Let's continue from my previous post. The views were interestingly clear compared to night shots that I've seen online. I also said this would've been better if I waited a bit more for sunset, but I could not...
Anyway, below are two shots with things I want to tell you about Catbalogan (for now)..,
1] Front and a little bit to the left, as viewed from the deck of Inang's Sky Garden Restaurant..,
Trivia: as of now, SSU is the only state university in Region VIII that has a building with a lift (elevator)! That is in all of Eastern Visayas - Leyte, Samar and Biliran islands! But, do not shout to the whole wide world about it heheh! Hush lang kayo.., that (NEW) elevator is so tiny, apat na tao lang yata ang kasya!
Well, if I may contradict my self.., we can actually say 'that is why none of the state universities in this region have any elevators (yet) because.., as of now, they all have the luxury of space' as in land. Thus, their buildings are mostly sprawling instead of rising. SSU is an exception as Catbalogan is 'cramped'!
'Cramped', the city center that-is, because this city is surrounded by hills and mountains all the way to the sea! So, any further developments mean you'll have to go beyond the hills. That is happening now!
Behind/beyond that hill/promontory, also at left, is 'Ubanon' - an interestingly crazily crowded seaside district with only one narrow road teeming with all kinds of land vehicles (from motorbikes to big and long fish-hauling container trucks). And, there are no sidewalks! Kids play, older folks congregate on that road, especially in the afternoons, while fish-dealer trucks, pedicabs, tricycles, SUVs also pass by.
Yet, and mind you, as a visitor, you will be dumb (and even damned!) not to visit Ubanon District! Why? Well, that is just where many things 'Catbalogan' are found! The freshest, best tasting (not to mention) cheapest dried-fish, dried-squid and all their cousins are found (scattered) there - not at the 'mercado'!
Good therefore popular 'events places' are also found there. If you're attending a function or anything similar, chances are it's in Ubanon! Good cafes, bars and restaurants are also there - like Lucas Wharf. There are hotels old and new, plus the only resort nearest the city center, with a swimming pool and a grand sunset sea view, located in a posh hillside village, where many affluent residents of the city live!
Of course there is also that church, considered by many Catholics as miraculous, reason why pilgrims flock to it in droves. In fact, it's a parish on its own (I think) apart from the St. Bartholomew church of Catbalogan which is at city center. And there is the Sunshine Beach where most Catbaloganons go to, but I never hesitate in saying I don't like it. Its length is parallel to their cemetery, across a narrow road.
I'd rather go further/farther down that narrow road to Cal-apog. There's a nice resort out there, where (I think) the water is 'cleaner', at least that's how I feel, since it's not across an age-old cemetery. Yak!
Anyway, and wait, teka, ちょっとまってください, kadyut, sebentarla, dali lang gid, 잠시만, anay daw... that's aout 6 or 7 paragraphs I've been saying, and all was/is about behind and beyond that hill at left hahaha! Well, that's where the city is naturally expanding - to the left and to the right along the coast!
2] To the right.., oh okay, here was the view as I stood at the same view deck of Inang's Sky Garden..,
What's the tsismax about that sports thing? Well, the Samar Provincial Government decided to knock it down, in favor of a commercial center that will soon rise in its stead. Demolition already started. Oh yes, people were "divided" in their views about it, but the powers-that-be prevailed. So goodbye sports!
I heard further that Catbalogan 2 Elementary School (located inside that sports oval) was many years a little league baseball regional contender (EVRAA), even a national champion (Palarong Pambansa). So, where will kids of this generation go to play baseball? Ah my lips are sealed. Go ask the governor!
Who knows, they may also have an ingenuous alternative, like they have the floating swimming pool!
Oist, according to sabi-sabi, Catbalogan 2 ES will become part of the commercial complex. Ka-Sosyal!
Anyway, the houses and buildings in the middle of the photo, towards the sea, comprise the economic center of Catbalogan. I could see Pier Uno and Pier Dos! City Hall too! Even SSU Mercedes Campus at that peninsula at right! Behind that hill is the other 'natural expansion' route of the city, by the highway.
That's one unique feature of this city. As I said above, it's surrounded by hills and the sea. "Civilization" cannot just spread inland, since it's hard to build-and-live up in the hills. Yet, some have already dared, like where I stood, at Inang's Sky Garden and their expanding neighborhood along this diversion road.
I wonder how many more years these hills surrounding Catbalogan City will last. Some portions have started eroding! Like that part of the road above/behind the capitol and the hospital, you can see it as your vehicle passes by. I wonder too if city/province officials have "land use plans" specifically about or around those hills. Ah, those are massive amounts of earth that could slide down without warning.
Not being an alarmist, but at the rate we are witnessing how earth is crumbling everywhere, I always cringe when I see those very high mounds of earth surrounding the city center. Huwag naman sana, jusko nga maluloy-on. But landslides are getting too common all over earth these days, right? I hope this city is prepared, has prepared, is preparing. It's always better to be paranoid but safe, than... OMG!
Now now.., it's not as if I'm just being hysterically dramatically creative. I may not be scientific, but the agam-agam I'm trying to convey is not without basis. One example is that part of the road behind and above the hospital. It has terribly eroded that it now pose as a very dangerous portion of the highway.
I have seen other examples (adto didto ha mas igbaw pa!), but I would rather not mention them, lest I sound an alarmist, bangin ako maka-ribok hehe! Tibagin na lang kaya ang bundok na yan, basi tibway!
Anyway, of course, those islands in the distance are part of 'Sierra Islands' but I can see Buri too! Hey I'm no expert, I'm just a traveler. But based on what I have seen, that area has great tourism potential.
Oh okay okay.., back to where I stood at Inang's Sky Garden..,
This would have been a fantastic vantage if I waited some 2 hours more for the sunset. But, I needed to speed off to Tacloban, and this was a gloomy day anyway, and I have seen those evening pics from my FB friends. Next time, I should sit it out at Inang's Sky Garden for a longer period, for the nostalgia.
Imagine that.., just one panoramic view.., and I could almost write a book hahaha!
I will be back. Soon I hope. And surely, there will be many more things to see!
Bye for now Kabalaugan!
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