Category Archives: an Undisclosed Passion

Midnight Liquor Ban: Taking Things the Wrong Way

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davao midnight liquor ban opinion

So yeah, you might have heard of the Vice Mayor’s recent proposal: to implement liquor ban 2 hours earlier, that’s 12 midnight for us now. Previously, the 2AM liquor ban was a little bit difficult; as most “parties” just take flight after midnight. However, we, the people of Davao city, eventually got okay with it. Due to the 2AM liquor ban, bars usually had to call for last order by 12MN. Now that it has been pushed earlier, the reasonable call for last order would now be 10PM. Clubs aren’t even 40% full at this time. I shiver at the thought.

Not that I am a drunkard. Some days I just take time to unwind and yes, alcohol is one great stress reliever. Add to that good company and good food, of course. And I know a lot of people would agree with me. However, before I start telling you what I really think about this whole shebang, let me first get this thing straight: I am against this early ban. Continue reading »

Single Holidays: Vacations You Deserve

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pic from opentalkmagazine.com

Amidst the pressure of work, relationships, family, finances and everything else, don’t you just want to escape and be on your own, visit a new place and just breathe a little? Yes you, just you, in a totally different setting. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter that much where or how as long as you’re alone and you can, for a while, forget about your problems.

Imagine a day just sipping coffee, tea, champagne or scotch…catching up on your reading, meeting new people and seeing new sights. Doesn’t that just relax you a little even when you’re only thinking about it? Well, if you’re aching for that kind of experience, then you better check out single holidays. Continue reading »

Why I Play Poker

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strong chip lead poker chips

A strong chip lead at Metro’s poker tourney last 2009. Yes, those chips are mine! I emerged as champion in that tourney. Feeling gwapa.

I have been playing poker for almost 4 years now. But was on the DL starting two years ago. Since then, I only played less than 10 games because I had to focus on my career. Those days, poker was a huge part of me and even though I still long for the feel of chips on my fingers, I just had a bajillion things to do every.single.day. Doesn’t mean I love it less, though.

I learned how to play poker by sitting through long poker-filled nights of teasing, taunting, bluffing, cursing and betting…in every place I can ever imagine. I played poker on the beach, on underground bars, on resorts far from Davao and on a couple of my friends’ houses. I played on hundred-thousand-peso tournaments, on free rolls, on leisure house games, online, and even when I am just waiting for sleepiness to kick in. I used to wake my sisters up to tell them to play a few hands with me. There was even a time when poker “spent for” my life, and I can’t say I had regrets. Well, poker took care of my bills for me back then. Tee hee! Continue reading »

Whining on Mining: Does the EDC Case Fall on Deaf Ears?

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pic from odt.co.nz

I’ve written for an opinion column in a local newspaper for almost 5 years. Usually, the topics that fill this page are about politics or other current events. While I may have several “colorful” opinions about politics, I veer away from politics and all of its relatives because I don’t want my column to appear “heavy”. I wanted to balance out that page. That is why I usually write about youth culture and careers.

The times that I talk about politics (and its relatives) though, are the only times when I just do not know how not to. For example, last 2010, during the elections, I wrote a piece about how Partylists are not needed if only all the government officials do their jobs well. After all, if the President, down to the barangay captain is good at what they’re supposed to do, then there won’t be any marginalized sector, right? After that, I got letters from partylists defending themselves. I had fun reading fat fan mails that day.

Today, I read news about mining that just offended me. First off, let me tell you one thing: I’m no mining genius. In fact, no matter how long this issue has been hanging up there, I never touched it and this is my first time to throw an opinion on it.  Continue reading »

RAFI Gets Anvil Award for Triennials Book

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Amaya Aboitiz (center), deputy director for operations of RAFI, represented the Foundation together with (left) Hannah Marie Aranas, communications assistant for tri-media, and (right) Haidee Emmie Palapar, communications officer, during the 48th Anvil Awards.

Amaya Aboitiz (center), deputy director for operations of RAFI, represented the Foundation together with (left) Hannah Marie Aranas, communications assistant for tri-media, and (right) Haidee Emmie Palapar, communications officer, during the 48th Anvil Awards.

 

The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) bagged an “Anvil Award of Merit for public relations tools—Publications, Special Publications” for the 5th RAFI Triennial Awards book.

RAFI was among the 142 private and public institutions and companies awarded during the 48th Anvil Awards at Makati Shangri-La last March 6.

The 5th RAFI Triennial Awards book is a compilation of stories featuring the top 10―five for the Individual category and five for the Institutional category―finalist of the fifth run of the awards program. Continue reading »

Davao Events: The 3rd Easter Bookhunt!

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Poster by Angely Chi

Poster by Angely Chi of the Davao Readers Circle

 

All hail the book lovers, bookworms and book bunnies this coming Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013 as we celebrate this holiday with The Easter Bookhunt.

Now on its 3rd year, book enthusiasts will enjoy an afternoon of potluck picnic, music by Anne Mendoza,  a live performance by the Dy Twins and of course, finding treasures in words bound together. This event will be held at the Sunken Garden, People’s Park, at 3PM.

There’s no entrance fee or cover charge here, this is just for fun! So tell your friends, bring your books (wrapped in recycled paper), whip out some food, ditch your nonsense and let’s spend the Easter afternoon gathering treasures to last a lifetime—friendship and literature. See you!

The Suicide Isn’t Anyone’s Fault

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pic from yorubagirldancing.com

I was “hanging out” at Facebook and suddenly I saw many angry status messages and link captions about  a UP-Manila student who committed suicide. She was forced to stop schooling due to the fact that she wasn’t able to pay her tuition on time. Several weeks ago, UP-Manila already declared that those who cannot pay the monthly dues are not allowed take their exams. 16-year-old Kristel Tejada, despite insufficient funds, continued to come to school even when she wasn’t “officially” on the class list. There were stories about her sitting through classes embarrassed because she wasn’t part of the roll call and her requirements couldn’t be honored. Continue reading »

It’s Election Time Again

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pic from zamoracartoons.blogspot.com

Guess what, it’s election time again. Ideally, the election time means a fresh start, a development from previous projects, programs and positions that didn’t work, and most of all, another exercise of democracy for the Philippine people. NOT. Yeaaaah, right.

Today, election in the Philippines just turns into one big variety show. It’s like this: we all know we’re going to see and hear a lot of crap from politicians, we roll our eyes, we try our best to make the most out of our choices, we vote anyway, we wait for the results (which, by the way, is another teleserye unfolding) and if we realize we get cheated on, we shrug it off by virtue of half-expectations. If that’s not sad, I don’t know what is. Continue reading »

Interschool Literary Organizations to Host Digital Poetry Seminar

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digital poetry poster

Literary organizations from Ateneo de Davao University, University of the Immaculate Conception, University of the Philippines Mindanao, and University of Southeastern Philippines will be hosting a seminar on digital poetry entitled “Beyond the Written Word: The Art of Digital Poetry”. The event will be on March 2, 2013, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Room 301, Jubilee Hall, Ateneo de Davao University. The seminar will be open to the public with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration fee for the event is P60.00. Deadline for registration is on February 28, 2013.

Speaking at the event will be Davao Writers’ Guild members: Mr. Nino Soria de Veyra of University of the Philippines – Mindanao, and Mr. Dominique Gerald Cimafranca of Ateneo de Davao University.

For inquiries and registration, please contact: 0932-141-0821 (AdDU), 0942-495-7342 (UP Mindanao), 0909-669-2894 (USEP), 0947-311-9885 (UIC).

Celebrate Art at TABOAN 2013 – Love, Loss, Libido and Literature

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taboan art festival davao

This coming February 16, 2013, at Kanto Bar, MTS, 6PM, Davao celebrates art month through a yearly art festival, Taboan.

Taboan is a simultaneous art festival that’s happening at Dumaguete, Digos and Cagayan de Oro city, along with Davao city. This year’s Taboan is organized by the Young Davao Writers, the youth wing of the Davao Writers Guild and supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). Continue reading »