s tallest tower with a height of 553 meters.

A tower differs from a building in the sense that buildings have floors and is designed for residential, business or manufacturing use. The world’s tallest towers are principally telecommunication towers and while they may have observation decks or restaurants, they do not have floors all the way up. I have been to the 5th tallest tower in the world, the Menara Kuala Lumpur Tower in Malaysia, and I love its revolving restaurant which serves daily buffet dinners.

The PAGCOR Entertainment City complex will be built in three phases on 800 hectares of reclaimed land. The first phase will host a hotel-resort and a theme park. The next two phases will have retirement villages and entertainment centers. Almost 90 percent of the funds for the project will come from foreign investors. Other funders from Japan, Europe and U.S. and South Korea have also signified interest in financing the project.

The following are from what I remember from our recent trip to CamSur Watersports Complex (CWC) in Pili, Camarines Sur. I will only suggest what I and my friends personally experienced to make my suggestions as accurate as possible. I cannot fully trust my brain to remember everything so if anyone reading this has a question just leave a comment here in my blog.

How we got there: The most convenient way is to fly. Cebu Pacific Air and Air Philippines have daily morning flights to Naga from Manila. If you book your stay inside CWC a complimentary shuttle will be made available upon exiting the Naga Airport. Same goes for your return flight to Manila, the CWC shuttle will be making its round at about 6:30AM to take you to the airport just in time for your morning return flight. Don’t forget to mention your flight details upon booking to avail of the free airport shuttle.

Where to stay: The most talked about accommodation at CWC is the Villa del Ray containers. The containers are all located just across from the cable lake so it is the most convenient for cable riders. The Green container which sleeps 2 only cost Php1,000 per night while the Blue and Red containers cost Php2,850 per night and can accommodate up to 4 persons. I had a comfortable stay as the bed is firm and you will be provided with 2 pillows per person. The bathroom is spacious with a high-pressure shower. We stayed at container nos. 101, 102, 108 & 109. All are with acceptable condition with room 102 as the best among the four. You can’t ask for more for a 1,000 value accommodation which includes roundtrip airport transfers.

Wakeboarding or Kneeboarding: For beginners, it is required that you learn how to kneeboard first just to have a feel how it is like being dragged by a cable on top of a board. We only availed of the one hour kneeboarding just to test our skills. It costs 165 + 100 pesos equipment deposit. Every cent was worth it. The adrenalin rush I gained definitely was worth more than 265 pesos. After an hour and a total of 4 rounds, I don’t anymore have the strength to hold on to the cable handle as every much in my body from the neck down to my legs were aching. My first try only resulted in a few feet away from the starting block but the succeeding tries were a success.

Other facilities and services: For those who would like to sample Bicolano dishes you would not be disappointed as the CWC restaurant serves laing, pinangat and even laing pizza. They have pastas, steaks, sandwiches, pizzas, rice meals and varried Filipino, Japanese and Korean staples available from 7:00AM to 12 midnight. For chlorine lovers, they have a big swimming pool besides the clubhouse but it is open only up to 7:30PM. There is a skateboard and bike park but we never tried that so I can’t say anything about it. A scheduled two-way shuttle service is also available for those who would want to visit the town center of Naga. We took the 2:00PM and I think the last one is at 7:00PM from CWC. Just inform the reception if availing of this service.

Our stay and experience at CWC were all worth it whatever it cost us as the services we received from CWC were at a premium. The staff we encountered starting from the airport shuttle coordinator, receptionist, housekeeping attendants, the patient kneeboarding instructors, waiters at the clubhouse and security personnel were all aware of their duties and are all trained to please their guests.

For Filipinos, Chowking is a market leader in the Chinese fast food industry. I love their sweet-and-sour pork and asado siopao (char siu pork buns). During my recent trip to Indonesia I found out that Chowking already invaded the capital with several branches in Jakarta’s malls. But of course as Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country it is expected for Chowking to sell the Halal version of its offerings. Obviously, you can’t find pork siomai and my favorite sweet-and-sour pork there. I haven’t tried the chicken siomai and the Chicken Supreme. I forgot the name of what I tried because of its Indonesian translation. I would really like to try the “es salju campur” a.k.a. halo-halo here in the Philippines but I am so full when I finished all what I ordered (take note, I ate what is pictured below barely 3 hours after eating a buffet breakfast at the hotel).

What is my verdict about the food I ate at a Chowking in Jakarta? Even the soup does not taste the same as the one here in the Philippines. The kangkong doesn’t have a bagoong (shrimp paste) with it instead they will give you toasted garlic to top it off. The beef was marinated and cooked like tapa, a little sweet with a hint of sourness, topped with toasted sesame seeds. In other words, I love it!

I hope that the weather forecasts of local weather bureau PAGASA and the Japan Meteorological Agency will be very accurate this time as it looks like typhoon Ofel will not be visiting Bicol, rather people of the Cagayan Valley Region should make the necessary precautions as the typhoon is on her way to Northern Luzon. Me and my friends will be taking a Cebu Pacific flight to Naga and no one wants our trip cancelled due to the bad weather as this will be the second time that we planned to try kneeboarding/wakeboarding at the world-class Camsur Watersports Complex. I know that no one can stop the force of mother nature but we are more than ready to face whatever the weather situation in Camarines Sur in the next few days. If you are in company of good friends there will be never a dull moment regardless of the weather outside. Right?

The track of Typhoon Ofel as forecasted by PAGASA

First of all… Thank you Cebu Pacific!

I don’t call myself a Cebu Pacific fan or loyalist eventhough I first rode their jurassic DC-9 aircraft to Iloilo when they are just less than a month old airline flying only few routes from Manila. There are only I think less than 10 passengers then including me, my dad and sister. If given a choice I would still love to fly with full-service carriers.

I’m so happy that I took advantage of the absolutely FREE seats which Cebu Pacific Air offered last weekend. I booked several flights to Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. By the way, I want to congratulate the airline which gave me many free tickets for being the recent No. 1 domestic airline in the Philippines. I mostly booked just 2 days/1 night trips so I don’t need to file for a vacation leave and it will also lessen my overhead expenses, anyway I will be just revisting the places that I explored before.

I even booked 7 FREE roundtrip tickets for me and my friends and we will be going to Butuan City in December. My friends hesitated a little but “beggars can’t be choosers” so I didn’t had a difficult time convincing them to go with me, besides all 7 of us haven’t been to Butuan. I’m also planning to make our Bicol trip with my family and our househelp in December to be my gift to all of them. I will save a lot as I will only need to spend for our hotel and transportation as my dad always spend for our food whenever we are on a trip. I don’t even want to reveal that our airfare is free so they will think that I am so generous, hahaha!

What I like the most about this FREE tickets are my Cebu, Davao and General Santos trips. I don’t need to spend for my hotel stays as I will be just spending a day in those destinations. I already been to those cities before so there’s no need to stop and smell the roses anymore. I only plan to buy some souvenir t-shirts and maybe some delicacies which I can make as Christmas gifts to my friends and relatives. I know that souvenir t-shirts are always cheaper than those branded ones and most people like to receive a souvenir shirt rather than those which were bought in a department store.

Because of this history first FREE ticket frenzy I now consider my 2 nights Boracay package for only 4,430 pesos as very expensive. Eventhough it is still cheap as I got them from the PAL Express booth at the 19th Philippine Travel Mart I still consider them a waste because I could have just booked the tickets and got them for free. I even thought of selling them at a discounted price (the lowest Boracay package price that you can get in any airline or travel agency is about 8,000 bucks per person which includes airfare, airport transfers, 2 nights accommodation and daily breakfast).

So now, with all those horror stories which you can read in a number of blogs about the services of Cebu Pacific maybe this time I’ll be a little bit tolerant as I am a non-revenue passenger although it is not an excuse to inconvenience me with whatever instances that may arise in my future flights. I know my rights, privileges and responsibilities as a passenger very well. By the mere possession of a ticket, any airlines would be bound to transport me from point A to point B in a safe manner and without delay as the ticket serves as an implied contract between the passenger and the airline. Believe me, I have my share of horror stories after multitude of flights with them since April 1996 but I consider them just part of the joys & pains of travelling so it is not enough for me to boycott them as what other bloggers advocate (I love that I live in a country that advocates free speech!).