Cosme

Photography and Interview by Sherwin Sapong

There are over 90 million people in the Philippines, 1.2 million of people in the Philippines are fishermen.  This is the story of one fisherman from Anda, Bohol captured in gorgeous photography.  More after the jump.

Idja-Idja

Source:   Minda News

CHILD OF THE SUN: Idja-idja, aho-aho!
by Ting Tiongco/MindaNews
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
(Speech of acceptance as one of the Ten Outstanding Boholano Award (Tobaw) delivered at the Tapok Bol-anon Tibuok Kalibutan awarding ceremonies on 25 July).

TAGBILARAN, Bohol (MindaNews/28 July) — I accept this award both with great pride and humility. I dedicate this award to my late parents who came from Bohol; my father from Bilar, and my mother, a Manigque from Tagbilaran. My mother, who died a few months ago, lived 63 out of her 86 years in Mindanao. But she died a true Boholana, speaking Binol-anon to the end. I was not born in Bohol. Neither did I grow up here. My parents made it clear to their children who were growing up in Mindanao that we are Bol-anons. Ang Bolanon, murag Amerkano. Maskin asa ka ma tawo, basta Amerkano ang imong tatay o nanay, Amerkano ka lang guihapon. Ang Bol-anon, mao sad. Maskin asa ka matawo, basta Bol-anon ang imong kaguikan, Bol-anon ka lang guihapon. Mailhan man gud ang Bol-anon sa uban, kay tag-as man ug ilong.

Bohol

The Tarsier

Sometimes my siblings and I play "Mayor".  It's not really a game but more like a discussion of "if I'm Mayor, I would..." and we'd enumerate out of this world, almost impossible implementations (almost, because there is still a slight chance of possibility) to our beloved province here in Bohol.  More on those discussions later after the jump.

Sanctuary

To The Reception Area

Bohol is full of surprises and today was one of those treasured moments.  The place we went to was located in a very remote area in Panglao and though I have read about this place in the papers, I never get the chance to visit until today.  The place exceeded my expectations and I was quite surprised why this place was never featured frequently on tourist destinations here in Bohol.  If you are ever coming to Bohol, please do drop by to this truly magical and wonderful place.  From here on, let the photographs speak for themselves.

Kanlungon

Alona Kew

Yesterday we officially started summer 2012 as a family by giving ourselves a treat to our favorite and secret beach in Kanlungon.  We made a few stops on the way though.  For the longest time, we revisited Alona Kew Beach Resort and its neighboring resorts.  The place has transformed over the years to a Boracay-ish kind of feel with the addition of restaurants, bars and resorts.  We just scoped out the place and found a shade while my sister and I did her levitating attempts.

Pastrified

So here I am backed up with draft posts but I know I just have to push this one through.  We have a small family business called Cake Garden here in Tagbilaran City, Bohol.  It's a delicious mix of cakes, pastries and good food - more than the usual.  Sounds like DOT's previous campaign.  Anyway, we had been pounded with tons of orders during the holidays from family and friends.  Now that hype slowed down a bit and we got a wee bit of time to improve our products and the Cake Garden Blog.

New Sticky Buns

Sticky Buns

The new sticky buns are bigger, gooey-y, buttery, caramel-y and imbued with more cinnamon.  Last year, we included these babies in our price list but we did not really market them for the reason we're still experimenting on the different types of dough to be used.  We even tried using Brioche dough in one occasion.  For the final product, we'll be using sweet dough for your sticky bun cravings.

Coincidence

I just would like to say that this post is an ice breaker.  Every time I sit down and type nothing comes out but every time I'm at work ideas seem to be endless.  When I try to write them down, it stinks.  So to break this off I'd like to feature  "[COIN]cidence".  It's a pretty neat title, don't you think?

Coincidence is a short film entry for the Bohol Arts Festival 2011.  The story is about a boy who went to the restroom, found a coin, found some more coins and then some and lost one coin.  He then decided to buy a drink but since he lost this one coin, he can't.  So off he went back to his last spot and found the coin but was picked up first by the girl he met on the bus station  where he was just sitting for like 5 minutes and not hopping into a bus.  By the way, when he was at the bus station he and the girl found a coin between them resulting a very "touchy" moment.  So in the end the girl handed over the missing coin to the guy and he forgot about his drink and went off with the girl to some "tambayanan" place in Tagbilaran we call, K of C.



Behind the scenes footage after the jump.

Paradise

The province of Bohol is one of the most visited places in our country. Foreign and local tourists alike flock to this "God's Little Paradise" to see it's nature, beauty, beaches and culture. I have a dedicated Bohol blog at Bohol Interactive to showcase the province through the community. Last January I featured Massimo Casal, a photographer now based on Indonesia but has his fair share of Bohol, his travel article and book project. Just last week, I got another heads up that he is currently on a new project, a "Photo Book on Bohol". I get to see the amazing sights of Bohol both popular and the unexplored in his 39-page preview.

Dive Bohol

Massimo studied as an engineer. His work has given him the opportunity to travel around the world and particularly around Southeast Asia. Through his travels he has cultivated his love for photography. He also has great sets from Hanoi, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan, Europe and the Philippines as well.  You can visit his website and portfolio at Casal Photography and you should also follow him on Twitter here.

Looking at these photos make me miss home.  Yes, dear reader, this blogger is a Boholano and a Boholano I am.  What photos you say?  Well, you can also see the 39-page preview right here after the jump.

Word

The WORD is the Official Student Publication of Holy Name University, Tagbilaran City, Bohol. Volume XXV Issue I was released last Monday so I thought I'd give some of my thoughts on this first issue. Before we jump into all the brouhaha, let me just say I'm in no position an expert when it comes to school publication. I'm good at procrastinating though. This review will be based on my own meandering experience as a reader, as a designer wanna-be and the web. The purpose of this review is not to downgrade the publication but it is my hope that this will serve as a help for improvement on the next issue. By the power of grayskull, kudos to all who are involved in this issue to infinity and beyond!

The Word Cover

Before diving into all the details let me give the issue my overall rating - 6! It's not bad but it's not mind-blowing either. More like mediocre. Don't know what mediocre means? Look it up in a dictionary. Don't have one? Google it! You lazy bum! It's like the iPhone 4s. Everyone is expecting a new ground breaking phone but do their dismay it's just an upgrade to the current iPhone 4, no new design and all that. Still don't get it huh? It's like the movie Transformers: Dark of the Moon. It has still the awesome CG animation but the story fails to deliver fans expected. Nuh uh? You're hopeless man, hopeless!

mediocre [mee-dee-oh-ker]

of only ordinary or moderate quality; neither good nor bad; barely adequate: The car gets only mediocre mileage, but it's fun to drive. Synonyms: undistinguished, commonplace, pedestrian, everyday; run-of-the-mill. Antonyms: extraordinary, superior, uncommon, incomparable.

Layout

I think the layout is great.  If you're like me who don't read first, well, then you are like me.  People don't jump into the contents.  We scan.  It's automatic, we're born with that reflex whenever we have something in print in our hands.  I think the layout gives value and perspective as a whole.

I think it would be best to use more white space.  Remember, less is more.

Gelateria!

Gelateria Milano

Last night we were bored, no not to death, we were just bored.  There were no brownies and chewies left.  Mum's Pineapple Upside Down Cake was wiped out eons ago.  There was also no trace of Lace's Black Sambo.  All four of us were staring at our computer screens.  I was waiting for our parents to show up on Skype but it seems they were also out somewhere in Singapore.  There was only one thing left to do!  Sleep!  "Let's go to Gelateria!", I screamed!

If you ever come visit to Bohol and you're staying in Tagbilaran City, you should try Gelateria Milano!  It's one of Bohol's newest coffee and ice cream house serving hand made Italian ice cream and fine Danesi Italian coffee blends and brews!  We were only there for the ice cream though.  All the ingredients and the machines used in making the ice cream and coffee are imported from Europe so you can enjoy Italian authenticity!  The price?  Regular ice cream starts at 50 Php with two flavors of your choice - not really bad.  In fact, it is really good.

Choose yar flavors!

Gelateria Milano is located at the La Vista, 5th Floor, BQ Mall. For more information visit and "like" their Facebook page here.

Homeward

Migriño, not Migrino

I will be flying back home to Bohol on the 3rd! I miss home, our dogs, our kitchen and my family. I made a short list that I need to accomplish in two weeks time. I'll be flying with Airphil Express (see my revamp of the Airphil Express blog here) from Iloilo to Cebu then Cebu to Tagbilaran via fast craft.

I made this list so that I'll have reachable goals when I get home and not just stare at this, whole day!

All things bright and beautiful!

I'm going to enjoy breakfast again with this in front of me. Read my bible and have coffee the usual but this list will help me to be more productive since I have more resources at home like: a much faster internet connection, a camera and my sister Scarlet as my personal slave assistant.

Breakfast

You got served!

I love breakfasts.  It's not that I don't like lunch and dinner it's just that a lot of people don't wake up that early to eat breakfast.  I do.  I look forward to it every single day!  As a family we love to eat but I really do love breakfast (yeah, I know you know by now, but still).  I'm a morning person even at night.  I love to watch the sunrise while having devotion while having a cup of coffee.  We, breakfast lovers are oftentimes get into a fit if you try to disrupt our morning ritual.  If I were going to miss breakfast it's better you tell me the night before than surprise me that we're not having breakfast!  Or if you plan on ruining my breakfast tell me in advance so I can have set my mind that I'm not having breakfast the day after.

I think it runs in the blood.  As a family we love to eat and eat we must!  Not only that I think each member of our family has his or her own ability to conjure up his or her own meal specialty.  Mum and Dad are great cooks, mum has her Cake Garden and Cake Garden Place (if you're in Bohol y'all should try it here).  Dad sometimes will have his own version of Hokkien Mee, Chili Crab and the occasional bread and cakes.

Booh!

I love burgers and burgers I love!  There's nothing more rewarding than consuming a 6-feet tall hamburger.  Anyway, I can handle the heat in the kitchen very well.  Mum said I have the ability of creating food out of almost nothing when our resources are on the low.  My creativity for cooking is further heightened when accompanied by hunger.  Some little  flour, eggs and milk, the sky is the limit.

Rawwr!

My sister Lace loves to make potato salads, which in  turn she just devours them herself.  She just loves her own meal that she'll just have it for herself.  Lace also has her own unique version of the mango float.  It literally floats!  Why?  It's called mango float, why shouldn't it float?  She also forgot to steam her leche flan (which is the most important part of the recipe) that we end up sipping it in cups.  Still very delicious though.

Dogs

Dixie and Maska

I miss our dogs.  I think I haven't mentioned our other dog, Dixie.  She's much older than she looks.  She's been with us for more than five years.  Maska is a 7-month old Siberian Husky-Belgian Malinois crossbreed.  I had him here before here in Kalibo.  I had to take him last April because of some plans and I can't leave him here in Kalibo.  I though he would freak out during our trip from Kalibo-Manila-Tagbilaran.  When I went to pick him up at the cargo hold in Tagbilaran, he was just there relax, cool as ice (well, not literally).

Maska and Dixie are complete opposites.  From their physique to their personalities.  But they both love junk foods and ice cream.  I know those stuff are not good for them (or us) but you know when they give you this look, you just melt in submission. And oh, both dogs when they see the car door open or see you open it, they'll rocket themselves in!

Dixie

Dixie and Lace

Dixie and my sister Lace have one thing in common, sleep.  If sleeping was a career, they'd be pros!  Often times we step on her  tail or feet because she's small and looks like our rug.  Once a year we shave off all her fur because of the matting.  Of course you could not blame her for that.  Blame the owners who are too lazy to give her daily brush.  We procrastinate on brushing her her fur until it's too late we need to take her to the dog clinic for a shave.  Her first shave was traumatic.  I think she's got sensitive spots and every time the shave hit it, she freaks out.

Dixie is very picky with her food.  She loves sunny side up eggs, frittata, and chicken (occasionally).  She's a mushy doll we hug and squeeze and sometimes throw up in the air (woops!).

Aery

Cake Garden Place

Cinnamon summer is now breezing in and if you're planning to take a next trip to Bohol, do check out Cake Garden Place.  Cake Garden Place is located at Unit 6, Seaview Apartment, Bool District Tagbilaran City.  It's one block away from the Sandugo Shrine and 15-20 minutes away from the city proper.  It gives you an aery feel to your Bohol experience.

Englewood Hospital is also just around the corner should there be any emergency arise.  Basically you're smacked right in the middle between the Dauis Junction and Baclayon, in other words you can have the best of both places.



The main package is 3,300Php good for 4 persons.  Two bedrooms fully air-conditioned, one common bathroom/toilet, fully functional kitchen with refrigerator, WIFI and cabled TV.  The best part probably is waking up to a scenic and peaceful sunrise with free breakfast served fresh and hot.  It is overlooking the island of Panglao and also sunsets are a treat.  Evenings are usually graced with activities from the Bool Barangay Hall:  basketball games, volleyball games and the like.