tacloban city food scene

At least I managed to cover some of the restaurants on my list before this trip ended. En route I discovered some more local hotspots that I’d be visiting on my return–Calle Zaragosa, Jose Karlos Cafe, Josephine’s Smoke Station among others. But for those that I was able to visit the last time, here’s my go-to list in order of (personal) preference.

1. Yolanda’s. I stopped by this humble restaurant after stepping off the plane, just a few kilometers from the DZR Airport. While I already grabbed a heavy breakfast at the Manila airport, I was obliged to take an even heavier second breakfast here. Fresh seafood can’t get any fresher here. This is a popular “bagsakan” among local fishers where some tourists stop by for an after-flight meal or buy fresh seafood to take to their vacation place.

old city charm

Probably influenced by my days as a planning major, I had always admired old town and city centers, whether they remain as urban centers in the present day or not. Tacloban City has that old city charm. Owe it to Imelda’s handiwork and the Romualdez’ political dynasty that preserved Spanish-style houses and American-style art deco buildings.

tacloban tripping

When you’re on travel on a work assignment and your kids are not with you and you have a window of time for yourself, what do you do?

Get a map and get around.

I have a five-day trip all over Samar when I will spend an average of five hours of travel, two hours of work and two hours of report writing each day. I should have at least a couple of hours of free time that I should plan to spend wisely. On my first day, my body may have been jiggered from the long travel time that I’m no longer used to. So I wasted my free time laying flat in my hotel bed.

Tacloban City is the midpoint of all my destinations for this trip. So I’m focusing all my R&R energy in this area. I got a Tacloban City map from my hotel in Calbayog so I started my trip planning from there.