First stop, Tacloban.
I was seated at the starboard side of the plane; window seat. The view must have been great. The wing was blocking most of the view below. When the plane was on its final decent, there was the usual announcements by the pilot and the flight crew. When the plane was aligned to the runway (or so I thought because it was getting lower faster and was going straight), I noticed something. Are we going to land on the water? Lower and lower the plane went but all I see is sea on my side of the plane. But when I looked at the windows one the port side, land. Then I figured, the runway must be very close to the sea, and it was. Nice view. But I wasn't able to take a picture, because the camera was deep inside the bowels of my bag.
I stayed at a Luxury Suite. It is located along P. Burgos, just above Gerry's Grill. Their room rates ranges from Php 650 to Php 1000 a night for single pax. All the rooms have the amenities that usually look for; it's air conditioned, it has hot and cold shower, towels, soap, and cable TV. Plus, it has WiFi, and if you don't like to use WiFi, they have computer terminals for your use, absolutely free. I took the suite room and that costs Php 1000. It was the only room available within my budget. It had one matrimonial bed and one single bed. I thought to myself, 'the single bed must be for the bodyguard.'
For dinner, the hotel clerk recommended I try SUNzi Bar. It was walking distance from the hotel. It was a Spanish themed restaurant. It was a small place. I counted around 12, 1.5'x2.5' tables. I thought the tables were quite small. How would a family or a group of friends eat here. Only after my meal arrived (that was after a good 15 minutes) that the restaurant was more of a date place. And the small tables offered a little bit of intimacy between the dating couples. Besides the fact that I was the loner in the restaurant, the food was great.
Off to Calbayog.
From Tacloban to Calbayog, one must definitely cross the longest bridge in the Philippines, the San Juanico bridge. It was built during the reign of Ferdinand Marcos and it's foundations were believed to have the blood of sacrificed children but, that's just urban legend. The bridge would have been easier to construct if it went straight from Samar to Leyte. Instead, it is somewhat shaped like an 'S' and 'L', the first letters of the names of the islands it joins. And yes, I took pictures of this momentous event.
I stayed at the I's Plant Hotel and Restaurant, a highly recommended place. Their room rates ranges from Php 750 to Php 1050 a night for single pax. The amenities are the same as Luxury except the computer terminals and the WiFi is only available at the restaurant but that's not really a problem. There, you can eat and do your on-line business altogether.
Now for the low down for both places.
Where to sleep: As stated above; Luxury Suites for Tacloban and I's Plant for Calbayog.
What to eat: Like any Visayan Island, Seafood.
Where to go: San Juanico bridge. It's not like you'll miss it if you to both places.
Mode of transport: The main mode of transport within both cities are the ever famous, tricycles. Going in between cities, you have buses and vans. It is, however, recommended that you take the van for security reasons. There are other forms of transport such as the pedicab (bicycle with the sidecar), the PUJ (if you wish to go to nearby towns), the helicopter (not the flying one but a motorcycle with a roof), and calesa (some places have it).
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