Beautiful Resorts in Leyte and Samar

The Surf Camp, Calico-an Island, Eastern Samar


Cottages


Pool and the sea


The lounge

Caluwayan Beach Resort, Marabut, Samar


Infinity pool


A view of the beach


Ponds

Kuting Resort, Macrohon, Southern Leyte



The entrance


Lanai by the sea


Infinity pool
(Photo credits OTOP Phils. and friends)

Ukay Republic

A sure sign of the difficult times is the increasing number of ukay-ukay shops sprouting all over the city. Right down along Rizal Avenue, just beside Everwell Drugstore, is a collection of second hand clothes shops that peddles everything from hats down to (would you believe?) underwear!!!

Seriously, there are actually treasures to find such as slightly used branded t-shirts , polos, curtains, bedsheets that look good as new. You just have to be armed with patience, perseverance and, the most important, terrific haggling skills. I, for one, have not mastered the art yet. I do wear my shopping heart on my sleeve and I can't help but show my eagerness when I've had a terrific find (a bargaining no no). One must know how to keep on a poker face and keep the shop owner guessing as to whether or not you have decided on an item. It helps if you walk away at the first price quotation, more often than a reduction thereof would necessarily follow. Of course, they do have to earn their keep, so know when to stop haggling. Remember they are in it for the business and not for charity.

Nonetheless, for the not so fortunate who could only dream of Ralph Lauren, here is the chance to have his clothes at a fraction of the cost, if you don't mind the thought that it has actually touched the skin of someone else and has drowned in his sweat (hehehe). But for the more picky and sensitive bargain hunter, its not only clothes that this shopping haven for the financially conscious has to offer, they also have bags and shoes. If your one resourceful broad (or chap) take the time cause you just might find a Bally in there or even a Gucci with nary a scratch mark and no one's the wiser that it came from ukay republic. A friend, after having sworn me to secrecy on our doggies' grave (hehe), confessed that the long sleeve polos I've always admired her wearing are finds from segunda mano stores. Well, I''l be darned. Who would have thought that my fashion savvy friend sourced her threads this way? As she would say, nasa "carry" yan. I have but to agree, ukay or not, a fashionista will always be a fashionista even in these hardest of times.

Sangyaw and Pintados, the Battle...

A glance at the title would suggest that the words do not deserve to be in one sentence, at least from this blogger's point of view. This is for a number of reasons foremost of which is that both the Sangyaw and Pintados are celebration of a distinctly religious event, the feast of the Senyor Sto. Nino. Discord has marked this year's festivities and provided a damper in what should have been a unifying occasion for all Waraynons in the region.

A court case has been filed and a TRO (Temporary restraining order) has been issued by a local judge. A visibly irate local chief executive has threatened to hold those responsible for the TRO accountable and from the grapevine, I've heard that certain properties in the city are to be reverted back to the province.

As a backgrounder, the Pintados Kasadyaan is an annual parade in Tacloban held every 27th of June that began sometime in the late 80's and is meant to coincide with the city's annual fiesta. It is spearheeaded by the Pintados Foundation and the province of Leyte and showcases presentations from different towns and cities in region interpreting the pagans' deliverance by the Sto. Nino in the form of dance. When incumbent Mayor Alfred Romualdez became the city's chief, he reintroduced the Sangyaw, to be the main and focal point of the celebration of the city fiesta, the feast of the Senyor Sto. Nino. From that point on, a struggle seems to have emerged as to which of the two parades, the Sangyaw and Pintados Kasadyaan has the rightful claim as to to being the festival that truly represents the city's fiesta.

But 'nuf said, since I was not able to watch both parades I've included a link here where you can watch slide shows from the event. You may also click here for well-taken pictures of both events.

When A Mall Becomes a Tourist Attraction

Robinsons Place Tacloban, located at Tabuan, Marasbaras, Tacloban City, opened its doors to the public last June 11, 2009. To say that it was one monumental event for the city is an understatement. It eclipsed even the holding of the Palarong Pabansa held recently this year. A major traffic jam caused a slowdown of vehicles on the road approaching the mall and the people inside would put fish in the sardines to shame. It felt like one big fiesta as whole families from nearby towns came on jeeps chartered solely for the trip to the mall. Going to Robinsons was an excursion, a pleasure trip and to be "in" you just had to be there.

As for this blogger, it seemed like a trip down memory lane not too many years ago when I was just fresh from college and was job-a-hunting in Manila. Too while away the time, I spent many hours in between interviews at big malls there and the experience inside Robinsons was just de ja vu. However, unlike its counterparts in Manila, the Robinsons mall here still has many vacant stalls and stores. Perhaps some are taking the "wait-and-see" attitude before making that investment to open a branch or store. The few brave ones, though, judging from the constant ringing of their cash registers for the two days I visited, seems to have made the right decision to gamble on the buying power and habits of the people of Eastern Visayas. I just hope that their good luck continues and their sales does not peter out once the novelty of a new and first mall does. Some of these "brave ones" are: Shakeys Pizza, The Travel Club, Jollibee, GUESS, Levi's Store, National Bookstore, Tom's World, Kamiseta, Book Sale, Gustavio's, Pino Fine Dining, Children's Place and the home or organic stores of Robinsons like Handy Man and Robinsons Supermarket and Department Store.

I stayed for only an hour as the crowd was too much for my clautrophobic taste but I left knowing that now, more than public parks, families can enjoy bonding moments in the cool comforts of Robinsons mall.

Coming Very Soon..First True-blue Mall in Tacloban

Just three days more and Tacloban City, indeed the whole Eastern Visayas shall finally have its first honest-togoodness mall with the opening of Robinsons Place Tacloban on June 11, 2009. This has been a most awaited event in the city if not the whole region and malling is sure to become a family outing every weekends. For sure, this blogger will be there opening day to document everything for you and provide you with a first hand account...

Latest Update on the Ted Failon saga

The NBI-National Capital Region (NCR) office has released its findings on its investigation into the death of Trina A. Etong, better known as the wife of media personality Ted Failon (Teodoro Etong in real life) the results of which mirror what has been insisted all along by her family and friends: that a distraught Trina decided to take her own life in the confines of the bathroom of the bedroom of her daughter. The NBI came up with its findings after a thourough forensic, testimonial and psychiatric investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mrs. Etong's death who was found slumped in the bathroom with a gunshot wound to her head. She was barely breathing when found by her husabnd and some household help and soon succumbed to her injries a day later in the New Era Hospital to where she was immediately brought.

What followed was a veritable media circus and high drama with the Quezon City police district filing charges of obstruction of justice against Mr. Etong, his sister-in-law, Pamela Arteche and her siblings and some household help. Foul play was hinted at and Ted Failon came under scrutiny as a possible suspect.

With the release of the NBI report, it is hoped that the Etong family shall finally be left alone to heal. For them to start their road on understanding why a dearly beloved suddenly decided that life was better ended leaving heart ache and pain for those left behind for whom life still has to go on.

Twilight - My Take

As is my usual reading habit, I read the "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer all through the night, stopping only when I had turned the last page, which was at about 4 a.m. the following day. The consequences were quite unhealthy. I woke up grumpy at 7 a.m. and got into an argument with my hubby who, (correctly, I admit) pointed out that my nocturnal reading lost me quality time with them (hubby and daughter) as I had to catch up on my sleep the whole afternoon. As if that was not quite a handful to deal with for a sleep-deprived person, I acquired a slight fever later in the day. All of which was reasons enough for me to make a resolution that no matter how engrossing a book might be, lights are out by midnight, or maybe 2 a.m.?

Going back to the vampire-meets-girl-vampire-and-girl-falls-in-love romance with a seemingly dark twist (what can you expect? its about blood sucking creatures for crying out loud), I found myself transported to my tween years when a "Sweet Dreams" novellete was a must-have in every girl's book arsenal (aside from the usual Archie comic books and Sweet Valley High tomes). Take away the fangs, supernatural powers and immortality and you will find the angsts exeprienced by Bella and Edward and most of the characters in "Twilight" strikingly similar to the less critically-acclaimed teen romance series. Fitting in, unrequited love (or admiration, better yet, crush as it was more colloqially termed in my time), ecstasy of realized mutuality in feelings, envy for the almost perfect girl or boy in campus and so many others all find its place in Ms. Meyer's book that's fast becoming a pop classic for this generation of teens and twentysomething (including my contempraries even). But before "Twilight" fans start throwing tomatoes at me, let me say that while this book reads in some parts like a sibling of my teen romance books of yore, it is so more and its thousand of fans that continues to grow in numbers shall fully agree. The prose is far superior and it is as engaging a book as can be with colorful characters and mythical creatures having lived more than a hundred years. As for the female protagonist, so many youngsters can empathize with her and (I suspect it is one of the reasons for the book's popularity) the story of the clumsy and can't-seem-to-fit-in-girl snagging the handsomest guy in school provides hope for some of the languishing wallflowers out there (although Bellas is no pushover in the looks department, having three other admirers apart from Edward, the main man). I particularly like the unique take on the demon-angel angle and treatment of the condemned immortals. Perfect and beautiful yet tragic in the sense that the thing that keeps them alive is what make them a most deplorable and feared creature.

Taken amidst this backdrop, the book, thus, manages, with flying colors, to rise above the usual clicheic teen romance and becomes the latest betseller's favorite with fave reviews to boot.