For my fifth trip to Calbayog, I once again boarded an air-conditioned bus in Cubao Terminal Station. I purchased the ticket some days ago to avoid getting the back seat. From my experience, if you're seated at the back seat, it is to hard to get out whenever the bus stops over. It is because the bus aisle is almost always fully loaded with baggages, tins of biscuits, and big boxes of passengers. I arrived early to make sure I get plenty of time to choose the best seat.
Luckily, I got a seat near the front (beside the window) on the opposite side of the driver, and I know I would have a wonderful view of the road that we will be traveling. Maybe later I can use my camera and take some photos of the road. Meantime, the bus waited for sometime for more passengers to arrive and fill in the still vacant seats.
I'm annoyed that in my ticket it reads that the departure time is 9 in the morning, and now it's almost 11 and the "konduktor" was still yelling to get more passengers. This is again the bad habit of "Filipino Time".. I don't see any logic in this practice.
The Cubao Terminal StationIn Cubao bus station this is not a problem, as the whole place is crowded with little kiosks, selling all kinds of sweets and biscuits. One disadvantage though is that the prices are slightly higher than grocery prices. But I no longer have time to dash to the nearby Ali Mall supermarket so just I purchased from one of the kiosks a large tin can of Rebisco biscuits for 170 pesos, the kind that has all the different biscuit flavors and shapes. I also bought a big box of Dunkin donuts and a few Diet Coke in can and bottled mineral water to complement my snacks while on the road trip (I only drink mineral water and canned softdrinks while on travel).
Meantime, I wanted to find out how the biscuits taste and so I opened the tin can and scooped some biscuits. What I got for myself was some odd-shaped biscuits in the form of flowers and robots..These are for kids right? Nevertheless, they are good and I ate some eight pieces hoping that my family will not notice I stole away a few an hid them in my stomach.
There are many passengers with loadful of belongings sprawled about in the terminal seats and I had to say "excuse me" as I nearly stumbled on some of them. This is the normal situation at mornings. You'll gonna see a lot of interesting things: a porter stacking baggages in the back compartment of buses..an old woman smoking pipe..a little baby that cries on the lap of a beloved mother..vendors selling candies and cigarettes....people boarding and unboarding the bus. All in all, no one's seems to be in a hurry, and everyone is okay.
As for me, I can't imagine myself traveling with all these numerous heavy baggages....I only have my backpack with me (with my camera and laptop in it), and a small rolling luggage(with my clothings and all), and that's it. The bus has a large compartment in its side which can carry several more luggages and I asked the "konduktor" to stuff my luggage and tin can of biscuits there.
After the long agonizing wait for all the passengers to fill in the seats, the bus at last started to take the road..It was almost 12 in the afternoon. There were still some vacant seats though.
We stopped over at Pasay terminal station to pick-up more passengers, which was was fine since I had to use the comfort room to, well, become comfortable!
As it happened, the comfort room sucks and the walls were filled with some love message graffiti and F and S words..The lower part of the walls is yellowed and grimy and smells like hell. It is that kind of stench fills your nostrils and enter into your consciousness maing you feel a bit intoxicated. It is that kind that sticks to your nostrils long before you got out of it. I have no idea why it was called "comfort"room in the first place. But there was no other comfort room anywhere near other than this so I had to hold my breath while unloading my waste water. I didn't succeed because I can't hold my breath for more than fifteen seconds, so I just covered my nose with my left hand while trying to steady my pee with my right hand....I have a foreboding of the next comfort rooms that we will visit..
After some while, we resumed our trip and this time it's for the provinces..There was some traffic near the South Express Way but it's no big deal. I was a bit sleepy at this time so I closed my eyes and dozed off for a few minutes. Actually, it's like something between slightly falling asleep but all the while staying half-awake..I close my eyes and my head starts to droop and when it does, it springs back upright with some drool on the left cheek, suddenly awakened ...
Seated next to me is a young lady..but she looked very serious so I didn't chat with her.Maybe she had a a fight with her boyfriend and now had to go back to the province? ...or pregnant and the boyfriend ran away? hehe..such are my wild imaginations..
At around 1 pm while we were in Batangas province it started to rain..it was a heavy downpour that continued until we reached Quezon province. Fortunately by 3pm the rain had stopped. The bus again stopped to a small restaurant in God-knows-where-unknown village to let the passengers have a merienda. The restaurant offered some local menus like adobo, bulalo, papaitan, etc, as well as some coffee and and bibingkas. There was also some Banana Q's and Turon's but they looked to have more sugars than bananas in them.
I ordered a coffee and a biscuit. I asked if they have some artificial sweeteners because I don't use table sugar, but the waitress told me that the only coffee they have are the 3 in 1's, those that come in individual sachets.I said that I'd buy one if she can remove the sugar from the mix. She went away looking rather confused, never getting my joke.
Some of my fellow passengers ordered rice and adobo. Some were contented with 3in1 coffee As for me, coffee (oh yeah have to try the 3 in 1's), was actually the better choice because of the chilly rain-washed afternoon. There were also some local vendors offering all kinds of stuffs to us passengers.
In Atimonan, Quezon, we had to pass through a zigzag road on the edge of a cliff overlooking deep ravines.It was a spectacular sight to behold. All you could see were trees and trees and more trees...few small "nipa houses" were scattered in between...and we were some 100 feet above them..I'm thrilled rather than frightened actually.
We had to pass through several villages deep into the southern provinces and everything was beautiful. As a person who was born and grew up in a city, sights like these are a treasure to behold. Although the rain had stopped, from farther away I could see mists of rain pouring in other parts of the scenery and it was so beautiful. I would have wanted to take pictures of them but I didn't want to attract the attention of my fellow passengers.
After some while we passed through several countryside villages. I felt that we're now too far from Manila. It started to rain again. Most of my fellow passengers were either sleeping or about to doze off. To keep myself awake, I drank a Coke and ate some robot biscuits.
It was almost dark when we reached the Bicol region and the bus again stopped to let passengers eat. I decided to eat only cup noodles because I didn't wanna risk having a bad stomach while travelling. It is the worst scenario when you have a loose bowel movement while travelling. That's the biggest problem one can imagine while on a road trip.
We started on the road again and from my side of the window, I saw the beautiful myriads of colors in the sky as the sun was setting. The views I was seeing were also darkening. There was still enough light though and I could still see that we were travelling on the edge of mountains on the opposite of which were deep ravines. It certainly looked like that there were barely any houses in this part of Bicol.
The night settled and we were instructed to close the curtains of our windows because that part of Bicol is quite dangerous, so says the driver. I decided to sleep since there was no use trying to peep from the curtain window.
We had a few more stop overs but I didn't bother because I can no longer stomach the dirty "comfort rooms" that are provided in the stops. Moreover, I knew we would soon be reaching Matnog, Sorsogon, where our bus would ride in one of those RORO vessels that transport passengers from the Bicol peninsula to the Samar island. Perhaps the comfort room there is more tolerable.
We were travelling on a moonlit night and I took the opportunity of one of our stop overs to shoot this full moon near Sorsogon.
Around 12 midnight, we were awakened by the loud yell of the driver and conductor that we had arrived in Matnog, and that we should now debark from the bus. I was still sleepy but felt glad that we are now near our destination.
Before debarking, our bus driver instructed us to pay a certain terminal fee at the port and register our name for passenger manifest. The ferry fare was actually included in our 950 pesos bus fare. That's great!
There were some six or seven buses that will ride in the RORO, and all buses must enter first before the passengers. Upon debarking from the bus, we were thronged by several vendors selling their usual stuffs to us. I was amused that some were even selling cellphone chargers, combs, and eyeglasses. I did not buy any, but I bought additional pasalubong: a Buko Pie and some native sweets like suman and espasol..
While waiting for the entry to the RORO ferry. Note the lady (selling sunglasses) smiling at me. It's only in Matnog can you meet a vendor selling sunglasses in the middle of the night.
The RORO that will transport us to the Samar island. It was almost 12:30 in the morning.
After a few minutes, we entered the RORO and settled to find the best comfortable seats. Fortunately this time, the ferry was not too crowded unlike the first time I travelled here.
"Welcome aboard!" We have to register our name first for passenger manifest before entering the ship.
There was a small canteen in the ferry and I ordered a Lucky Me Cup Noodles (Bulalo flavor) and Skyflakes crackers. Well, the hot soup at least brings some comfort to my already empty stomach.
After a while, we heard the RORO's whistle indicating that we were about to start our voyage. Almost everyone was tired of the long trip from Manila and so most just slept on their seats.
I pretended setting my cameras controls while making this shot. They didn't know I was already taking their picture.
Some passengers sang in a videoke station provided in the ferry lobby and everyone was having a great time listening to a man whose voice resembled Manny Pacquiao's while singing Eddie Peregrina's immortal songs. The mystery though was that he was always getting a score of 100 after each song!
Other passengers, like me, stood on the rails of the ship trying to view the beautiful scenery. The sea was calm and there was a full moon above. Indeed, nothing could be lovelier than a voyage in a calm sea on a moonlit night. I marvelled at the beauty of what I was seeing.
As the lights of Luzon was fading from our view, I took a long view of the Bicol peninsula and took a photo. 
As we depart from the harbor, the sea manifested its beauty. On the horizon, I can see some islands in silhouette against the bright moonlight. The lovely reflection of the moon's glow on the sea added a sense of melodrama to the already nostalgic midnight. I want to remember it so I took off my camera from my backpack and took a shot of this lovely spectacle.
This is the best I could do to shoot the lovely moonlit night. I can't get to steady my camera because of the ship's movement, and so it looks a little blurry. Some people stared at me while taking this photo. Hello? I almost exclaimed, is this the first time you ever saw a camera?
The sea that we were crossing is known as the San Bernardino Strait and it is the sea that separates the Bicol peninsula from the island of Samar. I noticed that there were a few foreigners travelling with their Filipina girlfriends and it certainly looked like they were enjoying the travel to these southern Pacific islands.
I had to use the comfort room and hoped that the RORO's toilet was cleaner than the ones we had passed from Manila to Bicol. There was some qeue, but the comfort room certainly look just a little better than the previous ones we used. When it was my turn, it already acquired the same hellish smell of human stench. I had to use again my one-hand-in-the-nose technique..
At about 3 in the morning, we reached the Port of Allen, Northern Samar. Once again, the buses must debark first, followed by the passengers.
Debarking the RORO at the Port of Allen, Northern Samar. Calbayog is still some two hours away from Allen.
It was a cold and windy morning, and I once again resumed my seat in the bus. As I was feeling sleepy, I asked the kindly "konductor" to get me off at Calbayog, which is some two hours more of road trip from Allen. He assured me that he would remind me.
But I couldn't sleep anymore although the young lady beside me looked almost sedated as she tried to make a bed out of her seat. I could see that the man seated behind her was almost upset because his front space was almost being invaded by the reclined back of the young lady's seat.
Anyway, it was pleasant trip from Allen to Calbayog. I was the only one alighting at Calbayog (most of my fellow passengers are still headed for Tacloban, the final leg of the journey). I asked the help of the konduktor to help me unload my luggage and tin can from the bus compartment. I gave him a tip of 50 for the excellent service. It should be noted that it is unusual for a passenger to give a tip to the bus conductor. I just felt like giving him a tip since I found him to be nice and helpful.
As the bus continued its journey to Tacloban, I was left alone along the side of Maharlika Hi-way, waiting for a trike (a local pedicab) to arrive. It was past 4 o'clock in the morning, there were already some people going to the market with their bayongs, and I had already seen some trikes pass by...but with passengers. After a few minutes, I saw a vacant trike and hailed it. I said to the kindly driver to get me to Eduardo's, a famous hotel in Calbayog.
Since Calbayog is a very small city, we reached Eduardo's Hotel in just about five minutes. I was met at the entrance by the hotel's porter. He rocognized me, as I have already stayed in Eduardo's for two times during my previous visits here.
Unfortunately, at this time, there was no more vacant room. I really felt bad because Eduardo's offer the best accomodation in Calbayog. I mean, the rooms are clean, there is a cable TV, a hot and cold shower, and there's round the clock food service.
With Eduardo's fully-booked, I had no other choice but to stay in the cheaper pensions of Calbayog. I instructed my trike driver to get me to San Joaquin Inn, which was situated near the Calbayog Market.
San Joaquin Inn is an old style two-story hotel along Nijaga Street. The rates are cheaper here but the service isn't as great as in Eduardo's. I decided to just stay here for the meantime, until such time that a room can available in Eduardo's.
San Joaquin charges 650 pesos for a day's stay in their air-conditoned rooms. I thought it was a bargain. After paying my trike driver, I proceeded to the room assigned to me. The room was small and the walls are made of wood. The first thing I noticed was the TV set. It was old-style Panasonic with dial knobs for switching channels and volumes.
The comfort room was a bit in the acceptable status, but not up to the standards of even the cheap hotels in Manila. The hot shower works...well, sometimes. There was also a provision of tissue and a small bar of soap.
What was worse though is the food service. And in fact, they don't have food service! The only thing you can order was Lucky Me Instant Cup Noodles, Biscuits, and Canned Softdrinks.
I really felt depressed with my room, but I have no choice. I have to make the best out of what is available...and I don't want to worry to much because my first priority is to lay my back flat on the bed. I was just exhausted of the long journey and now at least, San Joaquin provided a decent bed....so, I just slept with covers on.. and I know the following days would be exciting as I shall explore what Samar has to offer for a traveller like me.
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