White House in Baybay

After the short and wet stop at Coral Islands, we headed on our way to the city center of Baybay, Leyte. What I always notice when it comes to local transportation are the trikes or in this case, pedicabs. Pedicabs are a three-wheeled vehicle that can only accommodate 2 and on the extreme 4 passengers. They are a lot fun to ride compared to the noisy tricycles. Man powered and more fun than your average bike ride, this can take you to more places due to it's size. 
We got off our 15 minute ride from Coral's and waited for the next plan. We are off to the The San Pedro's White House or otherwise called the White House. We split to groups of 2 and 3 and started pedaling off to the place. The sun was sweltering but the ride made it more tolerable.
Don't judge the bike by it's driver!
Along the road, you see old houses that stood the test of time. Almost every street had one of these old structures. I love ancient houses, it shows character and tells you of untold stories and secrets.

Aunt Ali, Dawn, Lolo, Jessa and Maersk and Mr. Cool Pedicab driver hamming it up! XD
The White House looks really lovely outside. It had this eerie feel to it. There is more that meets the eye they say. We were greeted by Kuya Boy who is now the caretaker of this ancient house.  Let me tell you something about this house. Built in December 1924, this house still stands after 88 years! Can you believe that? I could not fathom how this could happen!

First off, I took a photo with my x10 mini as proof.
The lock as old as the house.
Current photo of the entrance.
Old photo of the entrance with the Polo-Bardos family.
Boy Polo at a very young age.
Photos from the past..
Curious as a cat. I ventured and looked at the cabinets and these were what I saw. Antique items from 1924! I am not certain what the lineage of my family goes however with all the things I have seen on the house, Dr. Polo turns out to have no heir. He was a doctor and even an inventor!
Not certain what this contains though.
Medical Equipments
What totally made my day were a collection of old coins!
Old "Big Ben".
This one was really interesting. Who would have thought that this one is a three pack of match boxes made to look like a house? Cute huh?
After the camera went empty, I opted to use my phone and continued snapping away. It was fun seeing antique items. There were even old books and encyclopedias! 
After all that, we all decided to take a family photo outside the house. I can't show you that to remain anonymity! LOL :P  We left late afternoon and went to the market to buy food for dinner. What was really great about Leyte is that everything seems to be on the same place. The bus terminal was just a few meters from the pier! I took the liberty in exploring the area. Was too bored to stay with my cousins anyway for they all looked really tired from all of the days activity. 

Being the keen observer, I saw a ship docked on the pier. I took a leap of faith and asked if it was bound for Cebu and it was! I asked what the shipping line was and the person I was talking to had no idea. He claims it was a new line that was on it's first day. Skeptic, he scurried away and asked a local about it. He came back with good news. There was a ticketing outlet just across from where we were. I went over and how amazing was it that the vessel leaves at 8PM? I decided to buy a ticket right away! Will let you know more about it on the last entry of this series.

Heading home, I realized how little I know of my lineage. I wish I had more time to get to know them better. I can however say that I will prepare for next year's reunion and save enough cash to bring my parents with me! :)


The Journey to My Family's Roots

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