Friday, April 25, 2014

Calle Z: Tacloban's Homegrown Favorite

Calle Z Café

During my day-off, I tend to become unproductive. I'm that type of person who just stays inside, doing nothing but to eat and sleep all day. Since it's the last day of my day-off, I decided to break this sedentary lifestyle of mine and eat something from Jollibee. It's been weeks since the last time I ate Chicken Joy!

Uhhh, no. Truth is, I just want to get out of the control tower and explore a bit of downtown Tacloban.

After the 20-minute jeepney ride, I went inside and discovered that the lines were long. There were no seats available during that time. Of course. Lunch time. Add the fact that it's the only Jollibee branch in the whole city. What are you expecting, Renz? While waiting, the attendant asked for my orders. After that, she gave me a piece of paper and waited for my turn. Three minutes later, I went outside and ditched my original plan. I was like, "There's more to life than Jollibee's Chicken Joy!". I've been staying here in Tacloban for almost two months already yet the only restaurant I know here is Jollibee! Sucks to be me.

I suddenly remembered Glen's Facebook post about Calle Z. According to his post, the restaurant is famous for their Bulalo. Mmmm. So I asked kuya trike driver about the restaurant's location (Foursquare told me that it's somewhere near Real Street, but locals > app).

Me: (with my faux Waray accent) Mano, maupay na kulop. Hain ang Calle Z?

Manong: Huh? Calle Z?

Me: (Trying to construct a Waray sentence, but it seemed that my Waray skills had failed me this time) Uhm, sikat po sila sa kanilang Bulalo. Pwede po bang pahatid doon?

Manong: (Sensing that I'm just a poser) Ahhh! Calle Zaragoza! Nakikita mo ba yung dilaw na building? Doon yun. Tapos may traffic light sa intersection. Kaliwa ka lang. Nandoon lang yun! Malapit lang.

Me: Ah okay, salamat po!

I followed his instructions, hoping that he was right. I have yet to prove that locals > app.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

FEATURED: #Wanderer Series



Hey guys! How's summer treating you? Well, I have been busy for a while. You know, I need to prepare my mind for the upcoming exams for my Aerodrome rating here in Tacloban Control Tower/Approach Facility and I'm feeling excited and nervous at the same time!

In the mean time, I got featured in an international travel blog! Haha! Surprise, surprise! Neeko has been a good blogger friend of mine for quite some time and it was so nice to him to have me featured on his #WANDERE Series. The #WANDERER project collects travellers’ perspectives from around the world. With his permission (thanks mate!), here's the complete post.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

A Flight to Remember: AME4542

Fuerza Aerea Española

Weeks ago, we received a note coming from the Spanish Government. The Foreign Minister of Spain along with his cohorts will be visiting Tacloban City for one day, utilizing the Spanish Airforce's Airbus A310. That note didn't really catch my attention until the day of its arrival. Heck, I did not expect that I'd be the one who would handle this aircraft - from giving initial instructions during its initial descend up to its landing clearance.

It was such an honor to handle this VIP flight. Indeed, it was a first in my career as an Air Traffic Controller. And with that, my experience got even featured here! Thanks Darryl for the feature! Great write-up!

Now here's the article, lifted from the blog of Philippine Flight Network: