Amazed at How Big and Bustling Batangas Port Is

I've always had a love/hate relationship with ports. You'd have to remember that in the 70s and 80s, only the upper middle class and rich people could afford riding in planes. PAL was a virtual monopoly before so they could dictate any price they wanted.

So families like ours, who had to travel around Luzon, Cebu and Mindanao, took the boat. And my first recollection of a pier was a scary one! I was just five years old, and it was 1976, and I remember being afraid of falling into the cracks of this wooden pier! Papa was walking so fast kasi and I had to keep up with him!

That was in Kolambugan in Lanao del Norte and we had to take the boat to cross to Ozamiz. I even remember riding a boat to Iligan before where Muslims and Christians were segregated! And the food was terrible! It was stale pork and beans huhuhu

So when I saw the modern-day Batangas port, I was pretty impressed! I had so many bad memories of stinking and crowded ports that today's generation is so lucky not to experience anymore what I had to experience as a young person!

Well, a lot of improvements can still be done to make it safer and more convenient for everyone but at least, it doesn't look like the 1920s Chungking port!

They have to do something though with the boats going to Puerto Galera since it's not very PWD or elderly friendly!! It would be tough to bring Mama along because even if the weather is fine, the sea is not calm!! I think she'd have a hard time maintaining her balance as the boat sways from left to right!

The planks are too small, as well, so big people like me have to be very very careful, otherwise, man overboard!

A Banca Towing Another Banca: Only in the Philippines

Only in the Philippines would you experience a banca towing another banca! Sa dinami-dami ng bangkang pagpipilian going to Puerto Galera, we picked the one that was almost a dud!

Actually, Vic already warned me about these boats but just like any Pinoy who just throws caution to the wind, we just shrug off these concerns and think of them as hazards of living in the Philippines! Of course, being stranded in the middle of the sea in a boat with a dud engine is not really my idea of a good way to start a weekend on the beach!

But it did happen to us! You would hear the engine of the boat just straining itself too much to the point that it was exerting so much effort but you could feel that the boat was only moving at 1mm per hour. Yeah, that's millimeter - and the boat is at the mercy of the waves!

Of course, you can see in all the passengers faces that this was nothing alarming and the boat crew were really looking busy trying to make it appear that everything was ok. Well, around 5 kilometers from the beach of Puerto Galera, a boat from a rival company, mercifully towed us, yes that picture there is that boat towing us to the safe sands of Puerto Galera.

Nakakaloka talaga!