Toilet / Comfort Room Star horse 6

Photo by: Girlie Cervantes

If you have ever traveled on a Philippine inter-island ferry then you will know that the toilets (vernacular: “Comfort Rooms”) are the last consideration for passenger comfort and are frequently a disaster area: smelly, often with broken cisterns and frequently with no running water or drainage, the complaints have mounted and mounted, especially for Montenegro Lines . . . because Montenegro have reportedly long maintained a strangle-hold on routes to the most beautiful parts of the archipelago. We have found an alternative and, everyone who is compelled to travel by ferry, should take note.

Philippine Sailors Front Of The Fleet

Image Courtesy: MirrorWorlds2013.com

Yesterday, after eleven races, held over five days in the sometimes choppy waters off the Lough Derg Yacht Club, in Co. Tipperary, Ireland, Philippine sailors from Puerto Galera and Manila finished 8th and 5th respectively in the Mirror Worlds 2013. The fleet of 91, two-person, Mirror sailing dinghies represented the best of the best, from seven nations, in the biennial Mirror Worlds championship regatta. This is the second time that Philippine sailors have finished in the top 10 in the Mirror Worlds.

Badladz Burrito Best Mexican Food Award 2011

Image courtesy Mylene Cooney

My Best Mexican Food Award for 2011 goes to Badladz Adventure Resort in Puerto Galera, Mindoro. It receives this award not only for delivering the best tasting Mexican food sampled around the Philippines in 2011 but also because the servings offer the best value for money of any Mexican restaurant I have ever eaten in, including those in Mexico.

Mexican food is not most people’s the first choice for foreign cuisine, unless you hail from the southern states of North America – most gastronomes would not class Mexican food as cuisine in any event. But the Badladz buritto and juevos rancheros are so distinctive that they are impossible to overlook if you have even the minutest passion for Mexican food. And that is why Badladz wins my 2011 award for the best Mexican food. [see: even my grammar is more spiced by the thought of dining at Badladz]

Dive Thru Scuba Resort Best Beach Resort Award 2011

Image courtesy Martyn Willes

My Best Beach Resort Award for 2011 goes to Dive Thru Scuba Resort on Panglao Island Bohol. It receives this award for offering the best overall value for money accommodation, dining and scuba diving experience, above all others visited during the year.

It was while writing the featured destination article for the Bohol edition of the Active Boating & Watersports magazine that I was introduced to the Dive Thru Scuba Resort. I had the opportunity to stay for a couple of nights there and to explore its inner workings and management style.

AirPhil Express My Worst Airline Award 2011

Image courtesy Martyn Willes

My worst airline award for 2011 award goes to AirPhil Express. It receives this award for the worst possible customer service ever encountered from any airline in 26 years of international flying. AirPhil Express does not care about its reputation enough to apologize for its shortcomings and it apparently has an anti-customer support policy that amounts to premeditated theft.

In October 2011 I booked a flight for a client with AirPhil Express; the booking was made over the Internet, through the AirPhil Express booking website, and paid for using my Mastercard credit card, issued by the BDO Unibank, and confirmed by that bank to be a valid payment instrument for purchasing airline tickets. As apparent confirmation of the credit card’s validity, I received a receipt from the AirPhil Express flight booking website, confirming payment and instructing me as to my obligations at check–in, having used a credit card for payment.