Ads needed

Old bench (with chicken)

(Photo by JFD)

U.P. Tacloban's Oblation

The Oblation at the University of the Philippines, Tacloban.

Malakas at Maganda

Philippine legend says that man and woman came from inside a bamboo that was split open by a lightning. They were called Malakas (Strength) and Maganda (Beauty). Notice how they were both created AT THE SAME TIME. I guess that's why we've had 2 women presidents already. Women are matriarchal and influential in our society. And the men are just as macho.

Grilled bangus (milkfish)

A photo of a photo exhibit

Yesterday, I went to the mall because I heard there was an exhibit of local food products (haha), but it was the last hour of the last day, and the food had almost ran out. The exhibit was called Bahandi. And they were closing up. I went to another exhibit, a photography exhibit of the Camera Club of Leyte and Samar, and that's the photo above. (I didn't know there was such a club here, although one member is a friend of mine, a very serious photographer.)

I didn't like the first prize winner, nor the second, I like the basket photo at the bottom more. It's all subjective of course.. That's why I don't trust art competitions. Do you ever want your art to be "judged" by another? Usually even, by a lesser artist than you are?

Fake designer sunglasses for sale

65th Leyte Landing Anniversary

65 years ago, Gen. MacArthur landed in Leyte as he promised and drove away the Japanese troops. A battle ensued until the official surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945. Every year the Leyte Landing is commemmorated by officials with many Filipino, Japanese, American and Australian war veterans attending. It's one of the big events in Leyte's cultural activities. It always make me wonder why we love to celebrate wars. We have war festivals and war museums. The peace treaty signed between the US and the Japanese aboard the USS Missouri that ended World War II is not even remembered.

But anyway, this year, the Leyte Landing will be celebrated again at the scorchingly hot McArthur Park in Palo, with the President of the Philippines attending. But it will also be celebrated at the new a/c Robinson's Mall, so I wasn't surprised to see a replica of the McArthur monument at their entrance. It was nicely made too, better sculpture even than the original bronze at the park. When I touched it, I was surprised that it was sculpted from styrofoam. It is amazing, don't you think? I didn't get the name of the artist who did this tho.

Wooden wheelbarrow

Sto. Niño Church: Interior and Altar

With the original 'miraculous' Sto. Niño statue on the altar.

Balyuan Tower

This place used to have a watchpoint tower made of iron railings and a "tower" at the top. It kept being renovated all the time, until it was finally demolished. The tower was used as a lookout point for Moro pirates. This arena-like area (added in the 80s) is used for concerts, competitions, free outdoor movies, and cheap dates. You can buy streetfood barbecue behind it. This looks out to the bay (and to the tower) and you can see the sunrise and moonrise from here.

It's called Balyuan because this was the place where the bigger Sto. Nino of Basey Parish was exchanged with that of the smaller Sto. Nino statue of Tacloban. 'Balyu' in Waray means 'exchange'. A festival is held here every year to celebrate that exchange. The statue is supposed to be miraculous.

(Of course, balyu could mean 'trade'. Balyuan, a place where you trade.)

Bahay Kubo

My favorite. I grew up in a house like this but of hardwood panels, tipay windows and bigger. The nipa roof, as opposed to G.I. sheets, makes for a cooler interior, especially with the cool polished wooden flooring.

Post American period old house

It's old, maybe a renovated 50s or 60s. But its original style is definitely post American period. No one builds a wooden house with hardwood anymore because it's illegal to chop down hardwood for housing and furniture. Unless you have a license and permit, in that case the wood would be very expensive, even for a furniture. New houses are now concrete to withstand the typhoons.

*American occupation in the Philippines = 1900s and after the American-Japanese war (1940s).

Fire! No Fire!

So I was picking up my mail at my cousin's shop this morning, when I saw this crowd staring up at an old house. I saw a guy holding a pail throw water to the roof of the house (which obviously made the crowd laugh because the water wouldn't reach that high). Then another guy started throwing ice to the roof, it reached that high, but it didn't melt that fast. The crowd laughed again. Another guy carrying a fire extinguisher climbed out a window from the upper rooms but wouldn't step on the G.I. sheet roof because either it was too hot (from the sun) or he was scared of getting electrocuted. The crowd was cheering him on, until finally he was able to aim the fire extinguisher at the sparking and smoking electrical wiring inside the outer ceiling (dunno what it's called). The crowd cheered although you couldn't really tell if there was still smoke coming out of the roofing. There was. Then the firetruck arrived (5 to 10 minutes later), and that's the photo above. The fire was out but they broke through the ceiling to look at the damage, then the electrical company guys arrived to fix the wiring. Fast action. The city is scared of fire here, because of the wooden houses and their proximity to one another. (Sorry, no picture of the three stooges.. I was laughing too hard, or the crowd because I was one of those watching, or the house because the firetruck was covering my view. But it really happened.)

(Happened this afternoon at Sto. Nino St, between Burgos and Imelda Sts, near the gasoline station.)

Renovated old Spanish period house

Old houses like this were built from hardwood usually not using nails but in the old style (kind of like ancient Japanese carpentry). So as they age, the house becomes askewed. So the first thing that's done to repair them is to build a better foundation on the lower ground floor. Here's an example of a renovated old Spanish house. The lower floor has been converted to concrete then covered with Mactan tiles (a type of unpolished marble bricks). The upper floor was maintained, and the roof now has modern roofing. In my opinion the attempt to retain the wooden design in the upper floor is to be commended, but after all that work, they could at least have reburnished the wood to give it the old polished look.

And another

Old houses here used to belong to the old rich, then abandoned because either the owners have migrated to the cities or abroad, or the owners are dead. Only the caretakers (usually distant relatives) are looking after the houses, and the upper floor where the antique belongings are kept boarded up. This old, abandoned house has obviously been left by the owners, and someone else living under the house, either rented out or maintained by the caretaker. (Didn't stop to ask.)

Salas (living/receiving room), bedrooms, kitchen, bathrooms of old Spanish houses here are all located in the second floor. First floors were used as rice granaries or as stockroom for farm equipment. When you enter the main door of an old house, you immediately see a staircase that leads to the sala upstairs.

Another old house

Old abandoned house

With typhoon Ondoy ravishing Luzon, we've another coming. There's a Signal #4 typhoon (or Cat5) supposedly near our area (Samar, next island) and many friends and family have texted me already how we're doing. I'm outside in the garden, having coffee and enjoying the mild weather.