4 reasons why i like Guada's Villa

Tired from a 3-hour ride from Davao to General Santos City, I was determined to crawl into whatever surface that will allow me a few hours of sleep before the Blogfest 2.0 the following day.  Avel, Blogfest 2. organizer and Socksargen Bloggers leader, ushered us to this fab place that eventually charmed me that I wish it was my home sweet home. Below are the reasons why:

1. The Space

  Guada’s Villa is small enough for privacy and big enough to accommodate a big family.

The space is not crampy to accommodate families.  Three families could share the Villa.  The rooms are spacious enough for people to be comfortable even if there are more than eight people present.  It is spacious but not big enough to lose family members, especially rowdy children.

Zabadini Escapade

Apparently, everyone has heard of Zabadini except for me.  It was my first time in the persian restaurant and I instantly fell in love with the ambiance.  I love that we can sit on the carpet, play with the pillows and even eat on a low table as if we are cozily hanging out at home.  The restaurant manager told us that Zabadini means “Core of Goodness”…oh goody goody good.

Zabadini has its own in-house persian cat. he is 7 weeks old and flirty as hell. hehe

Lj's Graduation

My brother demanded that I be present in his kid’s graduation.  Normally, I’d be flattered, but he wants me there not as a guest but as his photographer. ugh!  When he first sent me a message, I did not answer.  To get his point across, he camped in my house and informed me we are to leave 9am the next day.  That’s the thing with little brothers — they are pretty insistent.

LJ is my little nephew who graduation in kindergarten last saturday. He was one of the students who graduated with merits.

Street Bubbles

I recently attended Discover Davao Photography Workshop by Jojie Alcantara and Rhonson Ng last March 19-20.  During the workshop Rhonson Ng showcased his photography works and one shot that captivated me was this photo of a person, on a sunset , blowing bubbles.  I said to myself that I would get one and opportunity came when my little brother invited me– well not really invited, but rather mandated me to take photos of his son graduating in – ehem – kindergarten.

National Bloggers Association (?)

A movement without structure cannot last. Fragmented movements self-destruct.  Eventually, bloggers will need to come together around particular issues. So, the formation of a National Bloggers Association (NBA) was no surprise. However, many bloggers across the Philippines find blogging personal not business.

The NBA was suggested in the aftermath of the "Big Bad Blogger Issue".  The issue concerned a marketing group earning hundreds of thousands of pesos by exploiting a blogger while paying him a only a few thousand pesos to gather fellow bloggers for events and encouraging them to write reviews. From this perspective, the unethical behaviour of the marketing group needs regulating.  They effectively sold the results achieved by the blogger without disclosing this and without fair compensation. So, was "Big Bad Blogger" really the culprit?  If anything, he is ignorant or naive--this blogger performed work without understanding the terms and the context undervalueing his worth as an "organizer" when the PR firm hired him not solely as a blogger but rather as a someone to deliver the results for their clients. 

•    Personal Blogging is self-regulating. I have learned new things in my few months as a president. When I proposed a code of ethics, a colleague told I that it was "over-thinking."  I heard nothing from my fellow officers.  No one complained but no one endorsed it either. I silently took it as their polite way of saying no. I ran through it and decided to scrap it.  It could be a useful instrument to persuade some bloggers to consider their actions more carefully--but in context, it was unnecessary.  That is how I view the manifesto now.  A majority of bloggers blog for their own pleasure. One's pleasure is private--you cannot regulate what's private.

•    The internet promotes opinion - not just facts.  You cannot regulate a person's opinion. If one writes opinion or fiction, if no one reads it,  who cares. If somebody is, and the reader's opinion proves to be more informed than the writer's, or is based on facts, the writer could be either embarrassed or face a lawsuit.

•    National Bloggers Association is a name that misleads.   The NBA manifesto serves only bloggers who earn significant incomes from blogging--but would disadvantage the majority of bloggers in the Philippines. An e-mail from an NBA organizer notes that income would be a factor considered for membership in the organization. Most bloggers do not earn from blogging.  Most bloggers blog to create an outlet for their creativity and care little about influencing the mainstream.   

•    An association for the select few - the content and context of a blogger matters. Political commentary should be held to a different standard than restaurant reviews.  Likewise, accountability varies according to your subject matter and the number of readers.  If a group of people create an association to improve political or tech or any bloggers whose posts require rigorous fact checking, that would be great.  These associations will be embraced as they support bloggers who wish to create a more professional niche blog. But these associations do not represent the bloggers as a whole.

•    One country, one blogging community - it is not. The beauty and the curse of blogging is each blogger is his/her own community.  There are many opinions and this is powerful.  You do not want to minimize this voice. 

The proposed National Bloggers Association has raised concern among a variety of bloggers and readers for different reasons: 

1.    Organizers were mainly from Luzon.  A "national organization" connotes representation from different  parts of the Philippines, from existing blogging communities with delegates or representatives of their their local organization.  No representations from Cagayan de Oro Bloggers, Davao Bloggers, Socksargen Bloggers, Zamboanga, Ilo-Ilo, Buikidnon, and Iligan were asked to participate or even concurr with the proposed organization.

2.    Blogging communities from Visayas and Mindanao were offended by this action--forming NBA without genuine consultation. It reminds us of the days of Imperial Manila.  Blogging communities from these areas are well-established and highly organized (whilst we have never heard of "Manila Bloggers")--  Socksargen Bloggers spearheaded the well celebrated Blogfest 2011 where more than 150 bloggers converged and has just finished the Socksargen Experience Tour (SEX Tour) where bloggers from different areas flew in to Gen San to take part in this activity.  Davao Bloggers, under Ms. Ria Jose's presidency last year, organized WordCamp2010 in Manila with 300+ attendees, the highest number of people attending wordcamp worldwide.  For 2011,  DavaoBloggers has  participated in Demystifying Postmodernism, a forum tackling women's issues, embarked on a Tagum Photo Safari, celebrated the 3rd International Rondalla with the city government of Tagum, and through Avatar Media, will cover the Davao Food Appreciation Tour with other bloggers from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

3.    Blogging communities suspect they were not consulted because one of the founding members is the head of Mindanao Bloggers.  Most conclude a misunderstanding has happened and maybe an assumption existing that blogging communities in Mindanao may be under Mindanao Bloggers Group and that it is rightfully representing these communities.  Mindanao Bloggers Group does not represent Davao Bloggers, Cagayan de Oro Bloggers, Socksargen Bloggers, Zamboanga Bloggers, Ilo-Ilo Bloggers, and Iligan bloggers, or any blogging community in Mindanao.

4.    The issuance of draft was only sent to select bloggers.  

5.    It was labeled: Not for circulation.

Filipino Accent Tutorial by Mikey Bustos

I find this video interesting.  It's amazing how simple, and funny, things like this sheds light to some trivial little misconceptions.  Yes, it was done in jest and what he talks about may not be accurate but it paints a certain picture as to why pinoys' accent, sometimes, is such.

1. Spanish colonialism - 300 years of spanish colonialism added influence to the pinoy's persepective and language.  The spanish language is heavily mandated by accent.  Words ending in a vowel; n or s are stressed on the first syllable -- e.g. libro, mesa, lunes.  Words ending in consonant (not N and S), the stress is on the last syllable -- e.g. papel, verdad

2. The Filipino Alphabet - Alibata,  our very own alphabet do not have an F or a TH

LIWANAG SA DILIM: Rivermaya Live in Davao

A Benefit Concert for SOS Children's Village

Date: March 12, 2011 | Time: 7:30pm

Venue: CAP Auditorium

featuring Davao artists to open

Jad Montenegro

Lem Manalo

Baby Boomers Band
(qualified for the 2nd leg of the Pilipinas  Got Talent)

Ticket prices:

P250-P450-P850

Contact:

0999 596 1445 (Smart)

0922 970 1222 (Sun)

0915 710 1686 (Globe)

Ticket Outlets:

GUI (Gmall, 3rd flr)

8telcom Victoria Plaza (Ground flr)

8telcom NCCC Mall (3rd flr)

Cube Pixels Design Studio (Wheel's N More Compound, JP Laurel Avenue, Davao city)

Penong's Buhangin

Paterno's Restaurant (Roxas Avenue, Davao city)

Davao Bloggers visit Tagum

Davao Bloggers were fortunate enough to get invited to the 3^rd International Rondalla and 10^th Musikahan Festival in Tagum this month of February.  Our experience in Tagum was a series of new and adventurous learning as we discovered what Tagum City has become.

We started off in a fun photo caravan with other Tagum photographers as the City Information Office (CIO) spearheaded by City Information Officer III Edwin B. Lasquite toured us around to take photos of the city and its spots.  Being located far from the shoreline and with no integral scenic spots to boast off, Tagum decided to create parks and festivals to attract guests and visitors.  Now boasting 14 festivals in a year and parks all throughout the city, so many that even the public cemetery has one, Tagum was able to create happenings to boost business and tourism.

For the month of February, Tagum is celebrating Musikahan sa Tagum 2011: Iisang Himig, Pandaigdigang Pagkakaysa.  The Music Festival is from Feb 11-20. 

The music festival was a showcase of different string bands from different countries, choral groups, marching brass bands, rondalla artists, drum-bugle-and-lyre corps and artists specializing in wind and string instruments, as well as percussionists from its nearby contingents with around 5,000 people participating and competing in the 10^th Musikahan Festival and (12) twelve countries sending their international delegates to Tagum to play in the 3^rd International Rondalla Festival – Cuerdas sa Pagkakaysa.

3^rd International Rondalla Festival: Cuerdas sa Pagkakaysa

The rondalla festival is a celebration of the great plucked string tradition of nations of the world.  International delegates from China, India, Indonesia, Israel, Iran, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and USA came to Tagum City to perform their individual repertoire. 

Cities from the different parts of the Philippines sent representatives and Tagum’s very own National Comprehensive High School Rondalla Group participated as well.  Tagum City National Comprehensive High School Rondalla Group performed in the 2010 World Expo in China and, for five days, showcased their talents in the Philippine Pavilion.

Aside from the concerts, the festival also has exhibits, outreach performances, seminars, interactive music clinics, and repertoire exchange to name just a few.  The 1^st  International Rondalla was hosted in Naga City last 2004 and the 2^nd in Dumaguete last 2007. 

This festival was organized to create a bond with different countries in pursuit of peace and understanding amongst the world’s cultures through music.

Tagum City has indeed showed the ingenuity of how Filipinos create opportunities when there seems to be none.   And in effect, the government created a different attraction focused not on city tourist spots but rather on the unique experiences of every visitor.

For instance, I could almost always not remember the places I’ve been to, but I can vividly remember how it feels to be in Tagum.  How beautiful the river ride was, how exciting the night market as it sparkled with life and business late in the night. How flavorful the food and how friendly the people. How great and festive the city as it buzzed with colorful parades and with music echoing in every part of the locale.

We became part of many activities, witnessed different performances, got awed by local talents and met different people as everyone gathered to celebrate music in the city.

International and National press groups sent reporters and media groups to cover the festivities providing us bloggers some first hand learning experience by observing and interacting with these people we only have heard of.

We were so fortunate that on our last day, we were able to meet the National Editorial Team of Philippine Daily Inquirer in Secret Garden, a cool restaurant with no legitimate address (no kidding! – you just say at the back of Tagum Doctors) as introduced by Tagum CIO III Edwin B. Lasquite.

This festival was not only about celebrating but rather a symbolism of how the city government is localizing art and access to music by sponsoring Music scholarships and creating community-focused cultural groups that enables even local barangay residents to perform and improve their talents through interactive learning and performances.

Davao Bloggers were humbled and grateful to be part of Tagum’s progress as a city and to experience first hand as it came alive in its festivities and colorful celebration of art, music, and (as Ms. Universe candidates say it) world peace.

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Special thanks to Olan Emboscado and Tagum PIO Edwin Lasquite