Ang Dabawenyo

OK, Siem Reap isn’t really a city — it is a province of Cambodia, which tourists associate with age-old temples and pleasant, soft-spoken locals. Development-wise and viewed as a whole, I’d say the place looks like Davao City in the early ’70s. But that’s about the only “advantage” my city has over this alluring Southeast [...]

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{Click here to read the first part of this post} After dinner on my first day, Ramon and I had a few beers. I’m happy to report that Bongao Town has SanMig Light (usually ₱30/bottle). Red Horse and Pale Pilsen are available almost anywhere, too. After the nightcap, I went out to the seawall to [...]

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Two weeks ago, I was at last able to fulfill a long-time dream: to travel to the southernmost point of the archipelago, the province of Tawi-Tawi. Ever since the start of the Mindanao Bloggers Community, I’ve been grabbing every opportunity to see as much of Mindanao as possible, so that I could share with the [...]

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I was invited to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to be a resource speaker at the Asian Bloggers & Social Media Conference, which was held from 28 to 29 July 2010. The flight itinerary that the event organizers arranged had me traveling on my birthday! But that was OK — I gladly sacrificed my birthday celebration for [...]

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From 20 January to 20 February 2010, I traveled coast to coast across the continental United States. I was able to see 8 states: Michigan, Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and California; plus, the District of Columbia. The main purpose of my being in the States was to participate in a special [...]

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I’m flying to Washington, D.C. in a couple of hours, to attend a conference where U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will deliver a talk on global freedom of speech vis-à-vis the Internet, and where I’m to participate in a panel discussion on the same topic. It’s a great honor, and I’m looking forward to [...]

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I was given a wonderful opportunity to go abroad last weekend and present to delegates from over 20 countries my experience in building the Mindanao Bloggers Community. Organized by the dotAsia Organisation, the event was BlogFest.Asia, the region’s very first pan-Asian conference for bloggers, held in Hong Kong from 6 to 8 November 2009. My [...]

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It’s my goal this year to travel to as many places as I can in Mindanao. That’s why I did not resist the desire to see Basilan once I set foot on Zamboanga City last weekend. Going back to Davao, I left Zamboanga with a heavy heart, because my trip was way too short and [...]

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Arrived in Zamboanga City this morning. It’s my first time here, so I’m really excited about seeing the city. Fortunately, on the plane with me was fellow Mindanao blogger, Yolynne Medina, who has offered to take me around later in the afternoon. Also on the plane was the owner of the hotel where I was [...]

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Finally, I was able to go to Mati last Sunday (27 September). It was to attend a birthday party of someone I’d gotten acquainted with recently — two months ago I’d gotten to know a group of guys from Mati who’re living in Davao. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go sightseeing. I had planned on [...]

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