Starting March 29, 2012, the fastest growing budget carrier Airphil Express will provide flights from Clark to Kalibo, Cebu, Davao, and Puerto Princesa and vice versa.

This move is part of Airphil Express’ plans to expand further in 2012, by tapping tourist market in North and Central Luzon.

“We are providing a vital and convenient link between residents and visitors in the north to popular destinations in the south such as Boracay and Palawan,” explains Alfred Herrera, Airphil Express senior vice president for sales and marketing, during recent ceremonies sealing the agreement between the Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) and Airphil Express.

Here is the following flight schedules:

Clark to Cebu route (v.v.) every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
Clark to Davao route (v.v.) every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
Clark to Kalibo route (v.v.) every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
Clark to Puerto Princesa route (v.v.) every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

What makes Airphil Express as the current the darling of the tourism crowd is its affordable rates and convenience-driven products and services like Web Check-In, Seat Selector, Travel Insurance, and Pre-Paid Baggage, as well as travel exclusives of as much as 15 kilos free baggage allowance and an additional 7-kilo free hand carry.

Unlike other airlines in the Philippines, Airphil Express was the first budget airline to assist travelers round-the-clock with its 24/7 customer service presence in social networking websites. Airphil Express also serves Manila-Singapore and Cebu-Hong Kong international routes.

Right now, Airphil Express offers tickets at their websites for as low as P188 from Clark To Kalibo, Cebu, Davao, or Puerto Princesa.

To know about the latest travel promotions of Airphil Express, visit www.airphilexpress.com. Guests can also keep in touch and provide immediate feedback to Airphil Express’ 24/7 customer support team by following www.twitter.com/airphilexpress and/or liking facebook.com/airphilexpressph.

My first ever travel for this year was trekking to the pristine peak of Mt. Pinatubo. I have always wanted to explore Mt. Pinatubo but due to budget constraints and not enough people to join me it never pushed through. I was really glad to join these group of 29 people and this maybe the cheapest trip to Mt. Pinatubo you will ever experience.

Usually, a day trip to Mt. Pinatubo which includes the transportation, food, tour guide, and 4×4 ride will costs you 2K or more; however, in this group that I joined, we only spent P1.6K each which is better than those group buying websites.

I was able to finally meet some travel bloggers which I only knew online. They are just great as their blogs, funky, full of dreams, energetic. All of a sudden, I felt pathetic that I am missing a lot of travel invites since I started working full-time.

Brenna doesn’t know there are people posing behind her

One of the highlights when going to Mt. Pinatubo is the 4×4 trek ride which was a 45-min to an hour ride. At first, we were all wishing to ride on an open 4×4 vehicle. I was one of the selfish people there who are dying to ride on open vehicle as you get to experience the rocky road; but for some reason, I was chosen to ride on a closed one and somehow felt bad (a little).

I was frustrated when I took this shot as I don’t get to see the outside well

Someone is taking a photo from the inside

But during the first half of the 4×4 trek ride, we realized that we’re lucky to be on a closed vehicle as it gets dusty outside. If you’ll notice, the fresh looking faces before now look terrorists.

Next challenge, is the 2 to 3-hr trek. As long as you have food, water, and great panting techniques, you will survive. The biggest mistake that I made on this adventure was that I’ve worn the wrong shoes and I was wearing pants! I should have worn shorts and trekking shoes as I didn’t research or ask for some tips prior to this adventure.

These shoes made my feet swollen and sore

After to to 3 hours of trekking, we finally get to the body of Mt. Pinatubo which is actually a 30-min trek to it’s peak (for young ones like us). The signage is misleading hehe. So I’m guessing this poor granny walked for 45 min to an hour going to the peak. Idol!

You will encounter lots of small body of water during this phase which indeed made the climb an extreme one. It’s really interesting to know where do this water come from, it’s clear, however you cannot drink them for sure it has a high sulfur content.

After 30-min of walking, we finally reached the breathtaking peak.. Never mind the exhaustion, it went away just by gazing the beautiful landscape from the view deck. LUSTROUS!

We’re lucky to travel that time as the water is moss green which said to be the normal aura of it. I’ve heard that whenever there’s an earthquake, water will turn to ashy gray and swimming is prohibited.

At the latter part, some chose to stay and swim at the accessible side of the peak and some chose to explore the other side of it for which I belonged.

As you get to the middle, try dipping your hands on the water as it gets warm. I’ve also heard that you cannot just swim in the middle as there is a strong undertow which can pull you down underwater.

Going further, we astounded by the astonishing scenic landscape of the opposite part of the peak. The water on this side is steamy. It is no longer therapeutic to which its nearly on boiling point, so don’t try to dip your hands or feet.

And you wouldn’t believe that this is the aftereffect of the monstrous eruption on 1991.

It’s so much fun going with these 29 people, we’re the biggest group who went there on that day. I’m truly grateful to Rob and Dong Ho who organized this intense adventure.