Basco, Batanes was our original destination. Days before the flight, I have been monitoring the weather and have been receiving typhoon updates online. I, like all the other media people and bloggers who were invited to this trip, was excited that I would be able to see the northernmost part of the country and experience and witness the rich culture, wonderful landscapes, and endearing local community of a place being championed by many to become a world cultural heritagesite.  That and the screening of this movie, set for release on December 5.

Ten minutes before our supposed departure, an announcement was made stating that our flight is indefinitely on hold as the airline company, Asian Spirit, was waiting for weather updates from Batanes. Apparently, visibility in the area, even though it was not affected by any typhoon at that moment, was very low which made it impossible for any aircraft to land in Batanes. An hour later, and several updates later, our flight was announced as finally being cancelled. This meant that our tour of historic Batanes and the screening of the movie Batanes was gonna be postponed to a later date, or a screening wouldn’t take place anymore. I was worried that actress Iza Calzado would throw a fit and be a diva and all that. But no! She was (and still is) actually very down to earth and sincere, but that will be reserved for another post (hint, hint: video blog!)

I knew that something like this was possible. As I prepared myself for utter humiliation and severe disappointment, the folks from GeiserMaclang informed us all that our itinerary no longer holds and that our trip to Batanes was cancelled. That was the bad news. I was fine with it. But no! Asian Spirit, the sponsor for the event, made sure that we would not be left hanging. I actually admire the Asian Spirit staff for the way they work, their innovativeness, quick-thinking and genuine concern for their guests. A back-up plan was drafted right away and we were informed that even if we were not flying to Batanes, we would still be flying. Moreover, the screening of the movie Batanes (starring Iza Calzado and Ken Chu) will push through. As the film says, Love Knows No Borders, Asian Spirit made sure that our appreciation and love of art will not know any borders. ROugh winds may shake our planes to the point of flight cancellation, but our spirits will never be broken.

It was then announced that we will be flying to another location. Another B! B for Boracay! 15 minutes after we were informed that the Batanes trip was cancelled, we started boarding a chartered flight to Boracay.

And that’s where we are now, in Boracay, enjoying the beauty of the beach and the big waves and cold winds - things that we would have experienced in Batanes. Tonight, we will be having an exclusive media screening of a film, which I expect would move my spirit - Batanes.

Batanes in Boracay. Boracay and Batanes.

PostScript
And I must say that the flight was a breeze. I’m not kidding and sucking up when I say that that was the best flown flight I took to Boracay. Ever! Seriously! The captain announced that we were experiencing slight turbulence. Either I was still having post-traumatic stress disorder from my earthquake experience yesterday, or the captain was just so good the flight was very smooth. Something which I did not expect from Asian Spirit. The last time I flew Asian Spirit to Boracay was in 2004 and that was not quite a smooth trip. Oh how things change for the better in just 3 years.

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