Cómo Está Merida

Good Morning as in Maayong Buntag Merida!

Not Buenos Dias since I was not in Spain, nor was I in the capital of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula hehe. I was just (still) on the western seaboard of the province of Leyte, entawon! But yes, like its namesake in Mexico, this Merida got its name from the same name/place in Extremadura, if at all it still matters! And oh, this was not my first time in this town, as you may have read from a memorable trip >>here<<

And that same 'memorable trip' made me tell my self "I must see their church and municipal building this time around". Hmm, was I successful this time around? That would be a "no" and a "yes", at least!

"No", I was not successful in getting to see the inside of their church - it was still closed - argh!

I understood last time, as I was already late and I was dripping wet! But now, it was only 9:40AM, why?

Ah, not willing to be too disappointed, I inserted my hands between those iron grills for this. Oh ha?!

Nice enough shot di ba?! Actually, as I did that shot, a passer-by told me that I should try checking the side-road-gate as it might be open, so I could enter. Did that. Gate was open, but church doors.., NOT!

Haay! I asked another passer-by as I stood outside the seemingly always open side-gate. She told me this church was of course open during the early morning mass! Add kalamansi to a bleeding heart ba!

Anyway, I told the driver let's go to their municipal hall instead. But oops! I remembered the place was perched high up a hill. I was telling him to just park by the main gate of this church (photo above) and I would just walk going up the munisipyo. Ahehe, the same passer-by I asked earlier (oh yes she could still hear me) suggested why not we just go up with the vehicle, while pointing the way going up there!

Very helpful! Clear as mud hahaha! She said the way there is via the road behind those big houses!

Nasaan?! So we veered right, few meters away (right edge of pic), there is a winding ascending street!

And we found it!

You are in the municipal hall compound when you see this monument, then turn right to the building!

Who is that? Ah, this one surprised me big time! That is General Douglas MacArthur. We never usually hear it being mentioned that the general has/had any special specific significance in/to Merida, right?!

Oh well, that is another beauty of traveling. We find unusual (if not even unknown) things as we travel around. But on this one, I am now curious to know - did THE Gen. Douglas MacArthur come to Merida or Western Leyte? When? Who with? What did they do? Malay natin, bangin la nag-ninong hin bunyag!

That would be nice to know, right? That would be educational, right?!

Anyway, whether or not he "visited", it only shows that Merida, or at least its people (of the past) gave honor to the general via that monument. Oh, now I'm curious too, I did not see a Jose Rizal monument anywhere in the area. Merida probably has a reason, let us not fuss over that. Walang basagan ng trip!

Okay, turning right from the above monument, I finally saw this - the Merida Municipal Hall!

A closer look. It's not possible to do a direct frontal view of the whole building - you will fall off a cliff!

Hey, this is on top of a cliff alright, but there are more structures and parking spaces behind this main building. It's a big compound. Rightwards, that road extends far to Merida National Vocational School!

Back to the monument above. You see that umbrella-like thing behind and below MacArthur? It's this:

I took this picture while standing just behind that pedestal MacArthur is standing on. Nice view, right? From this breezy vantage, you can see most of the downtown areas of Merida. People love this place!

Who said so? These girls who (at about 10AM) were enjoying their "brunch" al fresco with a view!

I said "parang picnic". And they chorused saying "picnic lage"! I had to believe them, today is a Sunday.

The girls were below MacArthur's monument, but they were still higher up than all the houses. Look!

I walked all the way down the stairs to street level (I was already standing on the highway when I shot this photo). The umbrella with the girls is up on top of the stairs, behind those balusters, behind those palms! Nostalgia: across this (left of pic) is where I rode the bus while still dripping wet! Remember?

Guess what?! As I was already down on the highway, and we were going onwards to Isabel anyway, I hollered to my driver who was still up beside MacArthur, to come drive down the winding road on his own, and I would hop-in from this point. Extra time reminiscing this memorable corner while waiting!

A lovely day has begun..!