Fresh Tuna and Salmon Sashimi from GenSan

Kuya paid a surprise visit today with a box full of fresh fish from GenSan! Wow! Wow! Wow!

He said he had just arrived from GenSan and managed to buy some tuna and salmon sashimi, tuna panga and tuna belly. They were still surprisingly frozen so I put some of the sashimi in front of a fan to thaw.

Fifteen minutes later I busted out some of Mom's serving plates and Kuya arranged the sashimi. I was so excited since it's been years since I had fresh tuna from GenSan. Woohoo!

And that's all we ate for dinner. Just like those times we'd eat at a Japanese buffet in Singapore. We finished five packs of tuna and salmon. Good thing we always have wasabi and Lee Kum Kee premiums soy sauce. Yaaaas!

Thanks for the treat Kuya!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Third Life: the GenSan and Lake Sebu Adventure

I finally went home exactly a month ago and promptly lost any free time to blog. It's amazing though how being closer to family and friends contribute to faster recovery. When I went home a month ago I was huffing and puffing all over the place (getting off the plane and walking to the baggage area was like running a marathon for me) and the heat was just terrible. Eventually though with a lot of encouragement from Sweetie, Mom and Miguel, I slowly adjusted back to my regular routine -- work and domestic chores.

Getting up and down a flight of stairs was a huge achievement for me. I had to re-learn quickly since I went to GenSan on the third week of April and local airports usually don't have passenger tubes to walk on. I was just really happy to see my friends and the communities I work with. They took care of me really well (thanks Avel and Chelle!) and it was a relief to have Doc Remo around all the time (in case of emergency!).

Aside from visiting GenSan for some events we also went to Lake Sebu to visit the school Nanardzx chose as his beneficiary when he won the GDG Map Your Town competition last year. Lake Sebu Central Elementary School is located high up in the mountains in Lake Sebu, about 2 hours away from GenSan. The people were so warm and lovely (thank you Mrs. Manalac!) and I just wish we can do more to help.

It's always been my dream to try on the T'boli traditional attire (this is because my best friend stayed there for about a month when we were teenagers) and so I did! They fixed me up like a princess! (I loved the outfit so much I bought it hehe).

My doctor said during my check up last weekend that my heart is finally clear of unnecessary fluids, but I need to work on my stamina. So I'm doing well but need to listen to my body. I still feel the some odd pain at times (especially when it's hot) but I'm happy I don't need to drink any painkiller or maintenance medicine. My concentration has been a lot better and I think my family and team is benefiting from this (I hope!). Hopefully by end of May my stamina will be back so I could travel on my own and visit my many friends across Southeast Asia!

(Oh, do notice that G+ commenting has been enabled on my blog!). 

BlogFest Soccsksargen, Experiencing the Funnest Bloggers in Mindanao

It seems just like yesterday when I joined DigitalFilipino's Women in Web, Wireless and Outsourcing roadshow in 2006. It was a trip where we went to Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Cebu to talk about what businesses could do on the internet. It was during that trip that I met with the Davao internet community, organized by Andrew. I was still finding my way around my job back then so I just made a suggestion that they come together as a community. They did and that community has grown throughout Mindanao.

I'm really happy that the local internet community in Mindanao thrived and flourished and I try to come and attend their events whenever they send me an invitation. And this year I was invited again to speak at the BlogFest Soccskargen. I thought I would not be able to go in person and was just planning to join them via Google Hangout, so I surprised them and told Avel that I was flying in.

True enough, the Sox Bloggers, known to be the funnest bloggers in Mindanao, put together 2 awesome events. BlogFest Soccskargen had a line-up of bigatin speakers. I hope I was able to convey a couple of opportunities for the Mindanao bloggers through my talk.

In the evening, I got to attend the Philippine Blog Awards - Mindanao leg. The ceremonies outside of the awards night in Manila are usually straightforward. We all got a big surprise though when Donna, the host, introduced each award category in the most fashionable and entertaining manner. Everyone in the room was laughing and I must say that the fatigue I was feeling was wiped away (I was already up at 3 in the morning so I could make it to the 5 am flight).

Well, I'd like to make a correction to the Sox Bloggers slogan (if I may) because they are the funnest bloggers in the Philippines!



Congratulations Sox Bloggers, especially to Avel and Orman, for another very successful event!  (I hope someone would upload Donna's fabulous performance!).

Experience Mindanao

Once I was in the office abroad a colleague of mine approached me and showed me the newspaper. The headline was about bombing somewhere in Mindanao. She asked me if it was that way always in our country. I quickly dispelled her view about Mindanao and I even said I really wanted to live in Davao (that's true!).

That incident made me sad. It also made me remember another colleague's story about his homeland, Pakistan. It was a very similar story. It's a PR nightmare for people who live there. Why? Because with the negative opinion about the region they won't be able to encourage tourists to go, much less invest. And one needs investments for progress.

I've been going to the Visayas and Mindanao region often in the past 5 years and from my observation, the Visayas region (specifically Cebu) has grown by leaps and bounds. There's been change in the Mindanao region (specifically Davao), but not as fast as what I've seen in Cebu. I'm basing this on construction growth because it's the most obvious one to observe.

I went to Davao and GenSan last weekend for the 2nd Mindanao Bloggers Summit. I eagerly said yes to Avel when he sent me the invitation. I love going to Mindanao because it's so different there. Everybody's open, friendly and accommodating. I told Arbet while we were chatting during MBS that Mindanao bloggers are definitely more pro-active than their counterparts anywhere else. Why? Because they have limited resources and as Mayor Acharon said, "We have to be more resilient."

I have no doubt that the bloggers who attended the Mindanao Bloggers Summit would definitely help in changing the mindset of people about their region. It will not happen overnight, but it will happen.

And if you have not visited the region, you should! Here are some video blogs I did about Davao and GenSan.





More details about the trip at LakwatseraAko (Davao and Gensan)