Google's Janet Yoon Visits the Great Sta. Cruz Island, Zamboanga City, Philippines

Google's Janet Yoon spends a beautiful and refreshing morning in the Great Santa Cruz Island popularly known as the "Pink Sand Beach of the Philippines" together with other guests from Orange and Bronze namely Ms. Mary Ann Manzano, Phoebe Quinto and Ms. Jinelle Marie Baterna along with host members of the UZ MIS Staff. We are grateful GDG Zamboanga has been invited in this trip :)

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Posted in: Janet Yoon,Sta. Cruz Island,travel

@WichCraft After the Google Maps API & G+ Workshop

My shirt is an envy! 

Believe it, my facebook friends are asking for my Android shirt! Harharharha

We just had our Google Maps API and Google+ Workshop. Elearning Centre hosted the event  and it was facilitated by no less than the GDG Zamboanga Community Manager Jerome Locson last January 20th. He flew in from Cebu to join us in this event. Mr. Juned Sonido, WorldBank Representative also flew in from Manila to grace the occasion at the same time to formally award the Sanitation Hackathon Winning Teams. Cool SmartBro prizes were given away to winning teams and everyone got an Android shirt to brag about. Super thanks to all the sponsors!

What is the News? 
During the meet-up, Jerome Locson announced to the group that he is stepping down as Community Manager and he invited Yolynne Medina to be the new community manager along with yours truly as co-community manager.



A group photo together with Google Developers Group (GDG) Zamboanga members. Jerome Locson already went ahead for another dinner appointment he was not able to join us in this moment.

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Posted in: Android,GDG,GDG Philippines,Google,Zamboanga,Zamboanga Blogger

Bacolod City | The Sunday Pilgrim and Masskara in the City of Smiles!

Bacolod is the capital city of the province of Negros Occidental here in the Philippines. It is the home of the world-famous Masskara Festival.

It still does have the same effect on me every time I remember my short visit in Bacolod - the word "surreal" always pops up on the top of the list. The expected itinerary did not include longer than three hours of stay as I am just to get myself to the terminal, book a ticket to the earliest bus trip, hop in a bus and get some sleep while inside, as it courses through a connecting land route on my way to Dumaguete City. Surely, it is still unthinkable to me until today that Bacolod gave me more than what I had in mind. To sum up, it gave me an unexpected beating that I long to go back there again someday.

Widest Roads.

Of all the places I have been, I could never find another city that is closer to Bacolod in terms of having widest roads. Oh wait, Davao boasts a lot in this category too.What made me decide to spend the night and postpone the Dumaguete trip until the next day was plain, sheer exhaustion. I have been on the road the whole day since 10 am that morning. Imagine me hopping islands in the western Visayas; that was quite a feat challenging my physical stamina. I am just glad I endured the trip on my own with the help of a few God-sent angels along the way and the web (when you get lost, there's always Google Maps to get direction or find nearest hotel).

Going solo on a trip is not bad at all then but proves to be one awesome adventure. In those times, I could imagine high on myself as one of the contestants of the Amazing Race more than being an avid viewer. It's all a mad rush to seek new places, visit new alley, find interesting local delicacies, try to capture unique scenery and candid moments of human interest. Traveling gives me back much energy as much as it takes.

Bacolod is still surreal to me up to this time but remains one beautiful, unforgettable memory. The longest connecting trip I have ever made in my life. To date, Davao-Zamboanga land trip comes second only to this one.

San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod was built from 1876-85.

It is located at 1755 Rizal Street, Bacolod City, 6100, Negros Occidental

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Posted in: Bacolod City,City of Smiles,Masskara Festival,Philippines,travel,Zamboanga Blogger

CamSur Water Sports Complex, Philippines | Wakeboarding and Pizza for Lunch

The sky is blue and the sun is mildly scorching hot outside when we stepped out from the Staff House around eight in the morning to grab some breakfast. The sun is so game for some photowalk that fine Sunday morning! We started asking around how to get to the CamSur Water Sports Complex.

    Here we are watching wakeboarding.

We caught this spectacular scene just a few minutes after we arrived in the premises. There is NO ENTRANCE FEE here. You may buy food from the Clubhouse or enjoy other amenities they offer.

How to Get to CamSur Water Sports Complex Coming from Nabua.

We hopped inside a van which charged us sixty (60) pesos each going to CamSur Water Sports Complex or locally known as CWC. It took about 30-45 minutes ride and i admired the serenity from the window. What's great about taking trips is that you get to meet some helpful strangers. We almost missed the point stop when the old lady in front row suddenly asked us - "di ba sa CWC kayo? O, CWC na dito." Thank God for an angel. We had to walk a few meters from the intersection going to the area.

Route: Camarines Polytechnic State College, Nabua to CamSur Water Sports Complex, Pili

CamSur Supreme Pizza for Lunch!

CWC Supreme Pizza.. sabroso caliente!

We had a heavy breakfast back in Nabua and for lunch, we decided to go for the thin pizza supreme. There's everything on it. One can really savor every ingredient. There's pizza, pepperoni, bacon, ground beef, bell pepper, onions and olives topped with mozzarella cheese.

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Posted in: CamSur,Philippines,travel,wakeboarding,Zamboanga Blogger

Trekking At The Foot of Mount Mayon Volcano, Philippines

Coming here was least in my mind but undeniably now trending in my list of beautiful travel memories. If it were not for the fact that we have to go en route Legazpi City to take our flights back home, we would have never had the opportunity to spend a day roaming around the wide city and tourist attractions in Albay. This is how I describe this Mount Mayon Volcano Trekking experience. Never knew it could be this awesome at same time a hair-raising experience!

 
Mount Mayon Volcano is breathtaking. This is my first volcano. I couldn't help but just stare at it in awe as I could feel its massive strength hovering however dormant these days; green huge mass of almost perfect cone tickled by the clouds up there in that towering height. The volcanic rocks definitely stole the drama.

 Pristine grasses.

 Volcanic Rocks.

Innocent Wind.

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Posted in: Albay,Legazpi City,Mount Mayon Volcano,Philippines,travel,Zamboanga Blogger