May I share with you a letter from a fraternity brother, Louis Kierulf ’68 after he read my posting on Palawan. Hope you will find it interesting.
egay
Hello Brod Edgar,
Though I was in Palawan last summer, I still enjoyed reading your posting.
I was with my family (brother/sister and children.. almost entire clan) and we headed to Palawan w/ so much enthusiasm and we were not at all disappointed.
Our first destination after checking in was the river cave. we hired 2 vans and took the 2 hour or so trip but stopping over for lunch in a Vietnamese settlement that served Vietnamese food. That alone was already an experience.
Day 2 we rented a boat that took us around Honda bay. We brought our own lunch c/o Chowking. That was a delightful day by itself.
That night, we went to a popular restaurant were we had reserved for 18 people.. Unfortunately, when we got there, our table was near the CR. But there was another long table reserved in a good location in the resto and when we asked who reserved it, the head waiter said it was for the Mayor and his party… Ohhhh.. So we all decided to move out only to be called back because we could use the reserved table of the Mayor and he will instead moved to a private area.
that made everyone happy cause we were starving.. then the Mayor arrived and my sociable sister Josephine Zabarte introduced herself because the mayor was greeting all table to table… One thing led to another and by the time we realized it, we had been talking to the Mayor for more than half an hour… He asked where we had gone and told him our great exp. in Palawan.. he asked if we went na to Dos Palmas and said no.. He then invited all of us to go there the next day… Wow, that was a real treat cause the cost per head was something like P1,200 or P1,500 per day… We accepted the invitation.
Early the next morning when we got to the pier, the mayor was there to bid goodbye to some media people that were also going to Dos Palmas. he was also waiting for us… With his private boat and bodyguard to accompany us..
In the afternoon as we were returning, we called the mayor iniviting him to join us for dinner. Instead, he said to join him for dinner.. again, all the 18 of us! And the dinner he set up was in the hotel we were staying which was Astoria? I dont remember na… I think its astoria.
The dinner pala was for the media people and his visitors plus all of us. He had his City band to entertain plus local folk dancing.. Then there was a hi tech trade & tourism presentation and more singing.. including the mayor. Songs were locally composed and had to do with environment; tourism, etc.. What a wonderful evening it was!
The next morning, before going to the airport, we were picked up to visit his version of Baywalk and his gymnasium. Our luggages were brought directly to the airport by his staff and checked in so that by the time we got to the airport, we were ready to board!
that was really a wonderful experience.. the hospitality of Mayor Ed Hagedorn and his staff and the beauty of Palawan.. last month before I left for New York, we had the chance of inviting the Mayor and his son for Dinner at Sirendra. He accepted the invitation and we all had a wonderful evening of laughter and political kuwentos from him..
that’s my kuwento bro..
regards,
Louie Kierulf ’68
