We all slept in this morning so we could get rested up and maybe feel better. Jordan beat on the door at 8:45 and we got up and Bev cooked us an awesome breakfast.
Jordan was feeling much better and Brent wasn’t sure yet but he was walking so we packed the bags in the car and headed towards Tacloban.
We did a drugstore stop and then a stop at the new Robinsons mall for a few supplies. It was already lunch time so we ordered food at Mang Inisal at the mall. After chicken, pork sticks, rice, and halo-halos, which was a delightful fast food meal, we hit the road, across the San Juanico bridge, and on to the hundreds of curves of the National Highway on Samar with Jordan piloting the car.
I napped a little in the back seats with the luggage (its a mission car with the little side-facing bench seats on each side over the fenders in the cargo area) so I can’t tell you alot about the first hour except that the road is super rough. There were a few smooth places but they were few and short. We stopped at the Paranas corner for piñato, sweet and crunchy peanut candy.
There were some beautiful views along the road as the road follows the ocean part of the way and winds through the mountains.
We got to Calbayog around 5:30 and tried a hotel that had been recommended. Bev went in to get the local price instead of the white people price and they quoted a good price but when the rest of us walked in suddenly a basic queen room wasn’t available, but they did have a deluxe one for twice as much! So we left.
We stopped at another that apparently only does online reservations and was expensive so we headed on to S&R Bed and Breakfast. The prices were good, the people were friendly, and we decided to stay. The rooms were nice and clean, too.
Next up was supper. The lady at the hotel recommended a place called Marciels Grill, which we stopped and looked at but didn’t stay. They have a sweet third story open patio but we found out that floor cost 6000 pesos to reserve, roughly $120. The other floors had basically no view so we headed on.
We ended up at Jo’s Milagrina, a place Jordan had eaten at in Tacloban and really liked. We ate so much food. We had amazing shrimp, beef soup,
Fish,
Fried calamari, rice, and of course
Brent and Jordy had mango shakes! And calamansi juice. Calamansi are like small limes and make great juice.
And we finished it all up with mango float
turon with ice cream, which is fried jackfruit and banana,
and a chocolate and vanilla pudding thing. Wow. We were stuffed but it was so good!
Brent and Jordy both ate fish eyeballs at supper. Jordy also ate the marrow out of the beef bone in the soup. He says the taste and texture is kinda like mashed potatoes and it stuck to the roof of his mouth like peanut butter. That description was a highlight of the evening and the locals probably wondered if white people always laughed that hard and made that much noise at restaurants. It was a great time.
After supper, we drove to downtown and walked through a couple little shops and looked at sunglasses. Ray Bans, Oakleys, Gucci, and Prada were all on display and cost around 50 pesos, or $1. Some Oakley styles were recognizable too, there were some quite similar to Brent’s.
Back at the hotel, we sat out in the
courtyard (which is quite cool) at that green table and ate lanzones and drank pour-over coffee, which was delicious and the first black coffee I’ve really even saw since an americano at the Manila airport. The people here drink
these instant coffee packs which have the creamer and sugar in them and are quite good, but different than the coffee I drink at home. These packets are like 10 cents each so also easily affordable.
Now its bed time…
restless feet 