@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

Boracay Island

Look here, i found my Boracay trip photos tonight while sorting out my documents in my acer laptop. Simply too hard to delete from my hard drive. I decided to share it here instead. Looking at it one by one brings back so much dear memories. It is a business trip and a personal blessing in finding stillness and inner peace. This is my second longest trip in the inter-islands here in the Philippines. The trip to the Boracay Island is an exciting, maddening experience while travelling in an extremely upset weather condition. Still, leaving the island is one of the hardest as you rather hope you carry with you a map that points to a family house somewhere nearby. You will definitely wish to stay there longer.

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Posted in: Boracay,Philippines,Places and Postcards,Zamboanga Blogger

Cebu City | Skyview

These photos were not taken as a first time visitor in Cebu. It was late in the afternoon just right after our review sessions when i chance upon the amazing beautiful sky as i looked outside the hotel window.

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Posted in: Cebu Ciity,Philippines,travel,Zamboanga Blogger

Hot and Spicy Pizza No. 6 and Mount Talinis - The Dumaguete Escapade

The earth is indeed God's dwelling place. To my pleasure, it was a welcome break for me from all the clutter  of things. The four-hour trip from Dipolog City to Dumaguete City gave me enough time to reflect on most pressing things in my life, as i was just seated in my bed enjoying the sea breeze and looking out watching the clouds dance in silence for the sunset. It was majestic to view Mount Talinis from afar as i was aboard the Montenegro Ship from Dipolog City. This is my fourth visit to Dumaguete City in this lifetime. 

Mount Talinis is the second highest peak in the Visayan Region. To be honest, I have no knowledge of it until i saw it dominates the landscape of the entire Negros Island. I asked my cousin about it when i showed her the photo i took. I learned that it is Moutn Talinis. 

It was not drizzling when the boat docked past 6:30pm. Rain poured when everybody is marching down the decks towards the terminal port. I have to cut short this story line for tonight. Stay tuned with my two-day adventure.

Meanwhile, what's more fitting on a cold night after the rain than a freshly baked, hot and spicy pizza, right?

Grab a bite of this and you'll know what i mean. Your money's worth it. Thin crust Pizza at Php120.00. Makes eight slices! 

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Posted in: dumaguete city,mount talinis,Philippines,pizza,Places and Postcards,travel,Zamboanga Blogger

Margarita Interlude

Toast for my October and all the hypes!   

A good friend had a brief vacation in the city. He's based in Singapore now together with his beautiful wife. I am thankful for the dinner invitation one great Sunday. He's like family to us; an extended brother. We had splendid dinner at Lantaka Hotel together with his younger brother. Dinner won't  be complete without a few drinks. Guess what i had? My first sip of margarita! We tried tequila back in college when we had a total all-girls night out right after Hard Hat Ceremony for engineers. This is my first mix though and yep, malakas ang sipa! hihihihi

How do we mix a Margarita Cocktail?

1 1/2 oz tequila
1/2 ozpremium triple sec (preferably Cointreau)
1 oz lime juice

Rum the rim of a cocktail glass with lime juice, and dip in salt. Shake all ingredients with ice, strain into the glass, and serve. Thanks to this helpful resource: Margarita Cocktail recipe http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink5260.html#ixzz2CUWshB3s

Shake a glass now!

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Posted in: dinner,margarita,October,Zamboanga Blogger

Strawberry Mojito

Strawberry Mojito
Photo Credit: Gerry Asuncion

I want a sip :)
I have always been interested in cocktails. How to mix a glass of this is fascinating me so i thought of adding it to my pages. I will document every cocktail drink that interests me. I used to own a small book i bought at a BookSale store. It contains all cocktails recipes. I gave it away to Kylie thinking she needs it more than I do. Now that cocktails are in, i feel the need to read more about tasty ones. Hahaha.

What a delicious discovery. But i need to taste one yet. Hahahha. Drink up!

Ingredients:

• 1.5 ounces of simple syrup
• about 3 fresh strawberries
• about 4-5 fresh spearmint sprigs (chopped if you prefer smaller mint pieces in your cocktail)
• soda water
• 1/2 lime
• 2 ounces of light rum

Directions:

1. In a chilled glass (about 10-12 ounces), muddle the simple syrup, strawberries and mint leaves together with the back of a spoon or muddler. Crush the strawberries and mint leaves well.
2. Squeeze the juice from the lime into the glass, add the rum and stir well. Fill glass with ice and top off with soda water.
3. Garnish with mint sprigs or strawberry slices.

Simple Syrup Recipe

• 2 c Water
• 1 lb Sugar

1. Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside to cool. After cool, store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Recipe Source: WhiteOnRiceCouple.com.

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Posted in: Cocktails,Strawberry Mojito,Zamboanga Blogger

Dancing Fountain @ Paseo Del Mar, Zamboanga City

Truly a landmark in Asia's Latin City! Gyrating Musical Dancing Fountain inside Paseo Del Mar is Zamboanga City's Newest Pride.  

The Paseo del Mar musically gyrating fountain has a precision coherent pulsating center jet; four explosion jets, which is an add-on; four gazer fountains that spray water with a minimum height of six meters; eight pieces gyrating fountain with two degrees of movement; 24 vertical jets; six fire balls of flames; 114 mist nozzles and 116 led lights.

It is not the first fountain project in the city but definitely the biggest and the most spectacular! It is designed and built by Industrion Inc., a respectable and internationally-known fountain contractor. It does not come cheap though. The dancing fountain is worth P27-million including civil works. 

The fountain project is a 25-meter diameter pool that shows off  about 30-minute spectacular show. One should expect rhythmic dancing of the water with lights, fire, sound and special effects. 

We were in so much awe while enjoying our first-time experience when a visiting friend from Dipolog came to see me in the city. The colorful sight is definitely a must-see!

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Posted in: Dancing Fountain,Paseo Del Mar,Zamboanga Blogger,Zamboanga City