Robbie in and around Tacloban

Pines Farm Resort in the Mountains of Burauen Leyte Pines Farm Resort is located 5km from Burauen Town Proper in the barangay Abuyogon. Coming from Burauin the turn off to the resort will be on your left hand side. It is a bit of a drive from Tacloban City but well worth it! Link to Pines Farm Resort Location A Beautiful Mountain Setting   This resort is in a very natural and beautiful setting. The water coming off the mountain is rain runoff. There is no industry in this area that is polluting the atmosphere so the water you are swimming in is very clean. If you enjoy the outdoors and like a beautiful rain forest atmosphere then this resort can bring an enjoyable day On the day we visited this resort I only spotted two foreigners. Filipino’s appear to visit these resorts for a celebration of some kind. From what I observed there is no restaurant at the resort so you need to bring your own foods and drink. You will have to bring your foods and drink For Filipinos and f

MY PERSPECTIVE OF BARANAGY LIVING IN THE TACLOBAN AREA INTRODUCTION When I meet foreigners visiting the Tacloban area many conversations similar. They have met a Filipina and are looking to settle here and live in a barangay. These foreigners are in love and I can fully understand where they coming from. During the conversations I find it hard to say anything negative as this person is on top of the world and has great plans. This article is about explaining how life really is living in a barangay (village) setting. There are positives and negatives to this life style. Talking to foreigners planning to settle locally The talk or chatter to foreigners wishing to settle here revolves around buying land, building a house and a new life. I never try to influence just give my opinion and answers to the questions. How big is your house and what did it cost to build? Can I own land here “ NO ”? It is hard to answer as land and building costs vary from province to province. To b

STO NINO SHRINE AND HERITAGE MUSEUM TACLOBAN CITY I drive past this building which is actually a mansion at least twice a week. I have read about the history and my last visit to this museum was just before Typhoon Yolanda. Friends I know who have made the visit in recent times say it appears a bit run down but the mansion is still very impressive ENTRANCE                              SIDE VIEW This building is one of the mansions of the late President Ferdinand Marcos. The mansion was built for Imelda Marcos, the president’s wife during his time in power. If you don’t know Imelda Marcos is a native of Tacloban   It was erected in the late 70s. I have read this is one of 29 residences that were built across the Philippines during this time. The building has an area of 21,500 square feet so it is one mighty quest house or residence. We are talking about 21 bedrooms. I also took a photograph giving a side angle of the building to give you an idea of the she

INTRODUCTION When you drive along the Maharlika Highway from Tacloban to Dulag you will pass through towns and small barangays. Inland from the sea there are many of these small barangays (villages) that most foreigners will never see. If you have met or engaged to a Filipina there may come a time where you will travel to the family home. The family maybe be farmers or have some type of business but the family may also be poor. I have foreign friends married to Filipinas who choose not to visit the family home. That is a personal chose and should be respected whatever the reason.   I have been living in this barangay (village) for many years. I am married and have a young daughter. My wife’s family have friends some of which are poor but I prefer to use the term disadvantaged.      I visited one family, actually there are 3 families all directly related living on this section of land (12 people in total). I did not take pictures of them as all people are entitled to their priva

                   CAMP KAWAYAN RESORT IN BARANGUY BALORINAY IN THE BURAUEN AREA    ENTRANCE TO RESORT There is another resort but it may be too far for some from Tacoban. The aim is to let readers know what is available. If you are visiting family or just site seeing around the Burauen area then you may have the opportunity to spend a few hours here, relax and cool off in the nice swimming pool   The resort name is Camp Kawayan in Barangay Balorinay Burauen Leyte. The resort is very well laid out with a large swimming pool with water slides. In addition they have a shallow children’s swimming pool. MAIN SWIMMING POOL The reason I sometimes visit this resort is the Dulag barangay I live in is inland from the sea in land from the sea and there is a short cut via dirt roads to get on to the main highway just before town of Julita. If someone was making a day trip to visit say Hill 120 in the Dulag area then it is

SHOPPING LOCATIONS AND INFORMATION WILL BE UPDATED ON A ON GOING BASIS SHOPPING ROBINSONS MALL (4KM FROM DOWN TOWN TACLOBAN) A nice place to go shopping with everything you would need under one roof. A very good Supermarket, Department and Specialty Stores and many good restaurants and other places to eat. An extension to the mall has recently been opened. TIP For foreigners wanting to purchase imported meat such as lamb and steak there is a freezer just across from the fresh meat section in the main supermarket. The selection varies from time to time. Inside Robinsons Place OPENING HOURS 10am to 9pm 7 days Link to location map SM SAVEMORE MARKET (DOWN TOWN TACLOBAN) Opening hours 8am to Midnight 7 days   Link to location map GAISANO MALL (DOWN TOWN TACLOBAN) Link to location map FISH MARKETS TACLOBAN FISHING PORT As well as this area you will see quite a number of fish markets at different barangays around th

Storm Surges from Typhoons in the Philippines Introduction A storm surge a coastal flood associated with typhoons. There are different things that effect the severity of the storm surge. These can include the shallowness and the orientation of the body of water to the storm path. There is more science involved but a typhoon with strong winds simply pushes the water to the shore and causes flooding. Large waves are formed by the strong winds. As these waves break, the water moving towards a beach may exceed twice the wave height before the wave actually breaks. As these waves break, the water particles moving toward the shore have considerable momentum and may run up a sloping beach to an elevation above the mean water line which may exceed twice the wave height before breaking. Typhoon Yolanda (International name Haiyan) was one of the largest storms to make land fall in history. The storm surge in the Tacloban area was huge. The size of the storm surge was not anticipa