Travel Jams

1.  Blogfest 2.0 and Philippine Blog Awards in one.  The year 2011, if I should say, is really bongga for my bloglife.  Founded Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc. in February, attended Cebu Blog Camp in May, hosted Mindanao Bloggers Summit in October, and now, I'd be hitting two birds with one stone by attending Blogfest 2.0 and the Mindanao leg of Philippine Blog Awards on November 26! Woohoo!  But wait, there's more! Two blogs  from IBS members have been nominated! Of course, bongga ang support for Pinay Travelista (Travel Blog) and Adventures in Life (Personal Blog) -- FULL FORCE! :p

2.  This year's roster of speakers is interesting.  I'm sooooo looking forward to new things I will be learning from Mr. Bob Martin, Ms. Darlene Custodio, Mr. Jack Madrid, Mr. Raffy Tima, Mr. Flow Galindez, Mr. Abe Olandres, Ms. Mae Paner, and Mr. Manolo Quezon.  It's an interesting mix with someone from politics, from traditional media, in business, and even people known for their advocacy.  With a theme of "The emergence of blogs and social media," I'm sure I will pick up a lot of new stuff.  [Note to self:  Bring your trusty notebook and notepad.  Bring tons of pens just in case. :p]

3.  It's an opportunity to meet the faces behind the blogs I stalk follow.  I'm a newbie to the blogosphere, and an opportunity to join "the grandest eyeball of bloggers, online writers/publishers and social networking enthusiasts in Southern Philippines" is not to be missed.  And again, there's more!  On our way back from the events, we'll be dropping by Davao and Bukidnon (Lake Apo). We're contacting Davao and Bukidnon-based bloggers as well for meet-ups. :) 

4. It's my first out-of-town trip with my IBS family! The core group of Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc. is one happy, clingy, boisterous bunch.  Imagine the riot if you put 10 of us in one place for five days.  I'm sure this is going to be soooooooooo much fun!  

5.  This is a chance to explore General Santos City.  I must admit.  This isn't my first time to visit the City of Champions.  My father is from Sarangani Province, and I have cousins in the city. I lost count of the number of times I have been there.  But, but, but, my prior Gensan tours are limited to KCC Mall, Gaisano Mall, and just recently, Robinson's and their city plaza.  Sad (but true) story. So now is my chance to see what Gensan has to offer. ^__^

GenSan Plaza Lights, taken 05.22.2011 from this album.

And here's a bonus reason for excitement. I hope time and sense of direction will be good to me and I get to see this cutesy little baby.  Makagigiiiiiil!!! Grrrrrrrrrrr...

Five more days, and then I, together with the Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc. , will be attending Blogfest Soccsksargen 2.0! F ive days?  Fi...

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The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park (PPSRNP) is one of the most important biodiversity conservation areas of the Philippines. It features a spectacular limestone or karst landscape that contains an 8.2 km long underground river. A distinguishing feature of the river is that it flows directly into the sea, and the lower half portion of the river is brackish and subject to tidal influence. The area also represents significant habitat for biodiversity conservation. It contains a full mountain to the sea ecosystem and protects forests, which are among the most significant in Asia. [source]

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• Amazon (South America), Halong Bay (Vietnam), Iguazo Falls (Argentina), Jeju Island (South Korea), Komodo (Indonesia) and Table Mountain (South Africa) made it to the list as well.  The website noted that the stated provisional New7Wonders of Nature are listed in alphabetical order, not in any position or ranking. The voting calculation is now being checked, validated and independently verified, and the confirmed winners will be announced starting early 2012 during the Official Inauguration ceremonies.
• Photos grabbed from various albums (Friendster days pa lang). :p

I woke up to this wonderful news a couple of days back:   Palawan's Puerto Princesa Underground River made it to the provisional New7W...

When passing by a bakery, we often experience the aroma of freshly baked bread.  It is that enticing smell which tempts you to buy some even if you're not really hungry. Well at least that's true for an impulsive buyer (and eater?) like me.

When passing by a bakery, we often experience the aroma of freshly baked bread.  It is that enticing smell which tempts you to buy some ev...

I have previously written in my other blog about the crazy busy weeks of preparing for the much-awaited event hosted by Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc, the Mindanao Bloggers Summit 2011.  This ate much of our time and has been a convenient excuse one of the reasons why this blog would appear to be neglected.  

The preparation was as stressful (if not more) as expected.  Imagine the pressures of hosting one major event while currently experiencing the strains of early birth pains by a new organization.  It was both scary and difficult. But lo and behold, IBS, Inc. had bravely struggled and weathered the problems. (Naks naman!) Congratulations to the team for successfully hosting Mindanao Bloggers Summit 2011!

Hosting an event is not an easy feat.  It entails a lot of meetings and a whole lot of work.  After detailed planning, IBS Core Group decided to use the theme “One Green Mindanao: Mobilizing Bloggers to Promote Sustainable Lifestyle.”  It was the goal of the group for the summit to not only be a venue to converge bloggers from all over the Philippines, but also provide a forum to discuss issues on environment and to help formulate a better Mindanao through the promotion and the adaptation of a sustainable lifestyle.

This was followed with more work -- from searching for sponsors, deciding on the venue, conceptualizing activities, inviting resource speakers, finalizing the program, and updating the event website.   There were tons of to-do lists and there were numerous checklists to ensure that the participants and guests will have a memorable experience in Iligan City. 

We have prepared for a 2-day event packed with activities -- day 1 for the summit proper and fellowship dinner and day 2 for the city tour and the Private Pre-Halloween Concert of David DiMuzio. Exciting, eh?

In all this cooking up stage, the day before the event was the best.  It was when all is coming into place, and the plans are slowly becoming a reality.


The stage was set, and the tables were dressed in green adorned with beautiful bonsai courtesy of Mr. Jojo Dulay of Iligan-Lanao Bonsai Society.

The summit kits and ID's were prepared.

The certificates and beautiful Darangen Dolls (which I sooooo wanted to keep for myself) were ready. 

The AirPhil photobooth was also set up and of course, we had numerous test shots! =p

But it can never be all work, right? We managed to inject some fun while doing all these last-minute preparations. We had a pizza and bread break courtesy of Fleire and Lai.  Thank you for the thoughtfulness, super girls! :)

So it all turned out good! We are now receiving a lot of thank you's and congratulations. So I guess we did well.  We definitely won't rest on our laurels, but we deserve some pats on our backs.  :)




P.S. Big big thank you and virtual hugs to Alvin and Fritz for helping us out! I can't find photos of you working with us yet, but do know that we appreciate the helping hands and feet. :D

Photo Credits:  Fleire | Alingatong | IBS, Inc.

I have previously written  in my other blog  about the crazy busy weeks of preparing for the much-awaited event hosted by  Iligan Bl...