Philippine Travel Notes

This is an eatery located along the national road in Calbiga, Samar. Specialty: Tinolang Native Manok! In fact, most of the time, this stewed chicken is the only one you'll see in a gigantic pot at the counter. Oops my bad, I forgot to take a photo of that counter where the big pot usually sits! But you can see a snippet of it in this picture... - just at the very left edge of this photo :) That is how the place looks from the edge of the counter. Entrance is at right (not seen in photo). This is important: the big clean toilets (separate for men and women), aside from the hand-washing area, are located at the other end of that counter near that window at left! Why am I telling you this? Because this place, almost exactly halfway from Catbalogan to Tacloban, is a well-known BRB stop! Especially for women, this place is something to remember, because, as you will probably know, there are not so many clean toilets out here. Even the few gas stations along the road cannot all ...

Not your usual "origin-and-destination" pair. Not even mine too. It just happened that I needed to do work-related matters in both towns, in succession (same day), that I had no choice but to quickly run from one place to the other. That is about 250 kilometers far! Well, the most important thing is, I enjoyed the ride! Here's the 'hectic day' story... I set out early morning from Tacloban for an activity in one of the barrio's of Basey - yeah some kilometers beyond the town proper, even already near the jump-off point to the Sohoton Cave and Natural Bridge Park - but I did not go there this time - trabaho muna! Thankfully the activity ended noontime, otherwise they would have to serve me lunch! I made my way to the town center of Basey to look for lunch - there's a default carinderia I usually go to in this town if lunchtime comes and I'm still around. That's at Kuya Tani's. OMG, I found out I did not have enough money in my wallet, ...

Nightfall already caught us just talking to some of the people we encountered. But we were not that worried since we had our own vehicle. Please never do this though, if you are just commuting. Why? Because there is no accommodation for outsiders in this town as of the moment. You will just become another problem for them to tend to, if you were caught by night-time in Hernani. On top of this, we were extra confident since our driving friend had been to this place many times, the last of which was just a few days ago. Anyway, going out of Hernani in the darkness was still not that easy. Night driving, you know how it is on rural roads, right? And we met many convoys of big trucks and other vehicles delivering relief goods. Them and us must negotiated the roads carefully so we all fit just right in without falling off! We also had to again pass by that cemetery where bones and skulls were swept to the other side of the road and very prominently ‘on display’ when headlights would train o...

Ang dahon ng saging... BOW! Got it? Okay, let me describe the intricate contraption for those who still can’t fathom this “very profound scientific discovery”… so help me God! The back-rider realized water, dirt and mud was pelting his back as they zoomed though the highway. That is because that kind of bike has no rear fender – by design. The seat is supposed to already serve as one, but obviously it doesn't. So, to avoid being scolded by his mom for another veeery dirty laundry, they chopped one big banana leaf somewhere and tied it to the bike’s tail light, hoping it would provide enough protection! It probably served its intended purpose for a time. But when we encountered them, the poor leaf was swaying and flapping like crazy, then started tearing itself apart into strips! The “act” eventually became a pathetically futile rendition that every passenger in my van (plus the driver, of course) was laughing instead of feeling sorry for this ultra genius green-clothed bastard h...

Passed by these big bikers (white men and a Pinay) along the Maharlika Highway just after the town of Calbiga, still some 50 kilometers before Tacloban. I think there were like 3 or 4 of them bikes but the others already zoomed through before my pesky little camera would pop open! Well, all I could mutter was “cooooolnessss”!

Here is the long story I promised in the previous post ! I won’t do this again! Not because I do not like the destination, but I intend to be wiser next time! There is, and there will be a better way. I know that now, and lucky you, am already telling you! Yes you! Where on earth is this Lulugayan Falls anyway? It’s in some remote barangay in the town of Calbiga, Samar. Some 14 kilometers off the Maharlika Highway amidst hills, valleys, plains… on a dirt-road good for just a single four wheeled vehicle to pass, with nothing but views of beautiful mountains as far as your eyes can see. We hear that some locals actually walk the distance if and when they have a need to travel to town and back. You can do that too of course, but the usual way in and out now is via motorbikes called habal-habal. 14 kilometers? This is the first tricky thing! It’s just like traveling from Monumento in Caloocan down to Shaw Blvd. in Mandaluyong. Plus the 739 meter walking trail which is just like w...