Work allowed me to visit another province in the Philippines that I had yet to see: Leyte.
Walking along the streets of Tacloban while listening to the horror stories of an officemate brought by Typhoon Yolanda made me realize the magnitude of the destruction. What I saw from the news and social media did not come close to the horror faced by the people of Leyte. A lot of the structures have been rebuilt or reinforced, but some structures still bore the aftermath of the wrath of Yolanda.
Side story: of all the things to forget, I forgot my cellphone at home!! I felt so lost! No communication, no ebooks, no internet, no photos. But, I'm digressing. Anyways, I just requested my officemate, Atty. Tina, to take photos of me.
We checked out the Santo Nino Museum of the Romualdez family. We did not go inside since there's a fee of P230 for 3 persons, and there's a fee for the use of a cellphone and a separate fee for the use of a video. Odd no? So, huwag na lang. We were told by our guide that it is under the management of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). I personally was not enticed to go inside because it looked run down, dark, dank and musty and it seemed that it has not seen a broom and a mop for decades. Hence, the absence of any pictures on the place.
Next stop was the Anibong Memorial Marker. M/V Eva Jocelyn was one of the boats that ran aground during typhoon Yolanda. I was told to get my picture taken with hands open wide as if I am queen of the world, and I did. Then as soon as it was taken, I realized it was too callous of me to act as if it's a real park and not a memorial park. It's a remembrance of the horrors of the typhoons and I felt that it was insensitive of me to pose that way. So sorry to the people of Tacloban.
We went to the Tacloban Public Market to buy danggit. Oops, no pics.
Then was the most fun part: we visited the San Juanico Bridge and had a crazy time taking photos. Jump shot moment! O siya, isip bata ako.
I never realized it wasn't a straight bridge. It was sort of winding. Iba kasi pag nasa calendar diba? Basta maganda! At least nakarating na din ako sa Samar.
We then visited Palo, Leyte to see the Mac Arthur Landing Memorial Park. Ang sarap magpicnic dito tapos tabing-dagat pa. Hay!
And last stop was a visit to Palo Cathedral which Pope Francis visited. There was also a mass memorial grave for some of the victims of Yolanda in the Cathedral.
I was only in Leyte for about 26 hours tops, but it was sulit.
All in a day's work? Nah... Work plus a tour in a day.
Walking along the streets of Tacloban while listening to the horror stories of an officemate brought by Typhoon Yolanda made me realize the magnitude of the destruction. What I saw from the news and social media did not come close to the horror faced by the people of Leyte. A lot of the structures have been rebuilt or reinforced, but some structures still bore the aftermath of the wrath of Yolanda.
Side story: of all the things to forget, I forgot my cellphone at home!! I felt so lost! No communication, no ebooks, no internet, no photos. But, I'm digressing. Anyways, I just requested my officemate, Atty. Tina, to take photos of me.
We checked out the Santo Nino Museum of the Romualdez family. We did not go inside since there's a fee of P230 for 3 persons, and there's a fee for the use of a cellphone and a separate fee for the use of a video. Odd no? So, huwag na lang. We were told by our guide that it is under the management of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). I personally was not enticed to go inside because it looked run down, dark, dank and musty and it seemed that it has not seen a broom and a mop for decades. Hence, the absence of any pictures on the place.
Next stop was the Anibong Memorial Marker. M/V Eva Jocelyn was one of the boats that ran aground during typhoon Yolanda. I was told to get my picture taken with hands open wide as if I am queen of the world, and I did. Then as soon as it was taken, I realized it was too callous of me to act as if it's a real park and not a memorial park. It's a remembrance of the horrors of the typhoons and I felt that it was insensitive of me to pose that way. So sorry to the people of Tacloban.
Then was the most fun part: we visited the San Juanico Bridge and had a crazy time taking photos. Jump shot moment! O siya, isip bata ako.
I never realized it wasn't a straight bridge. It was sort of winding. Iba kasi pag nasa calendar diba? Basta maganda! At least nakarating na din ako sa Samar.
We then visited Palo, Leyte to see the Mac Arthur Landing Memorial Park. Ang sarap magpicnic dito tapos tabing-dagat pa. Hay!
I was only in Leyte for about 26 hours tops, but it was sulit.
All in a day's work? Nah... Work plus a tour in a day.
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