Concreting of Pakpakan Road in Basak, Lapu Lapu City

Pakpakan road in Basak Lapu-lapu will be concreted this coming second week of December 2012.

The announcement was posted in Lapu-lapu's facebook account http://www.facebook.com/lapulapucity on November 26, 2012.

The message is :
"Here are some good news from Mayor Radaza.
Pajac - Maribago road concreting will start by first week of December.
Pakpakan road (the road that connects Basak road to Sudtunggan via Deca Homes) set for concreting by 2nd week of December.Kagudoy road set for concreting by 2nd week of December."

Facebook posts from Lapu lapu City

The concreting of this road will be a great help and will lessen the traffic along Mactan Doctor's to Grandmall.

We hope more roads will be fixed in Lapu lapu City including putting a good drainage system.  

Voters Registration in Lapu lapu City

The City Hall of Lapu Lapu 

Last October 27, 2012 I woke up early morning because I wanted to transfer my voters registration from Cebu City to Lapu lapu City.

1) The COMELEC office is located inside the Lapu lapu City Hall.  It is in the second floor.

The City Hall of Lapu Lapu 

2) The office opens at 8:00 AM.

3) The requirement for registration is a valid ID and the ID must state that you live in Lapu lapu City.  In my case since all my ID's don't have an address

   a) I was asked to get a Barangay Certification stating that I live in Lapu lapu City.
   b) The certification cost 40 pesos in Basak, Lapu lapu.
   c) And to get the Barangay Certification you will need a 1 piece of 2x2 ID picture.

4) After the requirements are met you will fall in line to

   a) get and fill out the registration form
   b) one personnel will check the data
   c)  another one will encode the information and have your picture taken, make your signature and thumb marks.
  d) DONE

The last registration will be on October 31, 2012! Let's vote and exercise our rights!

Pedro Calungsod will become a Saint on October 21, 2012

      This coming October 21, 2012 will be the canonization or the declaration of Blessed Pedro Calungsod as a saint.  He will be the second Filipino saint, the other one is Lorenzo Ruiz. 

About his life
      Blessed Pedro Calungsod was born on 1655.  His historical place of origin is not specific, some claimed that he comes from either Ginatilan Cebu, Hinunangan and Hinundayan in Southern Leyte, Molo district Iloilo or from Loboc Bohol. He received his basic education at a Jesuit boarding school.  At around 14 years old he was on of those young catechist who accompanied the Jesuits in their mission to Ladrones Islands or Mariana Islands. Pedro and San Vitores went to Guam to catechise the natives.

His Martyrdom
      Blessed Pedro Calungsod was killed at the age of 18 while doing his missionary work on April 2, 1627, a day before Palm Sunday that year. He was persecuted together with San Vitores after a certain Chinese named Choco accused them of spreading poison  through the baptism ritual.


Beatification and Cannonization
      Blessed John Paul II beatified Blessed Pedro on March 5, 2000 in Saint Peter's Square in Rome. Last December 2011, the Filipino martyr passed the third and final stage towards sainthood after the Vatican verified a second miracle attributed to him—the healing of a businesswoman from the Visayas who fell into a coma in 2003.  His date for cannonization will be on October 21, 2012.

      Blessed Pedro Calungsod is a role model to all the Filipinos that despite challenges in life and faith we keep on holding to God.  He is an inspiration to all of us!  Mabuhay ka Blessed Pedro Calungsod and we are proud of you!

Food Trip: Something korean

Our next food trip was in Yum Yum Baboy.  Yum Yum Baboy is a korean restaurant located in SSY Business Center, Salinas Drive, Lahug, Cebu, City.  It is near the JY Square Mall.

It was my first time tasting korean food aside from kimchi.  Most of their foods are spicy hot.  And the taste was kind of weird for me.  But to be fair even if their food are not good for my taste they are healthy because most of them are vegetables or mixed with vegetables. 

The restaurants prices for their menus are affordable.  Some of our food at our dinner are ramyeon, samgyeopsal, miso soup, kimchi.

Here are some of the photos from our dinner:

Yum yum Baboy  opens at  11:00 AM  -  2:00 PM  and  5:00 PM - 12:OO AM every monday to saturday.
Their contact number is 032-266-8390.
Email: yumyumbaboy@gmail.com

HSBC's Starbucks Promo

My friend and I usually spend our Friday evenings after a tiresome week to Starbucks.  Have some chat while sipping the delicious and free beverage from HSBC promo.  I could not go to starbucks if not for this promo.  Their drinks are quite expensive.

These are some of our drinks while spending our time in Starbucks.  I usually ordered the coffee free drinks. Thank you HSBC... I hope that you will have more promos soon...

For other HSBC credit card holders who have not tried this promo, this is their requirements:

- Use your HSBC credit card from August 1 to September 30, 2012, and for a single chargeslip of P2,500, you can redeem a tall handcrafted beverage from Starbucks or 3-pack Starbucks VIATM Ready Brew for only 250 Bonus Points. 

- Charge slips must be from transactions made from August 1 to September 30, 2012 (current promo)

- Cardholders may use their charge slip and Bonus Points to redeem a tall Starbucks beverage or 3-pack Starbucks VIATM from August 1 to November 30, 2012

- Only one (1) charge slip issued by a particular merchant on a given day can be used to redeem the Starbucks product

- All foreign currency and casino transactions will not be honored for redemption

- Faded charge slips will not be honored for redemption

- Only Bonus Points earned from your new spend is eligible for a Starbucks beverage

- Existing Bonus Points may not be used for redemption

Food Trip: Tsiboom Native Restaurant in Parkmall

My friend treat us to dinner last night as a celebration to his birthday.  We ended in Tsiboom Native Restaurant in Parkmall Mandaue. That was my first time in that mall and in that restaurant.  The said restaurant offers Filipino dishes at an affordable price and most of their food are delicious. One of the dishes I like best is their bikol express.  Enough gata and enough spices for my taste.

Here are some of the pictures we have, quite blurry :)

Bikol Express

Calamares

 

half chicken 

  Decoration Inside

June 1, 2012 - SM Consolacion Opening

A second SM mall in Cebu located in Consolacion will be open for public on June 1, 2012.  Kapuso artists will be performing live at the Event Center at 4 pm, Mark Herras, Catch Rochelle Pangilinan, Kris Lawrence, Jaya, Nomer and Bianca King.

And on June 2, Saturday Sam Milby will also come at 5 pm at the Event Center.

On June 3, Sunday at 5 pm at the Event Center of the mall Paulo Avelino and Melissa Ricks will be there.

And during the three days opening there will be fireworks show by Pyroworks International at 8 pm each day. 

Food Trip: 10 Dove Street

Last week my friend and I wanted to eat something but we don't want to spend that much.  So we tried 10 Dove Street. 10 Dove Street is located in Sto. Nino Village, Banilad Cebu City Philippines.  The place is inside the village, just ask the guard the exact location once you reach the guard house.

The front of 10 dove street

The menu...

For P 200.00 you can have soup, sandwich, salad and a slice of cake.

These are some of the food that we order.

Chef's Choice

Chef's Choice

Harvest Apple Salad

Macaroni and Frankfurter Skillet

The place is small but lovely with around 6 tables I think.  The food tastes good and the price is okay.

If you want to visit the place I think it's good to have a reservation ahead.  These are their contact numbers, 346-0618, 0922-332-3793, 0916-718-5082.

Annabelle Rama for congresswoman in Cebu?

Well, nothing's new basta nasa showbiz gusto talaga pumasok sa pulitika.
I just find it weird na tatakbo siya. I mean aside from her career sa showbiz  and medyo sikat sa pagiging palaaway what else kaya ang qualifications nya. Kaloka talaga?!

Inihayag ng talent manager na si Annabelle Rama ang intensiyon niyang tumakbong kongresista sa unang distrito ng Cebu City.

Nitong Biyernes, naka-post sa Twitter account ni Annabelle ang pagpunta nito sa City hall ng Cebu City para sa magparehistro bilang botante sa lalawigan.

May mga larawan din naka-post sa account ni Annabelle kung saan kasama niya ang mga kamag-anak niyang pulitiko sa lalawigan.

Ang mga Rama ay kilalang angkan ng mga pulitiko sa Cebu.

Katunayan, ang kanilang patriarch na si Don Vicente Rama (naging senador, kongresista at alkalde) ang kinikilalang "Father of Cityhood" ng Cebu City.

Sa isang ulat na lumabas sa pahayagang Cebu Daily News, sinabing si Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, pinsan ni Annabelle, ang naghikayat sa ina ni Kapuso leading man Richard Gutierrez na pumalot sa pulitika.

Ayon kay Mayor Rama, walang masama kung pasukin ni Annabelle ang pulitika dahil marami na rin namang tumakbo sa halalan na nanggaling sa mundo ng showbiz at entertainment.

Sa isang tweet ni Annabelle, nilinaw niya na posisyon sa pagka-kongresista at hindi konsehal ang kanyang planong takbuhan sa darating na May 2013 elections.

“Mali ka. I'm running for congress woman of Cebu @KhymaLey: @annabellerama2 Wow! you're running indeed to be a councilor! Good Luck!," nakasaad sa tweet ni Annabelle.

Kapag natuloy, posibleng makaharap ni Annabelle sa halalan ang isa ring kilalang angkan ng mga pulitiko sa Cebu – ang mga Del Mar. Sa kasalukuyan, nakaupong kongresista sa unang distrito ng Cebu si Rep. Rachel “Cutie" del Mar.

Source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/258638/showbiz/annabelle-rama-tatakbong-kongresista-ng-cebu-city

Bridge Repair in Lapu lapu: Traffic na sad ni og samot?

I read a news from Cebu Daily that Marcelo Fernan Bridge will close for repair.

This is the content of the news:

CONTRARY to reports, the Department of Public Works and Highways said they are coordinating with the Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu city governments in the repair of the the Marcelo Fernan Bridge that starts next week, Engr. Santiago Suico, OIC district engineer of the Cebu 6th district engineering office of the DPWH, said they already discussed the traffic management with the cities to minimize the impact of the repair works to the riding public.
He said his office wrote the respective traffic management offices of the two cities a month ago and held meetings with them.
Suico said repair works will start on one side of the bridge, where it will be closed to traffic, while the other side will be utilized for a two-way traffic.
Suico said the repair works will focus on the expansion joints of the bridge to avoid accidents.
He said based on statistics, most motorcycle accidents in the bridge were caused by the damaged expansion joints.
The national government appropriated P25 million for the project.
Suico said PLD Construction won the bidding and the firm will have to work 24/7 to complete the project.
Suico said the project will last for 150 calendar days or around five months if there will be no delays.
The 1.2-kilometer bridge was built by the Kajima Sumimoto Joint Venture that amounted to P2.3 billion.
It was funded through the loan obtained by the national government from the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund of Japan. /Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan.

Good luck na lang jud. 5 months pa jud :) 

Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/183907/dpwh-m%E2%80%99daue-and-lapu-cities-coordinate-for-bridge-repair

Underground river among new 7 wonders

Wow Philippines' underground river in Palawan is formally announced as one of the 7 new wonders. 

GENEVA—The Philippines’ Puerto Princesa Underground River, the Amazon rainforest, Vietnam’s Halong Bay and Argentina’s Iguazu Falls were named among the world’s new seven wonders of nature, according to organizers of a global poll.
The other three crowned the world’s natural wonders are South Korea’s Jeju Island, Indonesia’s Komodo and South Africa’s Table Mountain, said the New7Wonders foundation, citing provisional results.
Final results will be announced early 2012, said the Swiss foundation, warning however that there may yet be changes between the provisional winners and the final list.
Sites which have failed to make the cut include Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro, the Dead Sea and the US Grand Canyon.
The poll organised by Swiss foundation New7Wonders has attracted great interest, mobilizing celebrities including Argentinian football star Lionel Messi calling on fans to pick his home country’s Iguazu Falls.
The results come after a long consultation process lasting from December 2007 to July 2009, when world citizens were asked to put forward sites which they deemed were natural wonders.
More than a million votes were cast to trim the list of more than 440 contenders in over 220 countries down to a shortlist of 77.
The group was then further cut to the 28 finalists by a panel of experts.
Anyone in the world was then able to vote for the final seven via telephone, text messages or Internet social networks.
The Philippine government vigorously campaigned for the Palawan subterranean river in a bid to boost a sagging tourism industry.
Founded in 2001 by filmmaker Bernard Weber in Zurich, the foundation New7Wonders is based on the same principle on which the seven ancient wonders of the world were established. That list of seven wonders was attributed to Philon of Byzantium in ancient Greece.
New7Wonders said its aim is to create a global memory by garnering participation worldwide.
But even as the natural wonders poll came to a close, the New7Wonders foundation has set its eyes on a new survey — the top seven cities of the world. Participating cities will be announced on January 1, 2012.


 Source: Underground river among new 7 wonders

SM Consolacion (Cebu) will open soon in 2012

SM Consolacion will be the second SM Mall in Cebu. It is located in Cebu North Road, Barangay Lamac, 6001 Consolacion, Philippines. As of now it is under construction and is set to open this year, 2012.

For cebuanos living in north cebu shopping will be nearer.

Panglao Island: Best Secret Beaches on Earth

A famous travel magazine "Travel + Leisure" named Panglao Island as one of the Best Secret Beaches on Earth out of 15 in the whole world. Their web link for this article is http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/best-secret-beaches-on-earth/15 .

Panglao Island is located in the province of Bohol, Philippines.  This island has many white beaches to offer.  Aside from white beaches Bohol province has many beautiful tourist spots like the famous Chocolate Hills, Loboc River, Bohol Bee Farm.

Pedro Calungsod second Filipino saint

Another Filipino will soon be proclaimed as saint after the Vatican set the canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod on October 21 this year.

Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, confirmed the canonization of Calungsod and six others on Saturday night (Manila time) after a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican Information Service reported.

During the announcement, the Vatican official described Calungsod as a “Filipino lay catechist and martyr.”

Calungsod, a Cebuano missionary who was martyred in Guam in 1672, will be proclaimed as saint more than a decade after he was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2000.

Last October, the Filipino martyr passed the third and final stage towards sainthood after the Vatican verified a second miracle attributed to him—the healing of a businesswoman from the Visayas who fell into a coma in 2003.

Calungsod’s canonization will come 24 years after Vatican proclaimed Lorenzo Ruiz, a missionary martyred in Japan in 1637, as the first Filipino saint.

Calungsod was killed at the age of 18 while doing his missionary work on April 2, 1627, a day before Palm Sunday that year.

Born in Visayas in 1654, Calungsod accompanied Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores to Guam, then the Mariana Islands, and led a number of locals to convert to the Catholic faith.

Calungsod and San Vitores, however, suffered persecution after a certain Chinese named Choco accused them of spreading poison through the baptism ritual.

'I will if you will': Earth Hour advocates save the planet on a dare

'I will if you will': Earth Hour advocates save the planet on a dare

“I will if you will,” is the challenge the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and other organizers of Earth Hour 2012 posed to residents of the planet on Tuesday, Valentine's Day to jumpstart their preparations for the annual campaign meant to tame global warming and climate change.

The Earth Hour lead advocates urged daring individuals to make YouTube videos of their personal pledges to do simple things that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve energy, and maximize use of Earth's resources such as “recycling, to switching to energy-efficient light bulbs, turning off your mobile charger, or signing up for paperless banking.”

“From 8:30pm to 9:30pm this coming 31 March, WWF-Philippines will again stage Earth Hour to inspire Filipinos to switch off their lights and dare their friends to save planet Earth. The ‘I Will If You Will’ digital platform is the result of an alliance among WWF, Leo Burnett, and YouTube - merging the world’s biggest social video platform with the world’s largest environmental event,” the Earth Hour organizer said.

A library of ‘I Will If You Will’ challenges is hosted on Earth Hour's YouTube platform. Those who commit were also encouraged to share their ‘dares’ through social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and via email.

On the WWF Philippines Facebook page, there are various templates of the personal dares which followers can like, share, tag friends and comment upon. Among the image templates are commitments to segregate trash, plant 100 trees this year, and stop using plastic bags.

Some netizens though opted to have some fun with the blank template and sort of committed to do some unusual stuff like "eat a 3lb gummyworm."

Some 1,554 cities and towns in the country joined last year's one-hour lights switch-off campaign and made the Philippines the global leader in Earth Hour participation. The environment campaign has been running since its inception five years ago in 2007.

“We call on corporations, local governments, media networks and other organizations to stand with us for this year’s switch-off. When public and private sector forces unite - then we will be able to effect change on the scale required to change the world,” said Earth Hour Philippines National Director Atty. Gia Ibay.

from
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/248066/scitech/socialmedia/i-will-if-you-will-earth-hour-advocates-save-the-planet-on-a-dare

Wow Lonoy, Jagna, Bohol

Promoting Lonoy, my home, my birthplace. 
This video from youtube shows the beautiful places this barrio can offer.

Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) in Cebu City

BRT (Bus Rapid Transit)  is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling. The goal of these systems is to approach the service quality of rail transit while still enjoying the cost savings and flexibility of bus transit.

Below is a sample of BRT video:






The Cebu Bus Rapid Transit System is a proposed mass transit system for the City of Cebu located within the greater Cebu Metropolitan area. It is expected to become the first operational Bus Rapid Transit project in the Philippines. Only one line has been planned in detail so far, but scheme developers note the potential to develop a larger network comprising the adjacent cities Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue and Talisay. Leadership in both Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue have shown interest in the network. It is expected the first phase of the route could be operational in 2013.



The image below is the proposed first route of the BRT in cebu:

The 16 kilometre route traverses Cebu City from Bulacao in the south-west to Talamban in the north-east, linking the following key destinations; Central Business District, Capitol Site, Ayala Shopping Mall and a proposed tributary to SM Shopping Mall. A spur to the 300-hectare Cebu South Reclamation Project (SRP) is also planned as developers Filinvest seek to integrate BRT provision into their development plans.

The BRT vehicles will run along segregated bus lanes that run down the middle of the road. Stations will also be located in the middle of the road and will be accessed by footbridges or pedestrian crossings. 25 stations have been proposed including terminals at Ayala Shopping Mall, SM Mall, Talamban and Bulacao.

Some artist view on the coming BRT along Jones avenue:

The bus will accomodate between 85 and 110 passengers. It will run 25 km/hr is proposed with a peak frequency of 105 buses per hour on the core route.  The ticketing system will use pre-pay smart cards like that used for Rapid Transport in Singapore and Hong Kong.  The fare will be same with Jeepneys.

Future expansions:

I hope this will be realized... I am excited for this project.  If this will become successful it will help solve the heavy traffic in Metro Cebu.  At the same time it will give comfort to commuters and reach their destinations faster and more safe than our current jeepneys.