June 18

We breakfasted on the balcony on the top floor of our hotel.  It was more traditional with scrambled eggs and sausages even though some sausages were “decorated”.  It was mayo—we weren’t expecting that!  There was also some soup/broth and spicy fish and chicken wings.  And coffee!! Our guides weren’t surprised with the fish but were with the chicken wings.

This morning’s tour featured several invasion sites and war memorials of WW II and included Hill 120, where the 1st American Flag was hoisted along the shores of Code: Blue Beach, which is the site of the 1st wave of landings.  It was hoisted on a coconut tree and now that tree trunk is immortalized in concrete.  This was the first time the US flag was flown on Philippine soil after the Americans surrendered in Bataan and Corregidor two years earlier. While we were there someone living there showed us a helmet and other things left behind from the invasion. 

The beaches are identified by color, red, white, and blue, among others and are named after the US military’s color-coding scheme during World War II; MacArthur Landing Memorial Shrine is located at Red Beach. White Beach is in Tacloban and Blue Beach, Dulag, etc.   

We visited the Dulag Liberation Park, which is where the first batch of Allied Forces belonging to the US 7th Division landed at about 10 AM on Oct. 20.  The town and church were basically left in ruins because the allied forces wanted to take control of the Japanese Airstrip located in the present day barangay called “Rawis”.   The control of this airbase would benefit the Americans in the continuation of liberation. We feel Grandpa Olinger, being a tail gunner probably came through that air strip area but we don’t know for certain.  

After an authentic and very yummy Filipino lunch (of things caught and gown locally!) at Subang Daguitan Surf Camp overlooking the Blue  Beach, we visited Scout Valeriano Abello Memorial site, where Boy Scout Abello helped US warships redirect their artillery to Japanese troops with his semaphore skills.  Along with friends Antero Zunia and Vicente Tiston, he paddled to the nearest Allied ship amidst Japanese artillery shelling. Using white cloth diapers as semaphore flags (and killing a chicken to “dye” one of the diapers red—he was a new dad and had diapers handy!), the 20-year old scout signaled the message, “Don’t bomb beaches. There are civilians. If possible, let me direct shelling.”

Tolosa was saved from destructive bombing with Abello's valiant act, and at the same time softened the Japanese position. A monument at the seaside village of Telegrafo marks the spot where he launched his boat and earned his place in history.  These men saved thousands of Filipinos from the Allied forces. 

We continued to Palo Metropolitan Cathedral which was used as a field hospital after the landings.  The church was damaged during WW II and again during the typhoon in 2013 but has since been completely refurbished as the Vatican helped with the restoration efforts.  Pope Francis visited here on 2015.  

We stopped to enjoy fresh coconut juice and it’s sweet fruit! This one was so much better than the ones we had in Hawaii!  We also got a delicious mango!! Fresh and yummy!! 

We said our goodbyes to our driver and one of our guides.  It was a hot day today so we opted to take a quick nap and lo and behold it was pouring down rain when we woke up.  We’ve been lucky in that regard as it is their “rainy” season but this was our first encounter with rain.  They were also jackhammering the street! 

We waited out the rain and then went in search of supper and found it in a restaurant called Chew Love!  I had the pork and rice and Andrew had the chicken and rice—both fantastically flavored.  We shared an ice cream “sundae” which had creamy vanilla and grape (?—it was purple!) and shaved ice (?—it wasn’t ice cream but it wasn’t ice so ?) along with cereal, gelled fruit (sort of like fruit snacks but not  quite), corn (yes, you read that correctly), black beans (yep), and luscious mango at the bottom.  It was unique but tasty!  I am not sure we’ll start adding corn and beans to our ice cream at home.  

We meandered back to our hotel to have a farewell drink on the roof; we head back to Manila tomorrow early to continue what our guides call our “sentimental journey.”

There are no street lights here, or very few, and only three traffic lights in this big city.  The sidewalks are very narrow and traffic consists of lots and lots of beeping, motorcycles and bicycles and regular vehicles all vying for the same spaces.  The beeping is to alert drivers you are going around them.  There is a LOT of beeping!  No street lights makes it dark walking and much of the sidewalks are cracked and not level.  That is a challenge for me for sure! The rain left large and even larger puddles everywhere and slick muddy spots  and the rain-fresh air one usually experiences after rain showers wasn’t apparent. 

Just a side note:  the jackhammering was quiet for a short time but it is back again.  It must be critical as it’s 9:30 PM and the walls and windows are not too soundproofed!  

When we were at Liberation Park, and the other memorials as well, it was sad as there is much trash—it’s an important reference to a very important time of the town and it isn’t well maintained, especially since this is an anniversary year and many people are making similar journeys like ours to commentate it.  Our one guide commented that she had even texted the city twice to tell them she was bringing guests and she hoped it was cleaned up a bit.  One thought was that she must have some clout to even make such a request!! But I supposed that we could do the same thing, contact our local officials if we knew guests were coming in, to ask that their first impression be a good one. 

Side notes

The Coke and other soft drinks  here are made with natural sugar! NOT high fructose corn syrup.

While we were driving to the surf park (This is a popular area as the tides get really high at times during the day/month), we passed water buffalo lounging in a ditch! We had to do a double take! We later saw one earning his keep by plowing the fields! They were planting sweet potatoes! There were also countless “free range” chickens —several of which we had for lunch in our “soup”—and dogs everywhere, a few cats, and goats, although they were tied up.  

The surf park was also a “community” garden and recreation area.  What we ate was grown here or caught here. It was very good. 

Jeepney vehicles (jeeps that have been modified to sort of look like short, open buses)  and motorcycles with side cars and “tops” ruled the road—very few personal vehicles.

Schools were still in session and kids walked to school, many in uniforms.  Some walked a lot farther than others!  They place a high emphasis on education, even though they suffer from brain drain too when kids do attend college and don’t return. 

There really aren’t stores per se like we are used to, we saw only one, with guards!! Most stores were just tiny fronts, selling random things, even in the rural areas. 

We never felt in danger even though we definitely stood out!  There aren’t many American tourists here, mostly other Filipinos exploring other areas of their country. We felt more intrusive of their spaces only because the  sidewalks were so very, very narrow that we couldn’t even walk together and the store fronts were right there so we quite often just interrupted their sales’ spaces.