Get Lost and You Shall Find...McArthur - Visayas Leg Part 3

After that wonderful dinner at Guiseppe's we retired early as we planned to leave Tacloban by daybreak. Peluchi, a childhood friend who is now based in the city, suggested we go see McArthur's Landing, the monument erected to mark his return to the Philippines as was promised. As I moved out the parking slot of our hotel, I thought that we should just head straight for the road so we could catch the ferry to Surigao before lunch. So I plotted my course using Maps from my iPhone, taking the shortest route going back to the Pan-Philippine Highway. The Maps app had been so dependable all the way from Manila to Tacloban that I wouldn't head out without consulting it. Well what do you know! We got lost. We ended up at the coast instead of the highway, exactly where the monument was. McArthur won't be denied. So there we were at 5:30 in the morning wading with the giants!

If ever you're in Tacloban please don't ever miss this spot or at least try to get lost like we did and then end up here. We actually stayed longer than planned because it got Bettina curious about that moment in Philippine History. And if you are a single parent you will take any and all forms of motivation that would get your kids to actually love their history and all other subject lessons at school. And when your kid gets excited finding her schoolmate's great grandfather's name, once president of this nation, inscribed in the memorial then that would be the perfect time to reinforce that history is fact and not some fictional literature meant to torture young students.

I remember that I once sat on an Alumni Board and worked with Jose Rizal's great grand daughter. I had no idea they were related until years after when I read an article about the national hero's house in Calamba that she wrote about. For some reason, growing up I was lulled into thinking that our national heroes are similar to comic book super heroes who lived in a different dimension. I guess the glowing write ups about their exploits during their respective moments in history didn't help, as it made them look like fictional characters with their high ideals and patriotism. Too perfect, surely they don't exist or never existed. I eventually realized they were once flesh and blood. I also once thought of Jesus that way. Back in Grade 4 I demanded from my teacher, Ms. Nocete-Ampong, proof that Jesus once lived on earth. She went to her desk and gave me a bible :-). Could it be just me or are we wired to be cynical about heroes and their exploits?

For sure heroes are five sigma events, a statistical rarity with a 1 in 1,744,278 chance of occurring. There need to be a confluence of events that would allow an opportunity for one to be a hero. Aside from that he/she needs to be there at the right time and the right place. But like all statistical probabilities they do happen and will happen. And at times like how it was 10 years ago today 9-11, they would happen one time big time. I know now heroes do not just belong to the historical past and they all need not be doing one-for-the-books-and-will-surely-be-a-movie kind of act. Heroes and their heroic acts abound us everyday. I was moved by that little girl recently awarded for her patriotic act of saving the Philippine flag in the middle of a storm same way as reading about those passengers who fought the terrorists for control of the plane so it will not wreak more havoc. It is my responsibility to erase any doubt my kids may have about heroes like I had growing up. I have to make them believe that everyday somebody out there is a real hero, actually 3,884 of them at any one time if my 5 sigma estimate is correct. I hope you would make your kids believe too!

I Know Where They Moved The Cheese: Tacloban - Visayas Leg Part 2

I love cheese and I'm so glad my kids share my passion for it. I was pleasantly surprised that at the age of 4 Diego's favorite snack was an open face blue cheese sandwich. He was never bothered by the stinky smell or the strong, biting taste. Bettina on the other hand loves munching on Parmesan. Our usual after dinner snack would be a plate of both varieties, potato chips and cheese dip, and 2 chocolate mallows each. Cheese time is bonding time. More often than not the topic would be vacation or places we would want to visit. I use the time and the globe beside the table for a simple geography lesson. It is no surprise then that top most on our list of places to see would be Italy for the cheese and the cheese pizza. Bettina wants to see a whole uncut Parmegiano Reggiano in the flesh. Apparently we did not have to wait long and travel far. After the scary eye of the storm experience traversing the island of Samar, Peluchi, a childhood friend from my hometown and her daughter invited us for dinner at Guiseppe an Italian restaurant in Tacloban. Guiseppe would shame a good number of Italian restaurants in Manila. The service is great and it has a deli that could rival Santi's or Terry's Deli in Manila. The best part is they actually have a whole uncut Parmegiano Reggiano. Bettina was so excited seeing the thing that she took half a dozen photos. Who would have thought that they moved the cheese in Tacloban and that we would see it during this road trip?

I am not sure how many of you have read the book of Spencer Johnson,Who Moved My Cheese?. In a nutshell it talks about the human tendency to freeze then complain when faced with change or a crisis situation instead of adapting and innovating in an allegory of how mice and men react when the supply of cheese they found together finally ran out. I was quietly chuckling to myself remembering the book when Bettina was taking pictures of the cheese. It's meant to be a business book but I have always thought that it should be required reading material for high school, some sort of life guide. I was told that the owner of Guiseppe is Italian who has opted to migrate and retire in Tacloban. I did not get to know him personally and if the restaurant is actually his namesake (it would be nice to and let us assume it is), but one thing is for sure he has transported the best things he knows about and the best goods and produce of his home country in a far away land near where Magellan first landed and where Gen. McArthur landed when he returned to the Philippines as promised.

I have great respect for migrants in all their forms. It takes a lot of courage to leave behind what you are familiar with. To let go of one's support system. To strike anew without certainty. I admire these ultimate risk takers. Granted that telecommunications technology and social media has everyone connected to their roots, family, and old friends it is still quite a challenge to build one's sphere or circle of influence in unfamiliar surroundings. It is still easier to just stay where you are then kick back and relax, even if you know the cheese is almost gone or has gone stale. There would always be a thousand and one reasons to justify not moving or doing anything.

However for Guiseppe and a lot of my friends who are out there slowly recreating and expanding their circles, they know that clearly home is where you make it. And now that I have praised your courage and pioneering spirit please, please, please leave me some of that cheese or better yet send them over in a balikbayan box!

In the Eye of the Storm You will be Blind - Visayas Leg Part 1

There's a reason most people take road trips during summer time. The weather will spring no surprises. But where's the thrill in that right? Road trips should equal spontaneity. You make your usual plans of course, like where to stop, accommodations, safety considerations, weather forecast et al, the timing however should always be flexible. The trip somehow always starts right when it is decided on whim and your co-travelers are given just enough time to pack but not enough time to back out. That is the ingredient that turns it from a mere trip to an adventure. Road trips are really stories on wheels and so there's always a plot. Tension is built. First things go right and then things go wrong. Then when they're supposed to go right again that's when all hell breaks loose and things really go way wrong! But since a story will have to be told and retold somehow the character or characters survive not totally unscathed but either just thankful or hopefully better and learned. Visayas provided one of the tension or conflict and then the climax for our road trip from Manila to Southern Mindanao.

It started really well. We caught the 12:30 pm ferry from Matnog in Luzon island, the gateway to the Visayas, for the port of Allen, Samar. We were the last car allowed to board the boat. Had we been late it would have been another 2 hours of waiting time and we would surely be driving at night on the way to Tacloban City our planned pit stop. It was sunny and the sea was calm. The ferry ride was short around an hour and thirty minutes and since we were the last to board we were the first to alight from the ferry. We were on our merry way to Tacloban by 2:21 pm (yes, exactly that time per FB for iPhone Places feature). I estimated that the 250 kilometer drive would take us at least 4 hours. There would be 2 cities along the way Calbayog then Catbalogan both in the island of Samar. It seemed luck was on our side. I expected the road to be the worst in this part of the trip. Years back when I traveled the same route the road could not even be called that. Proof to my theory of the cycle of life of our paved roads in the country, it was very much newly reconstructed and smooth since it has just been over a year since the last National elections. We were at Calbayog by 3:30 and we decided to continue all the way to Catbalogan for some rest and snack. Again the ride was smooth as silk totally uneventful. We were there by 4:30 pm.

We found a restaurant in what seemed to be the chicken inasal (roasted chicken Visayan style) row of the City. The name of the place escapes me now. It was after the owner for sure and unfortunately I did not take any picture. I told everyone we could take our sweet time because we were already more than half way to Tacloban. Meal for 4 was 350 Pesos ( roughly 8US$ ). That was one whole jumbo size roasted chicken, unlimited rice, Nilagang Baka ( similar to Corned Beef in clear stew) and drinks. Things were all going according to plan. But I should have known better! One is always fed well before being guillotined. And when you actually have chicken it gets worse!

We left Calbayog City around 5:15. We were less than two hours away from San Juanico bridge. Fifteen minutes on the road it was suddenly dark and the rain came. We were still within city limits and the first ominous thing happened, we got lost. We followed the road hugging the coast but ended up in a dead end street. We had to travel back around 5 kilometers to find the Maharlika Highway again. By then daylight was gone and the weather has turned for the worst. The road too had turned from well paved and smooth to slippery, twisty, uphill and narrow. Visibility was 2 meters. We welcomed and cursed the fact that it was night time. It was comforting that at least we would know if other vehicles are nearby because of their headlights but then the pounding rain and the dark of night virtually made us blind. Unbeknown to us at that time we were in the middle of a storm. One of the most devastating of the year that eventually ravaged cities, towns, provinces we were just in a few days back. Typhoon Juaning made landfall in Samar and we were in the eye of it. I forgot and let this be a lesson to all travelers out there. The weather forecast time frame is meant for how soon it will hit the National Capital Region and nearby provinces leaving most Eastern areas in the Philippines facing the Pacific caught unaware of the severity of a weather disturbance.

We slowed to a crawl. We averaged 20 kilometers per hour. Stopping was never an option since we could feel the wind rock the car with its strength. We were very quiet. Three grown men and a little lady and only one was courageous enough to say what we all had in mind. "Dad I'm really, really scared...", Bettina's voice was trailing off fearing that the mere admittance will bring us to a worse condition. I could not remember what I replied to comfort her. Maybe because I was not too confident about it. I remember blaming myself though for enjoying the chicken inasal too much and lingering longer than we should have had at Catbalogan City. When Bettina broke the silence it somehow made all of us embrace the fear. And when that happens it's when the mind begins to work again. I was navigating and Roland was driving. I remembered we overtook a bus 10 kilometers prior. I told him to wait for it so we could use it as our guide. I assumed the driver of the bus who has taken this route many times over would help us safely reach our destination. And then I silently prayed. I guess He listened.

We reached San Juanico bridge at 8:30 pm. 2 hours behind our schedule. We were too tired to even stop and admire the bridge that was once the longest and most grand in Asia. Designed longer than necessary and most probably cost taxpayers many times more than actually needed. We only have this measly picture to prove we passed through it. But we had an experience of a lifetime that may not be too easy and comforting to share. However I think all answered prayers need to be because answered prayers are miracles no matter how small or insignificant hence this blog. For us getting out of that storm was Himala (Filipino word for miracle). Minor events all conniving for a good story to tell about the power of prayer. And it is also a good segue for me to leave you with another music video from a favorite Filipino band of mine, Rivermaya. The title though may be the only thing appropriate for this blog :-).