General Santos City

I've been to General Santos City countless times already and I'll be going back on the last week of August to attend to an event hosted by PICPA. I wonder how GenSan has changed since the Air Supply Concert? Wow, I can't believe that I went there on a monthly basis for two long years (2006 to 2008).

The event that I will be attending will be running for three days and because of that, I need a good hotel to stay in. I prefer affordable but decent accommodation and I'm sure GenSan has a lot of that. From the past PICPA Conventions I've attended, I always stayed with a group. This time, I'm not so sure if somebody would accompany me. But I'm okay going there alone because I'm already familiar with General Santos City.

Oh wait, the last time I went to Gensan for the Air Supply Concert last October 2009, I had a photo taken with the Philippine Boxing Champ's lovely wife, Jinkee! Hahaha!

Calgary, Alberta

No, I haven't been to Calgary, Alberta but I've had quite a tour of Calgary Apartments before. How did it become possible? Simple: the internet. Yes, there is that part where a friend "shows and tells" the parts of his house while you're chatting courtesy of yahoo messenger. I can safely say I've been to Calgary, and other places outside my country, through vicarious experiences. I've recently had a tour at Hong Kong airport and a tour of Novotel in Africa. I have not been travelling lately but I will resume my travel tales soon. I have some local travels lined up on September to November.

I remember a friend living in his two-bedroom apartment in downtown Calgary. He used to complain of its upkeep because he lives alone and he had a big apartment to maintain. (In Canada, or maybe in some other parts of the globe, and specially in the United States, once you've already reached the legal age, you're out on your own. It's very different from where I came from.) Now that my friend is getting married, I think his two-bedroom pad is perfect in starting a family!


Jardine, if by any remote chance, you'd read about this, congratulations on your engagement!

Surigao

I'm sure I made a post about this but I don't know where I posted it. I've been to Surigao fifty four years ago and it's already a fading memory.

I remember going there on official business. I was to accompany my dad as he was hired as an election lawyer for candidates in Lingig, Surigao del (Sur?). I remember not being able to make it for the first and second bus trips as there were many passengers who were going home to their provinces to vote. Instead of boarding a Surigao bus, we instead decided to board a bus bound for Butuan City and the client will fetch us from there.

If I were to share my experience in Surigao, I will definitely say that they have the BEST seafood, so far... I don't torture animals but I experienced eating what they call as "jumping salad." If you don't know what jumping salad is, well, it's live shrimps, still crawling and moving, and you have to cut its head off and take the flesh from its shell, put some seasonings, and then to your mouth it goes! It was the weirdest thing that I've done in my life. I couldn't imagine myself doing it again. It tasted delicious, though, sweet and delicious. But I just can't take the fact that I would manually kill the shrimp by taking its head off with my bare hands!!!

I will try to look for my photos during my Surigao travel and will update this blog once I've found those photos. =)