Before I prepare things up for the new year, let me bring you to a flight down memory lane. It was 2022. COVID-19 travel restrictions were suddenly being loosened one by one. And that meant that people were having their "revenge travel". I was one of the millions of passengers who traveled again that year. But I want to share a story of how our delayed flight turned out to be not only handled properly, but a lucky one for me at the end of it. This is my experience onboard one of our domestic flights on Cebu Pacific from Iloilo to Manila in July 2022. Notes: This is a personal blog on our travel experience and is neither promoted nor endorsed by Cebu Pacific. Exchange rates between currencies as of July 2022 were: 1 USD = 55.88 Philippine pesos Disclaimer: This blog features an old trip report which I only composed years after this site's inception in July 2024.
Last year, I featured the Panunulúyan ( or Panulúyan in short) on this blog. This is one of the cherished Filipino traditions during the Christmas season, modeled after Mexican traditions that we Filipinos adopted to the local landscape. But I observed this year a noticeable blend with the realities of our society today while keeping the spirit of hope in the Lord. For this year, I traveled a hundred kilometers south of the capital Metro Manila to Ibaan , a small town in the province of Batangas , for our annual holiday visit with our family and some of my friends in the province. The Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish of St. James the Greater , a Spanish colonial-era church founded in 1832, is the main focus of this blog. Every Christmas Eve, its youth organization, the Joseph Marello Youth (JMY) , hosts the annual nativity play before the Midnight Mass of Christmas. This was my third time watching this play after gaining interest to do so i...