Palompon Took Our Breaths Away

“You, you smile and it's okay. You take my breath away like water from a spring on a sizzling summer day… There are words for the magic of a sunrise. Only none of them will do…” (Download this song now! Click here. – Chai Lee)



As we were serenaded by Rex Smith while we cruised the quiet provincial roads from Palompon back to our home one Sunday afternoon, I couldn’t help but smile. What started out as a plan to just eat halo-halo became a wonderfully fulfilling day of mini-adventures.


Palompon is a semi-quaint, semi-modern town just 66km away from Ormoc City. It boasts of various eco-destinations, one of which is the (in)famous Kalanggaman Island. We weren’t able to go there, though, but our mini-adventures involved something anyone can do anytime in Palompon without having to cross the sea:


Ukay-ukay (UK)


The plan was to go for Halo-halo. And halo-halo we did as we searched through the hodgepodge of used clothing and bags in the many UK stalls behind the Municipal Hall. I’m not really a UK enthusiast and I itch or sneeze while I am around these stalls, but nothing – and I mean NOTHING – was going to stop me from buying the silver bag at the last UK stall. The bag’s design and I go back a long way. It has been at least 3 years since I first searched for a silver bag with that design, and I green-ed with envy when I saw a friend owning the exact same bag I had in mind. Anyway, Manang Tindera pegged the price at P180. But I bargained for the bag and offered her P150. I was willing to buy it at P200, but I wouldn’t tell her that. This is my new baby:

The picture clearly does not do it justice, booooo! (But you can see me wearing it somewhere in the pictures below)


Wemdee’s


Wemdee’s is right at the heart of the town. This small native restaurant can accommodate no more than 7 families inside its, er, festive-looking space. I absolutely hated the decorations, but the food was too delish to even bother looking at the decorations any longer! Must-tries are the Fish Taoshu (fish fillet with black beans) and the Crispy Pata, all at reasonable prices. After eating the conventional cafeteria food everyday at the workplace, this certainly was a treat for all of us:

Manang Salvarita and her Salvaros


We decided to drive around the outskirts of town after our hearty meal. None of us were Palompon natives; so naturally, we took a few wrong turns here and there. One wrong turn took us to a rough road where we chanced upon some tipasi for Teeyoh’s plants. The tipasi, he says, is good fertilizer. Another wrong turn took us to a roadside “bakery” where Manang Salvarita (for lack of a better name) was baking Salvaro (which we first mistook as Bibingka). The Salvaros were P3 a piece, and it was absolute heaven. Each bite tasted of buco pie and vanilla ice cream combined. Here are our kulit selves, posing with Manang Salvarita, her native oven, and the Salvaros:

…And so with satisfied stomachs, we drove home to our Isabel. Singing “You Take My Breath Away” while again eating Salvaro. Indeed, Palompon took our breaths away.

‘Til our next adventure!