"International Tourist and Visitor’s Guide" to Biliran Island Province
Courtesy www.MayLaka.com
1. Introduction
About us:
MayLaka is a private residence owned by Gina (a native from Bunga - Cabucgayan, Biliran) and her husband Jean Pierre (originally from Machelen - Brabant, Belgium). After several decades working as expatriates away from our respective countries, we decided to choose Biliran as our main place of residence.
We both looked for a very long time and very far away from our respective home countries to find the ideal partner and
eventually met somewhere in the middle (Dubai, United Arab Emirates), thousands of miles away from each others home, it was back in 2000.
As we both have been living the expatriate life for a few decades, the idea of building ourselves a "cozy place" we could call home had been riping for many years.
It took us till 2006 though to see and secure the land that we hope will eventually become our own little Vanuatu
To satisfy our curiosity and want to discover Biliran ourselves, we are conducting a wide search for information about anything and everything to do with the Biliran Island Province tourism potential. On the following pages we are happy to share our findings with you and hope these will make it easier to, maybe one day, also plan your visit to Biliran Island. While still a little known area of the Philippines for the international tourist, it is well worth a visit as you will be able to make up for yourself when browsing these pages.
If you are interested in the Philippines and want to explore the (for an international tourist or visitor) not so obvious places, then we hope that you will find this a good source of comprehensive and unbiased (written with no profit or political agenda in mind) information about a relatively small, yet very beautiful, and from a tourism standpoint, still largely undiscovered island which has much to offer to the more adventurous amongst us or for those amongst us just looking for some quiet and peace, away from the stressful and hectic city life and commercial tourism.
We wish you happy reading and if as a result you also get interested in our little paradise and decide to make that trip to Biliran Island, we extend a warm invitation to visit us. It would be great that you would find the time to come and say hello to us in our place in Catmon and share your own Biliran experiences with us.
About the meaning of "May Laka":
Laka : In Hawaiian mythology : the "goddess of forest growth" (source Wikipedia)
May Laka : In Visayan : lit. meaning "tree with a broken branch" (source Prof. Rolando O. Borrinaga, Ph.D.)
About "our" MayLaka:
2008
When we acquired the land we found several trees along the beach on the verge of falling into the sea due to land erosion caused by the sea waves. The sea wall we build was to protect the land from further erosion, but also to attempt saving these trees by bringing them in safety from the waves behind de seawall. Unfortunately, overzealous workers building the sea wall, cut the biggest of these trees on the corner of the man made beach. When we checked the progress of the works we found its "remains" laying in front of the sea wall, with its roots and branches cut (see picture below).
2009
Rather upset about this sad and uncalled for initiative, we asked for whatever was remaining of this once proud tree (which had bravely withstood the elements of the sea for so many years to be then be cut, dug out and thrown into the sea against our best wishes) to be replanted in its original spot, in the hope that it would start growing again, this time safely protected behind the sea wall from the waves that had been pounding it for so many years (see picture above).
2010
Replanting of the "May Laka" has been successful! It is growing again, and although its new branches have not yet been restored to their former glory, we look forward to seeing them continue to grow over the years to come, benefitting from the clean underground spring water still coming from the nearby mountains and flowing close to its roots into the sea, which has certainly helped giving it the strength to survive all those past year, while fighting a slowly loosing battle against the relentless pounding of the seawaves, slowly but surely eating away the soil around its roots.
Now safely behind the protective seawall, in a fresh and fertile bed of soil, it can expect a more relaxed and undisturbed life for hopefully many more years to come, while we also look forward, in the hopefully not so distant future, as its branches once again have grown to their former glory, to find cool shade under its abundance of big green leaves when we enjoy a stroll along the beach
(picture below shows the May Laka growing again on the opposite corner of the seawall).
About our hopes:
As the current "caretakers" of MayLaka Beach, we hope that long after we will be gone, our children and later their offsprings will continue our efforts to keep MayLaka Beach a hospitable and peaceful little heaven on earth for many generations to come and that it will bring them as much enjoyment and happiness as it does to us.
Gina & Jean Pierre Joanne
