Blog From Cebu To The World

To those of you who are planning to come to Cebu and watch or join the Sinulog 2009 festivities, below is the Sinulog 2009 Schedule of Activities. For the religious, the important dates are January 9 and 17, and any day in between, at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño. For those who are after the parade and street dance only, and has a very limited time to spare, Sinulog Sa Kabataan will be on January 10-11, and the Grand Parade is on the 18th.

Sinulog 2009 Schedule of Activities

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Popularity: 11% [?]

I haven’t updated this blog for more than 10 days. I was so busy that I even had less time for sleep, and no time to blog or hop around. It’s been more than a month since I was officially transferred in Manila. There are so many things to be done and so many plans for 2009 hovering in my head. But one thing I’m looking forward to this Christmas is my trip back to Cebu.

How is Christmas celebrated in Cebu? It’s still the Christmas that you and I celebrate. There are parties and family celebrations. The famous lechon of Cebu is always present at the table. (Despite the many lechon I ate here in Manila, I still could not find the familiar taste of Cebu. No sauce needed.) The Christmas trees, kris kringle, singing, and the games are always part of the program. It is such a merry Christmas in Cebu!

The parties I attended here in Manila are nothing compared to being with my dear one back in Cebu. So, despite the steep plane fare price, I booked a ticket just to be with my love this Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas, friends! As you enjoy the holidays, remember Jesus Christ and what He has done for you more than 2,000 years ago!

photo credits: kevinworld. This is Fuente Osmeña every Christmas.

Popularity: 16% [?]

How to explore Metro Manila with its vastness, long highways, big and small streets, traffic rules and crazy traffic? This question bugged me since 15 years ago when I first set foot here (Manila). Then in 1996 when I came back here for a three-weeks training and in 2001 with a three-week audit assignment and an impending transfer to the Makati Office.

I transferred job late in 2001, in a company whose head office is in Cebu, but with a large Manila branch. Since then, being an HO guy, I’ve been a regular visitor to Manila mostly on a two or three-day visits. To explore Manila with an experienced driver is easy. We have that in our office. You get to avoid crazy traffic and insane drivers. In some cases, we ride a taxi. Riding a taxi is also convenient but you have to be wary of overcharging with fast meters, or fixed fees. Public utility jeepneys, V-hire (or what they call FX, even if it’s a Mitsubishi adventure) and buses are also available. Then there is the MRT and the LRT. But I never got to ride on those when in business trips.

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Popularity: 12% [?]

Air travel in the Philippines is getting cheaper. Going to your favorite vacation destination, or going to the province this Christmas Holidays, is now very affordable, especially with the latest EconoLight Class of Philippine Airlines (PAL). One-way fares are as low as P488, inclusive of all fees and surcharges.

Here’s the full text of their announcement in their website: Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 15% [?]

Do you want to spend a single day in Cebu but don’t know how and where to go? This post is for you. I first got this idea from a conversation I overheard while waiting for a flight from Cagayan de Oro to Cebu. This balikbayan guy, after a night of partying in Manila, decided to proceed to the airport and booked a round trip flight from Manila to Cagayan de Oro. In Cagayan, he simply hired a taxi for 4 hours before proceeding back to the airport for the flight back in Manila.

Since there are more flights between Manila and Cebu, one can really cover more places when visiting Cebu. For those wanting to go on a day trip in Cebu, this is a very quick guide.
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Popularity: 21% [?]

Right now, SEO experts, addicts, enthusiasts, wannabes and pretenders have joined the Cebu SEO Contest organized by Lhurey. There are still15 days to go before the contest is closed on September 2, 2008. Yet it seems like there is a new leader on SERP almost everyday.

I’ve been there once. That must be my lucky day! But right now, I’m on page 2. How to win on the Cebu SEO contest or any other SEO contests for that matter is a puzzle to many, but so easy for some. It is a puzzle for me though. I have not completed reading the SEO e-book in my hard drive and I have skipped some lines while browsing the blog entries of certain SEO experts. So my chances are definitely slimmer, unless luck strikes back on the final day.

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Popularity: 13% [?]

There is a paradise island northeast of Cebu waiting to be discovered and explored. I am sure not all of you had gone there. Even I, who had lived in Cebu most of my life, had only gone there once, two weeks ago. I am referring to Camotes, and the towns of San Francisco, Poro, Tudela and Pilar.

How To Get To Camotes

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Popularity: 17% [?]

For the SEO newbie enthusiasts, joining small contests is a practice ground wherein you hone your skills when you really want to tread the pretty exciting and treacherous world of SEO. Lhurey, a blogger from Cebu, has his Cebu Seo Contest wherein you only need to do the following:

1. Make a post about his contest
2. Link to his blog (not the post) using “Cebu Seo Contest” as the anchor text, and
3. Comment on his post (with your complete name) stating that you joined his contest.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

The June 2008 Philippine Nursing Board Exam Results was already released late last night. 27,765 examinees or 43.07% out of the 65,459 who took the exam last June 1 and 2 passed. The exams were held in the cities of Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Legazpi, Lucena, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga.

I first learned of the results last night from examinees who congratulated each other at Velez College, Cebu while accompanying my wife, an alumna of that school, who attended the wake of the school’s longest-serving nursing dean.

More than 100 examinees made it to the top 10. Topnotchers from Cebu schools are as follows:

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Popularity: 13% [?]

I am going to meet some of my high school classmates tomorrow as we celebrate the centennial celebration of the University of the Philippines. Yes, there will be a grand reunion for our high school. Some bloggers I know, but have not met, also came from that school. I do not know who among my classmates will show up, but I’ll just be there.

It is 17 years since we moved out from the high school campus. Some just crossed the other side of the road to continue their college course. Some had moved to the bigger schools in Manila (UP Dil, La Salle and Ateneo) and some, like me, transferred to other schools in Cebu (USC, CDC, Velez). We all followed different paths, found new friends and new lives. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 6% [?]