Philippine Travel Notes

The initial title that I wrote for this story was "Palo Archbishop's Palace. But I changed it to "Pope Francis Parish Church" as that is purportedly the official name, so I learned from a nun at the church. The story is... this place (not just this church) has been very well-known to many Catholics for being the "Archbishop's Palace". But this edifice I visited is not the palace. This is a church built very recently and beautifully, together with an orphanage. So where is the palace? Up at the hill above this church! Anyway, I was just passing, and saw that this gate was open. I said to the driver "let's check it out"! And so we did! Driver initially parked at the side of the road, but an old man told him he can drive his car in and park there instead. I left them to it and already proceeded inside by that open gate at right. You know, this compound now has two big gates that are a bit of an angle instead of a straight side-by-side f

Whatta day! Whatta find! Whatta dog! Oh... My...Dog! He was doubly a surprise to me and the rest of the arriving passengers at the conveyor belt of NAIAT3 luggage carousel: 1) He is not the usual big German Shepherd K9 dogs that we often see, 2) He rides the conveyor belt as if it was nothing! But yes, this little cutie sniff-dog was hard (if not bored) at work! Of course I shot a vdeo, even if short! Had to capture the cuteness! Paano ba naman kasi... Checked-luggage from our Tacloban-Manila flight were just starting to flow. The rest, the bulk of them were still in there. So, Mr Little Cutie Doggie-dog Sniffer was not busy yet. There were lull occassions he was being asked to sit. Eh conveyor belt eh! When he sits down to rest, he flows away hehe! So he would come back up running towards his master when the belt brings him far and away hehehe! Aliw! Don't we wish all days are like this?!

I knew Garawon is a coastal barangay of Hernani, I even knew some residents here succumbed to Yolanda's big coastal wrath, but I did not know there was such a beautiful beach here, with cottages! A resident pointed me to this place when she overheard I was asking my driver where we could while time away as we waited for our next activity in a nearby barangay. She said they have new cottages... Whoa! I whispered to myself: that is a grand view of the Pacific Ocean and the Southern tip of Samar! We easily found the cottages, there are five of them I think... And I was delighted to find that some partners from humanitarian groups were in one of the cottages. Aside from noticing that white sandy beach, I of course recognized the roofs of all cottages... I didn't think those materials they used as roof would have been willfully provided by humanitarian aid groups for the purpose of building beach cottages! So I asked both residents and aid groups around. They readily told me

This is the third time I'm posting about these boats, after this (first) and this (second) . Let this be the last post from me, whilst giving you an explanation of how they came to be, and a laugh! After this, I won't care what else is going to happen about these unfortunate green boats! They're now so popular! I came from Tanauan, passing by the DENR offices across the MacArthur Landing Memorial... I could see the boats where they had been for a time now (right), but I got curious about those people crossing the road. My heart seem to have jumped to my neck! Are they finally distributing the boats?! Driver seemed to have picked what I was interested about, so he braked to stop right there... Whoa! Some of them boats were already "standing upright" and now literally by the side of the road! We stopped, but driver cautioned me "sir sir.., ayaw paglusad" [don't get off the car]... I thought that was OA, but yes I heeded when I saw those faces he

Because I liked the impromptu visits to the resorts in MacArthur and Dulag, I thought of being on alert for road signs that announced resorts along the way. Here is one in Tolosa - "Aguillon Beach Resort"... Driver doubted, but I said "it could be good, me Norway flag eh" hehe! So we went forth looking for it! Like in the previous resort we went to find... the road also seems deserted... But I like the greens on both sides of the road - but that overgrowth makes my driver a little bit uneasy. And... hehehe... also like in the previous resort, the concrete road was only enr the highway... "Ano sir, tutuloy pa ba tayo?" asked the driver. And I said "sige, ayun o me nakikita na akong blue flag"! We thought that one straight ahead could be the resort, but the signage says turn left... O eh turn-left kung turn-left! Especially that I sensed the sea (of course the beach) was still a little far! There oh dear! My heart pounded fast again... my f

Because I have been passing by this place, and I saw that this "development" had been inching along, now that it already has a name, even if not yet done, I dared peep, perchance learn more. Atrevida ba?! I know what a "skimboard" or "skimboarding" is, but I was curious about the "camp" portion. Curious if this site would be a place where they teach skimboarding or where skimboarders camp in, or both. I wondered too why this thing is up a hill when skimboarding is down at water's edge... Okay alright, there's already a path albeit temporary or still in the making, so I walked up there to ask. Ohhlalala, I got no definitive answers to any of my questions. But I got a slew of other information, I think was awesome enough and worth knowing anyway! That this house is going to be a restaurant; that the men building this house (who I bothered with my questions) are volunteers - being sons and husbands of the members of a women's organiz

Have you ever been lost during your travels, and you felt happy about it - not on hindsight but while you were in the midst of being lost? It seldom happens, right? But that was just what happened today! After that delectable lunch at Baybay, off we went for the long drive to Tacloban via Mahaplag. In no time we were already cruising the road past Abuyog, the skies still sunny. Still early to be in Tacloban. Hmm, I saw signage that said "resort"! Thus, I asked driver to go back a bit, so we could check it out! This was that signage, pic taken after we have made a u-turn. We were facing Abuyog this time! We followed the arrow by making a left turn unto some narrow roadway - concrete only at the start! A little distant, but I said let's keep going, it should be there somewhere, in no time... hopefully hehe The trees and the greens were a wonderful sight. And, no traffic! We haven't even seen any vehicle! But driver started to worry we may have already been lost.