Sights & Scenes: Palompon to Ormoc to Tacloban

I was returning to Tacloban from Palompon after a visit of Kalanggaman Island, and here are some interesting views that invited the curiosity of my camera along the way...

First up, while wading our way out of Palompon...

Red arrow points to an uncommon (rare actually) pedicab with a driver's backrest! I have seen many pedicabs since yesterday, but, only this one sports that 'luxurious' backrest. Why and when needed? I can't imagine! Driver needs to rest while on a "long drive"?!

Blue arrow points to a motorbike loaded with a big fish container. Well, at least this one is a common sight in this country, but just the same, it amazes me that such a wobbly unstable mode of transport can carry that heavy a load. What if it topples? Fish spread!

Here's another one. Ah, blue arrow is the same dude as above...

But red arrow points to another rider carrying a lighter load (I guess). However, those are TWO styropore boxes, one on top of the other, AND not at all tied down! A balancing act!

This next scene got me laughing (even my driver also chuckled). But this picture could launch a thousand words - from 'mundane stupidity', to 'life in poverty', to extraordinary 'nurturing instincts of mothers and wives' in this country, etc. - depending on your mood!

Look closely. She's not using the umbrella to protect herself from the sun. She is actually hovering it over the driver (her husband or son?) who is already wearing a helmet. Duh?!

All I could do was whisper saying "jusko misis, baka malaglag ka sana dyan"! Ka-pusong!

Anyway...

Nice roads in western Leyte... and a last glimpse of the sea...

The coastal roads here have wonderful views of the sea, dotted with a number of little resorts, all the way to Villaba, Tabango, San Isidro, even all the way up to Calubian.

On this trip though, my van was veering inland towards Matag-ob and Kananga...

But never to be outshone in the abundance of beautiful sceneries - when its not raining!

The approach going up the hills to Kananga... equally picturesque views...

Unfortunately it was cloudy dark. Note: in this area, heavy rain means flood! I should know, I once went to a project site (somewhere to the right and back) where we passed by a wide expanse of rice fields wonderfully colored green and gold. But on our 'attempt' to return (after some rain), all became like a sea of strongly rampaging water! Takot ako!

Ah, after Kananga, on the downward run to Ormoc, I smiled taking a snap of this view!

Why? Because that marker reminds me of a friend who always giggles reading it! Maybe I'll tell you about it soon - if I get a clearer shot of the whole marker. Soon, I promise :)

Entering Ormoc, I did not take this photo because there's a new branch of that bee..!

It is this woman. She is not the usual beggar vagrant that can be seen in many urban centers. She is mentally disturbed (ill), and no one seems to be attending to her. Why do I say this? Because, weeks ago, I have already seen her loitering by the cathedral and mall. I even suspect this is the same woman also walking aimlessly in Albuera way earlier!

People I asked around told me that she was/is part of those who succumbed into this state of health after Yolanda. There are/were many of them in Tacloban, right? I'm not sure, but I think there is no public mental health institution in this region. I only heard of one in Tacloban that seems to be either an NGO or religious organization (or both).

I hope she will be rescued by some authority I don't know which!

Anyway, as said in my earlier story, I went to the new Bo's Coffee...

A cozy place to sit and sip a while, as you wait for your Grand Tours van departure. The open area is big and wider than the air conditioned inside! Plus, alams na - me ashtray o!

Hey, you need to know this... as I focused the camera for that photo (above) of my table at Bo's Coffee, something across the street caught my absolute and undivided attention!

Eto yun...

Do you see it? Can you see it?! Okay, see the next picture below for a clearer view!

This is it.., so, Read! You can't? Let me attempt read and interpret that for you...

MUAYO UG GUBA NA PURNITURES CONTACT 09106083914 BELOY.
Tagalog: "gumagawa ng sirang muwebles". English: "Repairs broken (damaged) furniture"! What got me grinning was the use of space, and the attempt to write FURNITURES as a whole word hahaha! I will forgive the P instead of an F. But when he was writing P, then U, then R... ano kaya ang feeling hehehe! I even itched to call that number and ask! 😈

2:06PM we were exiting Ormoc city center. That signage on the right reminds me...

Yeah, Lake Danao is in my bucket list. And it is 18kms from this corner, says that board. One of this days I will go that way. One of these days... Just you wait Lake Danao!

Some kilometers forward, driver slowed the vehicle down, reached for coins around him and his compartment, opened his window, then tossed the coins out to that hearse...

Once he was done making a sign of the cross, I asked if he knew the dead person. He said no, but explained its a common practice here. I nodded, I've seen it done elsewhere.

I kept looking back to that hearse even as we sped away. My curiosity was/is who would pick the coins - since all were in motorbikes or automobiles. Ahhh, di ko na nakita :(

Fastforward to the mountains of Capoocan, we reached the "road slip" area.

I think I am going to start calling this a "road slip mountain". It looks like these repairs (of road slips) are on queue every year - as if 'road slips' never stop here! In fairness to Yolanda, this place has been 'road slipping' ever since! Why not just make a new road?!

By the way, I did not even know the phrase "road slip" existed in the English language. Its here that I first encountered it, but long long ago. Well, traveling is learning, I told you!

Nearer, I took a shot of the 'road slip'. Oh my... its almost half of the road that fell...

And this is a high mountain pass. If this happened at night, and you were incidentally passing by when that road started cascading down to the valley, goodbye Philippines ka!

Still in the mountains, not far from the 'road slip', I saw another in my bucket list.

Not yet sure on what is there and what it really is. But that signage is of/by government.

Teka, madilim ba?

Here it is zoomed... the name and description not only confuses. It intrigues me!

It is a Japanese Shrine alright. Maybe it means "breakneck ridge" instead of "beak neck" - whatever pareho naman meaning nyan hehe. I heard about this so I asked someone in the know (when I started seeing that sign), yet, I get all the more curious on what it is.

Japanese Shrine. Site of a WWII battle. Someday I will climb that ridge! Some day soon!

Okay, now here's a 'fast-moving, rolling enterprise"!

I tried identifying what those are that he's selling. Ang hirap! But I like the diversity! There's vinegar, there's a picture frame, utility brushes, even hair clips and earrings!

On this one, I asked the driver "ano yan"? His reply was "D-Max sir" hahaha!

Still laughing I said "not the vehicle but the load". And Mr. Driver stepped on the gas to get us nearer. Oh, a roll of chicken wire (from a fence) plus the vines that crawled upon it! Both driver and I wondered where it came from, where it was going, and why the car's plate is from Region III. Then driver said "it kuri sir kon kinawat pa ito"! Who knows 'no?!

Having passed this way many times now, I have also been curious about that...

Not the pick-up truck and the chicken wire! This sign board on the right. It says Balai Constancia, Resto, Cafe. Hmm, must be something worth a peep. The signboard alone, sitting amidst farms in the outskirts of Carigara, this must be something interesting!

Traffic entering Carigara. Driver murmuring invectives. He was not liking this at all...

His ire was on that pedicab (red arrow). It was slowing everything down. Vehicles had a hard time overtaking it because there were also cars trucks and buses on the opposite lane. And this is a bridge. That white car just overtook Mr. Pedicab, and there goes Mr Chicken Wire (orange arrow) attempting to also overtake! Yes, buhay pa si chicken wire!

Our driver was saying those pedicabs should pass by the old bridge (neon-green arrow), so that the flow of traffic on this new bridge (blue arrow) should be unhampered.

He had a point. Though I disagreed, I did not say a thing. In my mind I was reasoning 'if they built this entirely new separate bridge, that old one must be condemned, therefore not passable'. Why would you let anyone pass there? You want them to fall? Why? Hehe!

IMHO, that jam compared to Manila's daily grind, if Metro is 10, this encounter was a 2. It was just a bit of a slow-down for like 3 minutes but moving! But that's how it is mostly in the provinces. They're not used to the literal 'stand-still' mala-parking-lot wait in MM!

The whole thing was like, at 10PM you were cruising Katipunan from CP Garcia towards Libis. Suddenly there was a kariton-pushing manang who crossed from middle of road (island) to Esteban Abada. All cars slowed down but after that zoomed away. Ganun lang!

But from the way our driver reacted to that jam, as if it was already horrendous hehehe! Minsan, me gamit din yung nabuhay ka for decades in Metro Manila. Patience is a virtue!

And then we were in Carigara. And I saw another bucket-list-worthy signage...

I wonder who Datu Gara is/was. Maybe his name is the "root word" (root word talaga?!) on how this place got its name! Pareho ang ending eh, "gara"! Okay, bucket-listed now!

Intermission: can you see in the picture? Si 'chicken wire D-Max' is still around hahaha!

Here's a nice one, still somewhere in Carigara going towards Tacloban...

I think I already said this in previous blog entries, Ormoc or Biliran to Tacloban is best during a sunny afternoon. The sun is behind you, the views front and sides are grand!

Here's something that somehow irritated me... two overlapping DPWH signage. Why?

Why overlap a sign board on another? What is the rationale? I sent this pic to an Engineer friend and asked how/why might this happen. The answer was: "mga hubya, igin-sugo la iton hin mga miron o tambay dida nga mga bulok" haha! I interpret that as "lazy engineers who delegated the installation to nothing-to-do-idiots" hahaha! Malupit!

Here is another interesting scene I thought was funny: He is not wearing any helmet!

That is a headgear alright. And it looks like he is wearing a helmet from afar. But as we were overtaking him, I looked closely. It is some kind of a hood, made of cloth - like a bonnet - that motorbike drivers wear under their helmet! Parang undershirt ng helmet.

Ah, this one was bad and dangerous. You see the 'Chickenwire D-Max'? (center arrow)

It has just overtaken this big delivery van, of course at full speed so he can successfully overtake. And you can see that motorbike is also in the process of overtaking the van. But the signage is clear, there is a zebra line (a Ped Xing) out front, where the D-Max is.

If pedestrians were crossing from right to left, at that zebra line, they could be hit by either the D-Max or the motorbike, right? Even our driver was already gearing up to also overtake this 'panel', but I told him to wait until we are past the pedestrian crossing.

And we stopped at Hiagsam Bridge. Waiting for our turn to pass via the detour bridge.

Can you see the nose of that jeep on the left edge of the photo? It is climbing on the detour path from down at river level! This bridge is impassable now (I guess for long)!

This bridge is literally broken, as if you snapped a KitKat bar. Look at the yellow arrow...

It did not crumble and fall, if that is any consolation hehe. See that habal-habal? It can still pass since the deck is still solid - only that it snapped into two segments and sunk where it snapped. Ang labo ba?! Ganito: it sunk at that point, that's why it snapped! We just know from the pics that something sunk or

What sunk to deeper earth? Ahh, am not an engineer, but maybe the bridge pier (pwede ba yun?) or the piles and pile capping, if any (pwede rin ba yun? dahil sa baha?) or anything else under the decks and barriers. Basta, isang part lumubog, ayun nabali tuloy!

This is one of those bridges in the region that were prominently mentioned as wide as the national news, after that typhoon last December 2014 (Seniang?). I heard the reason for this bridge's collapse was "flooding". Weh, bakit lumundo pailalim? Ah whatever!

I shot a video down there. I'll put it up here once am done stitching it up!

Actually, the issue I've been hearing lately is not even why the bridge was broken by flood, or when it will be rectified. It is about that "detour", some drivers (including mine) have started calling it the "killer detour bridge"! Am not sure if there have been deaths.

It is down at almost water level with very steep approach from either side, on a gravel path, which is very slippery whether wet or dry. Ah, heavy traffic buildup is common here.

Accidents happen here often. Weeks ago, there was a heavily truck, unable to ascend. Its engine conked and it rolled backwards to the vehicle closely behind it, a passenger van. Fortunately, we were 4 cars behind and still about to descend when that happened. I was watching and all I could say (shout actually) was "sh*t, sh*t, sh*t" and then blam, the truck's behind rested on the van's nose! And we were stuck in this place for 2 hours.

Okay, we were out of the 'fallen bridge', and I saw this...

First he came speeding and overtook us. Then out front started swerving left and right.

In waray-waray this is called "naparayaw". In Tagalog that meanse: "pasikat"/ "papansin". But easier translated to English, which means: "just being the ass**** that he really is"!

Our driver said this devil is obviously drunk. "Nag-dinomingo" (Sunday drinking session).

So many scenes to see hehe! Here's another "miracle": Look where red arrow points at.

This part of the road is obviously long ago done. And there is no (more) indicator that work/s is to continue on these parts, right? So why is the shoulder only up to that point?

Here is one more: That motorbike is not tied anywhere...

The woman in all-red (yes its a she) has no support other than those boys on either side. Mind you, that pickup van was running at about the same as our cruising speed (probably 60kph). When I shook my head, our driver said something like "just a sudden brake or jolt, that bike could fall together with that woman"! Dinominggo liwat? I guess.

This one I liked! Colorful banners on both sides of the highway...

Do you what that means? Fiesta! That's how barangays decorate roads during fiestas.

The Palo Municipal Hall. Its starting to look grand again...

Those are modern materials, but the design is that of an old "bahay na bato". Nice! Am not sure if I blogged about it. I've been there lately for some meeting. But anyway, good to drop this on my bucket list for now. Then let's revisit when the building is finished!

Ah that one too, the Palo Cathedral. Not quite done with the finishing touches..,

But getting there. And it's now looking even more beautiful than it was before Yolanda!

Oh this building? I heard it won't be restored back. Too bad. This was historical beauty!

That was the Palo Library and Museum. An old era house. It looked old but imposing.

Ah, just looking because passing by... the Seafood and Ribs Warehouse Restaurant...

I like eating there. But I had a meeting to attend... so, pass muna this time!

Hey tsismis: this is the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Region VIII building...

And it has been in that state, ever since it was ruined by Yolanda. I often pass by this area, and every time I glance at it, I always wonder "why". I mean why is it not being attended to? All other government offices have been repaired or have started to be so.

This is the only one remaining that I often see, that is not really being touched. Doesn't the president like them? Or don't they want to be in this place anymore reason why they are not rebuilding? Can't say they don't have the money, since I have observed, DTI has been, or still is, one of the busiest government agencies helping Yolanda victims. Eh sa kanila, wala bang tutulong? Don't they need their office back? Says who? Tsismisin ito!

Another tsismis-worthy edifice hehe: I hear this is/was a sports something building...

Yep, this is still in Palo, Leyte, just near the DTI Office (picture above) and similarly left to rot after Yolanda. I wonder why. You see that concave roof at left? That is the Leyte Academic Center, now rehabilitated and in use. But this sports something is not! Bakit?

Tsismis nga eh... I heard from some friends who told me that the Palo Sports Center (or something like that) was their pride and newly inaugurated before Yolanda. And when the storm hit, it crumpled just like that, as if the steel trusses (I imagine rounded also) crumpled twisted to ground like pieces of plastic or cardboard! Ano ba yan? Anyway...

Here is a wonderful tsismis... no more two-hour-long queues in here. Yep, Andok's Palo!

But they're still always crowded. Because, one side of their parking area is now also a commuter terminal for 'multicabs' to/from Tacloban - and two colleges are also nearby.

One last beautiful tsismis... those buildings are of the Philippine Science High School

Of course PSHS Eastern Visayas Campus! Oh, that one on the right edge of this photo is (I think) a DOST building. Yellow arrow is going to the city, green arrow is to the rest of the gov't offices (government center) all the way to MacArthur's landing memorial.

Their buildings are rising back, even more beautiful..! So what's the tsismis na nga?!

Ah, ganito (daw), unknown to many of us, some alumni of this institution (not just this campus), felt like support for the rehabilitation of this school seemed to be slow and inadequate. So, what they did was, kinalampag daw lahat ng fellow alumni, young and old, all over the world, for them to throw in financial help, for the rehab of this campus.

Ayun! Behind that pic, there are now buildings in the making, all the way to near the provincial hospital and the DOH8 offices! That foreground space? Aba, me landscaping and colored lights pang nalalaman, it is starting to look like a wonderful children's park!

Just imagine... where are the Pisay Alumni in the echelons of our society?! Di ba?!

Anyway, as said in the previous story, I arrived na nga at Tacloban!

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