Ang Dabawenyo

Undas. Kalag-kalag. Day of the Dead. Technically — according to the Catholic Church — 1 November is actually All Saints’ Day; it’s the day after that’s supposed to be the day for remembering our departed relatives. But in traditional practice (one might even say it’s now part of our culture), millions of Filipinos troop to cemeteries on the 1st of November. That’s why each year, the President has to declare that day a non-working holiday.

(This year, even 2 November has been declared a holiday, by virtue of its being sandwiched between a holiday and the weekend. Is it logical? Go ask business owners. But that’s for another post….) ••• Read on »

A couple of Dabawenyos have come up with a great new blog: PRC Board Exam Results. The idea germinated from the super-active minds of Winston Almendras (Batang Yagit) and Jehzeel Laurente (JehzLau Concepts). Only this month, Winston came up with the working site, with the objective of providing a centralized repository that provides nursing board exam results, among others. And then Jehz picked up on it right away, believing that it would provide a timely service to the burgeoning number of professionals in the Philippines. Immediately, they transferred the blog site to its own domain, prcboardexamresults.com. ••• Read on »

The 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit was satisfyingly successful. We could’ve gotten more participants from more areas of Mindanao, but for a first-time effort for a unique event, I was happy with the turnout. The important thing is, my colleagues and I have gotten the ball rolling. I’m counting on the viral nature of blogs: each blogger has his or her own set of readers, so when he or she writes about the Summit and its objectives, the word gets around pretty quickly. ••• Read on »

Ang Dabawenyo is busy today at the…

1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit

I’m happy to see that my friend Tope Cubos and his wife Fritzie seem to be running a pretty sound operation in Fwendz Diner. Already they’re getting quite a few regular patrons — last night I overheard someone say that, at last, he had found a new hangout.

This isn’t surprising either. For one, the food is hands-down delicious. And cheap, to boot! The other day, Tope had us try a new item on the menu: a generous serving of chimichanga. It was really good and, as far as I could tell, was authentic Mexican fare. At 45 pesos per serving, it’s a steal! ••• Read on »

It’s been more than 6 months since Bankerohan Bridge (Gov. Generoso I) fell to ruin… yet today there’s not even a single pile driven to the ground for the new bridge. It’s as if the national government has no plans at all of restoring this vital infrastructure.

The Department of Public Works & Highways-Region 11 laments that there simply isn’t any money earmarked for the bridge. Wow… after half a year, still no action? It’s not a question of money. It’s a question of political will. Or the lack of it. ••• Read on »

It’s just three weeks to go before the 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit, and I’m really excited about it! This is a first-of-its-kind event down South, and I’m proud that I’m part of the team that’s organizing it.

If you’d like to be part of this unique event on 27 October 2007, go ahead and register to join now. It’s free! But more importantly, it will be a venue for us to promote the true images of Mindanao to the world, via the power of our blogging voices. ••• Read on »

Food is a tricky business — if you don’t get the right formula, chances are your restaurant or café or bistro will close shop. That’s probably why many businessmen who venture into the food & beverages industry stick with what’s proven. In Davao that would be barbecue joints or Chinese restaurants. Or if there’s ample capital, a franchise from fast food chains.

That’s why I find it very refreshing and exciting when more adventurous entrepreneurs come up with something new in the Davao restaurant scene. Alias Bar & Shahzad Restaurant was one, I thought. It’s a fairly new place (they opened last 28 July 2007) that offers authentic Pakistani and Indian food. I say authentic only because the owner is a Pakistani (who can speak fluent Japanese, I was delighted to find out). Finally, a place that serves South Asian cuisine — I adore deliciously hot, spicy dishes! ••• Read on »

For those of you who are into online poker, blackjack, roulette and other popular online casino games, it might be a good idea for you to check out this Web portal first: Online Casino Bluebook. It’s a resource site that shows a list of the top 10 online casinos, among other things. ••• Read on »

Cheers to my AngDabawenyo.com blog! This is my 100th post, so some friends and I toasted this humble milestone with a few beers. Fellow blogger Maej Villanueva, entertainer extraordinaire Ahbet Padilla, new friend and chef Jenny Tan, and fellow student of Nihongo Peter Labor kept me company that night.

We were with a couple hundred Dabawenyos at the Victoria Plaza carpark, where one of several Oktoberfest celebrations have kicked off in Davao. By the looks of it, this one will most probably last the whole month of October. It’s located in front of 51 Coffee Shop and Buffet Palace — you can’t miss it, what with the humongous San Miguel tents covering the entire area. ••• Read on »