Philippine Travel Notes

I have been curious about this place for some time now. And I said last June I really want to see what this place is all about, right? So, today was my chance as I was going back to Tacloban from Kananga! Oops, lampas! Haha, this picture I took as we turned back because my driver missed that corner! We were facing back at Capoocan this time and took a left turn to where the arrow points to! Wha! We joked we were already in Iraq! Then again, this zone may have been named after another place as the capital of Iraq is Baghdad. Whoa again... a gated compound in a wide farm... mala-hacienda! Like anywhere, this gate does not really exclude outsiders. It's more of just a status symbol art (arte)! Chadaaan! And I said to my self, parang hacienda nga... This compound is in the middle of vast ricefields, about a kilometer away for the highway (pic above). The café / bar area. Inviting... It connects to a spacious outside dining area - can be good for meetings even parties a...

We were just halfway on a trip from Basey to Kananga. This was a long drive, even if via Barugo. And lunchtime caught us at the town of Carigara. So I requested the driver to find us a nice cozy place that does not teem with people (like fastfoods) but with good food! Without hesitation he brought us here! Driver says he had been eating in this place even during his previous stint as delivery truck driver. But he cautioned me, that food here is a bit pricier than the usual turo-turo. Hmmn, 1965, I was intrigued! Their food is nothing fancy nor gourmet. Just simple and usual daily family fare. But yes, marasa! This one on foreground is a big fried fish, that whitish thing on the right is "kinilaw", and the other fish is "bulad" (yummy, not salty)! Of course paired with "hinatukan nga karubasa" (squash with cocomilk)! Burp! Yes, very "tastes like home" food. But did you know those are not the bestsellers in this place? Ah the thing that almost ...

Here's another amazing intriguing perplexing sighting I had today. I was traveling from Basey to Kananga via the Barugo-Carigara road. Ah, while traversing the normal way (via Tacloban, Palo, Alang-alang and so on down to Carigara) is just about the same in kilometer distance, passing via Babatngon-Barugo-Carigara is quicker as there's no traffic - virtually no vehicles! About an hour and a half into this road trip as we were passing by Cabarasan Barugo, I saw this... I quickly snapped that pic as we were overtaking the motorbike - loaded with a squad of children! All I could think was: "OMG Manong, if they are all your family and something untoward happens"... OMG! The other reason I wanted to snap this pic was: so I could have an exact count of all of them hahaha! So alright, let's do a headcount accounting! There are 8 passengers, therefore there are a total of nine human beings on board, and not one has a helmet. I am not sure if that female with a whi...

It's more than a month after I first told you about these boats, and that I was very happy seeing them, that this at the very least is proof that the government is helping some of the Yolanda/Haiyan victims. However, something is bothering me... these boats do not seem to be moving. It seems distribution is not really happening since I keep passing by this place and they're just still there. Has it started yet? And being made of plywood, they have started to deteriorate. Well, I think "rot" is a better word for it... Look, we can readily see some "bubbles" on the plywood. In some, they're even already peeling off! It is not as if the decay is an "isolated incident" (authorities are fond of using that expression)... It's happening to many boats. We can see them daily as they're just stacked by the roadside. Sira na! OMG speaking of "sira"... I just wanted a closer look of those other boats (yellow and red arrows) on the ...

See this video... Oh ha?! Nice attempt and nice try di ba? This is the very last frame of that video again... That building (shack!) is THE Catbalogan Airport Building. 'Wag choosy, that's all they have for now. Somewhere near the middle of that picture, you can see the road going out of this place (and also to Juvie's Resort), then out unto the national highway. There is a kind of signage on that corner. See it? Eto yung signage o, mwahaha! Pasagdi la. Who knows, something good might come out of this (as of now) lonely airport & runway.