No need to rush in Tacloban

With the few hours left before my flight back to Davao via Manila, there is no need to rush in order to explore the city because in as little as 12 hours you can enjoy the urbanity of Tacloban. 

Here are some places that you will never miss with little amount of time.

1. McARTHUR Landing at PALO, LEYTE

This is an important monument in the Philippines because of Gen. McArthur who helped the Philippines gain independence from Japanese invation. Gen. McArthur actually did not land in Tacloban but in Palo, Leyte. This park can be reached in 10 minutes from Tacloban City via public jeeps or multicabs. 

2. Tacloban City Hall

When I travel, I always go to the municipal or city halls because it is the center of government of the town. Some halls have really beautiful achitecture and some even play in a role in towns history. Mang public jeeps pass this area along the sea and it takes not  more than 30 minutes if you came from Palo. 

3. Leyte Provincial Capitol

Letye Provincial Capitol is one of the most beautiful capitols in the Philippines. It resembles like White House in Washington DC. Here, you can see the different carvings on the wall portaying the past of Leyte. 

 From the City hall, you can walk for about 30 minutes to get here or ride a jeep. This place is facing the Tacloban port. 

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Encounters with the real nomads - The Badjaos on Land

On the outskirts of Davao is place called Isla Verde, the name may sound good resembling to a beautiful resort but this small village near facing Davao Gulf is often dubbed  of the most dangerous to roam and it is the home of the indigenous Badjao tribe who were once lived a nomadic lifestyle sailing from seas to seas.

The badjaos are also called the sea gypsies who sailed across the Sulu sea towards Celebes sea insearch for food. They have originally been living on houseboats most of their time and step on land for awhile to trade. These nomadic lifestyle had scattered their tribes to Malaysian Borneo and some parts of Indonesia. In the Philippines, they have been settling around Sulu and Zamboanga.

The common scenario of badjao encounter is at the seaport where they beg for alms and the passengers throw coins to them and then they dive to get the precious 1 peso coin. However, here in Davao City, its not usual to see them on seaports but instead they have abandoned that life  to dwell in dry land. 

Like a nomads on land, we can see them freely roaming around the streets of Chinatown begging for alms, some sell pearls and beads and my close encounter with them is when they are sick and go to my workplace at the public hospital. When they arrive to the hospital for treatment, we already know their problem. The most common cause of admission of Bajaos are vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Badjaos often get a 100% Free medical charge because of they really cant afford to pay.

So I traveled to Isla Verde along Quimpo Boulevard where Bajao population is concentrated and aside from them Muslims also inhabited the area in harmony with each other. As I enter into the Badjao realm, they still live in stilt houses like their ancestors do. Swampful of garbages can be seen under their houses.The smell is obviously bad but I dont have the right to complain. 

In order to navigate through the village, one must walk through this piece of wood, this connects from one home to the other. Some woods are broken thats why I carefully tramp these path or else I might fall down the bed of dump. 

Some children play around these wooden street and unbelievably I saw children playing on the garbages below. Now I know where these abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea came from.
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5 hours in Ormoc

After my trip to Biliran, I decided to take a quick detour to Ormoc City since its just 2 hours away from the province. From Biliran, there are buses and van that goes to Ormoc almost every hour. 

Ormoc City is a busy industrial city in the province of Leyte, not  much is seen in the city center but it serves as an important port for trade and commerce in the region. As usual, I just want to see its urbanity and it impressed me with its increasing economic activity.

The city is walkable and an interesting place to go is at the bay side. When I have nothing to do, my idea of fun is just to watch or observe people around. The bay area is the playground of different people, froms schoolers to street beggars. 

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Biliran Province: Small in size, Big in adventures Part 2

I woke upo with excitement as the light reflects through window opening a brand new day. Biliran offers lots of attraction to tourists. First thing on my mind was island hopping to Higatangan Island. Locals said that the island can be viewed from Naval port and its easy to go there. However, the mood has suddenly changed as the weather seemed to be uncooperative. Last nights waves were really pounding. I was hoping that this would not ruin my trip.

Finding a good breakfast in Biliran is not a problem, there are lots of carinderias open in the morning. First thing I ate in the morning was the good old Taho. You can taste Taho( soybean desert) any where in the Philippines. When I ordered it, it was hot and fresh.

I saw 2 banks in Biliran, MetroBank and Landbank which means getting money is not a problem. For foreigners, Metrobank accepts Visa, Mastercard, Cirrus cards. Sometimes when I go to certain places, I just love to explore its town to satisfy my urbanphile feeling.

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Biliran Province: Small in size, Big in Adventures Part 1

One small island off the coast of northern Leyte is one of the most undiscovered and unexplored province in the Philippines. Biliran Island is a small island province in the Philippines. Despite its size, it is blessed with beautiful natural attractions like white sand beaches, falls and other scenic landscapes. Yet, this island province is not included in the tourism map but not for long.

 It was about 6:30pm when I arrived at New Tacloban Bus Terminal and the weather that time was uncooperative. It started to drizzle and eventually turned into minor shower. At the terminal, I was looking for a bus that goes to Biliran but there was none that time but a there was a van that goes to Biliran that will leave 7:00 in the evening. Glady there were still vacant seats and we waited for the van to get half full.

The journey to Biliran is probably the longest winding road in the Philippines, it has frequent swirls like in the rollercoaster. So if you are easily get nauseated, its best to take antivertigo drugs. Many light-reflecting signs are built along the streets to warn the drivers about the twists and turns of the road. 

It was 9pm when I reached Naval, the capital of the province of Biliran. The place was very tranquil, the only flashing light were from the barbeque stands along the port area where the van stopped. So I decided to take a my dinner.  

I was speaking Cebuano all along and wondered some people dont understand me then I found out that they were speaking different language and mostly talk in Waray.

After that dinner, I looked for a nearby hotel or pension houses. I stayed at EL RAMON INN just walking distance from Naval port. 

It was clean, decent and affortable at P150 a night. It has common bathroom for fan rooms. I could stay a month if the rate is like this.
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Touchdown Tacloban, Gateway to Eastern Visayas

When you think about Tacloban, what comes into your mind?

Yes, we are probably thinking about McArthurs’ landing and San Juanico Bridge. 

When we study history back in High School, Tacloban has been in the spotlight because of General Douglas McArthur of USA who helped us to our independence from the Japanese invation. This historical event actually did not happen in Tacloban but to the nearby town of Palo, just 3-5 minutes from Tacloban. Another feat of this city was the San Juanico Bridge which was considered an engineering breakthrough long ago. The bridge did not just connect Leyte to Samar but the rest of the Philippines through the Pan-Philippine Highway.

I arrived in Tacloban on-time via Philippine Airlines from Manila. It was a smooth flight despite the typhoon affecting eastern parts of the Philippines. Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport is just a small airport with just 1 conveyor belt. This airport is also served by Air PhilExpress, Zest Air, Cebu Pacific and it receives flight of more than 10x daily from Manila and daily flights to Cebu. This airport really needs expansion or better create a new airport for the people of Eastern Visayas. 

My next problem is getting to the city the cheapest way and gladly theres a jeep waiting to Tacloban town. Since it was already late in the afternoon, its ideal to rest in a hotel and see the city tomorrow. But I had a sudden change of mind, when I was already in the city, I decided to go to the province of Biliran, one of the smallest province in the Philippines. I heard that its just 2-3 hours away from Tacloban. Im not exactly sure if theres a bus going there in the evening but when I went to the New Tacloban Bus Terminal, I found a van that will go to Biliran. 

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Food finds at NAIA Centennial Terminal 2

NAIA Terminal 2 or the Centennial Terminal is the terminal on all Philippine Airlines flights local and international and because of the FLY PINAS Promo they offered last month, it means that Im gonna be frequent at Terminal 2. However, one thing I dont like about T2 is the lack of food choices unlike the new Terminal 3 which has plenty of good restaurants. 

Im glad that I dont have to eat Jollibee anymore because theres a restaurant in the rotunda hall of the terminal. This is located at the ground hall just below the ticketing office. Being a PAL flyer, I didnt notice this until just recently when I was stucked at the terminal for my connecting flight early in the morning the following day. 

The restaurant has plenty of food selections from Filipino, Chinese and even pasta. At least, I can now eat decent food at Terminal 2 but the food here is a bit pricey. A meal set can cost you more than P100 depending on the menu you order. At least, this is a change from the usual Jollibee food at the terminal. If you are in the departure gates, there’s Mr. Donuts, Cafe France and other food kiosk. But when your looking for tummy filler, this restaurant is the perfect place at T2. 

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My Lakbayan Grade August 2011

My Lakbayan grade is B+!

 How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan! Created by Eugene Villar.

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Finding the perfect beach: Kisulad, Sta Maria, Davao Del Sur

Kisulad beach is a small stretch of white sand beach located in a remote town of Sta. Maria, Davao Del Sur. As a traveler, Im always in constant lookout for new, exciting beach destination and this trip was a big bonus because to many, it is still unknown especially to the city dwellers of Davao.

The trip to Kisulad was planned years ago with my colleagues and usually planned trips are at risk for cancelling due to various reasons. I was waiting for this to be materialized, money was not the issue but the time. We wanted everyone to go but with work restrictions it never happened until the day I met a fellow Davao travel blogger CJ. It was just a normal get-to-know chat but eventually we agreed on exploring an unknown beach destination. At first, Kisulad was not our choice but a nearer Passig Islet just a 45 minute from Davao City. But when we met at the bus terminal, we decided to go to Kisulad. Not sure where to go but we head on. Thats what travelers do, go lang ng go. 

Finally, we arrived at Kisulad and I was about to go on depression because all we see was a farm-like town. Many locals have houses nearby where they care for animals such as ducks, chickens and pigs. But as we moved on, I recalled that Kisulad beach is located in a cove, so its quite hidden. According to a friend, the way to Kisulad is only during low tides so we can walk along it or else we might hire a motorized boat to cross to the beach. Fortunately, it was 12nn and was low tide.

One thing that separates Kisulad from other beaches around Davao region is the scenic backdrop. The mountain ranges provides a dramatic scene as if you are somewhere else or is lost in nowhere. 

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North Cotabato celebrates 97th Foundation Day - The Kalivungan Festival 2011

The Province of North Cotabato will be celebrating their 97th Foundation Anniversary on August 25-September 1, 2011. Now, its called the Kalivungan Festival, although Im not sure what Kalivungan means. As far as I can remember, previous years the province has been using the name Hinugyaw Festival but I believe that some other place in the country also has this festival name. Now, I feel that their name is original.

Personally, I have not been able to witness even 1 of the festival ever since. As a local of this place, I feel ashamed that I have not explored this province much compared with other places around the country. But anyway, the new governor of North Cotabato has been very active in transforming this unpopular town to be on the Philippine tourism map. 

Several activities were prepared among them were sports activities, street parades, music festivals, food exhibitions and what I am excited about is the extreme trail run that extends upto 30.7 kilometers covering difficult terrains. 

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