Eye am going back to Jakarta!

One of my current fave bands will be playing in Indonesia! Will be watching.

A talk about journalism at the University of Perpetual Help

Sometime in January this year, I received an invitation to speak at the University of Perpetual Help by Bianca Saldua. We became friends during the last NCAA basketball season while she was working as a courtside reporter for the Altas and while I was covering the league basketball tournament for Business Mirror. 

She sat in my Intro to Journ class in Ateneo and soon after that she invited me for a seminar in her school. And accepting it was a good decision because I thought that meeting people and making new friends is always a great and rewarding experience. Definitely a highlight for the month of February (it was on the 23rd and I was the first speaker).

My talk centered on new media and how to take advantage of it for one's career. I juxtaposed it with personal experiences while offering tips on how to approach the work (which is equal parts fun).

Roadtrip: Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental

My recent trip to Bacolod wasn’t all football. On match day (yes, I know, I shouldn’t have done this but Ton Gatmaitan was insistent), we took a sidetrip to Don Salvador Benedicto. The area is the summer capital of Negros Occidental because it’s located up in the cool, pristine, and unspoiled mountains.

When I say we, it’s the team from GroupM (my office) and the party of Dickie and Cathy Rivilla. There were three vans in our party. That’s how many vehicles it took us to transport us to Don Salvador Benedicto which is about an hour’s drive from Bacolod City.

Truthfully, I was half-excited and half-dismayed. On one hand, I should have been in L’Fisher hunting down leads for stories to write. On the other hand, the real story for the day was the match and I had done my pre-work. So I could go. Besides, I knew it would be fun.

Ton, an old buddy from Ateneo, co-owns a farm here in the mountains. And as soon as we left the city environs and the landscape dramatically began to change, a wave of excitement began to envelope me. I’m a sucker for out of town/nature trips. It is as I always say, good for one’s soul.

Stressed out from the past few days of covering the Philippine Men’s National Football Team, it was a welcome and literal change of scenery.

If we weren’t on a tight schedule (we planned to be in Panaad Stadium by 2 or 3pm to beat the traffic), it would have been fun to go down and take pictures. The moment we turned into the town of Murcia, a quiet semi-industrial/agricultural area north of the city, I knew it was worth the sidetrip.

Lush scenery. Rolling hills. Clear, open, and beautiful sky country. I could live in a place like this. Well, as long as it’s got the best internet connection. Or maybe for a week. Hahaha. But it is quite lovely.

Ton had bragged that he’d prepare a feast for all of us and the man delivered on all counts. The farmhouse was Spartan in its appearance and furnishing. But then again, it’s not bad at all. I could sleep on a hammock! We were served a scrumptious lunch of inihaw na baboy, fresh veggies, fish, and homemade chicken inasal that we washed down with Coca Cola (the first time in years I drank that soda coz I stopped drinking them). Then you take it that gorgeous beautiful mountain-view from the outdoor table! Prior to lunch, we went to three lookout stations overlooking the valley (I called them make out stations coz it’s perfect for making out hahahaha). I so wanted to do an Echo and the Bunnymen shot. Did I succeed?

We stayed for about two hours before we had to go back down. Honestly, I wished we had stayed for a bit more. Maybe even the night. This is a place where one should go when you don’t have anything to attend to later in the day or maybe for the duration of one’s stay. It’s kind of like chicken soup for the soul.

I guess that’s a perfect excuse to go back now.

Lazy boy without a care in the world.

Going to "make out station #1". Bwahahaha.

At Calea with some friends

Before we called it a night on the even of the Philippines-Mongolia match, Ika, Brosi, and I went to eat at Calea. I've eaten there before (sort of discovered it by myself the first time I went to Bacolod since I stayed next door at the L'Fisher) and I wanted Ika and Brosi to try it out. There we met up with Mary Ann Ingua who followed me on Twitter and what I write for Bleachers' Brew. Her friends also joined us at the table and as tired as we were that day, it felt good to kick back and unwind with some new friends. The food as always was good. Had Pasta Bolognese for dinner to go with a blueberry cheesecake for dessert.

Surrender your heart and your hips, mon.

Watching Milagros Dancehall Collective on the 27th!

Signs that the apocalypse is upon us

The videoke is probably one of the best and worst inventions known to man. I can never understand why people need to use a microphone to sing (unless they are in a show or some such). As it is, maraming walang K na gumagamit nito. And to see this sign next to one for a "tubero" - - how low can you get? As for the pic below, who in Sam Hill names their resort a "Thunderbird Resort"? Is this for a Stag Derby? WTF! Thunderbirds are go!