I respect Benj and I wouldn’t insult his intelligence by engaging him in a battle of wits to try and win him over to “my side”. And I know he respects me as well. We have amicably agreed to disagree. I do agree with him on one point, though: intelligence can be a bane to the intellectual.

We think too much, consider too many angles, and are therefore encumbered by our own intelligence from embracing what’s in fact plain to grasp for the … uh … less intellectually inclined.

Does this mean that people who believe in God are not intelligent? I don’t think so. Intelligence and faith are not mutually exclusive. However — and I think this is what atheists do not quite comprehend (or cannot accept) — faith does entail being blindly believing. We have no empirical proof of God’s existence whatsoever, and yet we believe in His presence. This is at the very core of Christianity (and perhaps of Islam and Judaism as well), that we put trust in a Supreme Being whom we cannot see or touch.

Writing this, a thought crept into my mind: Why? Why do I believe even without any shred of evidence of God’s existence? Is my belief simply a product of conditioning, upbringing?

Admittedly, I’m Catholic because I had no choice in the matter. However, my belief has long since been reinforced because I have experienced God. When I was in high school, I attended Mass almost everyday, and when I’d pray to ask for something and then receive it, I’d feel this inexplicable warmth all over my body. I lost this religiosity in college, for several reasons.

When I was a little older, I had a very tumultuous episode with my parents, and I was desperate for a resolution to the problem. Nobody could console me (nor my folks). After years and years of ignoring my faith, I turned back to prayer. I prayed as fervently as I knew how… and then, that soothing warm feeling I used to get back then came rushing back. No answers came with the warmth… but I gained a renewed strength to face my problems.

I’ve had other experiences that have made me more resolute that God does exist, but that was the most significant for me.

One other. There is an imagery that I employ whenever I try to explain to people why I believe: the universe. Can you imagine the universe as having a limit, a boundary? Let’s say it does. But if it does have a boundary, what’s beyond? Although I know infinity is also difficult to fathom, can you imagine that there’s absolutely nothing beyond?

What about life? After death… what? Will we just cease to exist completely after we die? Or do we move on to a different plane of existence?

Is it mere human arrogance to claim that we will transcend this fleshly manifestation? Is it misguided anthropocentrism to believe that we have a higher purpose beyond this lifetime?

I have no answers. I only have my faith, one that is very personal. Faith, after all, is a journey, not a destination.

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If my folks could’ve heard them, they would’ve thrown a fit. My folks, I mean. But I didn’t mind. Hearing them chat and hoot and guffaw and go about their antics made me recollect my own time in high school (which wasn’t all that long ago… or so I try to convince myself).

Some years ago, one of the students threw a plastic bag over our common wall and into our backyard. We thought it was trash, but something was moving inside! It was a cat, the poor thing. My sister, who was still living with us that time, was so furious. But I was secretly amused. Kids.

I never did anything like that back in high school, although I had my share of pranks here and there. I was the one who covered for my more mischievous friends. Although on rare occasions I did turn them in, just for good measure of credibility with the powers that were.

And even then, we were already living beside the same campus. (And we were often late!) That means I’ve been living here for… well, some considerable time now.

In my teens, Matina used to be an idyllic location, with large swaths of unused residential lands, a few shops in some street corners, and not much else. Just houses mostly. But now, it has become a bustling neighborhood, and has almost turned into a commercial district. A number of houses have been turned into restaurants and stores now, especially those near St. Paul Parish.

And the high school and grade school — boy! — they’re overflowing to the brim! Back then, we were only five sections of 30-40 students each. Now, they say the first-year level has 20+ sections with at least 40 students in each! And you can hear they’re that many. (Is it because Davao’s population has ballooned that much? Or is this a sign of commercialism in education…?)

Some of my relatives in the compound are musing about moving out and selling… but it can’t be done unless all of us agree. You see, it’s a walled property with eleven lots, and I guess the value of each won’t amount to much unless they’re all disposed of together. Besides, it would be rather strange to have non-relatives living (or operating a shop or something) in the compound with us.

It would be sad if we moved out, after almost two decades here (that’s an aggregate number for all my relatives here, so don’t try guessing my age! hehehe). But then, this place is so huge! Thing is, I don’t think we’ll ever agree as one on this issue. Also, one of my aunts is only now having her house built. So that’s that.

Like I said, I don’t really mind the noise. Hearing those kids on the other side of the wall keeps me feeling young.

Oh boy… is this what they call emo blogging??

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Of course, having a brand new logo helped, too! (Thanks again, Winston.)

Bueno, welcome to my new design! Hopefully, you’ll get to like it as I have. I based it on the theme called "Identity". The original, however, wasn’t fully compatible with WP2.5 — and it looked rather plain as is — so I had had to do some major recoding on the templates.

I did love my old theme very much ("Subtle for WordPress" by GluedIdeas), so here’s a tribute to it: a screen-capture of the blog just before I started upgrading WordPress and installing & tweaking the new theme.

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The mélange of Davao symbols inside the blog bubble, that was the logo of my old Davao e-zine, which used to be found on davao.net. (Too bad, though, because that domain got hijacked years ago… but that’s a long story.)

Thank goodness for webarchive.org, I was able to retrieve the old image (not a very high-resolution copy though). My friend and colleague, the Batang Yagit, helped me resurrect my beloved emblem, and rendered it for posterity. Check out the Web2.0′ed edition:

I’m going to find a way to affix this nicely to my site header later.

Thank you, Winston, for all my blogs’ logos!!

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Well, in terms of flavor and value for money, my personal favorite is still Space Burger, although the taste isn’t quite like it used to be. And I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but their patties seem to be rather smaller now… Still, it’s grilled, and they have a number of outlets around town (one of of which is near where I live in Matina).

Last week I went to De Boerderij with a couple of friends, to give their burgers a try. I was sorely disappointed, unfortunately. We had the salisbury steak burger and the shaslick burger. Both were served cold, which was the first of a string of disappointments. The bread they use seems to be of the cheap variety: airy, sweetish, dry. The patties were smallish and thin.

The taste was not bad at all, though. If only they served burgers piping hot and sandwiched in quality buns…

On the other hand, the sate pork barbecue tasted good at De Boerderij — but it was served cold, again that problem. This place is owned by a Dutch national, hence the name (which means ‘the farm’) and the cuisine. If you’d like to try it and see for yourself, the restaurant is located near NCCC Mall, but across the highway and about 50 or so meters ahead. It’s on the Juna side.

So, where could it be, the best burger in town? There’s a place I keep hearing about, in the downtown area, where they say the biggest burgers are being served. What do you think?

On another note, here’s something to consider for yourself or perhaps for your children. Get a college degree through distance learning in the Philippines. Even before the age of the Internet, correspondence schools have been operating already. And now, with all the technology available, distance learning could be just as valuable as traditional methods.

We met up at my favorite coffee shop, Basti’s, then proceeded to Nezz74 Café for dinner. Someone had told me that the food there was good, so we checked it out. It’s a nice enough place… but the food’s nothing fantastic, sad to say. Pam had the lechon kawali, and it wasn’t really all that great. My sweet and sour fish fillet of malasugui was OK though. Their coffee? I’m sticking to Basti’s.

Then Pam and I had a craving for good wine. We’d wanted to go to Swiss Deli’s wine cellar, but it was already closed when we got there at around 9:45pm. So we went to Fagioli instead. I remembered seeing a bottle of Libertas there, so I knew we couldn’t go wrong there.

My first experience with Libertas, a South African brand, was when Swiss Deli gave me two boxes of it last October. It was part of their sponsorship of the 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit. At first I was reluctant, but after the first few sips, I was an instant convert! Now, the Libertas Merlot is part of my list of favorite red wines. It’s not expensive at all either — at Fagioli, it’s P400 per bottle, but if you can find it in a shop, I’m positive it’ll be much cheaper.

Pam liked the wine and the place too. Although it was rather crowded and a bit noisy, we had a great time catching up on each other’s activities of the past year.

Christmas break is the best time of the year to catch your breath and take a break. I use this time to rekindle friendships and cement old bonds.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Mondays are depressing enough.

Well, at least the weekend was perfect.

Funny how the rain — just your run-of-the-mill kind of downpour — can stop Dabawenyos in their tracks. Parties are not attended, not very important meetings are often delayed, get-togethers are either held indoors or postponed…. We’re spoiled by the year-round good weather in Davao!

I remember my first tropical storm, it was during my first year in college. I was in Makati, in a village that’s considered posh. But I saw a huge, tattered piece of a roofing fly above me! And the wind was howling like crazy, it drove shivers up and down my spine. Whenever the family would go to Manila on vacation, it would invariably be in summer, so I never saw storms before that. It was fascinatingly scary and new to me.

Good thing rains don’t last long in Davao.

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This I-love-Davao blog of mine just got blogged!

Sinag of sinagshine.blogspot.com chose Ang Dabawenyo in her entry in the ongoing You Got Blogged! review-a-blog competition. Her review is really heart-warming, and certainly adds to the motivation for me to write even more about my hometown. Thanks, Sinag!!

I’d like to encourage all my readers who are also bloggers to join the You Got Blogged! competition. It’s a project by MindanaoBloggers.com and the DigitalFilipino Club, and its ultimate objective is to showcase the various blogs of Mindanao. On your own blog, just post a review of any blog found in the Mindanao Blog Directory and get a chance to win $150, $100 or $50. Deadline of entries submission is on 14 December 2007.

A friend of mine, Aloysius, has a great set of gift ideas for Dabawenyos. He calls his shop Photo Story. I guess that’s because he and his wife Beng believe that photographs should be presented in such a way that they can tell you their stories.

View their catalogue of gifts that can frame your photos and your memories so well: Christmas 2007 Offerings. They’ve got Photo Pillows, Desk Clocks with a photo on the face, Jelly Belts (a string of framed photos that you can hang on your Christmas tree). Here’s a unique gift: the ru-PIX Cube. Check out the online catalogue to see them all!

Photo Story is located in Buhangin. The website should have their contact numbers.

The streets of Davao are awash with a variety of tropical fruits in season. Just walk around and you won’t miss it! From August to October each year, Dabawenyos are blessed with an abundance of fruits, you wouldn’t believe it! Just stroll around the city and you’re sure to bump into a sidewalk vendor or an open-air fruit stand.

Come to Davao and experience paradise!

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