Invite The Author: Legazpi to Tacloban, Day Two

The fishermen whose parents told them not to talk to strangers.

I woke up trying to remember where I was. It took me maybe a minute to realize I was not at home. The ride going to Tacloban the day before was amazing. I had to squeeze myself in a bus with other passengers, brave the storm, and listen to karaoke dudes summon some more storm. All trip long, I was looking forward to seeing San Juanico Bridge.

I learned some Waray the night before: misay is cat; and yatot is rat. I might turn out to be a zoological linguist, if there is such, after this week.

My alarm clock

Our first stop: Rizal Park.

Ate Pau, my host, toured me around in Tacloban City. Rizal Park is the typical park you have in your city wherever you are. When we got there, there were floats of different colors. There must have been a parade the other day, I thought. But then Ate Pau told me that the floats have been there for quite some time already.

One of the floats is a reminder of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The “I Shall Return” of course, was the famous General Douglas MacArthur quote. There was also a mini-San Juanico Bridge float.

It was a bit early when we got there so there were no people or tambay, yet. I guess the people in Tacloban aren’t morning persons. Or maybe they are and I was there at the wrong time, or I was at the wrong place. Maybe they don’t go to the park this early. Either way, the clouds started to form again, and we wanted to go to as many places as possible so we moved on to our

Second stop: Where the Balyuan Rites is held.

It would have been nicer if we went there when they’re doing the rites. But we came at a time where no images were exchanged for the Feast of Sto. Niño, just a normal day. Instead, there were fishermen, trying to get a lapu-lapu out of the water. We tried to talk to them, but it must be the difficulty of fishing something that prevented them from answering our question. So we did not bother asking our twentieth question and walked out of it.

The fishermen whose parents told them not to talk to strangers, which we are.

Not surprisingly, there were very few people at the amphitheater nearby. But when we went there on my fourth night, it was almost full.

The Tacloban City Hall, like most of the buildings in the city, has a neoclassical design. Inside, there is a bust of 1957-62 House of Representative Speaker Daniel Romualdez. He was the tenth Speaker of the House of Representatives if the Philippines. During most of the time that he was in office, Carlos P. Garcia was the president of the Philippines (1958-61). Garcia was preceded by Diosdado Macapagal (1961-62).

Third stop: Madonna of Japan and Crucified Christ.

It’s obvious that the Philippines is a Christian nation. Ninety per cent of the population are Christian and most are Roman Catholic members. You can see that at the Madonna Maria Kanon (or the Madonna of Japan) Peace Memorial Shrine. There, a sign will tell you:

As a symbol of peace between the Filipinos and Japanese people 33 years after the Second World War, this stone monument of the Madonna Maria Kanon is erected in memory of the brave soldiers who fought and died in this battlefield.

The place provided a different, but still very familiar, feeling. It was the same feeling I had when I had the chance to visit the memorial cross at the Dambana ng Kagitingan (Shrine of Valor) at Bataan which stood 302 feet high in dedication to the fallen Filipino and American soldiers during the WWII.

The Crucified Christ is just a stone’s throw away. The cool thing about it is that the back of side of the Crucified Christ is the shape of the map of Leyte. Look:

Front

Map

Wherever they got the story that Christ had no limbs, I want to know, because it’s a mystery how Jesus was crucified without them. Anyway, it was a nice piece of art.

There’s a tower nearby where you can see most of the boulevard.

Fourth stop: Family park and Lion’s Club Restaurant.

The family park is just nearby so we thought we’d better drop by before lunch time. At the park, almost-lifesize penguins, zebras, camels, and a panda has the special advantage of having their pictures taken with no other than us! YEY!

Trust me, you don’t wanna see the picture with the camel.

When we finally realized that there is no escaping these animals’ photobombing (even if we insist we want animal-less pictures), we went to the Lion’s Club Restaurant to get some cheese sticks.

Fifth stop: Leyte Park.

Leyte park is a mixture of everything. Hotel, bars, water sports, and a Johnny Depp-look-alike goat all wait to be, uh, whatever you wanna do.

The forty-year old Leyte Park Hotel.

Leyte Park Hotel. If you don’t mind sleeping the quirky way (or not sleeping at all). Because once upon a time, there were hipster architects.

The watersports dudes.

Johnny Depp, just chilling. Because once upon a time, the Caribbean was pirate-less.

I’m not glad that I can’t afford this. Yeah.

Sixth stop: The provincial capitol.

Except that it’s design is neoclassical, it’s more than a hundred years old, and the guards are not that friendly, I know nothing more about the Provincial Capitol. We only stayed there for a few minutes after taking pictures of the sculpture of Douglas MacArthur’s landing and the first mass in the Philippines at the facade.

The Douglas MacArthur landing was unveiled a year (1964) before the First Mass sculpture (1965) under the Macapagal administration. Some emotional event it must have been for the residents who saw the unveiling.

The facade of the provincial capitol of Leyte.

Father and child at the capitol.

Just fronting the capitol is the Libertad Plaza. It’s hard to tell who the lady monument is supposed to be but Ate Pau told me some think it’s Imelda Marcos.

Seventh stop: Sto Niño Shrine.

In the afternoon, we went to the Sto Niño Shrine. The museum WAS the home of the Marcoses, so obviously, the fortunes of the first Filipino dictator are on display. Piano from Spain, a solid silver chair from Spain, huge chandeliers from Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia), a family tree painting from a Spanish artist, a statue of a sitting Limahong (who once invaded the Philippines) from Mao Ze Dong, a clock from France,  real animal skin carpets from Africa (if I remember it right), a mirror from Egypt, a 20-seater table, another 30-seater table, a vast ballroom, spacious bathrooms, elephant tusks from China, and old Filipino bills are just some of the treasures inside.

Must be from the Vatican.

Just a bathroom, just a bathroom.

Just some bed of someone I envy.

Sandalwood cabinet.

Jade!

Solid silver chair from Spain.

One of the Czechoslovakia chandeliers.

Count the chairs. They are more than my blessings, thank you very much.

“Please, seat on the air. I don’t want my precious chairs getting dirty.”

Old Filipino notes.

Piano from Spain.

Animal skin carpet. Guess where? Security guard’s room. I hate security guards who have animal skins as carpets.

Elephant tusks from China.

The facade of the Sto Niño Shrine.

Just some mirror.

Si Malakas at Si Maganda at the Alitaptap Room.

To rid ourselves of envy, we went to Cafe Lucia.

Last stop: The pasta and Italian soda haven.

After this,

We thought a nice pasta place would be a nice place to review what we saw and what we did that day. Will talk more about Cafe Lucia next week on Day Three post.

This view of the stormy sea.

What I really liked about Day Two was it was all about history. If the day were any longer, we could have gone to more historical places, I could have learned Leyte’s past, and talked to more people who know about it. Or may be not. Those fishermen.