"Good morning, Ormoc!" were the words I caught myself saying the moment I realized that we had truly arrived. It's nice to be back, at last, after eighteen long years.
It was raining a bit on a Saturday, the 23rd of May, which happened to be my brother's 16th birthday. Walking distance from the port is the TRN Travelers Inn, where we stayed. Rested the whole morning and got back to business in the afternoon to see the new Ormoc. Adventure time!
My family lived in the city when I was only two years old until after more than five years. How Ormoc has changed so much! Though I have only a few recollections of the old city, I could tell obvious differences. From the emergence of a number of colleges, malls, banks, popular fast food chains to the Superdome, its progress is something Ormocanons should be proud of.
It was only a two-day visit, but I will be back -- perhaps, nature tripping by that time.
Flashback: The flash flood tragedy in 1991 which killed thousands of people was one of the worst natural disasters that struck the country. It became an international news story and served a lesson that abuse of Mother Nature will have to take its toll. She can castigate and she will. Ormoc's flood mitigation project is an excellent structure addressing the threat of flooding. I can only guess that the city is virtually free of illegal logging activities. Ormoc cannot let the same thing to happen again.
The places I had visited:
Ormoc City Superdome
Ormoc City Hall
Ormoc Catholic Church: Sts. Peter and Paul Parish
Eastern Visayas State University
St. Paul's School of Ormoc Foundation Inc.
St. Peter's College
Fiesta sa Ormoc
Centennial Park
Veterans Park
The Project for Flood Mitigation in Ormoc City
Don Felipe Hotel
Ormoc Bay
Ormoc Executive Building
Gaisano Ormoc