Bisaya Bloggers

Last weekend, I was in Tagaytay City to attend MediaNation5.2, where there gathered the country’s top journalists and media decision-makers. In the words of the event’s organizer and host, pagbabago@pilipinas, MediaNation is the only forum in the Philippines where mainstream media organizations come together as one.

It’s a coincidence that I am actually part of Davao media (Edge Davao Business Weekly), but I was invited particularly as a representative of MindanaoBloggers. My task was to present to the assembly about New Media, and what it might mean to the practice of traditional media. Also, together with other Mindanao-based representatives, I was asked to provide input on how I perceive Manila-based media covers Mindanao news.

I missed Kadayawan 2008 for this conference, but I don’t regret it one bit.

MediaNation was a very eye-opening and fulfilling experience for me. ‘Eye-opening’ because I was given a glimpse of the world of mainstream media, and so the experience has allowed me to understand and appreciate its workings. And ‘fulfilling’ because the whole exercise has made me more insightful, introspective and inspired.

What’s more, a major network has invited me to start blogging for them — exciting!!

I’m excited about what’s next for MindanaoBloggers, and where I will find myself with it in the near future. I’ve been thinking of doing more events that are both blogging-related and socially-oriented, and now I’m inspired to forge ahead with those plans.

Contrary to expectation, I had a very enjoyable and restful stay in Cebu — exactly what I’d come here for. The Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City provided a relaxing respite for a stressed-out worker bee who hadn’t had a vacation in more than a year!

The Waterfront in Lahug is one of the largest hotels in Metro Cebu. The property has a total of 561 guest rooms, in all of 18 floors. In the picture, I wasn’t just posing — they really do have wireless Internet access in all of their rooms. They also have free Wifi at the expansive lobby.

Attached to the hotel is a convention center, where large-scale events such as the Philippine Ad Congress have been held. The Waterfront is also home to PAGCOR — it’s one of the largest in the Philippines, if I’m not mistaken. If you’d like to try your luck, have a go at the hundreds of slot machines or card tables that they have.

What I appreciate the most about the hotel is its location. It’s a stone’s throw away from the AsiaTown I.T. Park, where, aside from the prerequisite high-tech firms, there are nice shops and leisure establishments. The hotel is also just a 40-peso taxi ride away from the Ayala Center, Cebu’s newest mall and entertainment complex.

I think I spent half my time in Cebu at Ayala. After all, I came here for a much-deserved vacation, so I didn’t feel compelled to ply the touristy route. (I couldn’t avoid running into a potential business project, though… but I’m not complaining!)

There wasn’t enough time to sample the myriad culinary offerings of the Queen City, but I did get to try some proudly Cebu-grown restaurants. Lunch one day at Roma•mia, an Italian chain, was a very tasty cup (the size of a small bowl) of minestrone, and a platter of spaghetti, pizza and chicken. Also tried Pier One @ The Walk, but the food wasn’t all that impressive; we wanted to try Mooon (yep, 3 o’s), which is below Pier One, but each time we went they had a long waitlist.

A fusion-food place, oh georg!, was a treat. I regret that I didn’t take note of the dishes we had, but all of them were really good! It’s at the ground floor of Ayala Center, sitting between two wings called Paseo Ciudad and Paseo Marina.

Outside The Walk (which is inside the I.T. Park) is a restaurant that we used to have in Davao, but originated in Zamboanga. As expected, the grilled delicacies of Alavar de Cebu was sinfully delectable. Their Alavar Rice — a cup of high-grade rice swimming in a plateful of aligui (crab fat) — was to die for!

I also had a pleasant get-together with bloggers of Cebu at Bo’s Coffee Club on Osmeña Avenue. The Bo’s brand is originally from Cebu, and there are currently two franchisees in Davao; in Cebu, there are countless branches of this homegrown café.

My stay in Cebu City has been quite satisfying. I wish I could remain for a few more days, but I really don’t need to. My relaxing and rejuvenating stay is enough to allow me to look forward to another trip to the capital of the Visayas.

As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, the last time I was here in Cebu was eons ago. I don’t even remember much of how Cebu looked like then. But how it looks like now — wow! It’s pretty amazing.

I went to Ayala Center to meet with a friend who’d arrived from Manila yesterday, and we had lunch at a nice restaurant in the mall (place called oh georg! — good food, I must say). The whole place felt like Makati or Ortigas… but not really.

There are high-end boutiques and shops that we don’t have in Davao… people are more stylish in the way they carry themselves… there are more foreigners around who look like they live here… And, of course, the Cebuano language is quite pervasive.

Some say that Cebu is trying to be like Metro Manila. But I seriously doubt that. This metropolis is like the national capital region in that it is an amalgamation of several cities, but the similarity ends there. Cebu has a character all her own.

The last time I was in Cebu was… I don’t remember! It’s been so long ago already… Well, I’m flying tomorrow and will be back in Davao on the 30th.

The original purpose of my trip was to contribute to a journalists’ conference called Media Nation. Unfortunately, the organizers have postponed the event, giving Ces Drilon’s kidnapping as the reason. Yeah, I know, she’s been released already. Go figure!

The purpose of Media Nation, as I was told, was to discuss the Mindanao issue: particularly, the lack of media exposure of the real situation in Mindanao. The organizers’ postponement of the event is a surprising, yet typical, reaction to happenings in Mindanao. They said they needed to “process” the kidnapping (even though it was clear that Ms. Drilon was going to be released already). And the postponement was made more than a week after the kidnapping. Curious, isn’t it?

How serious about the true image of Mindanao are these Metro Manila-based media people, really?

Anyway, I’m still going to Cebu. My ticket’s non-refundable, and, while re-booking is possible, the Media Nation organizers cannot yet tell me when it will be held… Cebu Pacific’s airfare is dirt cheap, but there’s no way of booking an open ticket!

Besides, I’ve already set a get-together with Visayas bloggers. I’m going to meet with them on Sunday, 29 June, thanks to Winston, who arranged this informal meet-up. Winston and I thought of doing this so that we could share the MB experience with our Cebuano counterparts. I’d also like to take this opportunity to tell them about WordCamp Philippines. Hopefully, some of them will be able to attend.

I’m looking forward to staying at Waterfront Hotel in Lahug! I’ll blog about that, for sure.

I’ve been in the nation’s capital since the 2nd of June, and I have 2 more days to go before I go back to my beloved Davao. However, I’m not really all that excited to go back just yet. In fact, I feel like extending my stay here for another week or so!

Being in Metro Manila makes me feel I’m in the center of things, that’s why. I made this trip to put in motion the organizing of WordCamp Philippines 2008 — that’s still for September, but I needed to touch base with our collaborators and sponsors, and to visit the venue.

I actually had only two or three sponsors in my schedule, but ever since I got here, I’ve been able to get more people interested in WordCamp! That’s what I mean by being in the center: things get done fairly quickly or at least directly, and everything around you is a-buzz with activity.

There was also a chance for me to land a client while staying in Metro Manila. It was a case of being in the right place at the right time — something that happens not too often in Davao. I mean, there’s just so much opportunity here!

I remember feeling exactly this way back in 2005 when I was living in Makati and working on a couple of Japanese-language translation projects. I came for only one, but got the other one thanks to a talk on managing translation projects that I gave during my stay.

Not that Davao is too far away… but it is far away from where the real action is. Still, I look forward to going home this Sunday. At least, I got another shot-in-the-arm experience to keep me alert and rarin’ to do more!

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Ang Dabawenyo will be flying to Manila again, and the trip will be related to blogging again. Only recently I was in the nation’s capital for iBlog4, but I didn’t stay long enough to enjoy the respite. This time I’ll be staying for a few extra nights.

I’d expected that a friend of mine in Makati would put me up for the week, but that’s not going to happen after all. So, I thought I’d just look for an inexpensive hotel or inn. Come to think of it, it’s a whole lot better to not have to impose on anyone — and to avoid having to adjust either.

My flight is this Monday, and I found out about my sudden lack of accommodation only today. As I’d never had to stay very often in hotels in Manila, I had no idea where to book. Well, I got my airline ticket via the Cebu Pacific online reservation system, so why not do the same for a hotel room?

Seeing TripAdvisor and Kayak.com come out all the time on my Google Ads, I decided to check them out for ideas of hotel rates and accommodations facilities. You see, I didn’t want to go to big-name hotels, because I’m on a budget here. Both online travel-agency-type sites, however, couldn’t find a suitable place for me.

There’s another one, HotelsCombined.com, which I’m now using to try and look for budget hotels in Makati. I like their interface, and the fact that they have online booking. Sadly, though, they only list “Manila” and all the properties fall under that. I find that I can’t do a more refined geographical search over there.

But I did find an inn in Quezon City through HotelsCombined, and I didn’t see this in the other sites.

I haven’t decided yet, though. I just might end up staying with relatives…

Anyway, the purpose of my Manila trip is to set WordCamp Philippines in motion. I’ll be meeting with collaborators and sponsors, as well as do a visual inspection of the venue.

Landed in Davao City a couple of hours ago. I must say, although I love living in Davao, the less-than-a-week stint in the capital felt like it was cut short (although I actually extended my stay a few days). It had been nearly 3 years since I’d been to Manila before this trip, and it felt like I wasn’t able to do enough catching-up.

Still, the six days were productive. I was able to recruit some talented contributors to my current project, PinoyTech.TV, and I was able to touch base with my long-time friends in the industry, like Janette and Richard Eldridge of Infinit-O.

I actually came close to extending my stay… but my wallet was grumbling already. If you’re in Manila and you don’t have a clear itinerary or set schedule, you’ll find your resources getting drained faster than you planned. Since I’d decided to make the trip only a week before, that’s exactly what happened to me. Not that I’m complaining, really. I mean, on the whole, it was all worth it.

Arriving in Davao, the cool breeze was refreshingly welcoming, and the pull of free-wifi-enabled coffee shops beckoned to me almost instantly (yep, iniinggit ko kayo, guys! hehehe!). But I’m already missing some things in Manila: Fully Booked, the bookstore that occupies one entire building; the plethora of shops and restaurants; and the opportunity to cement close friendships with some bloggers I’ve come to know.

Well, there’s always the Internet, and the next trip to the Metro.

Oh yeah, it was great to see a lot of interest in Davao during the iBlog4 Summit. I hope this will translate to more Manila-based bloggers coming to Davao for blogging events this year!

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I’m flying to Manila tomorrow and will stay there till the 30th. It’s been more than two years that I haven’t been to the capital! The last time was in 2005 when I lived there for half the year to take care of a couple of business projects. How time flies!

I look forward to reconnecting with old friends in Makati, and to meet new ones during the iBlog4 Conference on the 26th. That’s going to be at the UP Diliman campus. Meaning, I’m going to see my alma mater on the way — it’s been ages since I last saw the Ateneo de Manila. I wonder if I’ll still recognize it…

Leaving at 7AM via Cebu Pacific. It’s so easy to book flights now via this airline’s online reservation system. It even has a way for you to change your bookings, all painlessly accomplished online. Well, the fees aren’t all that painless, though: P560 to rebook a flight?? Sheesh…

I can’t say I’m very excited to go to Metro Manila. The traffic, the pollution, the throng, the hugeness of the metropolis… Even if I’ve lived there, I could never get used to the place. If only I could stay put in Makati! Still, Manila has her charms.

There’s this article that my aunt emailed me about the place: City on the Edge of Forever. It’s rather long, but I recommend you read it to the very end. It’s a romantic and yet grounded account of the city. Reading it made me wish I could write that way about Davao!

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