Jay Lagare

It’s been quite some time since I last flew with PAL. So on my recent trip to Bohol to attend my sister’s wedding, I decided to get PAL round-trip tickets mainly for convenience’s sake but also out of curiousity. Initially, this PAL experience seemed okay though my sister did complain she had to wait too long getting the tickets and on the flight the restroom stank.

It was on the return flight that I regretted my decision to fly PAL. The weather was bad so when we checked in, they said the flight will be delayed. But PAL didn’t announce on the PA, as Cebu Pacific did, that the flight was cancelled. We decided that the best course of action is to go to Cebu and catch a Cebu Pacific flight.

We went to the Cebu Pacific ticket office. But by then it was too late to catch the 3PM flight and we had to make do with the 5PM flight. Because we had little money left, there were no ATMs nearby, and they didn’t accept credit cards, we had to refund our PAL tickets to pay for the Cebu Pacific tickets. But the PAL office was full of irate customers they couldn’t appease. We definitely were not going to get the refund in time. Thankfully, the very nice staff at the Cebu Pacific ticket office agreed to just allow us to pay for the tickets once we get to Cebu where they do accept credit cards.

We grabbed a quick lunch and scooted off to Cebu via a fastcraft where we got the tickets at the Cebu Pacific ticket office and refunded from the, thankfully, empty PAL ticket office. On the way to the departure lounge, we saw an announcement: The PAL 5PM flight was delayed by an hour. At the end of the day, it wasn’t so bad as we eventually got back home albeit a bit late. But I’ll have to say my airline of choice is most definitely Cebu Pacific.

My brother, his girlfriend, my sister, and I flew to Tagbilaran in Bohol over the weekend to attend my other sister’s wedding. We chose to cut it close and flew in the morning before the afternoon wedding. We made it with enough time to nap and freshen up. The wedding was held at the Bohol Tropics hotel which is also where most of the guests stayed. The ceremony itself is a cozy little affair attended by the immediate family, some relatives, and close friends. Both the ceremony and the reception were in a function room overlooking the bay so there was no need for the guests to move from one place to another. Now that is one practical yet charming wedding! :)

The second day, we went on quick Bohol tour. First we went to the famous Chocolate Hills. I haven’t ever seen it and I was expecting a bunch of 20 or so small hills. Boy was I so wrong! There actually are so many hills of various sizes and they stretch out as far as the eye can see. It was the rainy season so the hills were more green than chocolatey but still it was a great sight!

Next we went to Loboc to see the floating restaurants. We just looked at them as we didn’t have time to ride one and eat lunch downriver where there’s supposed to be a waterfall. Besides, the water was murky because of the runoff due to the rains. Or maybe I’m just sourgraping :P

While in Loboc, we also went to this shop to see tarsiers. They were not tied up or caged and they can actually roam around the place jumping from branch to branch. They can probably walk (jump?) out the door if they felt like it. However, I felt sorry for them being harassed by tourists who poke them and take pictures with blazing camera flashes. I can just imagine how blazing means to the tarsiers who have large light-gathering eyes :(

We next went to the Baclayon church, supposedly the oldest stone church in the Philippines. Unfortunately, it was closed when we got there and so we just had to content ourselves with looking at and taking pictures of the exterior architecture.

Finally, we went to Panglao. The first beach we went to, Bohol Beach Club Public, wasn’t so nice. The shore was full of debris, although they all look organic, and the water was so shallow you can’t actually swim. It probably was because of some abnormally low tide or something. The next resort we went to, Dimaluan Beach, was much better. The beach was cleaner and has slightly deeper water. I didn’t swim because I was planning to go diving but when I checked with the dive resorts, there were no scheduled dives and it was too late to schedule one. I guess it’s something I’ll have to do the next time I go.

The third day was uneventful as we just went around the city proper checking out the sights, sampling the local cuisine, and even watching a movie. I did gain an appreciation of this laid back town. The people are deeply religious. Tricycles are required to have a quote from the bible and they do afternoon prayers. They seem to be generally hospitable, nice, and honest. But I wonder how long this culture will last with the influx of outsiders and tourists. Tourism especially has this tendency to come in, corrupt a place, and leave when it’s finally all rotten and worthless. I hope this doesn’t happen to Tagbilaran, Bohol, or the rest of the country for that matter.