Christmas party and dance

Christmas had just arrived in the city. In this country where it is celebrated the longest in the world, it also means parties and more parties! This Christmas party is graced with the talents of little girls performing a Hawaiian dance number. Actually, they were the daughters of my childhood classmate. She often did the same during her elementary days too.

showbiz showdown!

Here is one of the, er, screaming scenarios from a basketball showdown with moviestars held in a downtown gym last Dec. 5. With 12 gorgeous showbiz hunks shooting it out in a court, what else do you expect?

Missed it? Too bad, wanna part 2?

talents, talents

Recently, a Writers' Night was held at a university in the city sponsored by the NBDB (National Book Development Board) for the 13th Book Development Month with the special participation of the Davao Writers Guild and other local talents.

And whoa, were there talents!






Aside from the "seat-glue" readings of DWG members,









the university's choir group also rendered their ethereal voices. Nice, very nice.





Then there's the performances of a theatrical group led by their painter-writer-musician choreographer, and so do other talents from the city, including dance interpretation performances from another university north of downtown. Great!

basketball showdown with moviestars!

plug-in :)

SPCT87 Promotions

Presents






ALL STARS BASKETBALL SHOWDOWN!

Featuring:

Movie stars Basketball team
Philip Salvador, Joros Gamboa, Dennis Padilla, Ian Veneracion, Joko Diaz, Jestoni Alarcon, Carlos Morales, Onyok Velasco,Jong Helario,Patrick de la Rosa,Jordan Herrera

VS

SPCT ALL STARS

Plus exhibition game of CMO versus Fabian’s Catering

DEC. 5,(Saturday), 2009 5:00PM @ the Holy Cross of Davao College Gymnasium
Tickets: P100.00 General Admission/ P300-VIP



For tickets contact 0917.7189878 / 0919.5050161





For the benefit of the children of KARDAMS Inc. (Kabatan-onan nga Aktibo ug Responsableng Dabawenyo Andam Moalagad sa Sosyodad)


Major Sponsors

THE ROYAL MANDAYA HOTEL REP. ISIDRO UNGAB
HARI ROYAL SUITES GRAND MEN SENG HOTEL
VICE GOV. RAMIL GENTUGAYA FABIAN’S CATERING
BANGKA BUFFET RESTAURANT AQUABEST
JS DAVTRADE INTERNATIONAL JCR PRINTING PRESS
EOS-JR FIRST ENTERPRISES TANDUAY
MR.ERNARD & MRS. ARLENE STEINER



Minor Sponsors

Chowking Victoria Plaza branch Mayor Rody Duterte
New Hope Trading SPCT87 USA Ladies
St. Joseph Technical School Academy EMCOR
DMMA Atty. Nonoy Villa-Abrille
Ms. Jocelyn Moreno Allan Alforque Saloon
Cecil’s Snack Inn Uraya Land Development Inc.
Chippens Garden Oases Resort and Restaurant
Bureau of Customs Mayor Zander Khan
Ms. Ratna Wangkay



Benefactors

Kar Asia Inc. 5 Star Surplus
Joji Ilagan-Bian Center Gian’s Breakfast Club
Marie’s Fastfood L and D Function and Catering Services
Hon. Mabel Acosta Green Valley Enterprises
Metrolifestyle Gym and Spa Three N One Trading
NUG Trading Third I Construction
F Avala Construction

free wifi!

This popular mall south of the downtown area recently offered free wifi access to mallers

burger with wifi

This is the outdoor ambiance of a popular Philippine-based burger joint in the downtown area, succesful enough to expand its branches to other countries. This branch offers free wifi access to consumers.

chinatown arch

This is the Peace Gateway Arch, the 3rd such arch built in the chinatown district of the city (the other two being Unity and Friendship archs). Recently, a cultural show for the town's first Chinese Mid-Summer Autumn Festival was held here. Davao's Chinatown district is said to be the country's (or even the world's) largest, covering about 44 hectares of the downtown area.

ridiculous traffic

Not everything in Davao is seeming 'paradise' though. In Toril, a populated district about 15kms. south of downtown, ridiculous traffic jams tend to occur despite being a comparably small town in size primarily due to ploriferation of "trisikads" (a combination of prefix tri being three-wheeled and vernacular "sikad," meaning "to pedal"), an ingenious passenger vehicle contraption composed of motorcycle and sidecar with just an umbrella for roof, clogging the major roads. Supposedly, these are not allowed to ply along major streets, but a local politician was said to be behind the unchecked proliferation of their numbers for his credit business interest (it's illegal for public officials to do so) that demand exorbitant rates for the motorcycle loan, forcing its debtors to defy the prohibition of plying major streets to make ends meet and pay for debts. The dilemma occuring in Toril streets seemed a contradiction of Davao trying to project an image as one of the more disciplined cities in the country.

exotic flora

Being in a typhoon-free zone and having volcanic rich soil, Davao is host to varied flora profusely growing around the city that range from endemic waling-waling orchid to exotic dragon fruit and imported strawberries. Here also are some strange, exotic ornamental plants I witnessed during the agri-trade fair held during the Kadayawan Festival:

indigenized

The Kadayawan celebration often showcases the proud indigenous cultures that flourish in the Davao region as witnessed in exhibits and performances. The ethnic culture had predated and survived the country's pre-colonial era that spanned for many centuries. This indigenous contribution further enriches the city's already varied mix of cultures contributed by pioneering migrants from the Visayas and Luzon, such that Davao is dubbed with an "indigenized" culture, in contrast to the rest of the country with its "colonized" culture.

floral floats

On 3rd sundays of August, revelers in the city are treated with floral float parade as one of the major attractions of the Kadayawan Festival. The competing floats must be made of orchid and various flowers, leaves, vegetables, fruit skins and other indigenous materials found in the region. These are some pics of the floats.

nature fair

The ongoing trade fair located at the back of a Mall south of the city showcased colorful varieties of plants celebrating nature's bounty in this fertile region. Some of the exotic plant species may perhaps even be witnessed as one's first encounter of its kind. The 24th Kadayawan Festival is ongoing in the city.

pangil

This croc, aptly named as "Pangil," which means fangs, one of the main attractions of a crocodile park just few minutes drive from downtown, is considered to be the country's largest captive crocodile with a whooping length of 18 feet. To elicit excitement among the crowds, the caretaker would deliberately poke at it, causing the irritated predator (wonders what he thinks) to swish its powerful tail for a dose of their unceremonious bath.

animal parade

I witnessed an amusing "parade" at the People's Park fish pond weeks ago: it composed a pair of resident ducks waddling about and behind a colorful alignment of kois and carps following them.



The ducks were busy targetting out every human park goer peeking by the banks, looking for some food dole-out. The animals seemd to be into some form of mutual agreement where the ducks get the food tossed up by amused parkgoers while the fishes feast out on the crumbs. Nice deal.

Mother Nature gave me a gift!

Today, Sunday, this afternoon after my illustration of a chick on a nest for our writers group's supplementary literary page was printed in a Davao newspaper, Mother Nature gave me a gift!






The awesome gift was just that, a fluttering chick fresh from its nest that I perched right in my very hands! During those amazing, ethereal, infinite minutes, I befriended the chick that eventually allowed me to pick it up, it then flew somehow on my shoulder, from which I perched it up again in my hands, and I savored every precious second of this unforgettable moment!












We gazed at each other, me acting elated and overwhelmed, and it acting curious, and as the afternoon sky finally loomed overhead, my friend chick chirped excitedly as if to translate, "hey it's really gonna be late, and I really hav'ta go!" and off my little friend flew, as butterflies suddenly appeared and fluttered everywhere.

I'm gonna call my little feathery friend as Swswt! And haha, you have to whistle to pronounce it!

live band interactive

This is a live band performance in a resto-bar located in Rizal Street. The singer on the pic however, was my highschool batchmate who rendered a song for my birthday as the band got interactive with the audience. His performance was energized enough to wake my other batchmate up who had previously dozed off from booze, and earned applauses from other audiences.

The resto-bar also offers free wifi.

free wifi!

This hotspot is located a block away from the front entrance of the popular People's Park. It's a bit of a tranquil part of a downtown area just a walk away from a large downtown mall. Just try chasing the hotspot signal located near a small hospital.

agong house

Just a few hundred meters from Camp Sabros, also in Kapatagan, Davao del Sur, is an eccentric-looking residence built by a popular Davao based artist. It is called the Agong House with its shape inspired from an "agong," a musical bronze drum usually used by most indigenouse peoples of Mindanao. The house is a sculptural work of art in itself, with added practicality of providing living quarters in it using the principles of organic architecture. It used to be a private resthouse of the artist, but throngs of curious onlookers just cannot be prevented from entering the compound and interacting with this Art.

Virtually the artist made the whole compound into one giant canvas, with sulptures, other artworks and even a big slide incorporated into the landscape, and made interactive for everyone. The place so inspired my Aunt that she sang spiritual songs upon leaving the place. This is a recommended place to visit together with Camp Sabros. Assuredly it makes the 2 hour trip from Davao City somehow complete.

swiss alps?

Guess I really need to post pics outside the city's outskirts. I already added up "outskirts too" in the blog theme. Some nearby places just can't be left on the sidelines.





This one is taken from the Swiss alps...NOT.

It is actually in Kapatagan, Davao del Sur particularly in Camp Sabros, known for its ziplines about 2 hours drive of scenic overlooking mountain ranges that culminates with a magnificent view of Mt. Apo, the country's highest peak.

In the camp one takes a zip ride of his/her life amidst pine trees and cool mountain breeze thousands of feet above sea level. It used to hold the record of the country's longest zipline, but it is contested by another zipline in the city that claims to be the longest in Asia. Now they're trying to get back again, this time with attempt to challenge that record.

highway sculpture

Here's a massive sculpture under construction along the Marilog highway just hundreds of meters from the waterfalls. The statue portrays a member of one of Davao's indigenous tribes, sitting in "lotus position" and holding the famous fruit that Davao is known for, the Durian with a symbolic figure of a child on it. There are also other interesting sculptures beneath the statue to stimulate one's mind.

interesting waterfalls

This interestingly shaped waterfalls is, interestingly also, still part of the city's vast boundaries. It is located in cool Marilog district, about an hour and a half drive from the downtown area and elevated at about 3000ft.

high resort

This popular mountain resort along the mountain range boundary of the city at nearly 3000 feet above sea level and offers breathtaking views of the Davao landscape as well as its surrounding islands and the Gulf. Its pine tree filled sprawling compound offers various attractions such as pool and cottages, trips to its organic farms, some resident peacocks, and a zipline among others.

high-end construction

This high-end subdivision project is, literally, just that. It is located high above at around 3000 feet above sea level, at the edge of the city's western mountain range boundary. The place is known for stunning panoramic views and cool mountain climate as evident with the profusion of pine trees in the area. Although it is many kilometers away from the downtown area, the place is still part of Davao City. Despite the looming global recession, the city seems to be on the upswing for construction projects.

mushrooming condo

Condominium projects are mushrooming in the city after the succesful stint by a developer some years ago due to rising demand of such investments. This condominium construction is located in the western tip of the downtown area,advantageously located near government institutions, the bustling downtown, parks and a museum. The city has among the highest number of approved building permits in the country.

2nd chinatown arch

This is the city's 2nd Chinatown arch progressively worked in 3 days duration. It is being constructed full blast in time for the Chinese new Year Celebration.

Davao will celebrate the country's first Chinese New Year Festival as the Mayor signed the executive order that created an executive committee for the said event.

The city also has the country's biggest Chinatown, covering about 44 hectares of the downtown area.

free wifi!

This spot is on a popular mall south of the city, in Ecoland area.

chinatown street

This is one of the major streets in Chinatown district. Davao City's Chinatown is considered to be the biggest in the country in terms of land area. It is also gearing up for the country's 1st Chinese New Year Festival that will run for a week, replete with nightly cultural dances and songs, as well as night market.

The city's firecracker ban however, will still be imposed. Instead, revelers will be watching fireworks display via widescreen live from China.

season in malls

Malls in the city were flooded with shoppers and strollers during last year's holiday season as they watch feature shows and avail of bargain prices from price offs and midnight sales.