There should not be anything stopping us from going to different islands of our country. The Philippines is really beautiful, so go on, explore. And enjoy the promo fares that airline companies are offering.

Now that Philippine Airlines’ Seat-All-You-Can Promo is back, with flights to major destinations, what else are you waiting for? Click on the photo to book a flight!

Arriving at the Changi Budget Airport where all flights from Cebu Pacific Clark are, my companion tried to take a photo of the Chinese signage on the door but two Chinese airport officials immediately stopped her.

We were warned that the Budget airport is true to its name, said it only looks like the NAIA Terminal 3 airport, but the truth is, our NAIA T3 airport looks better, and definitely has a cleaner comfort room.

After four days in Singapore, it’s time to leave. I had an Ikea carrying sack, my TNF 65L backpack and the Singapore Art Museum bag filled with vases and drinking glasses. The vases and glasses were immediately noticed by the security officer at the baggage checking area. “You’re bringing glasses to the aircraft?” he said, with a distinctively Indian accent. “Yes, it’s for my mom!” It’s December 9 and he knew that a lot of tourists have been shopping in Singapore. “For the holidays?” he said. I said yes.

After passing through, I waited with a friend, Nick, for Amrei, to get through the check. Nick was drinking from the 1L bottle of mineral water he brought from the house. We had to throw it away because we’re not allowed to carry any liquids inside the plane.

Amrei was holding a big Mustafa Shopping Center plastic bag. The officer checked the contents and told Amrei that she couldn’t bring these things inside – they were bottles of body wash and lotions. The officer told us with sympathy that as an international airport rule, he had to confiscate the items for we couldn’t carry any liquids to the plane, and we cannot check in the flimsy plastic bag. We know that we couldn’t check in the plastic bag for sure, that’s why Amrei was carrying it, also because we asked the lady in the check in counter if we could hand carry the plastic bag as we have yet to have it checked for GST refund that’s why we did not out it in our bags.

After arguing about the plastic bag and pleading to the officer to not throw the items away (we got it from the Body Shop sale), I asked if we could just buy a bag to check those in. He said that there’s a bag shop inside the departure area and Amrei could go inside and buy if she left the items with the officer. We complied.

When the items were packed inside the bag, the officer reminded Amrei to bring some cash, in case our check in baggage exceed in weight. He then escorted Amrei to the customs desk to fill up some forms, and inside another door that says “Authorized Personnel Only” to check in the bag. From afar, it looked like Amrei was caught with illegal supplies on her baggage being escorted by the officer and leaving her other things with me. Hee hee.

After much ado, we were finally inside the departure area. Thanks to the friendly Indian-national officer.

Lesson learned.

We booked tickets early (3 months early) and bought it online at www.cebupacificair.com, it is user friendly and will notify you of flight changes (ours was changed to 30 minutes later, and I was notified around a month before the flight date). Departure was at the Clark Freeport Zone a.k.a Diosdado Macapagal International Airport. It was a bit hard to find information about this airport, or how to get there. DMIA has its own website, but it is not fully functional yet.

You can easily get to DMIA via Philtranco buses located at the Megamall Building A in Ortigas, Pasig City. Philtranco has a website that says their latest trip is at 3PM but if you call their office, you can confirm the schedule. We reserved for the 4PM trip. It is hassle free and has no stop overs. The trip is around three hours.

In DMIA, you’ll easily see the departure gate. But don’t forget to ask the guard at the entrance where you should go first, because you have to pay the travel tax first (P1620) and the terminal fee (P600). Airport food is pricey at P180.00 a meal. I also find the terminal fee costly because the NAIA Terminal 3 is much better (bigger, cleaner, more friendly) and only collects P200 terminal fee.

There’s going to be a lot of walking before you finally get to the final boarding area, and once you are inside, you cannot go out. There is no smoking area, and there is only one restaurant for a decent meal (that is pricey). Some staffs were snob too. So the DMIA is not getting a good review from me.

The Philtranco driver and collector were polite. They gladly answered to our inquiries regarding trips back to Manila. They said that there are buses for each arriving flight (ours was at 420 AM), so no worries. But since we have already acquired a lot of things from Ikea and other souvenirs from Singapore, we hired a DOT line cab. These are FX and sedan types of services – depending on the number of baggage you carry. We were four people with a total of 13 baggage so they gave us an FX type. Ticketing of the DOT line cabs are at the arrival area. We paid P3,500 for the ride. Which is actually worth it, though it almost tripled our fare per head, because we were able to stop over at Macdonald’s for breakfast. The driver was also nice and polite.

Now with low airfares and several domestic flights by major airlines, it is very easy to get to new destinations.

My friends decided to go to Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental in the middle of November, because of the Cebu Pacific promo. Our two-way airline tickets only cost Php 2500 per head. We got the 6:25 AM flight from the NAIA Terminal 3.

We met up at a friend’s house early in the morning, car pooled and parked the cars in the airport. We discovered that the airport overnight parking is only Php 50.00! Very worth it for short vacations, instead of paying taxi cabs that collect high fares! We also discovered that there’s a smoker’s lounge near the Dumaguete/Cebu/Cotabato boarding area.

Our transfers and lodging were pre-arranged so we were picked up by a van (kuya Robert: 0919-621-7006 / 0920-264-9920) to get to Harold’s Mansion.

After settling in Harold’s Mansion, we went out for an afternoon swim in Apo Island.

Back in Dumaguete City, we prepped for a night out in town. We had dinner at Lab-As Seafood Restaurant – another popular place, just a tricycle ride from Harold’s Mansion (Php 8.00 (less than $0.10) per head).

After dinner, we rode a tricycle to their own version of baywalk to drink the night away. We went to Coco Amigos where food is good, drinks are cold, and the service is fantastic (or maybe we just got lucky with our waiter). There’s a live band where you can request for songs. We had our friend Sheryl greeted on stage because it’s her birthday!

After a few rounds of beer, we went to Why Not?

We’re still supposed to go to the famous baywalk for the famous tempura ball but we’re already tired and was to wake up early the next morning for a trip to Siquijor. Then came back to Dumaguete City the next day to pick up our orders at Sans Rival Cakes and Pastries . You should really buy some sans rival and silvanas for pasalubong!

It was also Dumaguete City’s town fiesta so we were able to catch the tail of the floats parade.

Related Posts:
Apo Island, Negros Oriental
Liberty Resort, Apo Island Food Trip
Harold’s Mansion, Dumaguete City
Sans Rival Cakes and Pastries, Dumaguete City
Lab-As Seafood Restaurant, Dumaguete City
Pole Dancing? Why Not? Only in Dumaguete City
Black Magic Mary at Siquijor

I have always loved traveling.

When I was younger, I wished I was I Traveler, remember that show on Discovery Channel?

And now that I am older, I work my arse off in OTs, save up, and well, travel. I thought I’ve been to a lot of places. But hey, the Philippines has more than 7000 beautiful islands. Who am I to say that I have traveled?