Ang Dabawenyo

My previous post of a few minutes ago notwithstanding, I’d like to greet all those who are still in awe of the allure of puppy love: HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

The best expression of LOVE that I’ve seen this year is written atop Marley’s place, and it reads:

When the power of love
overcomes the love of power
the world will know peace

My partner in crime Ian and I went out for a midnight snack right on the eve of Valentine’s Day. This is typical of people who think of Valentine’s dates as rather cheesy. But the truth is, seeing as we’re both single, we just had to make sure to get a night-out in before Valentine’s set in for real.

As usual, there were many people out and about. I’d come from Basti’s and met up with Ian at Bo’s Coffee, which is typically occupied by spring chickens, or the young and the restless. Good thing Ian had a sudden craving for breaded whatever, so blew that joint and headed to The Venue (there was a time when Davaoeño entertainment place owners had a penchant for generic names). ••• Read on »

Sunday found me with birthday boy Ichido, his family and his guests from Japan at a Korean restaurant, called Twosome Palace. My Japanese friends actually like Korean cuisine — they share my passion for spice.

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Janette T. remarked to me recently that I was ‘on a roll.’ It was about this blog frenzy of mine — since I came back to blogging last month, I’ve churned out more than 30 posts in all! Well, my writer’s block just vanished all of a sudden, is why.

And so I’ve rediscovered blogging. Now I find myself on a mission — one whose cudgels I’ve always taken up wherever I found myself. Community organizing. Connecting with people. It’s always exhilarating and refreshing to encounter new characters, new faces, new idiosyncracies. I’ve been eyeballing with Davao bloggers, and I hope to meet some more before the 1st Davao Blog Party. ••• Read on »

Up until awhile ago, 10 Davao bloggers had an impromptu get-together at 51 Coffee Shop. I was finally able to meet Andrew of Alleba Blog and Ria of MyDavaoCity.com. Also in attendance were Doc Jaime (From the Foreroom of My Cranium), Marc (Hoopaddict), Raine (Introspection), Jun M. (Wyzemoro), Dominique (village idiot savant), and Christian (Just Didn’t Make the News). Tope of Fwendz.com also made an appearance.

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Ever since I started meeting up with Davaoeño bloggers, I’ve come to find out a lot about SEO. Apparently, many bloggers here (or probably anywhere) are into search engine optimization as a way to make a few bucks. In my long absence from all things Web these past couple of years, I’ve not been able to keep up with Internet trends, so my idea of monetizing your blog was simply Google’s AdSense. Well, of course, apart from the traditional way, which is getting paid for writing. ••• Read on »

My father, Eduardo "Momong" Robillo, published in the year 2005 a two-volume book that carried his daily Gospel reflections. While he has not published for the succeeding year, Pop has been actively e-mailing his reflections, and texting his quatraines to his friends, colleagues and family, everyday.

For 2007, I’ve taken it upon myself to publish Pop’s continuing daily reflections via a weblog. He told me, "It’s really for everybody who wants to strive for spiritual growth." And what better medium these days to spread the Word of God but the Internet? And what better instrument than a blog?

The Word God Spells, from February 2007 onwards. Click here to view the blog.

Today, Marc Javellana, Dennis Agulo and I had a super mini-eyeball at 51 Coffee Shop. However, we were able to discuss the 1st Davao bloggers’ party. Actually mostly we talked about SEO stuff, goings-on in the local IT scene…. But we did get to agree on a proposed date for the party. 17 March 2007 (Saturday). How’s this sound, guys?

Suggestions for our party:

• Let’s have a few talks or presentations. For example, a talk on best practices for blog maintenance, etc.

• Let’s try to get sponsors for the food and the venue.
• We also invite Davaoeños who aren’t blogging yet but are interested to take it up. Also non-Davaoeños who happen to find themselves in Davao on the 17th of March.
• Dennis will run a contest — I’ll let him intro that himself. But let’s have a raffle as well, c/o sponsors.

More? Please post a comment to leave your suggesions.

Go Davao blogging!!!

Attending the launch of MTC Academy’s Basic Medical Transcription for High School program today, I met a young woman who, despite her visual impairment, was going to enroll at MTC to become a medical transcriptionist. Honey Paula is totally blind, and yet she uses the computer as well as any sighted person. According to Dr. Jaime Haw Jr., head faculty of MTC, who has overseen Honey’s practical tests, she actually performs a lot better than expected. (Incidentally, Jim Haw is a blogger — check this out!)

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Last night found some of us tech-heads at a new coffee shop called Bruegger’s Café (yes, they will also have free wifi in the very near future). It’s in the Wheels n’ More Drive compound, beside another new establishment, called Hpnotiq, an interestingly-designed bar.

Can’t say much about the name of this hotspot, but Wheels n’ More Drive is an exhilarating night spot during weekends. Being there on a Friday or Saturday heats up your blood, is what I mean. That’s because it’s jampacked with young people — not quite yuppy yet, still somewhat wet behind the ears, but definitely partying.

This was my first time to be in that area on a weekday for a lo-o-ong time, and I must say, it’s not bad at all. Weekends it’s overflowing with our younger cousins (dare I say, nephews…? noooooo!!). But on weekdays, apparently, the place is quite relaxing and frequented by after-office types.

Bruegger’s coffee is, well, not bad. But honestly, we went there for ‘washing’, or the night’s last couple of beers. That’s the way we Davaoeño IT types wind down… before winding up again for the weekend!