* Trip to Albuera, Leyte, August 2018: Travel and Food

At the November 1, 2017 Classis of the PRCP, the Protestant Reformed Fellowship in Albuera, Leyte was declared a denominational mission work of the PRCP.  The PRC in Bulacan (who had been working there previously) was designated as the calling church and has been sending delegations there as regularly as possible (usually once a month).  They requested that Rev. Kleyn (who had been there 4 times previously) make a trip from August 10-13, 2018.  I also went along as a travel companion.  

Albuera is on the island of Leyte, which is south and east of Luzon (the island we live on).  To get there, we first had to drive to the airport (at 2 a.m. the trip only took a half hour), then catch our 4:30 flight to Tacloban, Leyte.  Upon landing in Tacloban, we walked outside the Tacloban airport and caught a tricycle.




Good thing we packed lightly!


The tricycle took us to the van terminal.

We had to wait about an hour until the van was full enough for the 2-3
hour trip across the mountains and along the coast to Ormoc City.


The vans seat 14 passengers.  There are 5 rows that hold 3 people each.  
A bit squishy for us large size Americans, holding luggage on our laps.


In Ormoc, we could walk kitty corner across the street to the jeepney terminal.

This time we had to wait only about 20 minutes for the jeepney to fill up.
The jeepney took us down to Albuera in about 20 minutes,
dropping off people along the way.



Rev. Kleyn recognized our drop off spot from previous trips --
a rice mill across the street from our road/path. 

This gravel road changed into a dirt path and led us to the compound set
among the banana and coconut trees that would be our home for a few days.




Brother Felix and Sister Norma were our gracious hosts for the weekend.  Even though we arrived at their place mid-afternoon, they still supplied us with a delicious lunch. 


The compound contains Bro Felix and Sis Norma Montalban's house, two other houses, the church, and a small store.  The building you see here is Montalban's house.


Below are some of the meals they cooked for us.  We had rice with every meal (breakfast, lunch and supper) as the Filipinos regularly do.

Fried fish, fried chicken, and chicken caldereta (like a tomato based stew).

Pork chops and pancit (noodles)




Breakfast of fish, eggs, and hotdogs



Two fish dishes (fried and cooked with tomatoes and onions), 
liver caldereta, and lumpia (spring rolls)



Story to be continued ……. 

 

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