What had happened from the past two days in the Philippines is already a part of the history. These events brought Philippines on the limelight as people all over the world keep an eye on our Country. We had become the headlines of the news channel in the world and we had captured the attention of everybody.

I am talking about of course of what had happened on the 23rd of August, the hostage drama that had happened at Quirino Grandstand. Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza took over the Hong Thai Travel bus containing 21 Hong Kong National passengers and 4 Filipino tour guides and photographer. He is demanding to review his case and to be put back to the police force. It was a horrible 11 hours of captivity. The hostage drama has ended leaving 9 dead bodies including the hostage taker.

I don’t want to reiterate on that event as it is a very traumatic one. As a Filipino, I feel so humiliated by what Mendoza has done. People from all over the world are watching us and might be judging Filipino people in general. This even saddened celebrities like Jackie Chan. Add to that is the threat to our tourism as we have been blacklisted by several countries. They have perceived how dangerous it is to travel here in the Philippines. And it really hurts that other people think of us that way.

On the lighter side, Philippines stayed on the limelight as our representative for Ms. Universe Maria Venus Raj got the 4th place in the competition. This is indeed worth celebrating, but her “major major mistake” answer has become the top search on the internet. This is I think intensified further the humiliation we get from foreigners. We can’t blame her for her “major major” stints as it is not easy to be there on stage. But whatever is that “major major” judgment from foreign eyes, we are still proud of Venus Raj for making it that far.

We can’t correct any “major major mistakes” from the past but we can always look forward and think positive for a better tomorrow.

God Bless Philippines.

Glad to experience the Grand Fireworks Competition @ SM City Cebu! Noisy & heart trembling but absolutely amazing pyrotechnics display is what you will witness.

I spent the night with Rap, Cathy and Miel.

The day after is the Grand Carousel Parade – the exact day of celebrating the Sinulog Festival!

Sinulog FACTS:

The Sinulog festival is one of the grandest and most colorful festivals in the Philippines with a very rich history. The main festival is held each year on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City to honor the Santo Niño, or the child Jesus, who used to be the patron saint of the whole province of Cebu (since in the Catholic faith Jesus is not a saint, but God).

It is essentially a dance ritual which remembers the Filipino people’s pagan past and their acceptance of Christianity.

And this Grand Carousel Parade is truly amazing.  We were in the middle of the very busy Fuente Osmena Street to take pictures and videos of the dancing patronistas shouting “Pit Senyor!”

Long Live Cebu! Pit Senyor!

The format of Youth Olympic Games is just like the official Olympic Games, but with significantly lesser number of disciplines and events. There are 170 countries expected to join the event, and each country should sent at least four athletes. The participants will be grouped according to age. So there is a group for athletes ages 14 to 15, as well as 16 to 18 years old.

The Youth Olympic Games is currently on it’s third day of competition in Singapore. China leads the medal tally as of writing this article. The first ever country who got the first Gold Metal is Japan courtesy of Yuka Sato after winning the girl’s individual triathlon event.

With the turnout of the said competition, I am sure that there will be more Youth Olympic Games in the coming years.

(From Left: Rap, Me, Kiev,Aisa, Tope & Dimple)

First stop, Ardent Hot Springs in Mount Hibok-Hibok! Such a perfect relief from almost 8 hours land drive from Davao to Butuan to Misamis to Camiguin!

A drive and stop at Mambajao Highway!

A sunny early morning treat to Sto. Niño Cold Spring.  But gosh, it is literally very cold that I couldn’t manage to swim there. Only our men buddies managed to do so!

Next stop at Katibawasan Falls! Its height is really amazing!

Historic sight seeing begins at Old Camiguin Church Ruins!

Another historical and mysterious tourist spot is the Sunken Cemetery of Camiguin!

And of course, to beach lovers — you’ll surely fall in love with the White Island in Camiguin! Plus the ecstatic and wavy 1 hour pump boat ride – is truly an adventure!

And of course, the perfect pasalubong from Camiguin is VJandep’s sweet delicacy called Pastel which comes in different fillings! Oh I missed Pastel so much! (nom nom nom)

What makes this trip more special is that I am going to join a group whose people are so new to me and I was very excited to get acquainted with them too.  Indeed it was fun to met Tope, Kiev, Aisa and now a very close friend of mine – Dimple!

I’d really should thank Tope for this. If he wasn’t so persistent of inviting me to come with them so my palaluvs won’t be going alone too, I couldn’t have come. I have a secret to share — I was absent on my first day of masteral class because of this! And then I had to give quizzes to my classes when I returned! Hahaha!

Recently I shared to you about our Iloilo & Guimaras: A Perfect Beach and History Combination trip. This time around, I wanted to share to you our Iloilo & Guimaras Itinerary from a Davaoeño perspective. This might help you guys on your future weekend trip.

PLAN (2 Nights Iloilo, 1 Night Guimaras)

Thursday
04:00 AM – Assembly Time
06:30 AM – ETD Davao (5J 348 DAVAO-ILOILO)
07:35 AM – ETA Iloilo
08:00 AM – ETD Iloilo
09:00 AM – ETA Guimaras (Raymen’s Resort – Free Time)
01:00 PM – Explore Guimaras (Trappist, Guisi Ruins, Balaan Bukid)
05:00 PM – Back to Raymen’s Resort (Free Time)

Friday
08:00 AM – Guimaras Island Tour (Sanctuary, Cave, Islands)
01:00 PM – ETD Guimaras
02:00 PM – ETA Iloilo (Check-in)
03:00 PM – Explore Iloilo (Malling, Night Life)

Saturday
08:00 AM – Explore Iloilo (Miag-ao church, Guimbal church, Racso’s, Tigbauan church and UP Visayas)
05:00 PM – Explore Iloilo (Museo iloilo, Nellys Garden, Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral, Molo church)

Sunday
05:30 AM – Assembly Time
08:05 AM – ETD Iloilo (5J 347 ILOILO-DAVAO)
09:10 AM – ETA Davao (Home Sweet Home!)

So that’s it guys! I hope that would help you on  your Iloilo and Guimaras escapade in the future!

Check out some of the Iloilo & Guimaras tourist spots we’ve stopped by.

Quench that thirst for historically brain stimulating images and info in Museo Iloilo.

Another historic site - Guisi Ruins in Guimaras Island

Looking for some long hike on the mountains? Well Balaang Bukid is the place to be. This pic below is on top of the Balaang Bukid – Guimaras Island - really perfect for hike and mountain climbing lovers. You should also be prepared to wear comfortable shoes and bottles of water to quench the thirst on your way.

Bat Cave at Guimaras Island Tour – amazing rock formation though I kind of do not like the smell inside. LOL!

Also you should not miss to visit rich historic remains of century old churches in Iloilo.

And of course,  some of the  sweet delicacies you shouldn’t miss on your pasalubong list.

Btw, Guimaras has one of the sweetest mango in the world and Iloilo has the most delicious La Paz Batchoy! You shouldn’t miss that out guys or else, your trip is incomplete!

So, if you’re into beaches, then Guimaras is the place to be. Historic sights maybe? Then consider Iloilo!

This trip was indeed a blast. I couldn’t barely imagine before how it will be traveling with a big group but it turned out the best trip I could ever have. I’m so glad to have found new friends and will always treasure that experience.

Looking forward for our next escapade guys! It was really great to have met and tripped with you all.

Just like a deck of card, NBA players are in shuffle and taking their turn to sign to the team where they think they could perform well in the next season of NBA. We had been stunned by the decision of LeBron James recently to leave Cleveland and join Miami.

Now, Shaquille O’Neal has been reportedly signed a contract with Boston Celtics for the next season of NBA. But earlier than that, there are reports claiming that Shaq will not join Celtics because he is more interested on rejoining with LeBron James on Miami Heat team. 

If ever Shaq will join Celtics, then that’s the end of Lakers ruling on the court. Shaq could be a great addition to Celtics hall of famer. He could be the best player for the center position. Shaq has been gap filler from the past NBA seasons. He kept on hopping from one team to another to fill in whatever position needs to be filled.

On the other hand, if Shaq will join Miami Heat, he could be an addition to the three big players such as LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Imagine these three big players to play along with Shaq. This could be a great moment for Miami Heat.

Both Celtics and Heat are securing a championship victory on the next season. That is why it is really a big deal for them to select the right players. The next season of NBA could be interesting.

“We’re going to sell like crazy; we’re going to market like crazy.”, Microsoft CEO Ballmer said.

With the overnight success of Apple’s iPad, Microsoft is now going crazy to invade the tablet market. Well, obviously, the concept is the same as in the iPad tablet PC. The company had seen how Apple made billions of this tablet PC, and they are desperately working to target the market. As of now, the company’s top priority is to come up with a tablet product.

CEO Ballmer doesn’t disclosed the planned features and look of their tablet PC but expect that it is more likely the same as in iPad.
It’s not yet late for Microsoft to join the tablet market. With the inspiration set ahead by Apple, I am sure they can come up with a product that is more reliable than what Apple had started. This is either a make or break for the company. We don’t know yet if it over ride the success of Apple’s tablet PC or fall behind it.

Whatever it is, I am excited with the outcome of the competition, and I am even more excited about Miscrosoft’s tablet PC.

There are no further details about what to expect with his speech, but President Aquino said that it could be shocking.

“Hindi ako comfortable sabihin sa inyo ang detalye ngayon. Basta magugulat kayo sa natira…. masha-shock kayo”, the President said when asked about the message.

President Noynoy Aquino will about to tackle his plans for the country. There are 5 Big Revelations he will about to divulge on his speech regarding the past administration, and this is truly what people want to know.

If you are at school, or at work during this grand national event, which is SONA 2010, you can select from the links below to watch SONA 2010 via live streaming.

1. First 100 Days- a Yahoo News page which has been following Aquino’s administration on the first 100 days. You can watch the State of the Nation Address through this link: http://ph.promo.yahoo.com/purple-thumb/first100days

2.  ANC Live Events- The ABS-CBN news channel will also bring us fresh and actual happening for SONA 2010. You can watch it live through this link: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/ancliveevents

3. HAYAG Live- Another live streaming alternative which can be viewed online through this link: http://www.hayag.com/edremo11

No official words from Willie about this matter yet, not even from the ABS-CBN management. But Cristy Fermin, Willie’s closest friend and mother in show business, has recently divulge the information about the possible comeback of the noontime show host. According to Fermin, Willie had been in negotiation with ABS-CBN President Charo Santos to ironed things out. The noontime show host had spoken to Santos and ask for the forgiveness about his actions during the heat of the controversy. Although Fermin has confirmed Willie’s return, she can’t give the exact date as to when will this happen.

But Willie Revillame and ABS-CBN remain silent about this matter. No official declaration yet from both parties. And so, this information is still a speculation.,

Whatever is the negotiation between Willie and Charo, we don’t know yet, but as of this moment, no official or final agreement made yet.
ABS-CBN is very careful for this noontime show because this is their frontliner to their advertisers. It is a big deal who will handle the show because the success of the show relies on the hosts.

If ever Willie will never return to the show, he must be replaced with somebody more credible and more appealing to the public.