Palo Municipal Hall (Before and After)

An After look at the newly restored Palo munisipyo. As opposed to the photo below the day Yolanda (Haiyan) hit the Visayas. The photo below was right after the winds calmed down a bit and people started moving around with dazed looks.

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.

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.

Filipino McDonald's

The McDonald's of Tacloban overlooks the bay area (glass windows behind the building). On clear days, you can even see the San Juanico Bridge, but you've to strain real hard. In the 80s, McDo (as we call them here) served only the regular American menu of burgers, attracting only the upper middle class. But they found out that they were losing a lot of customers to Jollibee (local fastfood rival) which served rice, spaghetti, and fried chicken. They soon changed their menu to adapt to the Filipino taste.

Combo meals.

(Remembering 9/11 by posting something American.)

An old house turned commercial

This is in downtown Tacloban. They painted that house red recently. On the second floor is a salon and spa, they say it's good. I am a regular in another so I can't say if that's true.

Another unrestored old mansion

Spanish time mansion, old hardwood, windows are made with capiz shells, and I'm sure, a house with lots of history. In Thailand, houses like these are restored and shown to tourists, for a fee. Here, they're either restored into hotels or business centers, or torn down and the hardwood sold to be made into expensive furniture since cutting down old trees are prohibited.

VISCA's Alumni House

Copra street

Copra (dried coconut meat) is one of our products here for coconut oil processing. There is this one street lined with old copra bodegas where if you look inside one of them, the copras reach the roof and trucks drive inside to dump the copras. It's not a nice street to pass by, the air is stuffy and dusty. Working conditions inside are not that safe either.

And yes, new look.. (I mean my blog.)

Bukid

Bukid in Waray means mountain. Thus, the name of this outdoor/mountain-climbing gear shop. They have a wall for, naturally, wall-climbing. The shop has experienced assistants, and you can also book an experienced guide here for your outdoor adventures/tour.

Hotel Alejandro

Hotel Alejandro is an old house that was renovated and made into a hotel. It has that 'history' feel to it.. the lobby is decorated with old b/w pictures of the Japanese-American war. Check out the delicious bibingka snacks sold outside every 2 in the afternoon.

People's Center and Library

Next to the shrine is this big, imposing Greek building that architecturally doesn't belong in Tacloban. Imelda had this built to house the thousands of books she bought in the US (she bought a whole library of a college that closed down, most of the books were unread and untouched). It's the only kind in the country, but as with all their sequestered properties, this one is not well maintained either. The second floor is the library, and below is a concert hall that the local govt turns into a flea market during Tacloban's fiesta and Christmas time, much to the annoyance of the readers and researchers above. (Photo was taken by a friend, JT.)


People's Center and Library
Real St., Tacloban City

The Sto. Niño Shrine and Heritage Museum

The Sto. Niño Shrine and Heritage Museum stands on what used to be the Romualdez Nipa Hut. Designed by Jorge Ramos, the Sto. Niño Shrine has a 100-seater chapel and 13 guestrooms on the first floor, and 7 bedrooms (each for the Marcos family member) and a 30-seater dining conference room and ballroom on the second floor. It houses original paintings of famous Filipino painters like Manalad, Malang and Amorsolo. Behind the building is an olympic-size swimming pool. All of these of course do not have proper maintenance since it was sequestered from the Marcos family, so the building has lost its opulence. Tourists can tour inside for a fee. If you want to read my review of the place, click here. (Photo by JT)


Sto. Niño Shrine and Heritage Museum
Real St., Tacloban City
Tel no: (053) 321-9775

Capitol building of Leyte

Kapitolyo, the capitol building of Tacloban. The flag pole in front of the building is Leyte's 0 km, that's why I thought I should make this my first photo of Tacloban. Prior to the construction of the building in 1907, this was the spot where Gen McArthur made Tacloban a temporary seat of the Commonwealth Government of the Philippines after his liberation of Leyte from the Japanese forces in 1944. 'Temporary' because he had the other provinces to liberate still.

There are two murals on each side of the building, one depicting the first Christian mass in the country and the other, Gen. McArthur's Leyte Landing. The building is where Leyte's provincial governor holds his office. Leyte is the province, and Tacloban City is the provincial capital.

(Sorry for the old photo, I will change it soon as I get the chance to shoot a new one, I seem to have misplaced my latest photos of it.)