Philippine Travel Notes

Ocean Jet (the fastcraft), Robinson's Galleria (the mall) and Sans Rival (the famous Dumaguete pastry shop).., do those three have anything in common? Is there even a 'konek'? Well, there is now. Read on! Drive from Tacloban to Ormoc.., Ride the fastcraft to Cebu.., then go malling! This was the option we decided to take after our Tacloban-Cebu flight was cancelled by a freak storm - probably not good for all travelers, but the best alternative for us, during that time and circumstance. As you would have read the actions we opted to do (in my previous blog story), there were extra costs involved on this detour decision, like: Breakfast for 8 people at Jollibee Palo; Gasoline expense for the Tacloban-Ormoc trip (and back, since my driver had to return home); Ormoc-Cebu fastcraft fare for 7 passengers; Chichirya at Ormoc and on-board the fastcraft; Taxi fares in Cebu; Meals and 'malling' in Cebu; Three rooms overnight at Waterfront Mactan. None of which were sh

This is a rejoinder story to my previous post on Lake Danao in Ormoc, particularly about the girls who pull the rope so that your raft gets to the middle of the lake. For lack of a descriptive name, I call them the "Guyod Girls". "Guyod" is a Bisaya (Cebuano) word for "pull" (English) or "hila"/"hatak" (in Tagalog). Why "Guyod Girls"? Because that was/is their role that I saw in this 'family-run business'. I asked them how was their role called, and they answered " ting - guyod " (Tagalog: taga - hila ; English: pull er / tow er )! When we said we were riding a raft, I observed the two girls said something to this woman (mother?). Whatever the manang said, the next thing I saw was the two girls rejoicing, as if they were given some kind of reward or permitted to do something they have been wanting to do. They were sort of ecstatic. I half expected this, yet I was still surprised when we were told to

I finally went to Lake Danao in Ormoc as a real visitor - not passing by or checking out something else! Why do I keep sayin "Ormoc"? Because, as many of you probably already know, there are many places named "Danao" all over the country. Yes, and many of them are lakes, because, as said in an article of long ago, the term "Danao" (Bisaya), "Ranao" or "Lanao" (Mindanaoan) in the first place, means "Lake"! In fact, I wrote a story long ago that there are two Lake Danaos in this part of the country and both are good tourist attractions. If you haven't read it, click  this , or this , or type Danao in the search box above. There are several view/picnic areas around this lake, all managed by Brgy. Lake Danao, Ormoc. There are interesting sights along the way too but let's go to the lake first and see the other nice places later. I let my driver choose where to go and he opted for this 'rustic' less crowded ar

I was out of Sabin Resort Hotel for a quick pass-by at Albuera . Just about 400 meters on the highway, I saw this signage that intrigued me due to how it was made (artsy) and its Hispanic-sounding name.., That's a corner by the side of a gas station, and the restaurant is still some 400 meters going seaside. And, if I remember my Spanish 3 correctly, "Vigia" is some kind of a "lookout" though not necessarily a lighthouse (which is "faro" in Spanish), tama? Vigia in Cebuano is probably, "bantayan sa hari", I think! Maybe there was something like that in the past. But this time I did not see anything high or elevated. I saw this nice-looking property (I like the white-painted era-style fence) and I thought this was it! But no it is not La Vigia! A private residence? Oh wow, I like it! But the driver already proceed onwards. Just a few meters on, I could already see more signage pointing to La Vigia Restaurant.., This neighborhood is inte