Ang Dabawenyo

Had a wonderful night-out with a close friend of mine last night. Pam’s been in Cagayan de Oro all these years, so we rarely see each other anymore. So we made sure to spend some quality time together yesterday.

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. Read more »

I had a very satisfying dinner with three very good friends at a private restaurant last week. Couple Mandy and Maej invited Alex and me to My Brother’s Kitchen, owned and operated by Richie Ferazzini. It’s located in the Ferazzini compound in Bajada. However, it’s not really open to the public, and that’s why I’m not writing about it on Davao Delicious.

It’s a simple, open-air affair, run like a home kitchen would be. The Ferazzinis also own the long-standing Merco bakeshops and restaurants in Davao. But for this one (Richie says he’s thinking of changing the name), it’s for friends only.

Too bad, because their food is fantastic! We had steamed pompano, paella negra, smoked sashimi, cuttlefish on a hot plate, and even kilawing kambing. The pompano was simply awesome! And the paella negra (for those who don’t know, it’s paella cooked in squid ink) was so rich in ingredients and tasted so good.

Thanks, Maej and Mandy, for inviting me!

Last night I was invited to a press conference that was certainly not run of the mill. When Jojie (who’s actually my colleague of sorts as we both contribute to Sun•Star Davao as columnists) told me about it, she didn’t tell me what it was going to be all about. She just said there’d be food and alcohol, and that was enough for me to want to go!

Jojie was retained by this group of poker tournament organizers to handle their PR, but she probably didn’t know I played poker. I do, since 2005 in fact. And I used to be crazy over Texas Hold’em. I had a Japanese-language translation project that involved card games, and I started playing poker because I had to get into the groove so that I could understand better, ergo do my work better. Read more »

After much thought, I finally decided to transfer my Davao blog to its very own domain: www.angdabawenyo.com. And I thought I’d change the name from The Davaoeños to the one you see on top of the page. I was resistant to move at first, because it seemed rather disloyal to just quit Blogger. But then again, I doubt very much that they’d really give a damn if someone up and left them (well, unless droves of bloggers suddenly did an exodus on them…). Hey, no complaints against Google’s Blogger service — in fact, I still have my other blogs over there. Read more »

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!