Hello Iloilo: Celebrating Local Stories and Talents

SMART Communications launched their Doon Po Sa Amin program at Bavaria Restaurant, Jaro, Iloilo City last night November 6. Doon Po Sa Amin, now on its 7th year, is designed to uncover the best and most unique stories about Philippine culture and heritage.

Few local guests were invited to share stories about Iloilo. Mr Ben Jimena, the city tourism officer, opened the floor by sharing about the upcoming Dinagyang 2015. It banners the tagline "Sum It Up To The Top". He shared that Dinagyang will be less noisy and with less props. The 2015 edition will feature innovations in dance steps. Dinagyang Festival is also growing as their will be a National Festival Costume Expo and the Kasadyahan Festival will become the Kasadyahan National Cultural Contest.

Next, the Iloilo Provincial Tourism office presented the many tourist destination in the province of Iloilo. New destinations, is the highlands of Miagao which has a cold climate and also bore rice terraces, 

Inday Joy was the next to share about Ilonggo Markets and Food. She shared that Ilonggo prehispanic cuisine is the precursor of the south beach diet. Ilonggos lived a healthy diet and they like their food as Sinugba(grilled), Kinilaw (cooked in vinegar) and Binuro (salted). The availability of various food sources also enables the ilonggos to have varied food dishes.

Professor Anabelle from the University of San Agustin shared her childhood experiences on history and culture. She shared that Iloilo City Proper has a lost tradition known as "Viva Parol" where houses were decorated with Parols. The Drilons and Tans were the huge patrons of this tradition. I remembered that similar to this we have the Bombo Parol contest held at Marymart Mall in the 1990s.

The DPSA video contest was introduced after the sharing of experiences. It has two divisions: the student and the open category. Participants should be 8-10 members. The entry should be in the following categories: Activities to enjoy, Food to eat, History to uncover, People to meet, Places to go, Plants & animals to discover and Community products to support. The entry could be an animation, documentary, music video or a short film. The length should be from 5-8 minutes. Deadline will be on November 20, 2014.

SMART is also holding the 11th SWEEP Innovation and Excellence Awards. It is open to Electrical Engineering or Information Technology students. Students will compete in making a mobile app.

Hello Iloilo Participants. Photo by Bert Andone

Tigkaralag 2014

The 23rd Tigkaralag Festival is a festival like no other. Held at the Pavia Town Plaza, each barangay sends their scariest costumes and compete in a dance drama.

More Photos to follow

Unexpected

My photo got published for the first time in a national print via Manila Bulletin's sunday magazine Panorama. A digital copy of the work can be accessed from http://www.mb.com.ph/scream-and-shout/, This is really unexpected. Thanks to Drei Peralta for facilitating this. Thank you so much. 

Photo of the Day 10/10/14

Always floating in water.

APEC Countdown Begins

The ONE year countdown begins at the APEC Iloilo Office. Iloilo was one of the confirmed venues of the APEC Conference that the Philippines is hosting this 2015. Iloilo City will host the Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting from Sept. 21 to 25, 2015. Around 700 delegates from the 21 APEC economies are expected to attend this gathering.  The city will also host the Food Security Week (High Level Policy Dialogue on Food Security and the Blue Economy and Related Meetings) from Sept. 28 to Oct. 6 next year, with an estimated 900 delegates attending.

Of Textures.... Of Patterns... and Uncommon Subject

This is my nth time to join a DPI photowalk. The route of this walk is new to me which made me excited to shoot. Passing by Muelle Loney towards Parola is a different world. Its full of textures, patterns and uncommon subject. Shooting abstract is something I love to do. All shot are taken using Sony Z1 Compact.

Abandoned

Lined Up

Parked

Ties and knots

Unloading

Neatly Placed

Sun Dried

Angle Bars

Angle Bars 2.0

Square Bars

Patience

Public Toilet

Panoramic View of the Old Rotary Park and Future Guimaras-Iloilo Ferry Terminal

Mid Autumn Festival

Mid-autumn festival is a yearly festival celebrating good harvest especially in chinese community. My good friend Ma'am suggested that we also try to celebrate that as a thanksgiving for the good fortune we had for the year. So, the gang headed for Kusina Tsina to savor Chinese dishes. It was a sumptuous meal but there's more. We cap it by eating Moon Cake for prosperity. Its my first time to try a moon cake and I like it. The sweetness is just enough. I'm sure we'll celebrate it again next year.

Delectable Chinese Food from Kusina Tsina

The Moon Cake

The egg yolk filling of a moon cake