Cebu Pacific Returns To Calbayog

For several months now, Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) has not been flying between Manila and Calbayog. I do not know why this happened, only that they cancelled all of their flights. Their website still showed the route, and Calbayog continued to be included in their promotional offers, even though no flight dates were available. Now that appears to be changing.

According to the current CEB Domestic Flight Schedule, they will renew service beginning on June 10, 2011. (see picture below)

CEB - Domestic Flight Schedule of 4/11/2011

Manila Trip

We just returned from a trip to Manila, to file my annual report with the Bureau Of Immigration.

While we were in Manila, we stayed at the Swagman Hotel in Ermita. Their location is easy walking distance from the U.S. Embassy, and a short taxi ride from Intermurals. The Swagman will pick you up at the airport for free, and bring you back there for your return flight. I find the workers to be very friendly and helpful, but the building is rather old. Sometimes, when taking a shower, the water keeps changing tempurature, and the towels are rather old and dingy looking. My favorite part of staying at the Swagman is their Outback Bar/Restaurant. They have good Australian and Philipino foods, ranging from real steaks to crispy pata. What I like the least about this location are the many street hawkers outside the door! It seems like everytime I walk outside, someone is trying to sell me a cheap immitation rolex,  belt made in Italy (street in Marikina), or expired viagra. Also watch out for the guys with regular cars, claiming to be taxi drivers. Their prices are much higher than what you will pay with a meter.

One day I went out to Pizza Hut, and I saw this child bathing in a tub along the sidewalk. While I wouldn’t find this surprising in Samar, I was surprised to see that in a major city. Here is a picture:

Recent trip to Calbayog

This post was origionally published by Sailor John on our old web site.

On our way to Calbayog, we landed in Tacloban and stayed over night till we met up with family in Cebu who arrived in the Philippines a week earlier. We went stayed in Cebu for one night before we headed to Hagnaya for a ferry to Bantayan Island. Had a great time on this island relaxing and enjoying the sun.

Kota Beach Early Morning

 

Kota Beach Resort on Bantayan Island

Calbayog Airport Update

With 3 airlines now flying through Calbayog, I thought I would take another trip out to the Sabang Airport, to see what changes have been made. I went out there on February 17th, the day before Cebu Pacific’s first flight.

The first change I noticed was the control tower, which has been rennovated.

Here is how the check in area looked. I was told Cebu Pacific was bringing their banner with them, on their flight the next day. Cebu Pacific will be right next to Zest Air. I guess PAL Express get’s the bigger area, since they fly daily.

Other changes that have been made include new sections of perimiter fence and parking lot improvements. An extension to the runway is also in the works, but waiting for funding.

You can read more about Cebu Pacific’s first flight at the Calbayog City blog article: “Cebu Pacific flies to Calbayog“.

Zest Air grounded.

If you were planning on flying Zest Air between Calbayog and Manila today, you were out of luck. There was a last minute cancellation, due to maintenance issues. Apparently, the plane did not pass a pre-flight inspection, or was otherwise not ready in time for boarding in Manila. About 11 AM the representatives in Calbayog were making a mad dash to contact all the locally ticketed passengers.

If you remember, Zest Air purchased Asian Spirit late last year. There was a short period of no flights, as the planes had to be detailed for the new airlines. On December 26, 2008, Zest Air started their flights to Calbayog. Then, on January 11, 2009, a Zest Air plane crashed at the Caticlan airport. Three people were injured in that crash, when the plane undershot the runway.

While Zest Air will make refunds to passengers of todays cancelled flight, people with connecting flights, or scheduled events, may be out of luck.

Calbayog's Third Airline

A new airline is comming to Calbayog. Cebu Pacific Airlines has already opened it’s ticketing office in Calbayog, and is scheduled to start service, between Calbayog’s Sabang Airport, and Manila, on Feburary 18, 2009. According to Cebu Pacific’s local representative, Analyn S. Amoguez, the flights will be Monday, Wednessday, and Friday mornings.

Currently Zest Airways (formerly Asian Spirit), and PAL Express also fly between Calbayog and Manila. Zest Air is currently scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons, while PAL Express offers daily flights. That means their could be 3 flights every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We will have to wait and see if any of the airlines change their schedule. Personally, I would like to see some flights added to Cebu.

All of this change is pretty amazing, when you consider that we only had a couple flights a week, at this time last year. I’ve heard some of the other Samar airports are experiencing similiar changes. So why is there suddenly all this interest in our area? We have PGMA’s “Central Philippines Tourism Super Regions program” to thank for that. President Arroyo believes that tourism is the key to development.

Local Cebu Pacific representative Analyn S. Amoguez in the new Calbayog Ticketing office

Ferry Boat Capsized

This year has seen it’s share of boating accidents, in the Philippines. It started with the capsizing of the M/V Princess of the Stars, in June, where many lives were lost.

Then, in November, the ferry boat Don Dexter capsized near Masbate Island, in the Samar Sea.

And now, another ferry boat capsizes. This time the “wooden-hulled Maejan” capsized in Cagayan Province.

Now the scary part is that this boat is like the pump boats we take to Almagro Island. Yahoo news explaines what happened:

“The ferry, loaded with more than 100 people along with a cargo of pigs, cows and water buffaloes, was traveling from Calayan islands in the Luzon Strait when it encountered huge waves and currents that broke its bamboo outrigger, causing it to flip over.”

About the same time as the Don Dexter sank, we were on another trip to Almagro. There were high seas, and one of the supports for the outriggers broke. There are normally 4 large beams going accross the boat, that attatch to bamboo outriggers. In our case, only 1 of those broke, but it was serious enough for the boat to stop and do a temporary repair job. These boats have a very narrow “V” shaped hull, so the outriggers really are necessary. Here is a picture from last weeks towing incident that shows a pump boat’s narrow design.

Towing a Ferry Boat

We took Jeff out to the Island of Almagro for a couple of days. If any of you have been out to the small islands, in the Samar Sea, you already know it is quite an adventure. This time we rode on the ferry boat, locally known as a “pump boat”, called the Queen Aiko. It is a relatively new boat, only 1 year old. But the engine came from the previous Queen Aiko, so it is older. Shortly before we passed the first island, there were some strange noises comming from the engine room. Upon investigation, the crew discovered a transmission problem. We limped along to a village with another pump boat, and asked them for a tow. Here is a picture of the Queen Aiko being towed by the CrisJeff2.

This picture was taken on the CrisJeff2. The pretty lady in the back is my wife.

I know this next picture is a little difficult to see, but it was taken through a glass window, down into the engine room of the CrisJeff2. Most pump boat ferries only have one engine, but the CrisJeff2 has two! That really came in handy for towing the Queen Aiko, as there was still lots of power.

Tall Foreigner

We have a visitor from Arizona! Jeff came to visit my wife’s sister. We met him at the Sabang Airport in Calbayog City. Here is a picture of his plane, a PAL Express turbo prop.

This was their first time to meet in person.

Jeff is 6′ 2″ tall. As you can see by this next photo, Height has some disadvantages, here, in the Philippines. I’m glad I’m only 5′ 4″!

But seriously folks, Jeff is a real nice guy, and we are glad to welcome him to the Philippines!

Drying Clothes in Samar

Even in America, it is common to see people hanging their clothes out to dry…when the weather is nice. But when the weather is bad, most people have access to an electric/gas dryer. Either they own one, or there is a self searve laundry mat with one. In the Philippines, things are very different. I have yet to see a real clothes dryer, except at the commercial laundry facilities, which most Filipinos can not afford. When the weather is bad, you either wear your clothes dirty, or wash them and hang them up indoors. It’s very humid here, though, so clothes really need to be put into the heat of the sun, or they don’t really get dry, and they start to smell musty. On my last trip to Catbalogan the weather had just cleared up, and there were lots of people hanging out their clothes to dry. Here are some pictures people drying their clothes along the National Highway. Notice on the fanciest house, some of the clothes are just put on the metal roof to dry.