Samar

Die Hard Trekking Fanatic

Three-star Hotel Doña Vicenta is located at the side of the Wilsam Uptown Mall in Songco, just a two-minute drive from the town proper. The hotel has an Asian modern interior, with all dark furniture against neutral walls and floors, and split-type air conditioning. Rooms range from standard, going for P880, to a junior suite or honeymoon suite, going for P1,680. The presidential suite for P2,970 a night has living and dining areas. All rooms have TV with cable, IDD, NDD, and a toilet and bath with a solar heating system. The hotel has a standby generator which runs everything – lights, AC, elevators, including the cable channels. Hotel rates come with free breakfast. Room service has entrees at P120, sodas in can at P25 and beer at P35.

To inquire or reserve, call: 055/ 261 3585, 261 3586 and 055/ 560 9394. Or e-mail: hoteldonavicenta@yahoo.com.

Samar, Borongan

ISLAND SIGHTS AND STORIES

Start by visiting Borongan’s lighthouse, built by the Americans in 1906. It looks out to the Pacific Ocean and the view is well worth the effort. To get to it, we started with a 10-minute boat ride from the main island’s Locsoon Beach in Bgy. Lalawigan, southeast of the city proper to Divinubo Island at the ungodly hour of 4am. If we had approached the island in the correct conditions – 12 noon or midnight with a full moon or a new moon – we could have done it by foot, instead of cutting across the waters. Ronald Lapada, islander and our tour guide for the day, said getting to the island by foot would take about an hour. Our boat ride (P12 per person, one way) was easy, but we had to walk up more than a hundred steps built on the side of a mountain, and take the rocky, muddy, potholed and spindly path with weeds to reach the slender with.

Photo and Article Source: Infligth Magazine (Seair)

Samar

WHY GO NOW?

 It’s a good time to surf in Borongan, with stronger waves coming in from the Pacific Ocean. And even if you’re not into surfing, it’s still a good time to observe rural life at Christmas and partake of the capital town’s specialty, spit-roasted pig or lechon stuffed with aromatic herbs, salted and basted with secret sauces. Like most small towns in the country, Borongan observes Simbang Gabi, nine days of dawn masses at 4am that culminates in a midnight mass on Christmas Eve and a burst of fireworks as locals call out, “Maupay na Pasko!” (Merry Christmas). In January, there’s the big town festival, Ati- Atihan, a parade of locals in religious and tribal costumes, and some dancing in the streets.

Samar,  Borongan

Samar,  Borongan

GET YOUR Bearings

The capital of Eastern Samar, Borongan lies almost midway on the coast of the elongated stretch of Eastern Samar in the island group of the Visayas. Sprawled across 58,289 hectares, it has the biggest land area among the 23 municipalities of Eastern Samar. With around 55,000 residents, it is also the most populated. Borongan, also called The City of the Golden Sunshine, lies 196 kilometers from Tacloban City, and 586 kilometers southeast from Manila. The city gets its name from the word “borong” which means fog. Once inhabited by Negritos driven to the hinterlands by interlopers from nearby Indonesia and Malay, Borongan was organized into a pueblo by the Spanish missionaries from 1595 to 1620. They gathered the early Boronganons into communities. A church, dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary was erected in 1710 and stands to this day, sadly modernized beyond historical recognition.

CHECK-IN

Mabaroca Beach Resort, located at the southern tip of Cabong Beach, just about four kilometers from downtown Borongan, has three air-conditioned rooms and three fan rooms. It has no-frills, compact rooms that are spanking new, with the resort having only opened in October. An air-conditioned room includes a queen-size bed, cable TV, and a DVD player, and a chaise lounge. There is no dresser, desk or closet, and no mirrors. The resort has two swimming pools, a karaoke TV room (P500 for two hours) and four cottages for rent for tourists on day trips (P1,500) with a free use of the pool. Air-conditioned rooms cost P2,000 a day, with one of the larger rooms going for P2,500. Fan rooms are P500 a day. Contact owners Romeo and Margarita Castillo at tel: 055/ 560 9377, 560 9809 or mobile: 0928/ 622-0699 or e-mail: roncast_well@yahoo.com. You can also view the facilities of Mabaroca at uRl: www. youtube.com/estehanon. Pebbles & Tides Beach Bar and Cottages

Photo and Article Source: Inflight Magazine (Seair)